Cross-protection of a new type 2 porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) modified live vaccine (Fostera PRRS) against heterologous type 1 PRRSV challenge in growing pigs.

PubMed

Park, Changhoon; Choi, Kyuhyung; Jeong, Jiwoon; Chae, Chanhee

2015-05-15

The objective of the present study was to determine the cross-protection of a new type 2 porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) modified live vaccine against heterologous type 1 PRRSV challenge in growing pigs. The mean rectal temperature and respiratory score was significantly (P<0.05) lower in vaccinated challenged pigs than in unvaccinated challenged pigs. Vaccination of pigs with type 2 PRRSV reduced the levels of type 1 PRRSV viremia after challenge with type 1 PRRSV. Vaccinated challenged pigs had significantly (P<0.05) higher frequency of interferon-γ secreting cells and lower levels of interleukin-10 compared to unvaccinated challenged pigs. Vaccination of pigs with the type 2 PRRSV effectively reduced the macroscopic and microscopic lung lesion and the type 1 PRRSV antigens within lung lesions in vaccinated challenged pigs. This study demonstrates partial cross-protection of a new type 2 PRRSV modified live vaccine against heterologous type 1 PRRSV challenge in growing pigs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

What Are the Professional, Political, and Ethical Challenges of Co-Creating Health Care Systems?

PubMed

Singh, Guddi; Owens, John; Cribb, Alan

2017-11-01

Co-creation is seen by many as a means of meeting the multiple challenges facing contemporary health care systems by involving institutions, professionals, patients, and stakeholders in new roles, relationships, and collaborative practices. While co-creation has the potential to positively transform health care systems, it generates a number of political and ethical challenges that should not be overlooked. We suggest that those involved in envisioning and implementing co-creation initiatives pay close attention to significant questions of equity, power, and justice and to the fundamental challenge of securing a common vision of the aims of and agendas for health care systems. While such initiatives present significant opportunities for improvement, they need to be viewed in light of their accompanying professional, political, and ethical challenges. © 2017 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.

Collaboration Challenges and Opportunities: A Survey of School Foodservice Directors and Community Health Coalition Members

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mansfield, Jennifer L.; Savaiano, Dennis A.

2018-01-01

Background: The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) presents challenges for foodservice directors (FSDs) in sourcing and preparing foods that meet nutrition standards. Concurrently, community health coalition members (CHCs) are engaging schools through community and school nutrition initiatives. We hypothesized significant differences in…

Effective Learning of Probabilistic Models for Clinical Predictions from Longitudinal Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Shuo

2017-01-01

With the expeditious advancement of information technologies, health-related data presented unprecedented potentials for medical and health discoveries but at the same time significant challenges for machine learning techniques both in terms of size and complexity. Those challenges include: the structured data with various storage formats and…

Preparing Students for 21st Century Teamwork: Effective Collaboration in the Online Group Communication Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Messersmith, Amber S.

2015-01-01

Facilitating meaningful interaction among students is a significant challenge of teaching in the online environment. This paper presents a semester-long approach that enables quality interaction among group members within undergraduate online group communication courses while experiencing the challenges of working with geographically dispersed…

Biological Invasions: A Challenge In Ecological Forecasting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schnase, J. L.; Smith, J. A.; Stohlgren, T. J.; Graves, S.; Trees, C.; Rood, Richard (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The spread of invasive species is one of the most daunting environmental, economic, and human-health problems facing the United States and the World today. It is one of several grand challenge environmental problems being considered by NASA's Earth Science Vision for 2025. The invasive species problem is complex and presents many challenges. Developing an invasive species predictive capability could significantly advance the science and technology of ecological forecasting.

Engineering the LISA Project: Systems Engineering Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, Jordan P.

2006-01-01

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a joint NASA/ESA mission to detect and measure gravitational waves with periods from 1 s to 10000 s. The systems engineering challenges of developing a giant interferometer, 5 million kilometers on a side, an: numerous. Some of the key challenges are presented in this paper. The organizational challenges imposed by sharing the engineering function between three centers (ESA ESTEC, NASA GSFC, and JPL) across nine time zones are addressed. The issues and approaches to allocation of the acceleration noise and measurement sensitivity budget terms across a traditionally decomposed system are discussed. Additionally, using LISA to detect gravitational waves for the first time presents significant data analysis challenges, many of which drive the project system design. The approach to understanding the implications of science data analysis on the system is also addressed.

Successful Architectural Knowledge Sharing: Beware of Emotions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poort, Eltjo R.; Pramono, Agung; Perdeck, Michiel; Clerc, Viktor; van Vliet, Hans

This chapter presents the analysis and key findings of a survey on architectural knowledge sharing. The responses of 97 architects working in the Dutch IT Industry were analyzed by correlating practices and challenges with project size and success. Impact mechanisms between project size, project success, and architectural knowledge sharing practices and challenges were deduced based on reasoning, experience and literature. We find that architects run into numerous and diverse challenges sharing architectural knowledge, but that the only challenges that have a significant impact are the emotional challenges related to interpersonal relationships. Thus, architects should be careful when dealing with emotions in knowledge sharing.

High Altitude Platform Aircraft at NASA Past, Present and Future

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DelFrate, John H.

2006-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews NASA Dryden Flight Research Center's significant accomplishments from the Environment Research and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project, the present High Altitude Platform (HAP) needs and opportunities, NASA's Aeronautical focus shift, HAP Non-aeronautics challenges, and current HAP Capabilities.

The Online Learning Imperative: A Solution to Three Looming Crises in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wise, Bob

2010-01-01

Currently, K-12 education in the United States is dealing with three major challenges: (1) global skill demands versus educational attainment; (2) the funding cliff; and (3) a looming teacher shortage. Independently, these factors present significant challenges. In combination, they create a national imperative for swift action to create a more…

The Challenge and Promise of Catholic Higher Education for Our Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jenkins, John I.

2015-01-01

Catholic colleges and universities face significant challenges in the present context of American higher education. Yet, there are opportunities to be found in the midst of this crisis when one carefully examines the intersections between the Catholic mission and objectives of an institution and current culture and academia. A return to the…

Supporting Young Children's Vocabulary Growth: The Challenges, the Benefits, and Evidence-Based Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jalongo, Mary Renck; Sobolak, Michelle J.

2011-01-01

The complexity of words makes vocabulary development a multi-faceted process that presents challenges to early childhood educators, offers benefits to young learners, and must be supported through evidence-based strategies. All students, regardless of socio-economic status or background, need to make significant gains in receptive and expressive…

Exploring the Visuospatial Challenge of Learning about Day and Night and the Sun's Path

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heywood, David; Parker, Joan; Rowlands, Mark

2013-01-01

The role of visualization and model-based reasoning has become increasingly significant in science education across a range of contexts. It is generally recognized that supporting learning in developing causal explanations for observed astronomical events presents considerable pedagogic challenge. Understanding the Sun's apparent movement…

Development of the metrology and imaging of cellulose nanocrystals

Treesearch

Michael T. Postek; Andras Vladar; John Dagata; Natalia Farkas; Bin Ming; Ryan Wagner; Arvind Raman; Robert J. Moon; Ronald Sabo; Theodore H. Wegner; James Beecher

2011-01-01

The development of metrology for nanoparticles is a significant challenge. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are one group of nanoparticles that have high potential economic value but present substantial challenges to the development of the measurement science. Even the largest trees owe their strength to this newly appreciated class of nanomaterials. Cellulose is the...

Future Challenges in Higher Education--Bologna Experts' Community Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yemini, Miri

2012-01-01

This work presents results from systematic analysis of the challenges for the future of higher education in European and neighboring countries as it was extracted from the Bologna experts and Higher Education Reform experts' opinions. Opinions of more than 100 experts from 35 countries were documented and analyzed. Significant differences in the…

Language and Literacy Development of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children: Successes and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lederberg, Amy R.; Schick, Brenda; Spencer, Patricia E.

2013-01-01

Childhood hearing loss presents challenges to language development, especially spoken language. In this article, we review existing literature on deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children's patterns and trajectories of language as well as development of theory of mind and literacy. Individual trajectories vary significantly, reflecting access to…

Can acceptable risk be defined in wildland firefighting?

Treesearch

David Clancy

2011-01-01

Risk is an ever-present challenge for fire agencies, fire managers, and firefighters, who must ensure that risks are managed at a level that is as low as reasonably practicable. This challenge provides a significant dilemma as there is no one prescriptive method for—or consensus on—defining "acceptable risk" in the field of firefighting....

Evaluation of the efficacy of an autogenous Escherichia coli vaccine in broiler breeders.

PubMed

Li, Lili; Thøfner, Ida; Christensen, Jens Peter; Ronco, Troels; Pedersen, Karl; Olsen, Rikke H

2017-06-01

In poultry production Escherichia coli autogenous vaccines are often used. However, the efficacy of autogenous E. coli vaccinations has not been evaluated experimentally in chickens after start of lay. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the protective effect of an autogenous E. coli vaccine in broiler breeders. Three groups of 28-week-old broiler breeders (unvaccinated, vaccinated once and twice, respectively) were challenged with a homologous E. coli strain (same strain as included in the vaccine) or a heterologous challenge strain in an experimental ascending model. The clinical outcome was most pronounced in the unvaccinated group; however, the vast majority of chickens in the vaccinated groups had severe pathological manifestations similar to findings in the unvaccinated group after challenge with a homologous as well as a heterologous E. coli strain. Although significant titre rises in IgY antibodies were observed in the twice vaccinated group, antibodies did not confer significant protection in terms of pathological impact. Neither could transfer of maternal-derived antibodies to offspring be demonstrated. In conclusion, with the use of the present model for ascending infection, significant protection of an autogenous E. coli vaccine against neither a homologous nor a heterologous E. coli challenge could not be documented.

Emerging and Neglected Infectious Diseases: Insights, Advances, and Challenges

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Infectious diseases are a significant burden on public health and economic stability of societies all over the world. They have for centuries been among the leading causes of death and disability and presented growing challenges to health security and human progress. The threat posed by infectious diseases is further deepened by the continued emergence of new, unrecognized, and old infectious disease epidemics of global impact. Over the past three and half decades at least 30 new infectious agents affecting humans have emerged, most of which are zoonotic and their origins have been shown to correlate significantly with socioeconomic, environmental, and ecological factors. As these factors continue to increase, putting people in increased contact with the disease causing pathogens, there is concern that infectious diseases may continue to present a formidable challenge. Constant awareness and pursuance of effective strategies for controlling infectious diseases and disease emergence thus remain crucial. This review presents current updates on emerging and neglected infectious diseases and highlights the scope, dynamics, and advances in infectious disease management with particular focus on WHO top priority emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) and neglected tropical infectious diseases. PMID:28286767

Emerging and Neglected Infectious Diseases: Insights, Advances, and Challenges.

PubMed

Nii-Trebi, Nicholas Israel

2017-01-01

Infectious diseases are a significant burden on public health and economic stability of societies all over the world. They have for centuries been among the leading causes of death and disability and presented growing challenges to health security and human progress. The threat posed by infectious diseases is further deepened by the continued emergence of new, unrecognized, and old infectious disease epidemics of global impact. Over the past three and half decades at least 30 new infectious agents affecting humans have emerged, most of which are zoonotic and their origins have been shown to correlate significantly with socioeconomic, environmental, and ecological factors. As these factors continue to increase, putting people in increased contact with the disease causing pathogens, there is concern that infectious diseases may continue to present a formidable challenge. Constant awareness and pursuance of effective strategies for controlling infectious diseases and disease emergence thus remain crucial. This review presents current updates on emerging and neglected infectious diseases and highlights the scope, dynamics, and advances in infectious disease management with particular focus on WHO top priority emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) and neglected tropical infectious diseases.

Concise Review: Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Regenerative Medicine: Applications and Challenges

PubMed Central

Chong, Mark Seow Khoon; Ng, Wei Kai

2016-01-01

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are currently being studied as candidate cell sources for revascularization strategies. Significant advances have been made in understanding the biology of EPCs, and preclinical studies have demonstrated the vasculogenic, angiogenic, and beneficial paracrine effects of transplanted EPCs in the treatment of ischemic diseases. Despite these promising results, widespread clinical acceptance of EPCs for clinical therapies remains hampered by several challenges. The present study provides a concise summary of the different EPC populations being studied for ischemic therapies and their known roles in the healing of ischemic tissues. The challenges and issues surrounding the use of EPCs and the current strategies being developed to improve the harvest efficiency and functionality of EPCs for application in regenerative medicine are discussed. Significance Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have immense clinical value for cardiovascular therapies. The present study provides a concise description of the EPC subpopulations being evaluated for clinical applications. The current major lines of investigation involving preclinical and clinical evaluations of EPCs are discussed, and significant gaps limiting the translation of EPCs are highlighted. The present report could be useful for clinicians and clinical researchers with interests in ischemic therapy and for basic scientists working in the related fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. PMID:26956207

Effects of an Inactivated Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV2) Vaccine on PCV2 Virus Shedding in Semen from Experimentally Infected Boars ▿

PubMed Central

Seo, Hwi Won; Han, Kiwon; Kim, Duyeol; Oh, Yeonsu; Kang, Ikjae; Park, Changhoon; Jang, Hyun; Chae, Chanhee

2011-01-01

The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of an inactivated porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) vaccine on PCV2b virus shedding in the semen of experimentally infected boars by measuring the immunological response and the PCV2b DNA load in blood and semen. Twelve boars were randomly divided into three groups. The boars in group 1 (n = 4) were immunized with an inactivated PCV2 vaccine and were challenged with PCV2b. The boars in group 2 (n = 4) were only challenged with PCV2b. The boars in group 3 (n = 4) served as negative controls. The number of PCV2 genome copies of PCV2 in the serum and semen were significantly lower in vaccinated challenged boars than in nonvaccinated challenged boars at 7, 10, 14, 21, 32, 35, 42, 49, and 60 days postinoculation. The number of PCV2b genomes in the semen correlated with the number of PCV2b genomes in the blood in both vaccinated challenged (R = 0.714) and nonvaccinated challenged (R = 0.861) boars. The results of the present study demonstrate that the inactivated PCV2 vaccine significantly decreases the amount of PCV2b DNA shedding in semen from vaccinated boars after experimental infection with PCV2b. PMID:21613465

A Major Force in Economic Development: A Challenge for the North Carolina Community College System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lancaster, H. Martin

No other institution has played a more significant role in support of economic development in North Carolina than the North Carolina Community College System. Presented are three challenges that will define the System's future relevance in support of economic development: (1) its ability to stay ahead of the "tidal wave" that is…

Challenges to Preschool Teachers in Learner's Acquisition of English as Language of Learning and Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

du Plessis, Sandra; Louw, Brenda

2008-01-01

Multilingualism in classrooms is currently prompting debate and has significantly impacted on schooling in South Africa over the last decade. At present South African educators face the challenge of coping with and finding solutions to culturally and linguistically diverse urban school contexts which did not exist before. In many South African…

Separating the Wheat from the Chaff: Identifying Key Elements in the NLA .AU Domain Harvest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fellows, Geoff; Harvey, Ross; Lloyd, Annemaree; Pymm, Bob; Wallis, Jake

2008-01-01

In 2005 and 2006 the National Library of Australia (NLA) carried out two whole-domain web harvests which complement the selective web archiving approach taken by PANDORA. Web harvests of this size pose significant challenges to their use. Despite these challenges, such harvests present fascinating research opportunities. The NLA has provided…

Israel Engagement in Practice: An Empirical Look at the Impact of "The Year of Service" Emissaries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hameiri, Lior

2018-01-01

The current field of Israel engagement has been significantly challenged by young North American Jews' reported alienation from contemporary Israel. Literature in the last decade has addressed this challenge in depth, offering a wide variety of theoretical analyses and recommendations for program development. The present study is the first to…

Improving Gram stain proficiency in hospital and satellite laboratories that do not have microbiology.

PubMed

Guarner, Jeannette; Street, Cassandra; Matlock, Margaret; Cole, Lisa; Brierre, Francoise

2017-03-01

Consolidation of laboratories has left many hospitals and satellite laboratories with minimal microbiologic testing. In many hospitals and satellite laboratories, Gram stains on primary specimens are still performed despite difficultly in maintaining proficiency. To maintain Gram stain proficiency at a community 450-bed hospital with an active emergency room we designed bimonthly challenges that require reporting Gram staining and morphology of different organisms. The challenges consist of five specimens prepared by the reference microbiology laboratory from cultures and primary specimens. Twenty to 23 medical laboratory scientists participate reading the challenges. Results from the challenges are discussed with each medical laboratory scientists. In addition, printed images from the challenges are presented at huddle to add microbiology knowledge. On the first three challenges, Gram staining was read correctly in 71%-77% of the time while morphology 53%-66%. In the last six challenges correct answers for Gram stain were 77%-99% while morphology 73%-96%. We observed statistically significant improvement when reading Gram stains by providing frequent challenges to medical laboratory scientists. The clinical importance of Gram stain results is emphasized during huddle presentations increasing knowledge and motivation to perform the test for patients.

Practical and effective rehabilitation of rangelands: lessons learned

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Disturbed rangelands present significant challenges to land managers and private land owners. Controversy exists on the approach as to how to restore or rehabilitate these degraded rangelands. The proper use of plant materials and aggressive weed control practices can significantly increase the succ...

Oxidative stress response of the black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon to Vibrio parahaemolyticus challenge.

PubMed

Duan, Yafei; Zhang, Jiasong; Dong, Hongbiao; Wang, Yun; Liu, Qingsong; Li, Hua

2015-10-01

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a virulent pathogen that affects shrimp aquaculture. Reactive oxygen species are produced by the immune system that defends the host against foreign microorganisms. In the present study, the oxidative stress response in hepatopancreas and gills of Penaeus monodon to V. parahaemolyticus challenge were studied, such as respiratory burst, ROS production (·O2(-) and ·OH), activities of antioxidant enzymes (CAT, GPx, SOD, POD and GST) and oxidative damage to lipid and protein (indexed by contents of MDA). Compared with the control group, after V. parahaemolyticus challenge, respiratory burst and ROS production were up-regulated significantly. GPx and POD activity increased significantly in hepatopancreas and gills of the shrimps at 12 h, but CAT activity decreased markedly at 12 h and 24 h. SOD and GST activity in hepatopancreas of the shrimps increased significantly at 1.5 h, but decreased markedly at 12 h-48 h. MDA content increased significantly after 6 h-24 h challenge. HE staining showed that V. parahaemolyticus challenge induced damage symptoms in hepatopancreas of P. monodon. Our study revealed that V. parahaemolyticus influenced the antioxidative status and caused oxidative stress and tissue damage via confusion of antioxidant enzymes in P. monodon. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Materials and structures technology insertion into spacecraft systems: Successes and challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rawal, Suraj

2018-05-01

Over the last 30 years, significant advancements have led to the use of multifunctional materials and structures technologies in spacecraft systems. This includes the integration of adaptive structures, advanced composites, nanotechnology, and additive manufacturing technologies. Development of multifunctional structures has been directly influenced by the implementation of processes and tools for adaptive structures pioneered by Prof. Paolo Santini. Multifunctional materials and structures incorporating non-structural engineering functions such as thermal, electrical, radiation shielding, power, and sensors have been investigated. The result has been an integrated structure that offers reduced mass, packaging volume, and ease of integration for spacecraft systems. Current technology development efforts are being conducted to develop innovative multifunctional materials and structures designs incorporating advanced composites, nanotechnology, and additive manufacturing. However, these efforts offer significant challenges in the qualification and acceptance into spacecraft systems. This paper presents a brief overview of the technology development and successful insertion of advanced material technologies into spacecraft structures. Finally, opportunities and challenges to develop and mature next generation advanced materials and structures are presented.

The Community Connection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rittenburg, Rebecca; Miller, Brant G.; Rust, Cindy; Esler, Jamie; Kreider, Rusti; Boylan, Ryan; Squires, Audrey

2015-01-01

In a regional gathering called the Youth Water Summit, high school students present projects that respond to the driving question behind their science curriculum: "How can you address a significant water resource challenge in your community's watershed?" Students exhibit scientific posters, interactive presentations, films, art projects,…

Social Learning Analytics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buckingham Shum, Simon; Ferguson, Rebecca

2012-01-01

We propose that the design and implementation of effective "Social Learning Analytics (SLA)" present significant challenges and opportunities for both research and enterprise, in three important respects. The first is that the learning landscape is extraordinarily turbulent at present, in no small part due to technological drivers.…

Diplomatic Solutions to Additive Challenges

DTIC Science & Technology

Additive manufacturing (AM) technology, colloquially known as 3D printing , will bring significant benefits to society, but also poses great risks...regimes, are not sufficient to address the challenges presented by 3D printing technology. The DOS should evaluate and promote unconventional strategies...from printed weapons proliferation. Working with other nations to resolve the appropriate balance between development and security, and to promote norms

Vic: The Challenges Facing Schools in a Small, Newly Diverse, Catalan City

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simo, Nuria; Telford, Jon

2012-01-01

The arrival over the last 15 years of a substantial number of pupils of immigrant origin has presented Catalan schools with significant challenges. The schools in Vic (70 km north of Barcelona) have been at the forefront of attempts to adjust to this new multicultural reality. This article describes the results of three studies carried out by the…

Conflicting short and long-term management goals: Fire effects in endangered golden-cheeked warbler (Setophaga chrysoparia) habitat

Treesearch

Christina M. Andruk; Norma L. Fowler

2015-01-01

Decades of fire suppression have significantly altered the vegetation structure and composition of savannas, woodlands, and forests. The presence of endangered species and other species of conservation concern in these fire-suppressed systems makes re-introducing fire more challenging. In oak-juniper woodlands of central Texas, we are presented with the challenge of re...

A survey of big data research

PubMed Central

Fang, Hua; Zhang, Zhaoyang; Wang, Chanpaul Jin; Daneshmand, Mahmoud; Wang, Chonggang; Wang, Honggang

2015-01-01

Big data create values for business and research, but pose significant challenges in terms of networking, storage, management, analytics and ethics. Multidisciplinary collaborations from engineers, computer scientists, statisticians and social scientists are needed to tackle, discover and understand big data. This survey presents an overview of big data initiatives, technologies and research in industries and academia, and discusses challenges and potential solutions. PMID:26504265

Replacement of fishmeal by spirulina Arthrospira platensis affects growth, immune related-gene expression in gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio var. CAS III), and its challenge against Aeromonas hydrophila infection.

PubMed

Cao, Shenping; Zhang, Peiyu; Zou, Tao; Fei, Shuzhan; Han, Dong; Jin, Junyan; Liu, Haokun; Yang, Yunxia; Zhu, Xiaoming; Xie, Shouqi

2018-05-15

The present study examined the effect of dietary spirulina, Arthrospira platensis on growth performance, blood physiological indices, immune-related gene expressions and resistance of juvenile gibel carp against Aeromonas hydrophila infection. Four isonitrogenous (360 g kg -1 ) and isolipidic (90 g kg -1 ) diets were formulated with containing different levels of spirulina powder of 0 g (SP0, the control diet), 3.38 g (SP3.38), 6.76 g (SP6.76) and 13.52 g (SP13.52) per 100 g diet to replace 0%, 25%, 50% and 100% of fishmeal protein, respectively. And each diet was randomly assigned to triplicate tanks (150-L capacity per each) and each tank was stocked with 22 fish (15.37 ± 0.06 g). Fish were fed one of the tested diets up to satiation twice a day for 46 days. A challenge test was carried out after the feeding trial by injecting Aeromonas hydrophila intraperitoneally for 7 days. The results showed that fish growth, feeding rate in groups SP3.38 and SP6.76 were significantly higher than those of groups SP0 and SP13.52 (P < 0.05). Feed efficiency and protein retention rate had no significant difference among all tested groups. Plasma superoxide dismutase and phagocyte activity of blood leukocytes significantly increased in the spirulina-fed fish groups at 12-h post the bacterial challenge (P < 0.05). Both pre and post challenge test, plasma lysozyme activities in spirulina-fed groups were significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Plasma malondialdehyde got the lowest value in the SP13.52 group before and after the challenge test. The transcriptional levels of TLR2 (Toll like receptor 2), myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88), Toll/IL-1 receptor domain-containing adaptor protein (TIRAP), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α1 (TNF-α1) in spleen and kidney significantly increased post the bacterial challenge compared to the pre challenge. And the relative expressions of the immune-related genes of spirulina-fed fish groups were higher than those of the control group before and after the challenge test. The 7-day cumulative survival rate after the bacterial challenge was highest in the SP3.38 group (P < 0.05). The present results indicated that low dietary inclusion of spirulina significantly enhanced the immune response of gibel carp partly through TLR2 pathway and 3.38% of dietary spirulina was recommended for the juveniles based on the growth and immune response. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Research at a Liberal Arts College: Make Sure you have a Net for your High Wire Act

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marshall, Mark D.; Leung, Helen O.

2015-06-01

A career as a spectroscopist at a primarily (or exclusively) undergraduate institution presents both great rewards and significant challenges. Strategies that we have found helpful in meeting some of the challenges are presented along with some of the work we have been able to accomplish with undergraduate students. The most important resource is a network of colleagues who can provide mentoring and collaboration, and the role of the International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy in facilitating this support is highlighted.

Redefining success as significance through leadership in the new economy.

PubMed

De Jong, Steven A

2006-03-01

This review re-examines our current definition of success in the current economic system and challenges the surgeon to play a significant part in role modeling and mentoring surgical residents and other healthcare professionals. Leadership skills are presented and implementation strategies are suggested.

Reprioritization of Research for Combat Casualty Care

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

Today it is not un- common for a war casualty to sur- vive massive head trauma, multiple extremity loss, significant soft-tissue injury, and sensory ...disorder, depres- sion, and/or anxiety and the coexis- tence of debilitating pain syndromes, presents significant challenges to re- habilitation

Neonatal endocrine emergencies: a primer for the emergency physician.

PubMed

Park, Elizabeth; Pearson, Nadia M; Pillow, M Tyson; Toledo, Alexander

2014-05-01

The resuscitation principles of securing the airway and stabilizing hemodynamics remain the same in any neonatal emergency. However, stabilizing endocrine disorders may prove especially challenging. Several organ systems are affected simultaneously and the clinical presentation can be subtle. Although not all-inclusive, the implementation of newborn screening tests has significantly reduced morbidity and mortality in neonates. Implementing routine screening tests worldwide and improving the accuracy of present tests remains the challenge for healthcare providers. With further study of these disorders and best treatment practices we can provide neonates presenting to the emergency department with the best possible outcomes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Grand challenges for biological engineering

PubMed Central

Yoon, Jeong-Yeol; Riley, Mark R

2009-01-01

Biological engineering will play a significant role in solving many of the world's problems in medicine, agriculture, and the environment. Recently the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) released a document "Grand Challenges in Engineering," covering broad realms of human concern from sustainability, health, vulnerability and the joy of living. Biological engineers, having tools and techniques at the interface between living and non-living entities, will play a prominent role in forging a better future. The 2010 Institute of Biological Engineering (IBE) conference in Cambridge, MA, USA will address, in part, the roles of biological engineering in solving the challenges presented by the NAE. This letter presents a brief outline of how biological engineers are working to solve these large scale and integrated problems of our society. PMID:19772647

Responding to the Challenges of KM Education in the LIS Sector: Some Academic and Professional Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hazeri, Afsaneh; Martin, Bill

2009-01-01

As a newly emerging field of study, KM education is faced with significant challenges which continue to evolve. Informed by wider organisational perspectives, this paper presents the findings of recent research into this field. The first part of the research was in the form of an online survey canvassing the views of the wider LIS community on the…

Dissociation between history and challenge in patients with physical urticaria.

PubMed

Komarow, Hirsh D; Arceo, Sarah; Young, Michael; Nelson, Celeste; Metcalfe, Dean D

2014-01-01

Physical urticaria is a subtype of chronic urticaria induced by a physical stimulus. To evaluate the consistency between a history of physical urticaria and results of challenge testing. Seventy-six subjects, ages 3 to 77 years old, were referred with the diagnosis of a physical urticaria and were evaluated by using challenge testing directed toward the presenting diagnosis, yet included other stimuli based on history. The majority of subjects were tested to 3 or more stimuli, thus 294 provocation tests were performed. Fifty-seven subjects were surveyed for the status of their physical urticaria at least 1 year after initial evaluation. Of the 76 subjects with a positive history of a physical urticaria, 38% (n = 29) were challenge negative to the presenting diagnosis. Eight subjects within the challenge negative group reacted positively to additional testing, thus 28% (n = 21) remained negative to all challenge testing, which allowed discontinuation of medications and avoidance behavior. A negative challenge result was less likely with subjects who presented with cold-induced urticaria (25%), delayed pressure urticaria (25%), and dermatographism (29%), yet more common with cholinergic (65%) and solar urticaria (67%). A 1-year follow-up survey of 57 subjects was consistent with initial results. Nineteen of this subgroup were rechallenged for the presenting diagnosis, and the outcome was unchanged in 17 subjects and, in 2 subjects the urticaria had resolved. The diagnosis by history of a physical urticaria should be verified by testing whenever possible and particularly if the condition is judged as severe and thus requires both significant life-style changes and pharmacologic intervention. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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

Barrett, Brian W.; Hemmert, K. Scott; Underwood, Keith Douglas

Achieving the next three orders of magnitude performance increase to move from petascale to exascale computing will require a significant advancements in several fundamental areas. Recent studies have outlined many of the challenges in hardware and software that will be needed. In this paper, we examine these challenges with respect to high-performance networking. We describe the repercussions of anticipated changes to computing and networking hardware and discuss the impact that alternative parallel programming models will have on the network software stack. We also present some ideas on possible approaches that address some of these challenges.

Planning Lessons for Students with Significant Disabilities in High School English Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Apitz, Megan; Ruppar, Andrea; Roessler, Karli; Pickett, Kelly J.

2017-01-01

Students with significant disabilities have intellectual disability and require individualized modifications, adaptations, and supports to access grade-level content (National Center on Educational Outcomes, 2013). This group of students presents a unique challenge for literacy instruction, particularly at the high school level. Teachers must…

Future socio-economic impacts and vulnerabilities

Treesearch

Balgis Osman-Elasha; Neil Adger; Maria Brockhaus; Carol J. Pierce Colfer; Brent Sohngen; Tallaat Dafalla; Linda A. Joyce; Nkem Johnson; Carmenza Robledo

2009-01-01

The projected impacts of climate change are significant, and despite the uncertainties associated with current climate and ecosystem model projections, the associated changes in the provision of forest ecosystem services are expected to be substantial in many parts of the world. These impacts will present significant social and economic challenges for affected...

Modeling Joint Climate and Bioenergy Policies: Challenges of integrating economic and environmental data. (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hellwinckel, C. M.; West, T. O.; de La Torre Ugarte, D.; Perlack, R.

2010-12-01

In the coming decades agriculture will be asked to play a significant role in reducing carbon emissions and reducing our use of foreign oil. The Renewable Fuels Standard combined with possible climate legislation will alter the economic landscape effecting agricultural land use decisions. The joint implementation of these two policies could potentially work against one another. We have integrated biogeophysical data into the POLYSYS economic model to analyze the effects of climate change and bioenergy legislation upon regional land-use change, soil carbon, carbon emissions, biofuel production, and agricultural income. The purpose of the analysis was to use the integrated model to identify carbon and bioenergy policies that could act synergistically to meet Renewable Fuel Standard goals, reduce net emissions of carbon, and increase agricultural incomes. The heterogeneous nature of soils, crop yields, and management practices presented challenges to the modeling process. Regional variation in physical data can significantly affect economic land use decisions and patterns. For this reason, we disaggregated the economic component of the model to the county level, with sub-county soils and land-use data informing the county level decisions. Modeling carbon offset dynamics presented unique challenges, as the physical responses of local soils impact the economic incentives offered, and conversely, the resulting land-use changes impact characteristics of local soils. Additionally, using data from different resolution levels led to questions of appropriate scale of analysis. This presentation will describe the integrated model, present some significant results from our analysis, and discuss appropriate steps forward given what we learned.

Dietary Withania sominefera root confers protective and immunotherapeutic effects against Aeromonas hydrophila infection in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus).

PubMed

Zahran, Eman; Abd El-Gawad, Eman A; Risha, Engy

2018-06-07

In the present study, effect of dietary Withania sominefera (W. sominefera) root powder was evaluated to modulate immune and antioxidant response against Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila) infection in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). W. sominefera root powder supplemented diets at two concentrations 2.5% (W 2.5%) and 5% (W 5%); fed for 6 weeks prior to the A. hydrophila challenge and continued the same respective diets during the post challenge period (2 weeks). Results showed that fish fed W. sominefera at 5% enhanced immune response in both pre and post-challenge period. NBT level exhibited only significant increase (P < 0.05) in the pre-challenge period compared to control. Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in liver and muscle revealed significant decrease in both Withania supplemented groups compared to the control in post challenge period. Antioxidant enzymes activities (catalase/CAT/, glutathione S-transferase/GST/, glutathione/GSH; and superoxide dismutase/SOD) were improved in liver and muscle in post challenge period. Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) level in muscle and serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC) showed a significant increase in both Withania supplemented groups compared to the control post challenge. Withania supplementation enhanced disease resistance against A. hydrophila and reduced mortalities (20%), especially at supplemented concentration of 5%. Our findings suggest that W. sominefera root powder may have protective and immunotherapeutic roles in Nile tilapia against A. hydrophila infection which may be useful in controlling important fish bacterial diseases. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Mapping a Path to Autonomous Flight in the National Airspace

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lodding, Kenneth N.

2011-01-01

The introduction of autonomous flight, whether military, commercial, or civilian, into the National Airspace System (NAS) will present significant challenges. Minimizing the impact and preventing the changes from becoming disruptive, rather than an enhancing technology will not be without difficulty. From obstacle detection and avoidance to real-time verification and validation of system behavior, there are significant problems which must be solved prior to the general acceptance of autonomous systems. This paper examines some of the key challenges and the multi-disciplinary collaboration which must occur for autonomous systems to be accepted as equal partners in the NAS.

Imaging of convection enhanced delivery of toxins in humans.

PubMed

Mehta, Ankit I; Choi, Bryan D; Raghavan, Raghu; Brady, Martin; Friedman, Allan H; Bigner, Darell D; Pastan, Ira; Sampson, John H

2011-03-01

Drug delivery of immunotoxins to brain tumors circumventing the blood brain barrier is a significant challenge. Convection-enhanced delivery (CED) circumvents the blood brain barrier through direct intracerebral application using a hydrostatic pressure gradient to percolate therapeutic compounds throughout the interstitial spaces of infiltrated brain and tumors. The efficacy of CED is determined through the distribution of the therapeutic agent to the targeted region. The vast majority of patients fail to receive a significant amount of coverage of the area at risk for tumor recurrence. Understanding this challenge, it is surprising that so little work has been done to monitor the delivery of therapeutic agents using this novel approach. Here we present a review of imaging in convection enhanced delivery monitoring of toxins in humans, and discuss future challenges in the field.

Imaging of Convection Enhanced Delivery of Toxins in Humans

PubMed Central

Mehta, Ankit I.; Choi, Bryan D.; Raghavan, Raghu; Brady, Martin; Friedman, Allan H.; Bigner, Darell D.; Pastan, Ira; Sampson, John H.

2011-01-01

Drug delivery of immunotoxins to brain tumors circumventing the blood brain barrier is a significant challenge. Convection-enhanced delivery (CED) circumvents the blood brain barrier through direct intracerebral application using a hydrostatic pressure gradient to percolate therapeutic compounds throughout the interstitial spaces of infiltrated brain and tumors. The efficacy of CED is determined through the distribution of the therapeutic agent to the targeted region. The vast majority of patients fail to receive a significant amount of coverage of the area at risk for tumor recurrence. Understanding this challenge, it is surprising that so little work has been done to monitor the delivery of therapeutic agents using this novel approach. Here we present a review of imaging in convection enhanced delivery monitoring of toxins in humans, and discuss future challenges in the field. PMID:22069706

Potential of nano-silver fluoride for tooth enamel caries prevention

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, Amitis V. C.; Mota, Cláudia C. B. O.; Teixeira, Joás. A.; Lins, Emery C.; Gomes, Anderson S. L.; Rosenblatt, Aronita

2018-02-01

This ex vivo study evaluated the efficiency of nano-silver fluoride (NSF) to enamel remineralization of deciduous teeth submitted to a high cariogenic challenge. 33 specimens of sound enamel were distributed into three groups: treated with sodium fluoride, with NSF, and deionized water. All specimens were submitted to microhardness test before chemical caries induction; post-induction of caries; and post-cariogenic challenge. The high cariogenic challenge was carried out in 14 daily cycles. There was no significant statistical difference (p=0.958) of enamel microhardness between NSFtreated and NaF-treated specimens. However, it presented significant difference between water-treated specimens and both NSF-treated and NaF-treated specimens (p=0.003).Furthermore, optical coherence tomography was employed for caries diagnosis, as it can be used in clinical environment.

Growing Older With HIV/AIDS: New Public Health Challenges

PubMed Central

Cahill, Sean; Valadéz, Robert

2013-01-01

At present, the health care infrastructure is ill-equipped to handle the unique treatment and care needs of HIV-positive older adults. The long-term effects of antiretroviral use are still being discovered and have been associated with a number of comorbidities. Stigma presents challenges for those in need of services and health care, and can significantly affect mental health and treatment adherence. The training of elder service providers and health care providers in meeting the needs of HIV-positive older adults, including gay and transgender people, is needed as the population ages. HIV-related and antigay stigma should be challenged by social marketing campaigns. Continued research and key policy changes could greatly improve health outcomes for HIV-positive elderly persons by increasing access to treatment and support. PMID:23327276

Chapter 7: Managing Carbon

Treesearch

Kenneth E. Skog; Duncan C. McKinley; Richard A. Birdsey; Sarah J. Hines; Christopher W. Woodall; Elizabeth D. Reinhardt; James M. Vose

2014-01-01

Storing carbon (C) and offsetting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions with the use of wood for energy, both of which slow emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere, present significant challenges for forest management (IPCC 2001).

Governance in a Union Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garfield, Timothy K.

2008-01-01

The presence of a faculty union in a community college has a significant impact on its governance. This chapter offers recommendations for dealing with the challenges presented by collective bargaining in the postsecondary education environment.

Clostridium perfringens challenge and dietary fat type affect broiler chicken performance and fermentation in the gastrointestinal tract.

PubMed

Józefiak, D; Kierończyk, B; Rawski, M; Hejdysz, M; Rutkowski, A; Engberg, R M; Højberg, O

2014-06-01

The aim of the present work was to examine how different fats commonly used in the feed industry affect broiler performance, nutrient digestibility and microbial fermentation in the gastrointestinal tract of broiler chickens challenged with virulent Clostridium perfringens strains. Two experiments were carried out, each including 480-day-old male broilers (Ross 308), which were randomly distributed to eight experimental groups using six replicate pens per treatment and 10 birds per pen. In Experiment 1, birds were fed diets containing soybean oil, palm kernel fatty acid distillers, rendered pork fat and lard. In Experiment 2, birds were fed diets containing rapeseed oil, coconut oil, beef tallow and palm oil. In both experiments, the birds were either not challenged or challenged with a mixture of three C. perfringens type A strains. Irrespective of the fat type present in the diet, C. perfringens did not affect broiler chicken body weight gain (BWG) and mortality in either of the two experiments. The BWG was affected by dietary fat type in both experiments, indicating that the fatty acid composition of the fat source affects broiler growth performance. In particular, the inclusion of animal fats tended to improve final BW to a greater extent compared with the inclusion of unsaturated vegetable oils. In Experiment 2, irrespective of the dietary fat type present in the diet, C. perfringens challenge significantly impaired feed conversion ratio in the period from 14 to 28 days (1.63 v. 1.69) and at 42 days (1.65 v. 1.68). In both experiments apparent metabolizable energy values were affected by dietary fat type. Irrespective of the fat type present in the diet, C. perfringens challenge decreased the digesta pH in the crop and ileum, but had no effect in cecal contents. Moreover, in Experiment 1, total organic acid concentration in the ileum was two to three times lower on soybean oil diets as compared with other treatments, indicating that C. perfringens as well as dietary fat type significantly affects microbiota activity in the broiler chicken gastrointestinal tract.

Challenges of Conducting Research With Young Offenders With Traumatic Brain Injury.

PubMed

OʼRourke, Conall; Templeton, Michelle; Cohen, Miriam H; Linden, Mark A

2018-05-31

The purpose of this commentary is to highlight the challenges encountered when conducting research with young offenders. This is drawn from the first-hand experience of 3 researchers working on separate projects within this environment. Young offenders present as a complex clinical population with high levels of illiteracy, substance abuse, and mental health issues. Significant planning is therefore required before working with this group. Consideration must be given to the heterogeneity of prison populations alongside the potential limitations of datacollection methods, in particular, reliance on self-report. The capacity of young offenders to comprehend and effectively engage with research is also of concern, posing issues of both a practical and ethical nature. The absence of a consistent "research culture" within prison environments poses further practical challenges, potentially also placing significant burden on both researchers and prison resources. The challenges discussed in this article may help inform future studies in the area and emphasize the need for greater critical reflection among researchers conducting work of this type.

Neutralizing salivary pH by mouthwashes after an acidic challenge.

PubMed

Dehghan, Mojdeh; Tantbirojn, Daranee; Kymer-Davis, Emily; Stewart, Colette W; Zhang, Yanhui H; Versluis, Antheunis; Garcia-Godoy, Franklin

2017-05-01

The aim of the present study was to test the neutralizing effect of mouthwashes on salivary pH after an acidic challenge. Twelve participants were recruited for three visits, one morning per week. Resting saliva was collected at baseline and after 2-min swishing with 20 mL orange juice as an acidic challenge. Participants then rinsed their mouth for 30 s with 20 mL water (control), an over-the-counter mouthwash (Listerine), or a two-step mouthwash, randomly assigned for each visit. Saliva was collected immediately, 15, and 45 min after rinsing. The pH values of the collected saliva were measured and analyzed with anova, followed by Student-Newman-Keuls post-hoc test (significance level: 0.05). Orange juice significantly lowered salivary pH. Immediately after rinsing, Listerine and water brought pH back to baseline values, with the pH significantly higher in the Listerine group. The two-step mouthwash raised pH significantly higher than Listerine and water, and higher than the baseline value. Salivary pH returned to baseline and was not significantly different among groups at 15 and 45 min post-rinsing. Mouth rinsing after an acidic challenge increased salivary pH. The tested mouthwashes raised pH higher than water. Mouthwashes with a neutralizing effect can potentially reduce tooth erosion from acid exposure. © 2015 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Radiation Test Challenges for Scaled Commerical Memories

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LaBel, Kenneth A.; Ladbury, Ray L.; Cohn, Lewis M.; Oldham, Timothy

2007-01-01

As sub-100nm CMOS technologies gather interest, the radiation effects performance of these technologies provide a significant challenge. In this talk, we shall discuss the radiation testing challenges as related to commercial memory devices. The focus will be on complex test and failure modes emerging in state-of-the-art Flash non-volatile memories (NVMs) and synchronous dynamic random access memories (SDRAMs), which are volatile. Due to their very high bit density, these device types are highly desirable for use in the natural space environment. In this presentation, we shall discuss these devices with emphasis on considerations for test and qualification methods required.

Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Research Review for School Counselors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Auger, Richard W.

2013-01-01

The number of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has risen significantly in recent years (CDC, 2012), and students with ASD present unique challenges to schools and school counselors. This article presents a synthesis of recent research literature related to ASD for the purpose of providing school counselors with assistance in…

Fragment-based lead discovery: challenges and opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Chaohong; Petros, Andrew M.; Hajduk, Philip J.

2011-07-01

Fragment-based lead discovery has undergone remarkable changes over the last 15 years. During this time, the pharmaceutical industry has changed dramatically as well, and continued evolution of the industry is assured. These changes present many challenges but also several opportunities for executing fragment-based drug design. This article will explore some of the more significant changes in the industry and how they may affect future discovery efforts related to fragment-based initiatives.

Refractive Index Measurement of Fibers Through Fizeau Interferometry

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-08-01

15. SUBJECT TERMS composite, transparent, refractive index, refractometry , interferometer 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF...transparent fibers has long presented a significant challenge. Abbe refractometry , the typical measurement technique for bulk materials and liquids

Development of hand-held thermographic inspection technologies.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-08-01

Subsurface deterioration in concrete structures presents a significant challenge for inspection and maintenance engineers. Cracking, delaminations and spalling that can occur as a result of corrosion of embedded reinforcing steel can lead to pot hole...

Nanomedicine for safe healing of bone trauma: Opportunities and challenges

PubMed Central

Behzadi, Shahed; Luther, Gaurav A.; Harris, Mitchel B.; Farokhzad, Omid C.; Mahmoudi, Morteza

2017-01-01

Historically, high-energy extremity injuries resulting in significant soft-tissue trauma and bone loss were often deemed unsalvageable and treated with primary amputation. With improved soft-tissue coverage and nerve repair techniques, these injuries now present new challenges in limb-salvage surgery. High-energy extremity trauma is pre-disposed to delayed or unpredictable bony healing and high rates of infection, depending on the integrity of the soft-tissue envelope. Furthermore, orthopedic trauma surgeons are often faced with the challenge of stabilizing and repairing large bony defects while promoting an optimal environment to prevent infection and aid bony healing. During the last decade, nanomedicine has demonstrated substantial potential in addressing the two major issues intrinsic to orthopedic traumas (i.e., high infection risk and low bony reconstruction) through combatting bacterial infection and accelerating/increasing the effectiveness of the bone-healing process. This review presents an overview and discusses recent challenges and opportunities to address major orthopedic trauma through nanomedical approaches. PMID:28918266

Summary of the 2014 Sandia V&V Challenge Workshop

DOE PAGES

Schroeder, Benjamin B.; Hu, Kenneth T.; Mullins, Joshua Grady; ...

2016-02-19

A discussion of the five responses to the 2014 Sandia Verification and Validation (V&V) Challenge Problem, presented within this special issue, is provided hereafter. Overviews of the challenge problem workshop, workshop participants, and the problem statement are also included. Brief summations of teams' responses to the challenge problem are provided. Issues that arose throughout the responses that are deemed applicable to the general verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification (VVUQ) community are the main focal point of this paper. The discussion is oriented and organized into big picture comparison of data and model usage, VVUQ activities, and differentiating conceptual themes behindmore » the teams' VVUQ strategies. Significant differences are noted in the teams' approaches toward all VVUQ activities, and those deemed most relevant are discussed. Beyond the specific details of VVUQ implementations, thematic concepts are found to create differences among the approaches; some of the major themes are discussed. Lastly, an encapsulation of the key contributions, the lessons learned, and advice for the future are presented.« less

"Endovascular embolic hemispherectomy": a strategy for the initial management of catastrophic holohemispheric epilepsy in the neonate.

PubMed

Oluigbo, Chima; Pearl, Monica S; Tsuchida, Tammy N; Chang, Taeun; Ho, Cheng-Ying; Gaillard, William D

2017-03-01

Conflicting challenges abound in the management of the newborn with intractable epilepsy related to hemimegalencephaly. Early hemispherectomy to stop seizures and prevent deleterious consequences to future neurocognitive development must be weighed against the technical and anesthetic challenges of performing major hemispheric surgery in the neonate. We hereby present our experience with two neonates with hemimegalencephaly and intractable seizures who were managed using a strategy of initial minimally invasive embolization of the cerebral blood supply to the involved hemisphere. Immediate significant seizure control was achieved after embolization of the cerebral blood supply to the involved hemisphere followed by delayed ipsilateral hemispheric resection at a later optimal age. The considerations and challenges encountered in the course of the management of these patients are discussed, and a literature review is presented.

Wind Turbine Drivetrain Reliability Collaborative Workshop: A Recap

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

Keller, Jonathan; Sheng, Shuangwen; Cotrell, Jason

The Wind Turbine Drivetrain Reliability Collaborative Workshop was convened by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Argonne National Laboratory, and the U.S. Department of Energy to explore the state of the art in wind turbine drivetrain mechanical system reliability as well as research and development (R&D) challenges that if solved could have significant benefits. The workshop was held at the Research Support Facility on NREL's main campus in Golden, Colorado, from February 16-17, 2016. More than 120 attendees participated from industry, academia, and government. Plenary presentations covered wind turbine drivetrain design, testing, and analysis; tribology -- the science and engineeringmore » of interacting surfaces in relative motion -- and failure modes; and condition monitoring and data analytics. In addition to the presentations, workshops were held in each of these areas to discuss R&D challenges. This report serves as a summary of the presentations, workshops, and conclusions on R&D challenges in wind turbine drivetrain reliability.« less

Department of Transportation's intelligent transportation systems (ITS) projects book

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-01-01

Surface transportation systems in the United States today face a number of significant challenges. Congestion and safety continue to present serious problems in spite of the nations superb roadway systems. Congestion imposes an exorbitant cost on ...

Department of Transportation's intelligent transportation systems (ITS) projects book

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-01-01

Surface transportation systems in the United States today face a number of significant challenges. Congestion and safety continue to present serious problems in spite of the nations superb roadway systems. Congestion imposes an exorbitant cost on ...

Avoiding Stereotyping and Enhancing Intercultural Understanding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Welsh, Alistair

2011-01-01

Anecdotally, language learners often struggle to acquire intercultural understanding. Teaching intercultural understanding presents significant challenges for language teachers. This article offers some insights into language learners' intercultural understanding and strategies to help enhance intercultural understanding that seek to promote…

Guardrails for use on historic bridges : volume 1--replacement strategies.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-11-01

Bridges that are designated historic present a special challenge to bridge engineers whenever rehabilitation work or improvements are : made to the bridges. Federal and state laws protect historically significant bridges, and railings on these bridge...

From Picas to Pixels: An Astro 101 e-Book

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shawl, S.; Byrd, G.; Deustua, S.; LoPresto, M.

2015-11-01

What happens when a publisher discontinues publishing a textbook? That was the dilemma we were presented. Given that we know we have a high quality product that can contribute to student understanding of science in general and astronomy in particular, and that significant efforts had already been expended on the project, we decided to self-publish, even knowing that the challenges, and the gamble in terms of time and personal expense, were great. Self publication provides an opportunity to produce an updated edition at great cost savings to students— something faculty often say is an important consideration in their choice of a book. We discuss the many significant challenges, the greatest of which is marketing. We present the end result: a completed publication in various e-book formats and with links to the Discovering Astronomy Concept Videos made for the book (Figure 1). Details of the book, a sample chapter, and other information are available online.

Traffic Flow Management Wrap-Up

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grabbe, Shon

2011-01-01

Traffic Flow Management involves the scheduling and routing of air traffic subject to airport and airspace capacity constraints, and the efficient use of available airspace. Significant challenges in this area include: (1) weather integration and forecasting, (2) accounting for user preferences in the Traffic Flow Management decision making process, and (3) understanding and mitigating the environmental impacts of air traffic on the environment. To address these challenges, researchers in the Traffic Flow Management area are developing modeling, simulation and optimization techniques to route and schedule air traffic flights and flows while accommodating user preferences, accounting for system uncertainties and considering the environmental impacts of aviation. This presentation will highlight some of the major challenges facing researchers in this domain, while also showcasing recent innovations designed to address these challenges.

Development of upper limb prostheses: current progress and areas for growth.

PubMed

González-Fernández, Marlís

2014-06-01

Upper extremity prosthetic technology has significantly changed in recent years. The devices available and those under development are more and more able to approximate the function of the lost limb; however, other challenges remain. This article provides a brief perspective on the most advanced upper limb prostheses available and the challenges present for continued development of the technology. Copyright © 2014 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An introduction to global carbon cycle management

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sundquist, Eric T.; Ackerman, Katherine V.; Parker, Lauren; Huntzinger, Deborah N.

2009-01-01

Past and current human activities have fundamentally altered the global carbon cycle. Potential future efforts to control atmospheric CO2 will also involve significant changes in the global carbon cycle. Carbon cycle scientists and engineers now face not only the difficulties of recording and understanding past and present changes but also the challenge of providing information and tools for new management strategies that are responsive to societal needs. The challenge is nothing less than managing the global carbon cycle.

Behavioral Interventions to Address Sleep Disturbances in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turner, Kylan S.; Johnson, Cynthia R.

2013-01-01

Sleep problems are a common occurrence among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In addition to the adverse effects that sleep problems present for children's neurodevelopment, learning, and daytime behaviors, these sleep problems also present significant challenges for the entire family. This article outlines the results of a…

Flood Forecasting in Wales: Challenges and Solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

How, Andrew; Williams, Christopher

2015-04-01

With steep, fast-responding river catchments, exposed coastal reaches with large tidal ranges and large population densities in some of the most at-risk areas; flood forecasting in Wales presents many varied challenges. Utilising advances in computing power and learning from best practice within the United Kingdom and abroad have seen significant improvements in recent years - however, many challenges still remain. Developments in computing and increased processing power comes with a significant price tag; greater numbers of data sources and ensemble feeds brings a better understanding of uncertainty but the wealth of data needs careful management to ensure a clear message of risk is disseminated; new modelling techniques utilise better and faster computation, but lack the history of record and experience gained from the continued use of more established forecasting models. As a flood forecasting team we work to develop coastal and fluvial forecasting models, set them up for operational use and manage the duty role that runs the models in real time. An overview of our current operational flood forecasting system will be presented, along with a discussion on some of the solutions we have in place to address the challenges we face. These include: • real-time updating of fluvial models • rainfall forecasting verification • ensemble forecast data • longer range forecast data • contingency models • offshore to nearshore wave transformation • calculation of wave overtopping

The Sustainable Development of Space: Astro-environmental and dynamical considerations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boley, Aaron; Byers, Michael; Russell, Sara

2018-04-01

The sustainable development of space is a global (and exo-global) challenge that is not limited by borders or research disciplines. Sustainable development is "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". While the development of space brings new economic and scientific possibilities, it also carries significant political, legal, and technical uncertainties. For example, the rapidly increasing accessibility of space is motivating states to unilaterally adopt legislation for the new era of space use, which may have significant unintended consequences, such as increased risks to space assets, disputes among state as well as non-state actors, and changes to unique astro-environments. Any policy or legal position must be informed by the dynamical and astrophysical realities of space use, creating complex and interwoven challenges. Here, we explore several of these potential challenges related to astro-environmentalism, space minining operations, and the associated dynamics.

Fear of Vomiting and Low Body Weight in Two Pediatric Patients: Diagnostic Challenges.

PubMed

Maertens, Charlotte; Couturier, Jennifer; Grant, Christina; Johnson, Natasha

2017-01-01

Fear of vomiting can be a symptom associated with several disorders, including Eating Disorders (ED), Specific Phobia (Emetophobia), Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), making proper diagnosis challenging. At this time the literature exploring this symptom is limited, and to our knowledge very few cases have been described in the child and adolescent population. We report here the cases of one child and one adolescent presenting with significant weight loss, food restriction and fear of vomiting. The child's fear of vomiting masked a concurrent desire to achieve fitness and weight loss, which was uncovered following weight restoration. The adolescent patient, although significantly underweight and food avoidant, also expressed no concerns with body image, until weight restored. The history, course in hospital and management of these patients is discussed, along with several challenges that complicated the diagnosis.

Guardrails for use on historic bridges: volume 2--bridge deck overhang design.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-11-01

Bridges that are designated historic present a special challenge to bridge engineers whenever rehabilitation work or improvements are : made to the bridges. Federal and state laws protect historically significant bridges, and railings on these bridge...

Exploring Human Freeze Responses to a Threat Stressor

PubMed Central

Schmidt, Norman B.; Richey, J. Anthony; Zvolensky, Michael J.; Maner, Jon K.

2008-01-01

Despite the fundamental nature of tonic immobility in anxiety responses, surprisingly little empirical research has focused on the “freeze” response in humans. The present report evaluated frequency and predictors of a freeze response in the context of a biological challenge. A nonclinical sample (N = 404) underwent a 20-sec inhalation of 20% CO2/balance O2. Perceptions of immobility in the context of the challenge were reported in 13% of the sample, compared to 20% reporting a significant desire to flee. Subjective anxiety and panic during the challenge were associated with the freeze response, as were a number of anxiety symptom dimensions. PMID:17880916

The Apollo Expericence Lessons Learned for Constellation Lunar Dust Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Sandra

2006-09-01

Lunar dust will present significant challenges to NASA's Lunar Exploration Missions. The challenges can be overcome by using best practices in system engineering design. For successful lunar surface missions, all systems that come into contact with lunar dust must consider the effects throughout the entire design process. Interfaces between all these systems with other systems also must be considered. Incorporating dust management into Concept of Operations and Requirements development are the best place to begin to mitigate the risks presented by lunar dust. However, that is only the beginning. To be successful, every person who works on NASA's Constellation lunar missions must be mindful of this problem. Success will also require fiscal responsibility. NASA must learn from Apollo the root cause of problems caused by dust, and then find the most cost-effective solutions to address each challenge. This will require a combination of common sense existing technologies and promising, innovative technical solutions

The Apollo Experience Lessons Learned for Constellation Lunar Dust Management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wagner, Sandra

2006-01-01

Lunar dust will present significant challenges to NASA's Lunar Exploration Missions. The challenges can be overcome by using best practices in system engineering design. For successful lunar surface missions, all systems that come into contact with lunar dust must consider the effects throughout the entire design process. Interfaces between all these systems with other systems also must be considered. Incorporating dust management into Concept of Operations and Requirements development are the best place to begin to mitigate the risks presented by lunar dust. However, that is only the beginning. To be successful, every person who works on NASA's Constellation lunar missions must be mindful of this problem. Success will also require fiscal responsibility. NASA must learn from Apollo the root cause of problems caused by dust, and then find the most cost-effective solutions to address each challenge. This will require a combination of common sense existing technologies and promising, innovative technical solutions

Translating genomic information into clinical medicine: lung cancer as a paradigm.

PubMed

Levy, Mia A; Lovly, Christine M; Pao, William

2012-11-01

We are currently in an era of rapidly expanding knowledge about the genetic landscape and architectural blueprints of various cancers. These discoveries have led to a new taxonomy of malignant diseases based upon clinically relevant molecular alterations in addition to histology or tissue of origin. The new molecularly based classification holds the promise of rational rather than empiric approaches for the treatment of cancer patients. However, the accelerated pace of discovery and the expanding number of targeted anti-cancer therapies present a significant challenge for healthcare practitioners to remain informed and up-to-date on how to apply cutting-edge discoveries into daily clinical practice. In this Perspective, we use lung cancer as a paradigm to discuss challenges related to translating genomic information into the clinic, and we present one approach we took at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center to address these challenges.

Haemato-immunological and stress responses of Labeo rohita (Hamilton) fingerlings: effect of rearing temperature and dietary gelatinized carbohydrate.

PubMed

Alexander, C; Sahu, N P; Pal, A K; Akhtar, M S

2011-10-01

A feeding trial of 70-days was carried out to study the haemato-immunological and stress responses of Labeo rohita fingerlings reared at two water temperatures [ambient (Amb) - 27 °C and 32 °C] fed with graded levels of gelatinized corn carbohydrate (GC). Two hundred and sixteen fingerlings were randomly distributed into six treatment groups in triplicate. Three semi-purified diets were prepared containing 30% crude protein with graded levels of GC 40%, 50% and 58%. The six treatment groups were T(1) (40% GC × Amb), T(2) (40% GC × 32 °C), T(3) (50% GC × Amb), T(4) (50% GC× 32 °C), T(5) (58% GC × Amb) and T(6) (58% GC × 32 °C). The blood glucose level was significantly (p < 0.05) lowered in groups fed with 58% GC level. Neither dietary GC levels nor temperature had a significant (p > 0.05) effect on serum cortisol and superoxide dismutase activity. Lysozyme activity was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in T(1) during pre- and post-challenge period while temperature alone had a significant (p < 0.05) effect on post-challenge Nitroblue Tetrazolium and found higher at 32 °C. A significant effect of GC levels and rearing temperature was recorded on WBC in the pre- and post-challenge period. Highest pre-challenge WBC was observed in T(4) group and in the post-challenge period T(1) group recorded maximum. Water temperature had significant effect on pre-challenge haemoglobin content, highest being at 32 °C (T(2) ). A significant (p < 0.05) effect of rearing temperature and dietary GC level on total serum protein and albumin was also observed. Highest total serum protein and albumin was recorded in T(1) and globulin in T(2) . Percentage survival after challenging with Aeromonas hydrophila was highest in T(1) followed by T(3) group and lowest in T(6) . The results obtained in the present study suggest that L. rohita fingerlings may utilize higher levels of dietary GC at higher temperature (32 °C) but may affect its immunity status. © 2010 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

An Exploratory Study of Aggression in School-Age Children: Underlying Factors and Implications for Treatment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Priddis, Lynn E.; Landy, Sarah; Moroney, Darren; Kane, Robert

2014-01-01

Aggressive behaviour in school-aged children presents a significant challenge for society. If not managed, it can result in adverse academic, social, emotional, and behavioural outcomes for the child. In addition, it can create stress for families and become a significant burden for the community as these children reach adolescence and adulthood,…

The Changing Nature and Patterns of Work and Implications for VET. Review of Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waterhouse, Peter; Wilson, Bruce; Ewer, Peter

An overview of recent literature on changes in the nature and patterns of work and their implications for vocational education and training (VET) is offered. Changes in the nature and patterns of work present significant challenges to the VET sector. More women have entered the work force; unemployment has reemerged as a significant factor;…

Reliability, Safety and Error Recovery for Advanced Control Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malin, Jane T.

2003-01-01

For long-duration automated operation of regenerative life support systems in space environments, there is a need for advanced integration and control systems that are significantly more reliable and safe, and that support error recovery and minimization of operational failures. This presentation outlines some challenges of hazardous space environments and complex system interactions that can lead to system accidents. It discusses approaches to hazard analysis and error recovery for control software and challenges of supporting effective intervention by safety software and the crew.

Fundamental Challenges for Modeling Electrochemical Energy Storage Systems at the Atomic Scale.

PubMed

Groß, Axel

2018-04-23

There is a strong need to improve the efficiency of electrochemical energy storage, but progress is hampered by significant technological and scientific challenges. This review describes the potential contribution of atomic-scale modeling to the development of more efficient batteries, with a particular focus on first-principles electronic structure calculations. Numerical and theoretical obstacles are discussed, along with ways to overcome them, and some recent examples are presented illustrating the insights into electrochemical energy storage that can be gained from quantum chemical studies.

Space flight nutrition research: platforms and analogs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Scott M.; Uchakin, Peter N.; Tobin, Brian W.

2002-01-01

Conducting research during actual or simulated weightlessness is a challenging endeavor, where even the simplest activities may present significant challenges. This article reviews some of the potential obstacles associated with performing research during space flight and offers brief descriptions of current and previous space research platforms and ground-based analogs, including those for human, animal, and cell-based research. This review is intended to highlight the main issues of space flight research analogs and leave the specifics for each physiologic system for the other papers in this section.

A "Carbon Reduction Challenge" as tool for undergraduate engagement on climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cobb, K. M.; Toktay, B.

2017-12-01

Institutions of higher education must meet the challenges of educating the generation that must make significant progress towards stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gases. However, the interdisciplinary nature of the climate change problem, and the fact that solutions will necessarily involve manipulating natural systems, advancing energy technologies, and developing innovative policy instruments means that traditional disciplinary tracks are not well-suited for the task. Furthermore, institutions must not only equip students with fundamental knowledge about climate and energy, but they must empower a generation of students to become part of the climate change solution. Here we present the cumulative results of the `Carbon Reduction Challenge' - a team-based competition to reduce CO2 that is conducted in an interdisciplinary undergraduate class called "Energy, the Environment, and Society" at Georgia Institute of Technology. Working with 30 undergraduate students from all years and all majors, we demonstrate how student teams move through a highly-structured timeline of deliverables towards achieving their team's end-of-semester goals. We discuss the importance of student creativity, ingenuity, initiative, and perseverance in achieving project outcomes, which in 2017 topped 5 million pounds of CO2 reductions - the all-time record for the class. Student-driven reductions on a year-to-year basis track an exponential growth curve through time. Based on the success of a pilot Carbon Reduction Challenge conducted in the summer of 2017, we present evidence that student-led partnerships with large corporations represents the area of largest potential for student success. Such partnerships deliver significant value added to students (professional conduct, on-the-job training, networking), the corporate partner (cost savings, talent recruitment, and public relations), and to the higher education institution (corporate relations contacts). In summary, the Carbon Reduction Challenge represents a solutions-oriented, hands-on, project-based learning tool that has achieved significant pedagogical benefits while delivering real-world carbon reductions and cost savings to community stakeholders.

CLOSURE OF LARYNGECTOMY DEFECTS IN THE AGE OF CHEMORADIATION THERAPY

PubMed Central

Hanasono, Matthew M.; Lin, Derrick; Wax, Mark K.

2014-01-01

The use of chemoradiation therapy in laryngeal cancer has resulted in significant reconstructive challenges. Although reconstruction of salvage laryngectomy defects remains controversial, current literature supports aggressive management of these defects with vascularized tissue, even when there is sufficient pharyngeal tissue present for primary closure. Significant advancement in reconstructive techniques has permitted improved outcomes in patients with advanced disease who require total laryngopharyngectomy or total laryngoglossectomy. Use of enteric and fasciocutaneous flaps result in good patient outcomes. Finally, wound complication rates after salvage surgery approach 60% depending on comorbid conditions such as cardiac insufficiency, hypothyroidism, or extent of previous treatment. Neck dehiscence, great vessel exposure, fistula formation, or cervical skin necrosis results in complex wounds that can often be treated initially with negative pressure dressings followed by definitive reconstruction. The timing of repair and approach to the vessel-depleted neck also present challenges in this patient population. Currently, there is significant institutional bias in the management of the patient with postchemoradiation salvage laryngectomy. Future prospective multi-institutional studies are certainly needed to more clearly define optimal treatment of these difficult patients. PMID:21416549

Profiling 976 ToxCast chemicals across 331 enzymatic and receptor signaling assays

EPA Science Inventory

Understanding potential health risks is a significant challenge for large numbers of diverse chemicals with poorly characterized exposures and mechanisms of toxicities. The present study analyzes chemical-target activity profiles of 976 chemicals (including failed pharmaceuticals...

0-6781 : improved nighttime work zone channelization in confined urban projects.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-08-01

Turning into and out of driveways in confined or : dense urban work zones can present significant : challenges to drivers, especially during nighttime : conditions when other visual cues about the : driveways may be masked in the dark. These : challe...

Treatments to reduce the frequency of freeway exit sign hits.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-06-01

Exit gore signs present a significant maintenance challenge for TxDOT. There is concern regarding the safety : of personnel working in gore areas to replace these signs, and the resources necessary for continual : maintenance. The objective of this p...

Panama Canal : a new course for the canal

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-01-01

While the Panama Canal provides significant time savings, passage through this narrow waterway presents a host of challenges. Soon all canal pilots will have a new tool in their efforts to safely guide vessels through this difficult canal: a Communic...

Rehabilitation of Great Basin rangelands: an integrated approach

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Disturbed rangelands present significant challenges to resource managers and land owners. In the Great Basin, exotic annual grasses have truncated secondary succession by outcompeting native perennial species for limited moisture and nutrients. An integrated approach to successfully control such inv...

Activity profiles of 309 ToxCast™ chemicals evaluated across 292 biochemical targets

EPA Science Inventory

Understanding the potential health risks posed by environmental chemicals is a significant challenge elevated by the large number of diverse chemicals with generally uncharacterized exposures, mechanisms, and toxicities. The present study is a performance evaluation and critical ...

Taking on Nationalism in the Name of Intercultural Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meadows, Bryan

2010-01-01

Nationalism presents significant challenges to intercultural competence instruction. On the one hand, nationalism promotes the compartmentalization of communities into mutually-exclusive and discretely-defined nationalist entities. In complementary fashion, nationalism also advocates the homogenization of cultural and linguistic practices within…

Progressive outer retinal necrosis: a missed diagnosis and a blind, young woman.

PubMed

Parekh, Parth; Oldfield, Edward C; Marik, Paul E

2013-04-22

We present a 33-year-old woman with a history significant for HIV/AIDS (CD4 count of 17) and diabetes mellitus who was diagnosed as having progressive outer retinal necrosis (PORN) after presenting with peripheral vision loss. This case provided a diagnostic challenge and demonstrates the devastating effects of a misdiagnosis as it pertains to PORN.

Progressive outer retinal necrosis: a missed diagnosis and a blind, young woman

PubMed Central

Parekh, Parth; Oldfield, Edward C; Marik, Paul E

2013-01-01

We present a 33-year-old woman with a history significant for HIV/AIDS (CD4 count of 17) and diabetes mellitus who was diagnosed as having progressive outer retinal necrosis (PORN) after presenting with peripheral vision loss. This case provided a diagnostic challenge and demonstrates the devastating effects of a misdiagnosis as it pertains to PORN. PMID:23608868

Meso and micro level workforce challenges in psychiatric rehabilitation.

PubMed

Reifels, Lennart; Pirkis, Jane

2012-01-01

Results of an exploratory study are presented which examined workforce challenges in Australia's most established psychiatric rehabilitation sector. The study had the two-fold aim of investigating workforce challenges at an organizational ("meso") level and at the level of direct-service workers' daily practice ("micro"). Data from 23 key informant interviews conducted with service managers and long-serving staff were analyzed through basic descriptive and thematic analyses. Organizations faced significant annual staff turnover (25.6%), specific staff supply shortages, and challenges in recruiting staff with adequate experience and longevity to match the complexity of client issues. Workers equally encountered challenges in this increasingly complex and rapidly changing field of work. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Workforce strategies designed to attract/retain experienced staff can improve workforce cohesiveness and sustainability, as can training and support activities aimed at equipping staff to reflect on and operate in dynamic and changing work environments.

pyLIMA : The first open source microlensing modeling software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachelet, Etienne; Street, Rachel; Bozza, Valerio

2018-01-01

Microlensing is highly sensitive to planets beyond the snowline and distributed along the line of sight towards the Galactic Bulge. The WFIRST-AFTA mission should detect about 3000 of these planets and significantly improves our knowledge of planet formation and statistics, complementing results found by transit and radial velocity methods. However, the modeling of microlensing event is challenging on different aspects leading to a highly time consuming analysis. After a quick summarize of these different challenges, I will present pyLIMA, the first open source microlensing modeling software. The aimed goal of this software are to be flexible, powerful and user friendly. This presentation will focus on various case and early results.

Lesson of the month 2: toxic shock syndrome.

PubMed

Shalaby, Tamer; Anandappa, Samantha; Pocock, Nicholas John; Keough, Alexander; Turner, Angus

2014-06-01

Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) represents a fascinating example of immune activation caused by infection resulting in a dramatic and challenging clinical syndrome. TSS is commonly associated with tampon use and still causes significant morbidity and mortality in young healthy women. A misconception is that TSS presents with a skin rash and only occurs in women and children; however, it can occur in males and can present without skin changes. TSS presents initially as a febrile illness and within a few hours can progress to severe hypotension and multiple organ failure (MOF). Staphylococcus aureus and group A beta haemolytic streptococcus (GABHS) can secrete toxins from a small or hidden focus of infection and hence blood culture and sensitivity (C+S) tests can be negative, thereby making diagnosing this condition challenging. Clindamycin is superior to penicillin in the treatment of this condition and significantly decreases the mortality rate in TSS. However, there is also an important role for intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG). Early intensive care unit (ICU) as well as surgical team involvement (in selected cases) is required to avoid mortality which may approach 70%. © 2014 Royal College of Physicians.

Decentralized manufacturing of cell and gene therapies: Overcoming challenges and identifying opportunities.

PubMed

Harrison, Richard P; Ruck, Steven; Medcalf, Nicholas; Rafiq, Qasim A

2017-10-01

Decentralized or "redistributed" manufacturing has the potential to revolutionize the manufacturing approach for cell and gene therapies (CGTs), moving away from the "Fordist" paradigm, delivering health care locally, customized to the end user and, by its very nature, overcoming many of the challenges associated with manufacturing and distribution of high volume goods. In departing from the traditional centralized model of manufacturing, decentralized manufacturing divides production across sites or geographic regions. This paradigm shift imposes significant structural and organisational changes on a business presenting both hidden challenges that must be addressed and opportunities to be embraced. By profoundly adapting business practices, significant advantages can be realized through a democratized value chain, creation of professional-level jobs without geographic restriction to the central hub and a flexibility in response to external pressures and demands. To realize these potential opportunities, however, advances in manufacturing technology and support systems are required, as well as significant changes in the way CGTs are regulated to facilitate multi-site manufacturing. Decentralized manufacturing is likely to be the manufacturing platform of choice for advanced health care therapies-in particular, those with a high degree of personalization. The future success of these promising products will be enhanced by adopting sound business strategies early in development. To realize the benefits that decentralized manufacturing of CGTs has to offer, it is important to examine both the risks and the substantial opportunities present. In this research, we examine both the challenges and the opportunities this shift in business strategy represents in an effort to maximize the success of adoption. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The promise of e-health--a Canadian perspective.

PubMed

Alvarez, Richard C

2004-01-01

Canadians value their health care system above any other social programme. Canada's system of health care faces significant financial and population pressures, relating to cost, access, quality, accountability, and the intergration of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The health-system also faces certain unique challenges that include care delivery within a highly decentralised system of financing and accountability, and care delivery to a significant portion of the population sparsely distributed across a land mass of 10 million square kilometres, in areas of extreme climatic conditions. All of these challenges are significant catalysts in the development of technologies that aim to significantly mitigate or eliminate these selfsame challenges. The system is undergoing widespread review, nationally and within each province and territory, where the bulk of care provision is financed and managed. The challenges are being addressed by national, regional and provincial initiatives in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. The promise of e-health lies in the manner and degree to which it can mitigate or resolve these challenges to the health system and build on advancements in ICTs supporting the development of a health infostructure. Canada is actively developing and implementing technological solutions to deliver health information and health care services across the country. These solutions, while exciting and promising, also present new challenges, particularly in regard to acceptable standards, choice of technologies, overcoming traditional jurisdictional boundaries, up-front investment, and privacy and confidentiality. Many organizations and governments are working to address these challenges. Canada Health Infoway, a not-for-profit corporation, was founded by the first ministers in 2001 to accelerate the establishment of an interoperable, pan-Canadian electronic health record. It works with partners in the federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions to define replicable solutions for establishment of the major elements necessary to achieve this goal. The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) will also continue to play an increasingly significant role in these initiatives, as the management of health information becomes a more crucial factor in the successful delivery of health care services in the new millennium.

Urinary metabolites of histamine and leukotrienes before and after placebo-controlled challenge with ASA and food additives in chronic urticaria patients.

PubMed

Di Lorenzo, G; Pacor, M L; Vignola, A M; Profita, M; Esposito-Pellitteri, M; Biasi, D; Corrocher, R; Caruso, C

2002-12-01

The recovery of mediator metabolites from urine has the potential to provide a rapid, safe, and easily available index of release of mediators. We aimed to determine urinary metabolites of both histamine and leukotrienes (LTs) in patients affected by chronic urticaria (CU). Twenty patients with CU were studied. They were selected on the basis of double-blind placebo-controlled challenge (DBPC) with acetyl salicylic acid (ASA) and food additives. Ten patients (group B) were negative to both challenges. Ten patients (group C) presented urticaria and/or the appearance of angioedema during or 24 h after challenge, with reactions to ASA (five patients) or food additives (five patients). We recruited 15 healthy volunteers as controls (group A). During a second challenge, groups B and C were challenged double-blind with a single dose of ASA, or a specific food additive, or placebo. The healthy group was challenged only with a placebo (talc capsule). Patients in groups B and C were challenged twice: with placebo (as groups B1 and C1) and with ASA (groups B2 and C2) or food additives (C2). Four samples of urine were collected; one during the night before the specific or sham challenge (baseline), and three at 2, 6 and 24 h after the challenge. Urinary methylhistamine (N-MH) and LTE4 were analyzed and normalized for urinary creatinine. For urinary N-MH at baseline, there was a significant difference only between group A and groups B1, B2, C1 and C2 (A vs. B1, P < 0.0001; A vs. B2, P < 0.0001; A vs. C1, P < 0.0001; A vs. C2, P < 0.0001). We detected a significant variation in urinary methylhistamine excretion only in group C2 after 2 h, 6 h and 24 h (P < 0.0001). However, no variations were observed in N-MH excretion rate in the other groups (A, B1, C1) after challenge with placebo, and in B2 after challenge with ASA 20 mg. For urinary LTE4 at baseline no differences were found between the mean values for the different groups. After specific challenge, only C2 patients showed significantly increased excretion rates of urinary LTE4 compared with the other groups challenged with placebo (A, B1, C1), or ASA (B2) (P < 0.0001). No significant correlation was seen between urinary LTE4 and methylhistamine excretion rate in any patients. Our results show that urinary excretion of N-MH and LTE4 is different for CU patients without ASA or food hypersensitivity, compared to those with CU with ASA or food additive hypersensitivity after specific challenge.

Challenges in Translational Development of Pharmaceutical Cocrystals.

PubMed

Kale, Dnyaneshwar P; Zode, Sandeep S; Bansal, Arvind K

2017-02-01

The last 2 decades have witnessed increased research in the area of cocrystals resulting in deeper scientific understanding, increase in intellectual property landscape, and evolution in the regulatory environment. Pharmaceutical cocrystals have received significant attention as a new solid form on account of their ability to modulate poor physicochemical properties of drug molecules. However, pharmaceutical development of cocrystals could be challenging, thus limiting their translation into viable drug products. In the present commentary, the role of cocrystals in the modulation of material properties and challenges involved in the pharmaceutical development of cocrystals have been discussed. The major hurdles encountered in the development of cocrystals such as safety of coformers, unpredictable performance during dissolution and solubility in different media, difficulties in establishing in vitro-in vivo correlation, and polymorphism have been extensively discussed. The influence of selecting appropriate formulation and process design on these challenges has been discussed. Finally, a brief outline of cocrystals that are undergoing clinical development has also been presented. Copyright © 2017 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Insurance-related and financial challenges reported by managed care enrollees with breast cancer.

PubMed

Klimmek, Rachel; Snow, Denise; Wenzel, Jennifer

2010-10-01

Cancer survivors in the United States often encounter significant challenges in obtaining and paying for medical care. Multiple research studies have examined these issues in Medicare and Medicaid populations and the underinsured, but very little is known about insurance-related challenges encountered by cancer survivors enrolled in private insurance programs such as managed care. This secondary analysis of data explored the insurance-related and financial challenges reported by women enrolled in a managed care organization during cancer treatment and early follow-up. The researchers reviewed semistructured interviews with 14 women with breast cancer near the time of diagnosis, midway through treatment, and after treatment completion. Most women reported considerable stress related to performance of insurance-related tasks during or immediately after treatment, which resulted in negative emotional and psychological experiences. This article presents recommendations for how oncology nurses can intervene to assess and address these challenges and their effects. Future research should examine best practices related to nursing management of insurance-related and financial challenges during cancer.

Seizure as an initial presentation of human immunodeficiency virus: acute toxoplasmosis mimicking glioblastoma multiforme.

PubMed

Parekh, Parth; Boggs, Jody P; Silverberg, Marc; Marik, Paul

2013-11-14

We present a case of a 46-year-old man with a history significant only for hypertension and depression that presented with a new onset seizure resulting from a right parietal lobe mass. Further evaluation determined the parietal mass to be central nervous system toxoplasmosis, which was the initial presentation of his underlying HIV/AIDS. This case provided a diagnostic challenge and demonstrates the importance of a thorough evaluation as it pertains to a newly diagnosed brain lesion.

Profiling 976 ToxCast chemicals across 331 enzymatic and receptor signaling assays (Communities of Practice)

EPA Science Inventory

Understanding potential health risks is a significant challenge for large numbers of diverse chemicals with poorly characterized exposures and mechanisms of toxicities. The present study analyzes chemical-target activity profiles of 976 chemicals (including failed pharmaceuticals...

Quantifying tight-gas sandstone permeability via critical path analysis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Rock permeability has been actively investigated over the past several decades by the geosciences community. However, its accurate estimation still presents significant technical challenges, especially in spatially complex rocks. In this letter, we apply critical path analysis (CPA) to estimate perm...

Elite firefighter/first responder mindsets and outcome coping efficacy.

PubMed

Dowdall-Thomae, Cynthia; Gilkey, John; Larson, Wanda; Arend-Hicks, Rebecca

2012-01-01

The present study examined coping strategies used by firefighters, the relationship between appraisals and coping strategies used, and the relationship between transitional coping strategies used and outcome coping efficacy for mental preparedness. Firefighter coping strategies of problem focused coping and seeking social support were found to have positive significant relationships to outcome coping efficacy, after transitioning from one critical incident to a second. The coping strategies of blamed self wishful thinking, and avoidance appear to have a negative significant relationship to outcome coping efficacy. Additionally, the appraisals of challenge and positive reappraisal to meet the challenge appear to have a positive significant relationship to problem focused coping and seeking social support. These findings on outcome coping efficacy may be of help to firefighters for rehabilitative efforts after traumatic incidents when used in the Peer Support Review intervention model.

Photonic integrated circuits: new challenges for lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolten, Jens; Wahlbrink, Thorsten; Prinzen, Andreas; Porschatis, Caroline; Lerch, Holger; Giesecke, Anna Lena

2016-10-01

In this work routes towards the fabrication of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and the challenges their fabrication poses on lithography, such as large differences in feature dimension of adjacent device features, non-Manhattan-type features, high aspect ratios and significant topographic steps as well as tight lithographic requirements with respect to critical dimension control, line edge roughness and other key figures of merit not only for very small but also for relatively large features, are highlighted. Several ways those challenges are faced in today's low-volume fabrication of PICs, including the concept multi project wafer runs and mix and match approaches, are presented and possible paths towards a real market uptake of PICs are discussed.

Lessons learned for composite structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitehead, R. S.

1991-01-01

Lessons learned for composite structures are presented in three technology areas: materials, manufacturing, and design. In addition, future challenges for composite structures are presented. Composite materials have long gestation periods from the developmental stage to fully matured production status. Many examples exist of unsuccessful attempts to accelerate this gestation period. Experience has shown that technology transition of a new material system to fully matured production status is time consuming, involves risk, is expensive and should not be undertaken lightly. The future challenges for composite materials require an intensification of the science based approach to material development, extension of the vendor/customer interaction process to include all engineering disciplines of the end user, reduced material costs because they are a significant factor in overall part cost, and improved batch-to-batch pre-preg physical property control. Historical manufacturing lessons learned are presented using current in-service production structure as examples. Most producibility problems for these structures can be traced to their sequential engineering design. This caused an excessive emphasis on design-to-weight and schedule at the expense of design-to-cost. This resulted in expensive performance originated designs, which required costly tooling and led to non-producible parts. Historically these problems have been allowed to persist throughout the production run. The current/future approach for the production of affordable composite structures mandates concurrent engineering design where equal emphasis is placed on product and process design. Design for simplified assembly is also emphasized, since assembly costs account for a major portion of total airframe costs. The future challenge for composite manufacturing is, therefore, to utilize concurrent engineering in conjunction with automated manufacturing techniques to build affordable composite structures. Composite design experience has shown that significant weight savings have been achieved, outstanding fatigue and corrosion resistance have been demonstrated, and in-service performance has been very successful. Currently no structural design show stoppers exist for composite structures. A major lesson learned is that the full scale static test is the key test for composites, since it is the primary structural 'hot spot' indicator. The major durability issue is supportability of thin skinned structure. Impact damage has been identified as the most significant issue for the damage tolerance control of composite structures. However, delaminations induced during assembly operations have demonstrated a significant nuisance value. The future challenges for composite structures are threefold. Firstly, composite airframe weight fraction should increase to 60 percent. At the same time, the cost of composite structures must be reduced by 50 percent to attain the goal of affordability. To support these challenges it is essential to develop lower cost materials and processes.

Knowledge management and informatics considerations for comparative effectiveness research: a case-driven exploration.

PubMed

Embi, Peter J; Hebert, Courtney; Gordillo, Gayle; Kelleher, Kelly; Payne, Philip R O

2013-08-01

As clinical data are increasingly collected and stored electronically, their potential use for comparative effectiveness research (CER) grows. Despite this promise, challenges face those wishing to leverage such data. In this paper we aim to enumerate some of the knowledge management and informatics issues common to such data reuse. After reviewing the current state of knowledge regarding biomedical informatics challenges and best practices related to CER, we then present 2 research projects at our institution. We analyze these and highlight several common themes and challenges related to the conduct of CER studies. Finally, we represent these emergent themes. The informatics challenges commonly encountered by those conducting CER studies include issues related to data information and knowledge management (eg, data reuse, data preparation) as well as those related to people and organizational issues (eg, sociotechnical factors and organizational factors). Examples of these are described in further detail and a formal framework for describing these findings is presented. Significant challenges face researchers attempting to use often diverse and heterogeneous datasets for CER. These challenges must be understood in order to be dealt with successfully and can often be overcome with the appropriate use of informatics best practices. Many research and policy questions remain to be answered in order to realize the full potential of the increasingly electronic clinical data available for such research.

Reprocessing 30 years of ISCCP: Addressing satellite intercalibration for deriving a long-term cloud climatology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, A. H.; Knapp, K. R.; Inamdar, A.; Hankins, W. B.; Rossow, W. B.

2017-12-01

The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) has made significant changes in preparation for a reprocessing at NOAA's NCEI. This presentation will highlight these changes and the resulting new cloud products along with the challenges faced to address satellite intercalibration issues. The intercalibration challenges are largely due to the product's reliance on satellite observations from both polar orbiting (LEO) and geostationary (GEO) satellites. The presentation will also focus on the new products (ISCCP-H) which are reprocessed at a higher spatial resolution than previous versions (ISCCP-D) due to the use of higher resolution input data (e.g., 10 km geostationary and 4 km AVHRR data). Improvements, caveats, and a comparison against the predecessor D-Series product will also be presented. ISCCP-H data is now available at: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/isccp

Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Analysis for Regulatory Parameters - A Progress Report

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This presentation is a progress report on the analysis of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids for regulatory compounds outlined in the various US EPA methodologies. Fracturing fluids vary significantly in consistency and viscosity prior to fracturing. Due to the nature of the fluids the analytical challenges will have to be addressed. This presentation also outlines the sampling issues associated with the collection of dissolved gas samples.

21st Century Water Asset Accounting - Case Studies Report (WERF Report INFR6R12a)

EPA Science Inventory

America’s decaying water infrastructure presents significant financial and logistical challenges for water utilities. Green infrastructure has been gaining traction as a viable alternative and complement to traditional “grey” infrastructure for water management. Current accounti...

Assistive Technologies for Visually Impaired Persons : Developing Situational Awareness and Guidance Solutions for People with Vision Impairment and Other Disabilities

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-02-15

There are approximately 2 million adults with reported vision loss in the United States. Independent travel and active interactions with the surrounding environment present significant daily challenges for these individuals, ultimately reducing quali...

Best Practices in Working with Students with Emotion Dysregulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cunningham, Jennifer; Mendez, Linda M. Raffaele; Sundman-Wheat, Ashley N.

2011-01-01

Students with emotion dysregulation have significant difficulty modulating emotional reactions, particularly in response to frustration or challenge. These children can present with a variety of DSM diagnoses in schools, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), major depressive disorder (MDD),…

The American Science Pipeline: Sustaining Innovation in a Time of Economic Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hue, Gillian; Sales, Jessica; Comeau, Dawn; Lynn, David G.; Eisen, Arri

2010-01-01

Significant limitations have emerged in America's science training pipeline, including inaccessibility, inflexibility, financial limitations, and lack of diversity. We present three effective programs that collectively address these challenges. The programs are grounded in rigorous science and integrate through diverse disciplines across…

This Rock 'n' Roll Video Teaches Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niess, Margaret L.; Walker, Janet M.

2009-01-01

Mathematics is a discipline that has significantly advanced through the use of digital technologies with improved computational, graphical, and symbolic capabilities. Digital videos can be used to present challenging mathematical questions for students. Video clips offer instructional possibilities for moving students from a passive mode of…

Independent Evaluation: Insights from Public Accounting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Abigail B.; Klerman, Jacob Alex

2012-01-01

Background: Maintaining the independence of contract government program evaluation presents significant contracting challenges. The ideal outcome for an agency is often both the impression of an independent evaluation "and" a glowing report. In this, independent evaluation is like financial statement audits: firm management wants both a public…

Internationalizing Teacher Education in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaklee, Beverly D., Ed.; Baily, Supriya, Ed.

2012-01-01

As countries become increasingly interdependent, student populations in the United States are becoming more culturally diverse. These students' transnational perspectives present significant challenges to teachers, but a disconnect exists between the skills teachers need and those provided to them by colleges of education. As teacher preparation…

Activity profiles of 676 ToxCast Phase II compounds in 231 biochemical high-throughput screening assays

EPA Science Inventory

Understanding potential health risks posed by environmental chemicals is a significant challenge elevated by large numbers of diverse chemicals with generally uncharacterized exposures, mechanisms and toxicities. The present study is a performance evaluation and critical analysis...

The effects of central pro-and anti-inflammatory immune challenges on depressive-like behavior induced by chronic forced swim stress in rats.

PubMed

Pan, Yuqin; Lin, Wenjuan; Wang, Weiwen; Qi, Xiaoli; Wang, Donglin; Tang, Mingming

2013-06-15

Although increasing evidence demonstrates that both chronic stressors and inflammatory immune activation contribute to pathophysiology and behavioral alterations associated with major depression, little is known about the interaction effect of central inflammatory immune activation and stress on depressive-like behavior. Our previous work has shown that 14-day chronic forced swim stress induces significant depressive-like behavior. The present investigation assessed whether pro-inflammatory cytokine and anti-inflammatory cytokine challenges have differential interaction effect on depressive-like behavior induced by chronic forced swim stress in rats. The pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory immune challenges were achieved respectively by central administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a pro-inflammatory cytokine inducer, and interleukin-10 (IL-10), an anti-inflammatory cytokine. It was found that either central LPS treatment alone or chronic forced swim stress alone significantly induced depressive-like behavior, including reduced body weight gain, reduced saccharin preference and reduced locomotor activity. However, there was no significant synergistic or additive effect of central LPS treatment and stress on depressive-like behavior. LPS treatment did not exacerbate the depressive-like behavior induced by forced swim stress. Nevertheless, IL-10 reversed depressive-like behavior induced by forced swim stress, a finding indicating that IL-10 has antidepressant effect on behavioral depression induced by stress. The present findings provide new insight into the complexity of the immunity-inflammation hypothesis of depression. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Current trends in small vocabulary speech recognition for equipment control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doukas, Nikolaos; Bardis, Nikolaos G.

2017-09-01

Speech recognition systems allow human - machine communication to acquire an intuitive nature that approaches the simplicity of inter - human communication. Small vocabulary speech recognition is a subset of the overall speech recognition problem, where only a small number of words need to be recognized. Speaker independent small vocabulary recognition can find significant applications in field equipment used by military personnel. Such equipment may typically be controlled by a small number of commands that need to be given quickly and accurately, under conditions where delicate manual operations are difficult to achieve. This type of application could hence significantly benefit by the use of robust voice operated control components, as they would facilitate the interaction with their users and render it much more reliable in times of crisis. This paper presents current challenges involved in attaining efficient and robust small vocabulary speech recognition. These challenges concern feature selection, classification techniques, speaker diversity and noise effects. A state machine approach is presented that facilitates the voice guidance of different equipment in a variety of situations.

Towards multi-disciplinary HIV cure research: integrating social science with biomedical research

PubMed Central

Grossman, Cynthia I; Ross, Anna Laura; Auerbach, Judith D.; Ananworanich, Jintanat; Dubé, Karine; Tucker, Joseph D.; Noseda, Veronica; Possas, Cristina; Rausch, Dianne

2015-01-01

The quest for a cure for HIV remains a timely and key challenge for the HIV research community. Despite significant scientific advances, current HIV therapy regimens do not completely eliminate the negative impact of HIV on the immune system; and the economic impact of treating all people infected with HIV globally, for the duration of their lifetimes, presents significant challenges. This article discusses, from a multi-disciplinary approach, critical social, behavioral, ethical, and economic issues permeating the HIV cure research agenda. As part of a search for an HIV cure, both the perspective of patients/participants and clinical researchers should be taken into account. In addition, continued efforts should be made to involve and educate the broader community. PMID:26642901

Image-guided tissue engineering

PubMed Central

Ballyns, Jeffrey J; Bonassar, Lawrence J

2009-01-01

Replication of anatomic shape is a significant challenge in developing implants for regenerative medicine. This has lead to significant interest in using medical imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography to design tissue engineered constructs. Implementation of medical imaging and computer aided design in combination with technologies for rapid prototyping of living implants enables the generation of highly reproducible constructs with spatial resolution up to 25 μm. In this paper, we review the medical imaging modalities available and a paradigm for choosing a particular imaging technique. We also present fabrication techniques and methodologies for producing cellular engineered constructs. Finally, we comment on future challenges involved with image guided tissue engineering and efforts to generate engineered constructs ready for implantation. PMID:19583811

Towards Multidisciplinary HIV-Cure Research: Integrating Social Science with Biomedical Research.

PubMed

Grossman, Cynthia I; Ross, Anna Laura; Auerbach, Judith D; Ananworanich, Jintanat; Dubé, Karine; Tucker, Joseph D; Noseda, Veronica; Possas, Cristina; Rausch, Dianne M

2016-01-01

The quest for a cure for HIV remains a timely and key challenge for the HIV research community. Despite significant scientific advances, current HIV therapy regimens do not completely eliminate the negative impact of HIV on the immune system; and the economic impact of treating all people infected with HIV globally, for the duration of their lifetimes, presents significant challenges. This article discusses, from a multidisciplinary approach, critical social, behavioral, ethical, and economic issues permeating the HIV-cure research agenda. As part of a search for an HIV cure, both the perspective of patients/participants and clinical researchers should be taken into account. In addition, continued efforts should be made to involve and educate the broader community. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The politicization of abortion and the evolution of abortion counseling.

PubMed

Joffe, Carole

2013-01-01

The field of abortion counseling originated in the abortion rights movement of the 1970s. During its evolution to the present day, it has faced significant challenges, primarily arising from the increasing politicization and stigmatization of abortion since legalization. Abortion counseling has been affected not only by the imposition of antiabortion statutes, but also by the changing needs of patients who have come of age in a very different era than when this occupation was first developed. One major innovation--head and heart counseling--departs in significant ways from previous conventions of the field and illustrates the complex and changing political meanings of abortion and therefore the challenges to abortion providers in the years following Roe v Wade.

Editorial: Cognitive Architectures, Model Comparison and AGI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lebiere, Christian; Gonzalez, Cleotilde; Warwick, Walter

2010-12-01

Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence share compatible goals of understanding and possibly generating broadly intelligent behavior. In order to determine if progress is made, it is essential to be able to evaluate the behavior of complex computational models, especially those built on general cognitive architectures, and compare it to benchmarks of intelligent behavior such as human performance. Significant methodological challenges arise, however, when trying to extend approaches used to compare model and human performance from tightly controlled laboratory tasks to complex tasks involving more open-ended behavior. This paper describes a model comparison challenge built around a dynamic control task, the Dynamic Stocks and Flows. We present and discuss distinct approaches to evaluating performance and comparing models. Lessons drawn from this challenge are discussed in light of the challenge of using cognitive architectures to achieve Artificial General Intelligence.

Allergen challenge sensitizes TRPA1 in vagal sensory neurons and afferent C-fiber subtypes in guinea pig esophagus.

PubMed

Liu, Zhenyu; Hu, Youtian; Yu, Xiaoyun; Xi, Jiefeng; Fan, Xiaoming; Tse, Chung-Ming; Myers, Allen C; Pasricha, Pankaj J; Li, Xingde; Yu, Shaoyong

2015-03-15

Transient receptor potential A1 (TRPA1) is a newly defined cationic ion channel, which selectively expresses in primary sensory afferent nerve, and is essential in mediating inflammatory nociception. Our previous study demonstrated that TRPA1 plays an important role in tissue mast cell activation-induced increase in the excitability of esophageal vagal nodose C fibers. The present study aims to determine whether prolonged antigen exposure in vivo sensitizes TRPA1 in a guinea pig model of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Antigen challenge-induced responses in esophageal mucosa were first assessed by histological stains and Ussing chamber studies. TRPA1 function in vagal sensory neurons was then studied by calcium imaging and by whole cell patch-clamp recordings in 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI)-labeled esophageal vagal nodose and jugular neurons. Extracellular single-unit recordings were performed in vagal nodose and jugular C-fiber neuron subtypes using ex vivo esophageal-vagal preparations with intact nerve endings in the esophagus. Antigen challenge significantly increased infiltrations of eosinophils and mast cells in the esophagus. TRPA1 agonist allyl isothiocyanate (AITC)-induced calcium influx in nodose and jugular neurons was significantly increased, and current densities in esophageal DiI-labeled nodose and jugular neurons were also significantly increased in antigen-challenged animals. Prolonged antigen challenge decreased esophageal epithelial barrier resistance, which allowed intraesophageal-infused AITC-activating nodose and jugular C fibers at their nerve endings. Collectively, these results demonstrated that prolonged antigen challenge sensitized TRPA1 in esophageal sensory neurons and afferent C fibers. This novel finding will help us to better understand the molecular mechanism underlying esophageal sensory and motor dysfunctions in EoE. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

Allergen challenge sensitizes TRPA1 in vagal sensory neurons and afferent C-fiber subtypes in guinea pig esophagus

PubMed Central

Liu, Zhenyu; Hu, Youtian; Yu, Xiaoyun; Xi, Jiefeng; Fan, Xiaoming; Tse, Chung-Ming; Myers, Allen C.; Pasricha, Pankaj J.; Li, Xingde

2015-01-01

Transient receptor potential A1 (TRPA1) is a newly defined cationic ion channel, which selectively expresses in primary sensory afferent nerve, and is essential in mediating inflammatory nociception. Our previous study demonstrated that TRPA1 plays an important role in tissue mast cell activation-induced increase in the excitability of esophageal vagal nodose C fibers. The present study aims to determine whether prolonged antigen exposure in vivo sensitizes TRPA1 in a guinea pig model of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Antigen challenge-induced responses in esophageal mucosa were first assessed by histological stains and Ussing chamber studies. TRPA1 function in vagal sensory neurons was then studied by calcium imaging and by whole cell patch-clamp recordings in 1,1′-dioctadecyl-3,3,3′,3′-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI)-labeled esophageal vagal nodose and jugular neurons. Extracellular single-unit recordings were performed in vagal nodose and jugular C-fiber neuron subtypes using ex vivo esophageal-vagal preparations with intact nerve endings in the esophagus. Antigen challenge significantly increased infiltrations of eosinophils and mast cells in the esophagus. TRPA1 agonist allyl isothiocyanate (AITC)-induced calcium influx in nodose and jugular neurons was significantly increased, and current densities in esophageal DiI-labeled nodose and jugular neurons were also significantly increased in antigen-challenged animals. Prolonged antigen challenge decreased esophageal epithelial barrier resistance, which allowed intraesophageal-infused AITC-activating nodose and jugular C fibers at their nerve endings. Collectively, these results demonstrated that prolonged antigen challenge sensitized TRPA1 in esophageal sensory neurons and afferent C fibers. This novel finding will help us to better understand the molecular mechanism underlying esophageal sensory and motor dysfunctions in EoE. PMID:25591867

Bioimage informatics for experimental biology

PubMed Central

Swedlow, Jason R.; Goldberg, Ilya G.; Eliceiri, Kevin W.

2012-01-01

Over the last twenty years there have been great advances in light microscopy with the result that multi-dimensional imaging has driven a revolution in modern biology. The development of new approaches of data acquisition are reportedly frequently, and yet the significant data management and analysis challenges presented by these new complex datasets remains largely unsolved. Like the well-developed field of genome bioinformatics, central repositories are and will be key resources, but there is a critical need for informatics tools in individual laboratories to help manage, share, visualize, and analyze image data. In this article we present the recent efforts by the bioimage informatics community to tackle these challenges and discuss our own vision for future development of bioimage informatics solution. PMID:19416072

Human-Robot Teaming: Communication, Coordination, and Collaboration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fong, Terry

2017-01-01

In this talk, I will describe how NASA Ames has been studying how human-robot teams can increase the performance, reduce the cost, and increase the success of a variety of endeavors. The central premise of our work is that humans and robots should support one another in order to compensate for limitations of automation and manual control. This principle has broad applicability to a wide range of domains, environments, and situations. At the same time, however, effective human-robot teaming requires communication, coordination, and collaboration -- all of which present significant research challenges. I will discuss some of the ways that NASA Ames is addressing these challenges and present examples of our work involving planetary rovers, free-flying robots, and self-driving cars.

Fast normal mode computations of capsid dynamics inspired by resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Na, Hyuntae; Song, Guang

2018-07-01

Increasingly more and larger structural complexes are being determined experimentally. The sizes of these systems pose a formidable computational challenge to the study of their vibrational dynamics by normal mode analysis. To overcome this challenge, this work presents a novel resonance-inspired approach. Tests on large shell structures of protein capsids demonstrate that there is a strong resonance between the vibrations of a whole capsid and those of individual capsomeres. We then show how this resonance can be taken advantage of to significantly speed up normal mode computations.

Earth Science Missions Engineering Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marius, Julio L.

2009-01-01

This presentation gives a general overlook of the engineering efforts that are necessary to meet science mission requirement especially for Earth Science missions. It provides brief overlook of NASA's current missions and future Earth Science missions and the engineering challenges to meet some of the specific science objectives. It also provides, if time permits, a brief summary of two significant weather and climate phenomena in the Southern Hemisphere: El Nino and La Nina, as well as the Ozone depletion over Antarctica that will be of interest to IEEE intercom 2009 conference audience.

Anesthetic Challenges in Robotic-assisted Urologic Surgery

PubMed Central

Hsu, Richard L; Kaye, Alan D; Urman, Richard D

2013-01-01

Robotic-assisted surgery has evolved over the past two decades with constantly improving technology, assisting surgeons in multiple subspecialty disciplines. The surgical requirements of lithotomy and steep Trendelenburg positions, along with the creation of a pneumoperitoneum and limited access to the patient, all present anesthetic management challenges in urologic surgery. Patient positioning requirements can cause significant physiologic effects and may result in many complications. Good communication among team members and knowledge of the nuances of robotic surgery have the potential to improve patient outcomes, increase efficiency, and reduce surgical and anesthetic complications. PMID:24659914

Nutritional support of reptile patients.

PubMed

De Voe, Ryan S

2014-05-01

Providing nutritional support to reptile patients is a challenging and often misunderstood task. Ill reptiles are frequently anorexic and can benefit greatly from appropriate nutrition delivered via a variety of assist-feeding techniques. Neonatal reptiles can also be very challenging patients because many fail to thrive without significant efforts to establish normal feeding behaviors. This article presents ideas supporting the benefit of timely nutritional support as well as specific recommendations for implementation of assist feeding. Also discussed are a few nutritional issues that affect captive reptile species. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Logistic Path from the International Space Station to the Moon and Beyond

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watson, J. K.; Dempsey, C. A.; Butina, A. J., Sr.

2005-01-01

The period from the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia in February 2003 to resumption of Space Shuttle flights, planned for May 2005, has presented significant challenges to International Space Station (ISS) maintenance operations. Sharply curtailed upmass capability has forced NASA to revise its support strategy and to undertake maintenance activities that have significantly expanded the envelope of the ISS maintenance concept. This experience has enhanced confidence in the ability to continue to support ISS in the period following the permanent retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet in 2010. Even greater challenges face NASA with the implementation of the Vision for Space Exploration that will introduce extended missions to the Moon beginning in the period of 2015 - 2020 and ultimately see human missions to more distant destinations such as Mars. The experience and capabilities acquired through meeting the maintenance challenges of ISS will serve as the foundation for the maintenance strategy that will be employed in support of these future missions.

Understanding and Accommodating Students with Depression in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crundwell, R. Marc; Killu, Kim

2007-01-01

Depression and mood disorders present a significant challenge in the classroom; resulting symptoms can impact memory, recall, motivation, problem solving, task completion, physical and motor skills, and social interactions. Little information is available on practical instructional accommodations and modifications for use by the classroom teacher.…

Review of OECD/OPPTS-harmonized and OPPTS ecotoxicity test guidelines for their applicability to manufactured nanomaterials

EPA Science Inventory

Assessing the environmental risk of manufactured nanomaterials (NMs) presents a significant and growing challenge for environmental regulators. These materials, defined as having at least one physical dimensions between 1 and 100 nanometers are being developed, produced, and inco...

Measurement of Emissions from Produced Water Ponds: Upstream Oil and Gas Study #1; Final Report

EPA Science Inventory

Significant uncertainty exists regarding air pollutant emissions from upstream oil and gas production operations. Oil and gas operations present unique and challenging emission testing issues due to the large variety and quantity of potential emissions sources. This report summ...

Integrated Outdoor Education and Adventure Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schleien, Stuart J.; And Others

This guide presents a comprehensive framework for the development and provision of outdoor education and adventure programs for people of all abilities, including those who significantly challenge the service delivery system. Chapter 1 provides a rationale for the integration of disabled persons into outdoor education and adventure programs, and…

ADVANCED PROTEOMICS AND BIOINFORMATICS TOOLS IN TOXICOLOGY RESEARCH: OVERCOMING CHALLENGES TO PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT RESULTS

EPA Science Inventory

This presentation specifically addresses the advantages and limitations of state of the art gel, protein arrays and peptide-based labeling proteomic approaches to assess the effects of a suite of model T4 inhibitors on the thyroid axis of Xenopus laevis.

Teaching MBA Statistics Online: A Pedagogically Sound Process Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grandzol, John R.

2004-01-01

Delivering MBA statistics in the online environment presents significant challenges to education and students alike because of varying student preparedness levels, complexity of content, difficulty in assessing learning outcomes, and faculty availability and technological expertise. In this article, the author suggests a process model that…

Double-blind, placebo-controlled immunotherapy with mixed grass-pollen allergoids. IV. Comparison of the safety and efficacy of two dosages of a high-molecular-weight allergoid.

PubMed

Bousquet, J; Hejjaoui, A; Soussana, M; Michel, F B

1990-02-01

Specific immunotherapy is still widely used in grass-pollen allergy, but its side effects may limit its use. We tested the safety and efficacy of a formalinized high-molecular-weight allergoid prepared from a mixed grass-pollen extract with two injection schedules in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Eighteen patients received placebo, 19 received the low-dose schedule (maximal dose: 2000 PNU) and 20 received the high-dose schedule (maximal dose: 10,000 PNU). Only one patient presented a systemic reaction of moderate severity for a dose of 1200 PNU. Before the onset of the pollen season, patients had a nasal challenge with orchard grass-pollen grains, a skin test titration, and the titration of serum-specific IgG. Both groups of patients presented a significant reduction in nasal and skin sensitivities and a significant increase in IgG compared to placebo. Symptoms and medications for rhinitis and asthma were studied during the season, and both groups receiving allergoids had a significant reduction of symptom-medication scores for nasal and bronchial symptoms. There was a highly significant correlation between nasal symptom-medication scores during the season and the results of nasal challenges. High-molecular-weight allergoids are safe and effective.

Evaluation of Adolescents Diagnosed with Acne Vulgaris for Quality of Life and Psychosocial Challenges.

PubMed

Eyüboglu, Murat; Kalay, Incilay; Eyüboglu, Damla

2018-01-01

Acne vulgaris is a common skin condition which affects most adolescents. It has a major impact on quality of life and psychosocial well-being. The aims of the study were to examine the psychosocial effects of acne on adolescents and changes in quality of life, and to reveal any difference in the possible effect between genders. In addition, an investigation of the association between acne severity and quality of life as well as psychosocial stress was conducted. The present study included 164 adolescents with a mean age of 12-18 years and was diagnosed with acne vulgaris without any previous treatment. The control group consisted of 188 healthy volunteers. Acne severity was evaluated by the global acne grading system. All patients filled in a Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index, Pediatric Quality of Life Questionnaire (PedsQL), and a Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The scores of SDQ and PedsQL were significantly lower in the case group. There was no significant correlation found between the genders in the control group for acne severity and scale scores. No significant correlation was found between acne severity and psychosocial challenges. The results of the present study show that acne has a significant effect on quality of life for adolescents, and this has an impact on their psychosocial life. Another important finding of the present study is that worsening in quality of life is not affected by some factors such as duration, severity of acne and age.

Immunoprotection of recombinant Eg.myophilin against Echinococcus granulosus infection in sheep.

PubMed

Zhu, Mingxing; Gao, Fu; Li, Zihua; Wang, Xiuqing; Wang, Hao; Wang, Zhisheng; Zhao, Jiaqing; Zhao, Wei

2016-09-01

The aims of the present study were to investigate the immunoprotection of recombinant Echinococcus granulosus myophilin (rEg.myophilin) against the establishment of a challenge oral infection with E. granulosus eggs, as well as to determine the mechanisms underlying this protection. Sheep were subcutaneously immunized two times with rEg.myophilin, followed by the challenge with E. granulosus eggs orally. The animals were sacrificed 44 weeks after infection and the immunoglobulin (Ig) and cytokine levels were analyzed using ELISA. The results identified significant changes in several indexes of animal immune response subsequent to immunization with rEg.myophilin. These changes included reduced number of formed cysts, as well as elevated levels of IgG, IgA and cytokines. The present data suggest that immunization with rEg.myophilin in sheep can successfully reduce the formation of cysts caused by challenge E. granulosus infection and stimulate immune response, suggesting that rEg.myophilin a has potential value as a candidate vaccine against E. granulosus .

Current status and challenges for automotive battery production technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwade, Arno; Haselrieder, Wolfgang; Leithoff, Ruben; Modlinger, Armin; Dietrich, Franz; Droeder, Klaus

2018-04-01

Production technology for automotive lithium-ion battery (LIB) cells and packs has improved considerably in the past five years. However, the transfer of developments in materials, cell design and processes from lab scale to production scale remains a challenge due to the large number of consecutive process steps and the significant impact of material properties, electrode compositions and cell designs on processes. This requires an in-depth understanding of the individual production processes and their interactions, and pilot-scale investigations into process parameter selection and prototype cell production. Furthermore, emerging process concepts must be developed at lab and pilot scale that reduce production costs and improve cell performance. Here, we present an introductory summary of the state-of-the-art production technologies for automotive LIBs. We then discuss the key relationships between process, quality and performance, as well as explore the impact of materials and processes on scale and cost. Finally, future developments and innovations that aim to overcome the main challenges are presented.

The effect of phytogenic feed additives to substitute in-feed antibiotics on growth traits and blood biochemical parameters in broiler chicks challenged with Salmonella typhimurium.

PubMed

Abudabos, Alaeldein M; Alyemni, Abdullah H; Dafalla, Yousif M; Khan, Rifat Ullah

2016-12-01

There is a growing concern over the use of antibiotics due to the increased resistance of pathogens in broiler. The present study was designed to find the comparative effect of an antibiotic, and some phytogenic on performance traits, blood biochemical parameters, and antioxidant status during starter phase exposed to Salmonella typhimurium challenge. A total of 560-day-old broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly allocated to seven treatments (eight replicates). Control (basal diet); T1, infected with Salmonella enterica subsp. typhimurium; T2, infected + avilamycin at the rate of 0.2 g/kg; T3, infected + essential oil of thymol; T4, infected + phytogenic; T5, infected + anti-Salmonella organic acid; and T6, infected + essential oils of thyme, anise, and other components. Body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly (P < 0.05) high in the T2 and T5 at the end of the first and the second week and similar to T4. During the second week, European production efficiency factor (EPEF) was also significantly (P < 0.05) high in T2, T4 and T5. Blood albumin increased significantly (P < 0.05) in birds of T2 in the first week, while during the second week, blood glucose and triglyceride concentration decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in T5. Blood ALT concentration decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in T6 compared to other treatments in the second week. Total antioxidant capacity (at the end of the second week) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) did not change significantly. From the results of the present study, it was concluded that different feed additives could be substituted with antibiotics in the feed of broiler exposed to S. typhimurium challenge.

Design of a framework for modeling, integration and simulation of physiological models.

PubMed

Erson, E Zeynep; Cavuşoğlu, M Cenk

2012-09-01

Multiscale modeling and integration of physiological models carry challenges due to the complex nature of physiological processes. High coupling within and among scales present a significant challenge in constructing and integrating multiscale physiological models. In order to deal with such challenges in a systematic way, there is a significant need for an information technology framework together with related analytical and computational tools that will facilitate integration of models and simulations of complex biological systems. Physiological Model Simulation, Integration and Modeling Framework (Phy-SIM) is an information technology framework providing the tools to facilitate development, integration and simulation of integrated models of human physiology. Phy-SIM brings software level solutions to the challenges raised by the complex nature of physiological systems. The aim of Phy-SIM, and this paper is to lay some foundation with the new approaches such as information flow and modular representation of the physiological models. The ultimate goal is to enhance the development of both the models and the integration approaches of multiscale physiological processes and thus this paper focuses on the design approaches that would achieve such a goal. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Anaesthetic significance and management of a child with neonatal purpura fulminans

PubMed Central

Tiwari, Akhilesh Kumar; Tomar, Gaurav Singh; Tayal, Swapnil; Chadha, Madhur; Kapoor, Mukul

2012-01-01

Protein C deficiency is a rare autosomal-dominant disorder of varying severity. Patients with homozygous and compound heterozygous protein C deficiency present with neonatal purpura fulminans (NPF). Other presentations usually include disseminated intravascular coagulation and venous thromboembolism. This disorder usually poses a unique anaesthetic challenge to the anaesthesiologist, requiring special precautions to prevent various intra- and post-operative complications. We hereby report the successful anaesthetic management of a 1-month-old infant who presented with NPF. PMID:22923829

The challenge of treating conduct disorder in low-resourced settings: rap music to the rescue.

PubMed

Evans, Dylan J

2010-12-01

Conduct disorder is one of the most frequent serious childhood problems that present for treatment in community clinic settings. Evidence-based treatments for conduct disorder are intensive and require considerable resources to implement. In low-resourced contexts it is often not feasible to implement evidence-based treatments in their current form, which poses significant challenges for clinicians attempting to treat children in these settings. This article explores these challenges using a case study of the treatment of a young adolescent boy with a short-term multisystem intervention where rap music was employed as a powerful tool to facilitate an empathic connection in therapy and as a projective technique to explore underlying emotional difficulties.

Introduction: the realities of antiretroviral therapy rollout: overcoming challenges to successful programmatic implementation.

PubMed

Ojikutu, Bisola

2007-12-01

In 2006, 2 million human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected people living in low- to middle-income countries were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Although this is an improvement over previous years, significant operational challenges have inhibited progress toward universal access to HIV care and treatment. Despite these challenges, the intense efforts focused on addressing the HIV epidemic present an opportunity for overall health systems improvement in developing nations. In October 2006, Harvard University's Centers for AIDS Research, the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, the Department of Health of KwaZulu-Natal, and the Medical Research Council of South Africa held a conference entitled "The Realities of Antiretroviral Therapy Rollout: Challenges to Successful Programmatic Implementation" in Durban, South Africa. The goal of the meeting was to bring together international and local leadership, including policy makers, health care workers, and funders, to propose an agenda that would address the challenges to more expeditious provision of HIV care and treatment in resource-limited settings.

Nonclinical safety testing of biopharmaceuticals--Addressing current challenges of these novel and emerging therapies.

PubMed

Brennan, Frank R; Baumann, Andreas; Blaich, Guenter; de Haan, Lolke; Fagg, Rajni; Kiessling, Andrea; Kronenberg, Sven; Locher, Mathias; Milton, Mark; Tibbitts, Jay; Ulrich, Peter; Weir, Lucinda

2015-10-01

Non-clinical safety testing of biopharmaceuticals can present significant challenges to human risk assessment with these often innovative and complex drugs. Hot Topics in this field were discussed recently at the 4th Annual European Biosafe General Membership meeting. In this feature article, the presentations and subsequent discussions from the main sessions are summarized. The topics covered include: (i) wanted versus unwanted immune activation, (ii) bi-specific protein scaffolds, (iii) use of Pharmacokinetic (PK)/Pharmacodynamic (PD) data to impact/optimize toxicology study design, (iv) cytokine release and challenges to human translation (v) safety testing of cell and gene therapies including chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells and retroviral vectors and (vi) biopharmaceutical development strategies encompassing a range of diverse topics including optimizing entry of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) into the brain, safety testing of therapeutic vaccines, non-clinical testing of biosimilars, infection in toxicology studies with immunomodulators and challenges to human risk assessment, maternal and infant anti-drug antibody (ADA) development and impact in non-human primate (NHP) developmental toxicity studies, and a summary of an NC3Rs workshop on the future vision for non-clinical safety assessment of biopharmaceuticals. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Interaction of Spacecraft Cabin Atmospheric Quality and Water Processing System Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perry, Jay L.; Croomes, Scott D. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Although designed to remove organic contaminants from a variety of waste water streams, the planned U.S.- and present Russian-provided water processing systems onboard the International Space Station (ISS) have capacity limits for some of the more common volatile cleaning solvents used for housekeeping purposes. Using large quantities of volatile cleaning solvents during the ground processing and in-flight operational phases of a crewed spacecraft such as the ISS can lead to significant challenges to the water processing systems. To understand the challenges facing the management of water processing capacity, the relationship between cabin atmospheric quality and humidity condensate loading is presented. This relationship is developed as a tool to determine the cabin atmospheric loading that may compromise water processing system performance. A comparison of cabin atmospheric loading with volatile cleaning solvents from ISS, Mir, and Shuttle are presented to predict acceptable limits to maintain optimal water processing system performance.

Somatic symptom disorder, a new DSM-5 diagnosis of an old clinical challenge

PubMed Central

Rosic, Tea; Kalra, Sameer; Samaan, Zainab

2016-01-01

Somatic symptom disorder (SSD) is characterised by a dysfunctional preoccupation with one or more physical symptoms. Patients with SSD often pursue excessive and unnecessary investigations, hospitalisations and treatments that significantly affect quality of life and drain healthcare resources. Thus, appropriate diagnosis and careful management are required to mitigate the patient's distress and to reduce the burden to the healthcare system. SSD is a new disorder defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Fifth Edition (DSM-5), replacing somatoform and related disorders in the DSM-4-Text Revision with diagnostic criteria that are inclusive of a broad array of presentations. This report presents a detailed clinical case of an elderly man with a history of frequent hospital visits presenting with SSD. We discuss diagnostic challenges and evidence-based management in acute inpatient as well as in outpatient settings. We also review data on healthcare utilisation associated with SSD. PMID:26759438

Meteorological fluctuations define long-term crop yield patterns in conventional and organic production systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Periodic variability in meteorological patterns presents significant challenges to crop production consistency and yield stability. Meteorological influences on corn and soybean grain yields were analyzed over an 18-year period at a long-term experiment in Beltsville, Maryland, U.S.A., comparing c...

Cyberbullying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feinberg, Ted; Robey, Nicole

2008-01-01

Cyberspace presents a serious challenge for adults who are concerned about the safety and well-being of adolescents. Approximately 93% of U.S. youths ages 12-17 use the Internet, a significant increase from 2004. The number of teens with online profiles, including those on social networking sites, also has increased. Importantly, 38% of high…

Improving Students' English Speaking Proficiency in Saudi Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alharbi, Heba Awadh

2015-01-01

In English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts, the absence of authentic language learning situations outside the classroom presents a significant challenge to improving students' English communication skills. Specific obstacles in the learning environment can also result in students' limited use of English inside the classroom. These issues…

Midlife Eriksonian Psychosocial Development: Setting the Stage for Late-Life Cognitive and Emotional Health

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malone, Johanna C.; Liu, Sabrina R.; Vaillant, George E.; Rentz, Dorene M.; Waldinger, Robert J.

2016-01-01

Erikson's (1950) model of adult psychosocial development outlines the significance of successful involvement within one's relationships, work, and community for healthy aging. He theorized that the consequences of not meeting developmental challenges included stagnation and emotional despair. Drawing on this model, the present study uses…

Assessing, Understanding, and Supporting Students with ADHD at School: Contemporary Science, Practice, and Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DuPaul, George J.; Jimerson, Shane R.

2014-01-01

Students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exhibit chronic behavior difficulties that deleteriously impact their academic and social functioning in school settings. These difficulties not only impair student performance, but also present significant challenges to teachers, school psychologists, and other school professionals…

The French Revolution after 200 Years: Is It Finally Over?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shorrock, William I.

1990-01-01

Maintains that the effects of the French Revolution continue today. Presents scholarly views on the significance of the revolution. Challenges the view that the French Revolution led to the violent totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century. Traces the history of the revolution and outlines its legacy. (RW)

People and Technology Today: Some Educational Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez-Sedano, Alfredo; Paris, Ana Costa; Mut, Maite Dassoy

2011-01-01

The present article approaches some of the educational implications borne by humanity with technological progress. We begin by pointing out significant data that classify what is considered relevant. Then, confronting the future is discussed by analyzing the attitudes necessary to promote the goals. Confronted with these challenges, three possible…

Pedagogies for Inclusion of Junior Primary Students with Disabilities in PE

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Overton, Hannah; Wrench, Alison; Garrett, Robyne

2017-01-01

Background: Laws and legislation have prompted movement from special education towards inclusive education, whereby students with disabilities are included in mainstream physical education (PE) classes. It is widely acknowledged that including students with disabilities in PE presents significant challenges in relation to meeting the diverse needs…

The Mathematics Education of Elementary Teachers: Issues and Strategies for Content Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hart, Lynn C., Ed.; Oesterle, Susan, Ed.; Auslander, Susan Swars, Ed.; Kajander, Ann, Ed.

2016-01-01

This book is an edited volume addressing specific issues of significance for individuals involved with the undergraduate mathematics content preparation of prospective elementary teachers (PSTs). Teaching mathematics content courses to this group of students presents unique challenges. While some PSTs enter their teacher preparation with weak…

Content Recognition and Context Modeling for Document Analysis and Retrieval

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhu, Guangyu

2009-01-01

The nature and scope of available documents are changing significantly in many areas of document analysis and retrieval as complex, heterogeneous collections become accessible to virtually everyone via the web. The increasing level of diversity presents a great challenge for document image content categorization, indexing, and retrieval.…

Literature Review: ADHD in Adults--A Review of the Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davidson, Megan A.

2008-01-01

Objective: ADHD presents significant challenges to adults. The current review's goals are (a) to critically examine the current state of knowledge regarding ADHD in adults and (b) to provide clinicians with practice-friendly information regarding assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. Method: Searches of PsycINFO and Medline were conducted, and…

Integrating personalized genomic medicine into routine clinical care: addressing the social and policy issues of pharmacogenomic testing.

PubMed

Dressler, Lynn G

2013-01-01

The provision of personalized genomic medicine presents significant policy challenges, such as ensuring equitable patient access to testing, preparing clinicians to manage genomic results, justifying test reimbursement, sharing genomic information for patient care, and protecting patients against misuse of genetic information.

Overview of NASA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swenson, Harry N.

2009-01-01

This slide presentation is an overview of the research for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). Included is a review of the current air transportation system and the challenges of air transportation research. Also included is a review of the current research highlights and significant accomplishments.

Paediatric oral peanut challenges: a comparison of practice in London and western Switzerland.

PubMed

Ludman, S; Wassenberg, J; Du Toit, G; Fox, A T; Lack, G; Eigenmann, P A

2013-04-01

There are guidelines on how to develop a food challenge protocol, but at present there is no gold standard guidance on method, and separate units produce differing protocols. We performed a retrospective analysis of 200 patients' data from the paediatric allergy units in Lausanne and Geneva, Western Switzerland, and St Thomas' Hospital (STH), UK. St Thomas' Hospital has a younger cohort with a lower overall mean spIgE (2.36 kU/l vs. 8.00 kU/l, P = 0.004). The target peanut protein volumes differed: Switzerland 4.4 g vs. STH 8.4 g. Despite this, the dose actually achieved in positive challenges was not significantly different (2.33 g vs. 1.49 g, P = 0.16). 26% of challenges reacted at 4 g or more of peanut protein. The differences in results highlight how the variation in reasoning behind food challenge alters the outcome. Standardization of food challenges would allow easy comparison between hospitals and geographical areas for research purposes. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Opportunities and challenges in biological lignin valorization

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

Beckham, Gregg T.; Johnson, Christopher W.; Karp, Eric M.

Lignin is a primary component of lignocellulosic biomass that is an underutilized feedstock in the growing biofuels industry. Despite the fact that lignin depolymerization has long been studied, the intrinsic heterogeneity of lignin typically leads to heterogeneous streams of aromatic compounds, which in turn present significant technical challenges when attempting to produce lignin-derived chemicals where purity is often a concern. In Nature, microorganisms often encounter this same problem during biomass turnover wherein powerful oxidative enzymes produce heterogeneous slates of aromatics compounds. Some microbes have evolved metabolic pathways to convert these aromatic species via ‘upper pathways’ into central intermediates, which canmore » then be funneled through ‘lower pathways’ into central carbon metabolism in a process we dubbed ‘biological funneling’. This funneling approach offers a direct, biological solution to overcome heterogeneity problems in lignin valorization for the modern biorefinery. Coupled to targeted separations and downstream chemical catalysis, this concept offers the ability to produce a wide range of molecules from lignin. This perspective describes research opportunities and challenges ahead for this new field of research, which holds significant promise towards a biorefinery concept wherein polysaccharides and lignin are treated as equally valuable feedstocks. In particular, we discuss tailoring the lignin substrate for microbial utilization, host selection for biological funneling, ligninolytic enzyme–microbe synergy, metabolic engineering, expanding substrate specificity for biological funneling, and process integration, each of which presents key challenges. Ultimately, for biological solutions to lignin valorization to be viable, multiple questions in each of these areas will need to be addressed, making biological lignin valorization a multidisciplinary, co-design problem.« less

Factors Affecting Recruitment of Participants for Studies of Diabetes Technology in Newly Diagnosed Youth with Type 1 Diabetes: A Qualitative Focus Group Study with Parents and Children.

PubMed

Farrington, Conor; Allen, Janet; Tauschmann, Martin; Randell, Tabitha; Trevelyan, Nicola; Hovorka, Roman

2016-09-01

Relatively little is known about parents' or children's attitudes toward recruitment for, and participation in, studies of new diabetes technologies immediately after diagnosis. This study investigated factors affecting recruitment of participants for studies in newly diagnosed youth with type 1 diabetes. Qualitative focus group study incorporating four recorded focus groups, conducted in four outpatient pediatric diabetes clinics in large regional hospitals in England. Participants comprised four groups of parents (n = 22) and youth (n = 17) with type 1 diabetes, purposively sampled on the basis of past involvement (either participation or nonparticipation) in an ongoing two-arm randomized trial comparing multiple daily injection with conventional continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion regimens from the onset of type 1 diabetes. Stress associated with diagnosis presents significant challenges in terms of study recruitment, with parents demonstrating varied levels of willingness to be approached soon after diagnosis. Additional challenges arise regarding the following: randomization when study arms are perceived as sharply differentiated in terms of therapy effectiveness; burdens arising from study participation; and the need to surrender new technologies following the end of the study. However, these challenges were mostly insufficient to rule out study participation. Participants emphasized the benefits and reassurance arising from support provided by staff and fellow study participants. Recruitment to studies of new diabetes technologies immediately after diagnosis in youth presents significant challenges, but these are not insurmountable. The stress and uncertainty arising from potential participation may be alleviated by personalized discussion with staff and peer support from fellow study participants.

Progress and challenges associated with halal authentication of consumer packaged goods.

PubMed

Premanandh, Jagadeesan; Bin Salem, Samara

2017-11-01

Abusive business practices are increasingly evident in consumer packaged goods. Although consumers have the right to protect themselves against such practices, rapid urbanization and industrialization result in greater distances between producers and consumers, raising serious concerns on the supply chain. The operational complexities surrounding halal authentication pose serious challenges on the integrity of consumer packaged goods. This article attempts to address the progress and challenges associated with halal authentication. Advancement and concerns on the application of new, rapid analytical methods for halal authentication are discussed. The significance of zero tolerance policy in consumer packaged foods and its impact on analytical testing are presented. The role of halal assurance systems and their challenges are also considered. In conclusion, consensus on the establishment of one standard approach coupled with a sound traceability system and constant monitoring would certainly improve and ensure halalness of consumer packaged goods. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Digital media in the home: technical and research challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribas-Corbera, Jordi

2005-03-01

This article attempts to identify some of the technology and research challenges facing the digital media industry in the future. We first discuss several trends in the industry, such as the rapid growth of broadband Internet networks and the emergence of networking and media-capable devices in the home. Next, we present technical challenges that result from these trends, such as effective media interoperability in devices, and provide a brief overview of Windows Media, which is one of the technologies in the market attempting to address these challenges. Finally, given these trends and the state of the art, we argue that further research on data compression, encoder optimization, and multi-format transcoding can potentially make a significant technical and business impact in digital media. We also explore the reasons that research on related techniques such as wavelets or scalable video coding is having a relatively minor impact in today"s practical digital media systems.

In-Space Assembly Capability Assessment for Potential Human Exploration and Science Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jefferies, Sharon A.; Jones, Christopher A.; Arney, Dale C.; Stillwagen, Frederic H.; Chai, Patrick R.; Hutchinson, Craig D.; Stafford, Matthew A.; Moses, Robert W.; Dempsey, James A.; Rodgers, Erica M.;

Fusion Materials Research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Fiscal Year 2014

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

Wiffen, Frederick W.; Noe, Susan P.; Snead, Lance Lewis

2014-10-01

The realization of fusion energy is a formidable challenge with significant achievements resulting from close integration of the plasma physics and applied technology disciplines. Presently, the most significant technological challenge for the near-term experiments such as ITER, and next generation fusion power systems, is the inability of current materials and components to withstand the harsh fusion nuclear environment. The overarching goal of the ORNL fusion materials program is to provide the applied materials science support and understanding to underpin the ongoing DOE Office of Science fusion energy program while developing materials for fusion power systems. In doing so the programmore » continues to be integrated both with the larger U.S. and international fusion materials communities, and with the international fusion design and technology communities.« less

Robotics for Nuclear Material Handling at LANL:Capabilities and Needs

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

Harden, Troy A; Lloyd, Jane A; Turner, Cameron J

Nuclear material processing operations present numerous challenges for effective automation. Confined spaces, hazardous materials and processes, particulate contamination, radiation sources, and corrosive chemical operations are but a few of the significant hazards. However, automated systems represent a significant safety advance when deployed in place of manual tasks performed by human workers. The replacement of manual operations with automated systems has been desirable for nearly 40 years, yet only recently are automated systems becoming increasingly common for nuclear materials handling applications. This paper reviews several automation systems which are deployed or about to be deployed at Los Alamos National Laboratory formore » nuclear material handling operations. Highlighted are the current social and technological challenges faced in deploying automated systems into hazardous material handling environments and the opportunities for future innovations.« less

The Role of Health Volunteers in Training Women Regarding Coping Strategies Using Self-Efficacy Theory: Barriers and Challenges Faced by Health Volunteers in Empowerment of Women

PubMed Central

Kaveh, Mohammad Hossein; Rokhbin, Moslem; Mani, Arash; Maghsoudi, Ahmad

2017-01-01

Introduction: Psychological distress is among physical and mental health threats, and health volunteers can play a critical role in empowerment of women. However, evidence has revealed a decline in health volunteers’ activities. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the challenges faced by health volunteers in empowerment of women. Methods: The participants’ knowledge level was assessed using a written test. Their perceived skills were also measured using Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations by Endler and Parker and Chesney’s Coping Self-efficacy Scale, respectively. The study data were entered into the SPSS statistical software, version 11.5 and were analyzed using chi-square, sample t-test, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: The results showed a considerable increase in the intervention group health volunteers’ knowledge about stress, as well as their self-efficacy. Besides, a significant correlation was observed between self-efficacy and task-oriented strategy scores. However, no significant increase was found in this group’s coping strategies. The results also indicated a significant increase in the intervention group women’s knowledge about stress, but no significant change was observed in other constructs. Some challenging factors, such as managerial, personal, and interpersonal factors, were also detected that might have affected the results. Discussion: This study caused no considerable change in coping with stress, except for increasing the women’s knowledge in this regard. Considering the challenges identified in this study, programs should be developed for researchers and health center managers to improve this condition in future. PMID:28951067

The Role of Health Volunteers in Training Women Regarding Coping Strategies Using Self-Efficacy Theory: Barriers and Challenges Faced by Health Volunteers in Empowerment of Women

PubMed

Kaveh, Mohammad Hossein; Rokhbin, Moslem; Mani, Arash; Maghsoudi, Ahmad

2017-09-27

Introduction: Psychological distress is among physical and mental health threats, and health volunteers can play a critical role in empowerment of women. However, evidence has revealed a decline in health volunteers’ activities. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the challenges faced by health volunteers in empowerment of women. Methods: The participants’ knowledge level was assessed using a written test. Their perceived skills were also measured using Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations by Endler and Parker and Chesney’s Coping Self-efficacy Scale, respectively. The study data were entered into the SPSS statistical software, version 11.5 and were analyzed using chi-square, sample t-test, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: The results showed a considerable increase in the intervention group health volunteers’ knowledge about stress, as well as their self-efficacy. Besides, a significant correlation was observed between self-efficacy and task-oriented strategy scores. However, no significant increase was found in this group’s coping strategies. The results also indicated a significant increase in the intervention group women’s knowledge about stress, but no significant change was observed in other constructs. Some challenging factors, such as managerial, personal, and interpersonal factors, were also detected that might have affected the results. Discussion: This study caused no considerable change in coping with stress, except for increasing the women’s knowledge in this regard. Considering the challenges identified in this study, programs should be developed for researchers and health center managers to improve this condition in future. Creative Commons Attribution License

The diagnostic value of component-resolved diagnostics in peanut allergy in children attending a Regional Paediatric Allergology Clinic.

PubMed

van Veen, Leonieke N; Heron, Michiel; Batstra, Manou; van Haard, Paul M M; de Groot, Hans

2016-06-02

To date, diagnosing food allergies in children still presents a diagnostic dilemma, leading to uncertainty concerning the definite diagnosis of peanut allergy, as well as to the need for strict diets and the potential need for adrenalin auto-injectors. This uncertainty in particular is thought to contribute to a lower quality of life. In the diagnostic process double-blind food challenges are considered the gold standard, but they are time-consuming as well as potentially hazardous. Other diagnostic tests have been extensively studied and among these component-resolved diagnostics appeared to present a promising alternative: Ara h2, a peanut storage protein in previous studies showed to have a significant predictive value. Sixty-two out of 72 children, with suspected peanut allergy were analyzed using serum specific IgE and/or skin prick tests and specific IgE to several components of peanut (Ara h 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9). Subsequently, double-blind food challenges were performed. The correlation between the various diagnostic tests and the overall outcome of the double-blind food challenges were studied, in particular the severity of the reaction and the eliciting dose. The double-blind provocation with peanut was positive in 33 children (53 %). There was no relationship between the eliciting dose and the severity of the reaction. A statistically significant relationship was found between the skin prick test, specific IgE directed to peanut, Ara h 1, Ara h 2 or Ara h 6, and the outcome of the food challenge test, in terms of positive or negative (P < .001). However, we did not find any relationship between sensitisation to peanut extract or the different allergen components and the severity of the reaction or the eliciting dose. There was no correlation between IgE directed to Ara h 3, Ara h 8, Ara h 9 and the clinical outcome of the food challenge. This study shows that component-resolved diagnostics is not superior to specific IgE to peanut extract or to skin prick testing. At present, it cannot replace double-blind placebo-controlled food challenges for determination of the eliciting dose or the severity of the peanut allergy in our patient group.

Studies on Nanoparticle Based Avian Influenza Vaccines to Present Immunogenic Epitopes of the Virus with Concentration on Ectodomain of Matrix 2 (M2e) Protein

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babapoor Dighaleh, Sankhiros

2011-12-01

Avian influenza is an infectious disease of avian species caused by type A influenza viruses with a significant economic impact on the poultry industry. Vaccination is the main prevention strategy in many countries worldwide. However, available vaccines elicit antibodies against two major surface protein of the virus hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), where they constantly change by point mutations. Influenza viruses can also easily undergo gene reassortment. Therefore, to protect chickens against new strain of avian influenza virus, as well as control and prevent virus spread among farms, new vaccines needed to be designed which is a tedious, time consuming and expensive. Recently, conserved regions of the influenza genome have been evaluated as possible universal vaccines to eliminate constant vaccine updates based on circulating virus. In this study, peptide nanotechnology was used to generate vaccine nanoparticles that carry the highly conserved external domain of matrix 2 protein (M2e). These nanoparticles presented M2e in monomeric or tetrameric forms, designated as PSC-M2e-CH and BNSC-M2eN-CH. respectively. First, to demonstrate immunogenicity of these nanoparticles, we measured anti-M2e antibody in chickens, particularly when a high dose was applied. Prior to vaccination-challenge study, the challenge dose were determined by oculonasal inoculation of 10 6 EID50 or 107.7 EID50 of low pathogenicity AI virus HSN2 followed by measuring cloacal and tracheal virus shedding. A biphasic virus shedding pattern was observed with two peaks of virus shedding at days 4 and 8 for both tracheal and cloacal swabs. The chickens infected with 107.7 EID50 had significant virus shedding as compared with 106 EID50. Based on results of mentioned studies, a vaccination-challenge study was conducted by using 75mug of each vaccine construct per inoculation (with and without adjuvant) and higher dose of virus for challenge. BN5C-M2e-CH with adjuvant significantly reduced the tracheal virus shedding compared with the positive challenge control and offered significant protection by expediting clearance of the virus in infected chickens. Reduction in cloacal virus shedding was not significant because cloacal shedding is low by nature. These results demonstrate that nanoparticles are a promising platform for immunogenic epitope delivery and M2e is a promising vaccine candidate against low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) viruses.

[Situational low self-esteem in pregnant women: an analysis of accuracy].

PubMed

Cavalcante, Joyce Carolle Bezerra; de Sousa, Vanessa Emille Carvalho; Lopes, Marcos Venícios de Oliveira

2012-01-01

To investigate the accuracy of defining characteristics of Situational low self-esteem we developed a cross-sectional study, with 52 pregnant women assisted in a family centre. The NANDA-I taxonomy was used as well as the Rosenberg's scale. The diagnosis was present in 32.7% of the sample and all characteristics presented statistical significance, except "Reports verbally situational challenge to its own value". The characteristics "Indecisive behavior" and "Helplessness expressions" had 82.35% of sensitivity. On the other hand, the characteristics "Expression of feelings of worthlessness" and "Reports verbally situational challenge to its own value" were the more specific, with 94.29% of specificity. These results can contribute with the nursing practice because the identification of accurate characteristics is essential to a secure inference.

[The aging of the population and late-life depression--implications for the medical sciences and presentation of one therapeutic modality].

PubMed

Soref, Erez

2007-01-01

This short article attempts to describe and review one of the most significant demographic phenomena in recent and upcoming decades namely the aging of the population, and discuss some of its implications for public health policies in Israel. The absolute and relative growth of the elderly proportion in the population poses a challenge in many respects, one aspect of which is in the field of mental health. The number one psychiatric problem in later life is late-life depression. Following a clinical and epidemiological review of late-life depression, a review of one specific treatment modality is presented - partial psychiatric hospitalization. This discussion is timely in light of the upcoming challenge of managed care in Israel's public mental health system.

Bird Strike Risk for Space Launch Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hales, Christy; Czech, Matthew

2017-01-01

Within seconds after liftoff of the Space Shuttle during mission STS-114, a turkey vulture impacted the vehicle's external tank. The contact caused no apparent damage to the shuttle, but the incident led NASA to consider the potential consequences of bird strikes during a shuttle launch. The environment at Kennedy Space Center provides unique bird strike challenges due to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Atlantic Flyway bird migration routes. This presentation will outline an approach for estimating risk resulting from bird strikes to space launch vehicles. The migration routes, types of birds present, altitudes of those birds, exposed area of the launch vehicle, and its capability to withstand impacts all affect the risk due to bird strike. Lessons learned, challenges over lack of data, and significant risk contributors will be discussed.

Sinus venosus atrial septal defect as a cause of palpitations and dyspnea in an adult: a diagnostic imaging challenge.

PubMed

Donovan, Michael S; Kassop, David; Liotta, Robert A; Hulten, Edward A

2015-01-01

Sinus venosus atrial septal defects (SV-ASD) have nonspecific clinical presentations and represent a diagnostic imaging challenge. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) remains the initial diagnostic imaging modality. However, detection rates have been as low as 12%. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) improves diagnostic accuracy though it may not detect commonly associated partial anomalous pulmonary venous return (PAPVR). Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging provides a noninvasive, highly sensitive and specific imaging modality of SV-ASD. We describe a case of an adult male with exercise-induced, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia who presented with palpitations and dyspnea. Despite nondiagnostic imaging results on TTE, CMR proved to be instrumental in visualizing a hemodynamically significant SV-ASD with PAPVR that ultimately led to surgical correction.

Sinus Venosus Atrial Septal Defect as a Cause of Palpitations and Dyspnea in an Adult: A Diagnostic Imaging Challenge

PubMed Central

Donovan, Michael S.; Kassop, David; Liotta, Robert A.; Hulten, Edward A.

2015-01-01

Sinus venosus atrial septal defects (SV-ASD) have nonspecific clinical presentations and represent a diagnostic imaging challenge. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) remains the initial diagnostic imaging modality. However, detection rates have been as low as 12%. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) improves diagnostic accuracy though it may not detect commonly associated partial anomalous pulmonary venous return (PAPVR). Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging provides a noninvasive, highly sensitive and specific imaging modality of SV-ASD. We describe a case of an adult male with exercise-induced, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia who presented with palpitations and dyspnea. Despite nondiagnostic imaging results on TTE, CMR proved to be instrumental in visualizing a hemodynamically significant SV-ASD with PAPVR that ultimately led to surgical correction. PMID:25705227

Low carbon transition and sustainable development path of tourism industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Hongbing; Zhang, Jing; Zhao, Lei; Jin, Shenglang

2017-05-01

The low carbon transition is as much a transformative technology shift as it represents a response to global environment challenges. The low carbon paradigm presents a new direction of change for tourism industry. However, the lack of theoretical frameworks on low carbon transformation in tourism industry context provides a significant knowledge gap. This paper firstly investigates the relationships between low carbon and sustainable development, followed by exploring the existing challenges of tourism sustainable development. At last, this paper presents a sustainable development path framework for low carbon transition of tourism industry, which include accelerating deployment of renewable energy, energy-saving green building construction, improving green growth investment, and adopting a sustainable consumption and production system, in order to promote energy and water efficiency, waste management, GHG emissions mitigation and eventually enhance its sustainability.

Presidential address, 1995. Surgery 2000: a look back to the future

PubMed Central

Heughan, Christopher

1996-01-01

The present demoralized state of Canadian surgery is due to a number of short-term influences. They include financial restraints, the desire of government agencies to off-load blame for unpopular decisions onto doctors and altered public expectations. The major long-term challenge will be a shortage of physicians and a severe shortage of general surgeons because of the superimposition of longer-term trends in medical demographics on short-term political reactions to a perceived oversupply of doctors. General surgeons need to identify the significant, long-term threats and challenges. If they can do this and plan their responses knowledgably, with some measure of altruism, the future in general surgery will be a bright one for present and future residents and medical students. PMID:8640616

Gastric volvulus with partial and complete gastric necrosis

PubMed Central

Shukla, Ram Mohan; Mandal, Kartik Chandra; Maitra, Sujay; Ray, Amit; Sarkar, Ruchirendu; Mukhopadhyay, Biswanath; Bhattacharya, Malay

2014-01-01

Here, we report two interesting cases of gastric necrosis in acute gastric volvulus due to eventration of the diaphragm. Both the cases presented with a significant challenge and were managed successfully. The management of the cases is presented and relevant literature is discussed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of gastric volvulus with gastric necrosis requiring complete and partial gastrectomy in the available English literature. PMID:24604987

Isolated gallbladder injury in a case of blunt abdominal trauma.

PubMed

Birn, Jeffrey; Jung, Melissa; Dearing, Mark

2012-04-01

The diagnosis of blunt injury to the gallbladder may constitute a significant challenge to the diagnostician. There is often a delay in presentation with non-specific clinical symptoms. In the absence of reliable clinical symptoms, diagnostic imaging becomes an invaluable tool in the rapid identification of gallbladder injury. We present a case of isolated gallbladder injury following blunt abdominal trauma which was diagnosed by computed tomography and subsequently confirmed by cholecystectomy.

Segmental thoracic spinal anesthesia in patient with Byssinosis undergoing nephrectomy.

PubMed

Patel, Kiran; Salgaonkar, Sweta

2012-01-01

Byssinosis is an occupational disease occurring commonly in cotton mill workers; it usually presents with features of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The management of patients with COPD presents a significant challenges to the anesthetist. Regional anesthesia is preferred in most of these patients to avoid perioperative and postoperative complications related to general anesthesia. We report a known case of Byssinosis who underwent nephrectomy under segmental spinal anesthesia at the low thoracic level.

Enabling responsible public genomics.

PubMed

Conley, John M; Doerr, Adam K; Vorhaus, Daniel B

2010-01-01

As scientific understandings of genetics advance, researchers require increasingly rich datasets that combine genomic data from large numbers of individuals with medical and other personal information. Linking individuals' genetic data and personal information precludes anonymity and produces medically significant information--a result not contemplated by the established legal and ethical conventions governing human genomic research. To pursue the next generation of human genomic research and commerce in a responsible fashion, scientists, lawyers, and regulators must address substantial new issues, including researchers' duties with respect to clinically significant data, the challenges to privacy presented by genomic data, the boundary between genomic research and commerce, and the practice of medicine. This Article presents a new model for understanding and addressing these new challenges--a "public genomics" premised on the idea that ethically, legally, and socially responsible genomics research requires openness, not privacy, as its organizing principle. Responsible public genomics combines the data contributed by informed and fully consenting information altruists and the research potential of rich datasets in a genomic commons that is freely and globally available. This Article examines the risks and benefits of this public genomics model in the context of an ambitious genetic research project currently under way--the Personal Genome Project. This Article also (i) demonstrates that large-scale genomic projects are desirable, (ii) evaluates the risks and challenges presented by public genomics research, and (iii) determines that the current legal and regulatory regimes restrict beneficial and responsible scientific inquiry while failing to adequately protect participants. The Article concludes by proposing a modified normative and legal framework that embraces and enables a future of responsible public genomics.

Ghrelin receptor antagonism of morphine-induced conditioned place preference and behavioral and accumbens dopaminergic sensitization in rats.

PubMed

Jerabek, Pavel; Havlickova, Tereza; Puskina, Nina; Charalambous, Chrysostomos; Lapka, Marek; Kacer, Petr; Sustkova-Fiserova, Magdalena

2017-11-01

An increasing number of studies over the past few years have demonstrated ghrelin's role in alcohol, cocaine and nicotine abuse. However, the role of ghrelin in opioid effects has rarely been examined. Recently we substantiated in rats that ghrelin growth hormone secretagogue receptors (GHS-R1A) appear to be involved in acute opioid-induced changes in the mesolimbic dopaminergic system associated with the reward processing. The aim of the present study was to ascertain whether a ghrelin antagonist (JMV2959) was able to inhibit morphine-induced biased conditioned place preference and challenge-morphine-induced accumbens dopaminergic sensitization and behavioral sensitization in adult male rats. In the place preference model, the rats were conditioned for 8 days with morphine (10 mg/kg s.c.). On the experimental day, JMV2959 (3 and 6 mg/kg i.p.) or saline were administered before testing. We used in vivo microdialysis to determine changes of dopamine and its metabolites in the nucleus accumbens in rats following challenge-morphine dose (5 mg/kg s.c.) with or without JMV2959 (3 and 6 mg/kg i.p.) pretreatment, administered on the 12th day of spontaneous abstinence from morphine repeated treatment (5 days, 10-40 mg/kg). Induced behavioral changes were simultaneously monitored. Pretreatment with JMV2959 significantly and dose dependently reduced the morphine-induced conditioned place preference and significantly and dose dependently reduced the challenge-morphine-induced dopaminergic sensitization and affected concentration of by-products associated with dopamine metabolism in the nucleus accumbens. JMV2959 pretreatment also significantly reduced challenge-morphine-induced behavioral sensitization. Our present data suggest that GHS-R1A antagonists deserve to be further investigated as a novel treatment strategy for opioid addiction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mephedrone interactions with cocaine: prior exposure to the 'bath salt' constituent enhances cocaine-induced locomotor activation in rats.

PubMed

Gregg, Ryan A; Tallarida, Christopher S; Reitz, Allen B; Rawls, Scott M

2013-12-01

Concurrent use of mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone; MEPH) and established drugs of abuse is now commonplace, but knowledge about interactions between these drugs is sparse. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that prior MEPH exposure enhances the locomotor-stimulant effects of cocaine and methamphetamine (METH). For cocaine experiments, rats pretreated with saline, cocaine (15 mg/kg), or MEPH (15 mg/kg) for 5 days were injected with cocaine after 10 days of drug absence. For METH experiments, rats pretreated with saline, METH (2 mg/kg), or MEPH (15 mg/kg) were injected with METH after 10 days of drug absence. Cocaine challenge produced greater locomotor activity after pretreatment with cocaine or MEPH than after pretreatment with saline. METH challenge produced greater locomotor activity after METH pretreatment than after saline pretreatment; however, locomotor activity in rats pretreated with MEPH or saline and then challenged with METH was not significantly different. The locomotor response to MEPH (15 mg/kg) was not significantly affected by pretreatment with cocaine (15 mg/kg) or METH (0.5, 2 mg/kg). The present demonstration that cocaine-induced locomotor activation is enhanced by prior MEPH exposure suggests that MEPH cross-sensitizes to cocaine and increases cocaine efficacy. Interestingly, MEPH cross-sensitization was not bidirectional and did not extend to METH, suggesting that the phenomenon is sensitive to specific psychostimulants.

Perceptual uncertainty and line-call challenges in professional tennis

PubMed Central

Mather, George

2008-01-01

Fast-moving sports such as tennis require both players and match officials to make rapid accurate perceptual decisions about dynamic events in the visual world. Disagreements arise regularly, leading to disputes about decisions such as line calls. A number of factors must contribute to these disputes, including lapses in concentration, bias and gamesmanship. Fundamental uncertainty or variability in the sensory information supporting decisions must also play a role. Modern technological innovations now provide detailed and accurate physical information that can be compared against the decisions of players and officials. The present paper uses this psychophysical data to assess the significance of perceptual limitations as a contributor to real-world decisions in professional tennis. A detailed analysis is presented of a large body of data on line-call challenges in professional tennis tournaments over the last 2 years. Results reveal that the vast majority of challenges can be explained in a direct highly predictable manner by a simple model of uncertainty in perceptual information processing. Both players and line judges are remarkably accurate at judging ball bounce position, with a positional uncertainty of less than 40 mm. Line judges are more reliable than players. Judgements are more difficult for balls bouncing near base and service lines than those bouncing near side and centre lines. There is no evidence for significant errors in localization due to image motion. PMID:18426755

Perceptual uncertainty and line-call challenges in professional tennis.

PubMed

Mather, George

2008-07-22

Fast-moving sports such as tennis require both players and match officials to make rapid accurate perceptual decisions about dynamic events in the visual world. Disagreements arise regularly, leading to disputes about decisions such as line calls. A number of factors must contribute to these disputes, including lapses in concentration, bias and gamesmanship. Fundamental uncertainty or variability in the sensory information supporting decisions must also play a role. Modern technological innovations now provide detailed and accurate physical information that can be compared against the decisions of players and officials. The present paper uses this psychophysical data to assess the significance of perceptual limitations as a contributor to real-world decisions in professional tennis. A detailed analysis is presented of a large body of data on line-call challenges in professional tennis tournaments over the last 2 years. Results reveal that the vast majority of challenges can be explained in a direct highly predictable manner by a simple model of uncertainty in perceptual information processing. Both players and line judges are remarkably accurate at judging ball bounce position, with a positional uncertainty of less than 40mm. Line judges are more reliable than players. Judgements are more difficult for balls bouncing near base and service lines than those bouncing near side and centre lines. There is no evidence for significant errors in localization due to image motion.

Quantifying VOC emissions from polymers: A case study

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

Schulze, J.K.; Qasem, J.S.; Snoddy, R.

1996-12-31

Evaluating residual volatile organic compound emissions emanating from low-density polyethylene can pose significant challenges. These challenges include quantifying emissions from: (a) multiple process lines with different operating conditions; (b) several different comonomers; (c) variations of comonomer content in each grade; and (d) over 120 grades of LDPE. This presentation is a Case Study outlining a project to develop grade-specific emission data for low-density polyethylene pellets. This study included extensive laboratory analyses and required the development of a relational database to compile analytical results, calculate the mean concentration and standard deviation, and generate emissions reports.

Engineering Innovations for Exploration Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dumbacher, Daniel L.

2010-01-01

This slide presentation reviews some of the engineering innovations requirements for the challenges of space exploration which NASA has and will be involved in. It reviews some significant successes in space transportation, exploration and science accomplished during 2009, and it reviews some of the places that are available for exploration in the near term and the specific missions that NASA has assigned to Marshall. It also reviews the project lifecycle management model, that is designed to reduce undefined, but known, risks. It also demonstrates the sustainable long-term program of block upgrades that contribute to long-term success of programs.

Multilayered Functional Insulation System (MFIS) for AC Power Transmission in High Voltage Hybrid Electrical Propulsion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lizcano, Maricela

2017-01-01

High voltage hybrid electric propulsion systems are now pushing new technology development efforts for air transportation. A key challenge in hybrid electric aircraft is safe high voltage distribution and transmission of megawatts of power (>20 MW). For the past two years, a multidisciplinary materials research team at NASA Glenn Research Center has investigated the feasibility of distributing high voltage power on future hybrid electric aircraft. This presentation describes the team's approach to addressing this challenge, significant technical findings, and next steps in GRC's materials research effort for MW power distribution on aircraft.

BNL 56 MHz HOM damper prototype fabrication at JLAB

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

Huque, N.; McIntyre, G.; Daly, E. F.

A prototype Higher-Order Mode (HOM) Damper was fabricated at JLab for the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider’s (RHIC) 56 MHz cavity at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). Primarily constructed from high RRR Niobium and Sapphire, the coaxial damper presented significant challenges in electron-beam welding (EBW), brazing and machining via acid etching. The results of the prototype operation brought about changes in the damper design, due to overheating braze alloys and possible multi-pacting. Five production HOM dampers are currently being fabricated at JLab. This paper outlines the challenges faced in the fabrication process, and the solutions put in place.

BNL 56 MHz HOM Damper Prototype Fabrication at JLab

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

Huque, Naeem A.; Daly, Edward F.; Clemens, William A.

A prototype Higher-Order Mode (HOM) Damper was fabricated at JLab for the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider's (RHIC) 56 MHz cavity at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). Primarily constructed from high RRR Niobium and Sapphire, the coaxial damper presented significant challenges in electron-beam welding (EBW), brazing and machining via acid etching. The results of the prototype operation brought about changes in the damper design, due to overheating braze alloys and possible multi-pacting. Five production HOM dampers are currently being fabricated at JLab. This paper outlines the challenges faced in the fabrication process, and the solutions put in place.

Idiopathic burning mouth syndrome: a common treatment-refractory somatoform condition responsive to ECT.

PubMed

McGirr, Alexander; Davis, Lindsay; Vila-Rodriguez, Fidel

2014-04-30

Somatic symptom disorders are common causes of disability and suffering, and can pose significant management challenges. Idiopathic burning mouth syndrome is a challenging somatic symptom disorder with relatively high prevalence, particularly among post-menopausal women. Here, we present the case of a woman with severe treatment refractory idiopathic burning mouth syndrome and comorbid major depressive disorder, who was successfully treated with bitemporal electroconvulsive therapy. This case highlights the potential effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy in idiopathic burning mouth syndrome when other treatment options have been exhausted. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Systems engineering in a joint program environment: the joint helmet-mounted cueing system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilkins, Donald F.

1999-07-01

The Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) is a design program involving two airframe companies (Boeing and Lockheed Martin), two services (USAF and USN) and four aircraft platforms: the F-22, the F-16, the F/A-18 and the F-15. Developing equipment requirements for the combined operational and environmental needs of these diverse communities is a significant challenge. In addition, the team is geographically dispersed which presented challenges in communication and coordination. This paper details the lessons learned in producing a cost-effective design within a short development schedule and makes recommendations for future development programs.

Human recognition in a video network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhanu, Bir

2009-10-01

Video networks is an emerging interdisciplinary field with significant and exciting scientific and technological challenges. It has great promise in solving many real-world problems and enabling a broad range of applications, including smart homes, video surveillance, environment and traffic monitoring, elderly care, intelligent environments, and entertainment in public and private spaces. This paper provides an overview of the design of a wireless video network as an experimental environment, camera selection, hand-off and control, anomaly detection. It addresses challenging questions for individual identification using gait and face at a distance and present new techniques and their comparison for robust identification.

Distance-Learning for Advanced Military Education: Using Wargame Simulation Course as an Example

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keh, Huan-Chao; Wang, Kuei-Min; Wai, Shu-Shen; Huang, Jiung-yao; Hui, Lin; Wu, Ji-Jen

2008-01-01

Distance learning in advanced military education can assist officers around the world to become more skilled and qualified for future challenges. Through well-chosen technology, the efficiency of distance-learning can be improved significantly. In this paper we present the architecture of Advanced Military Education-Distance Learning (AME-DL)…

Change Detection in Rough Time Series

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

Business Statistics : An Inferential Approach, Dellen: San Francisco. [18] Winston, W. (1997) Operations Research Applications and Algorithms, Duxbury...distribution that can present significant challenges to conventional statistical tracking techniques. To address this problem the proposed method...applies hybrid fuzzy statistical techniques to series granules instead of to individual measures. Three examples demonstrated the robust nature of the

Invisible Web and Academic Research: A Partnership for Quality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alyami, Huda Y.; Assiri, Eman A.

2018-01-01

The present study aims to identify the most significant roles of the invisible web in improving academic research and the main obstacles and challenges facing the use of the invisible web in improving academic research from the perspective of academics in Saudi universities. The descriptive analytical approach was utilized in this study. It…

Facilitating knowledge discovery and visualization through mining contextual data from published studies: lessons from JournalMap

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Valuable information on the location and context of ecological studies are locked up in publications in myriad formats that are not easily machine readable. This presents significant challenges to building geographic-based tools to search for and visualize sources of ecological knowledge. JournalMap...

Burning of forest materials under late Paleozoic high atmospheric oxygen levels

Treesearch

Richard A., Jr. Wildman; Leo J. Hickey; Matthew B. Dickinson; Robert A. Berner; Jennifer M. Robinson; Michael Dietrich; Robert H. Essenhigh; Craig B. Wildman

2004-01-01

Theoretical models suggest that atmospheric oxygen reached concentrations as high as 35% O2 during the past 550 m.y. Previous burning experiments using strips of paper have challenged this idea, concluding that ancient wildfires would have decimated plant life if O2 significantly exceeded its present level of 21%. New...

Challenges for Human Rights Education in Swiss Secondary Schools from a Teacher Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rinaldi, Stefanie

2017-01-01

In Swiss high schools, teachers have significant leeway in determining the learning objectives and contents of curricula, including the recommended transversal theme of human rights. Teachers' views on human rights and human rights education (HRE) are, therefore, a determining factor for HRE's successful implementation. This article presents the…

Health Care Access among Deaf People

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuenburg, Alexa; Fellinger, Paul; Fellinger, Johannes

2016-01-01

Access to health care without barriers is a clearly defined right of people with disabilities as stated by the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. The present study reviews literature from 2000 to 2015 on access to health care for deaf people and reveals significant challenges in communication with health providers and gaps in…

Technology Utilisation in Elementary Schools in Turkey's Capital: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karaca, Feride; Can, Gulfidan; Yildirim, Soner

2013-01-01

A case study was conducted to explore teachers' current technology use in elementary schools in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. The data were collected through a survey, and participants included 1030 classroom teachers across eight districts. The present study results revealed that significant challenges remain with regard to technology use in the…

Globalization and Organizational Change: Engineers' Experiences and Their Implications for Engineering Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lucena, Juan C.

2006-01-01

The demand for flexible engineers presents significant challenges to engineering education. Among these is the need for engineers to be prepared to understand and deal with organizational change. Yet engineering education and research on engineers have overlooked the impact of organizational change on engineering work. After outlining the impact…

The Glass Ceiling: Progress and Persistent Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLlwain, Wendy M.

2012-01-01

It has been written that since 2001, there has not been any significant progress and the glass ceiling is still intact. Women are still underrepresented in top positions (Anonymous, 2004). If this is true, the glass ceiling presents a major barrier between women and their desire to advance into executive or senior management positions. In addition…

Teaching as a Primary Therapeutic Intervention for Learners from Refugee Backgrounds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayward, Maria

2017-01-01

Refugees almost invariably have a history of traumatic experience and significant loss. However, for some, therapy is neither a practical nor a readily available solution and for others, it may present further challenges in terms of stigma or cultural inappropriateness. On the other hand, a classroom is generally considered unthreatening and, as…

Rachel's Challenge: A Moral Compass for Character Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hollingshead, Barbara; Crump, Christi; Eddy, Rochelle; Rowe, Dina

2009-01-01

Though American life in 1923 was significantly different than the present day, authors John Dewey and Diana Brannon share similar concerns about character. Historically, educators as far back as the 1800s have felt an obligation to the community to transcend the primary purpose for schooling by including character education in their curricula.…

Revising the National Curriculum: A Comment on the Secretary of State's Proposals.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elliott, John

2000-01-01

Proposed changes toward a more flexible, less prescriptive curricular framework in England attempt to address student disaffection--a significant problem haunting educational policy interventions aimed at driving up standards. These revisions may not be radical enough to meet challenges presented by turn-of-the-century social changes. (Contains 10…

Reflective and Transformative Practice in Bilingual Teacher Preparation: Examining Cross-Cultural and Linguistic Equity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hernández, Ana M.

2017-01-01

Culture, class, and language are significant social markers that impact classrooms today with challenges in educating teachers to become culturally responsive and competent. This article presents a theoretical approach on the preparation of bilingual teacher candidates and how the literature can inform teacher education programs on developing…

A Snapshot of Intellectual Disabilities in Lao PDR: Challenges for the Development of Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thoresen, Stian H.; Fielding, Angela; Gillieatt, Sue; Blundell, Barbara; Nguyen, Liem

2017-01-01

Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) has experienced significant economic growth in the last two decades. While access to education, health, and employment for people with disabilities has also improved markedly, people with intellectual disabilities are still among the most vulnerable in society. This article presents findings from a screening…

Starting Strong: Feasibility of an Indicated Prevention Programme during the Transition to Kindergarten

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eisenhower, Abbey; Baker, Bruce L.; Taylor, Heather

2016-01-01

School-based mental health services are a promising context for evidence-based interventions to promote early socio-emotional development, yet implementation presents significant challenges. This paper describes the rationale, content and format of a school-based intervention, Starting Strong in Kindergarten (Starting Strong). Starting Strong is a…

Advice for the New Legal Studies Professor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bird, Robert C.

2012-01-01

The transition into academia from law school or legal practice is a significant and exciting shift in one's legal career. This transition, however, can also be one that presents numerous challenges. Preparing a syllabus and drafting lecture material can seem like a daunting task. Writing an academic article for the first time involves learning a…

Family Reintegration Difficulties and Couples Therapy for Military Veterans and Their Spouses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sayers, S. L.

2011-01-01

There is compelling evidence that mental health problems complicate the process of family reintegration of military service members after a wartime deployment. Couples in which one spouse has recently returned from military deployment in Iraq or Afghanistan and are experiencing marital problems can present a significant treatment challenge. There…

Application of Focal Conflict Theory to Psychoeducational Groups: Implications for Process, Content, and Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Champe, Julia; Rubel, Deborah J.

2012-01-01

Group psychoeducation is a common group type used for a range of purposes. The literature presents balancing content and process as a challenge for psychoeducational group leaders. While the significance of group psychoeducation is supported, practitioners are given little direction for addressing process in these groups. Focal Conflict Theory…

The Chaos Theory of Careers: A User's Guide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bright, Jim E. H.; Pryor, Robert G. L.

2005-01-01

The purpose of this article is to set out the key elements of the Chaos Theory of Careers. The complexity of influences on career development presents a significant challenge to traditional predictive models of career counseling. Chaos theory can provide a more appropriate description of career behavior, and the theory can be applied with clients…

A Healthy America: The Challenge for States.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Governors' Association, Washington, DC.

This report, presented by the National Governors' Association, explores the significant problems in the U.S. health care system and provides strategies that states can employ to affect reform. Health care costs continue to spiral out of control, consuming resources that are required for other basic needs such as education, housing, food, and…

Today's University Students and Their Need to Connect

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russo, Theresa J.; Fallon, Moira A.; Zhang, Jie; Acevedo, Veronica C.

2014-01-01

Higher education is rapidly changing and university instructors are presented with new types of students for whom technology is a significant influence. They perceive technology as a way of life and express a need to feel connected at all times. With increasingly diverse university classroom, technology integration is both a challenge and an…

Race and Resources: Black Parents' Perspectives on Post-Apartheid South African Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ndimande, Bekisizwe S.

2012-01-01

The dismantling of apartheid in 1994 brought an array of democratic changes in South Africa, including changes in curriculum and educational policies. One of the most momentous changes was the desegregation of public schools. While this was significant in South African education politics, it presented some educational challenges, especially to…

THz local oscillator sources: performance and capabilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mehdi, I.; Chattopadhyah, G.; Schlecht, E.; Siegel, P.

2002-01-01

Frequency multiplier circuits based on planar GaAs Schottky diodes have made significant advances in the last decade. Useful power in the >1 THz range has now been demonstrated from a complete solid-state chain. This paper will review some of the technology responsible for this achievement along with presenting a brief look at future challenges.

Do Teachers' Behavioral Expectations Effect the Transition from a Psychiatric Program to Community Schools?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLeer, S.; And Others

Moving children from a psychiatric treatment facility to community schools presents significant challenges for children, teachers, and families. This study examined the potential conflicts between the expectations of receiving teachers and the behaviors of elementary school students (N=17) using the Assessments for Integration into Mainstream…

Reaching for Justice: The Pedagogical Politics of Agency, Race, and Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simpson, Jennifer S.

2006-01-01

The prevalence of institutional racism in the United States presents an urgent and complicated challenge. Little agreement exists among scholars regarding the existence and implications of racism, or the position educators might take in addressing it. In the context of public and scholarly retreats from the significance of and responsibility for…

The Teaching Excellence Framework: Would You Tell Me, Please, Which Way I Ought to Go from Here

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berger, Dan; Wild, Charles

2016-01-01

The UK government's Green Paper, "Fulfilling Our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice", presents both significant challenges and opportunities for universities. Whilst the quantitative element of the proposed Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), underpinned by Big Data, offers the tantalizing opportunity to…

Instructors as Architects-Designing Learning Spaces for Discussion-Based Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Yu-Mei; Chen, Derthanq Victor

2011-01-01

Online learning space design becomes a significant issue with the proliferation of online learning in higher education. Never before has the instructor been given such a privilege in building and molding the learning space to fulfill his/her instructional aspirations. However, enormous challenges are present to the instructor in taking advantage…

The Semiotic Function of Clothing and Gender Roles on Broadcast Business News

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tan, Sabine; See, Monica Owyong Yuet

2009-01-01

In today's fast-paced, competitive society, attracting the attention of viewers has become increasingly challenging. Consequently, in broadcast business news, the communicative function of newscasters' and presenters' overall appearance may be highly significant in securing and sustaining viewership in more than one way. This article arose out of…

Improving Comprehension and Assessment of English Language Learners Using MMIO

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carrier, Karen A.

2006-01-01

Many mainstream content teachers are encountering, for the first time, K-12 students who are in the process of learning English as a second language (English language learners or ELLs), and this new population presents a significant challenge. Teachers are already familiar with many of the techniques available to help their ELLs comprehend…

75 FR 27791 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Invitation to...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-18

... use device to be a medical device intended for users in a non-clinical environment that is managed... promoting the safe use of medical devices presented a significant health challenge for which the HHCC could... pilot program, we are requesting manufacturers and distributors of medical devices cleared for home use...

Diversity in Teacher Education: New Expectations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dilworth, Mary E., Ed.

The increasing racial and ethnic diversity of classrooms in the United States presents a significant challenge to the next generation of teachers and to those responsible for their training. This book explains the steps teacher educators and policymakers must take in order to prepare a teaching force that is both culturally diverse and culturally…

Constructing Alternate Assessment Cohorts: An Oregon Perspective. Research Brief 3

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saven, Jessica L.; Farley, Dan; Tindal, Gerald

2013-01-01

Longitudinally modeling the growth of students with significant cognitive disabilities (SWSCDs) on alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) presents many challenges for states. The number of students in Grades 3-8 who remain in a cohort group varies over time, depending on the methods used to construct the…

Shifting South African Learners towards Greater Autonomy in Scientific Investigations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramnarain, Umesh; Hobden, Paul

2015-01-01

This report describes how teachers support ninth-grade students who are doing scientific investigations in Natural Sciences in South African schools. This is of interest as allowing students to participate in inquiry-based investigations is a significant shift from traditional practices. It presents a new challenge to teachers as it signals an…

3-Year-Olds' Comprehension, Production, and Generalization of Sesotho Passives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demuth, Katherine; Moloi, Francina; Machobane, Malillo

2010-01-01

Researchers have long been puzzled by the challenge English passive constructions present for language learners, with adult-like comprehension and production emerging only around the age of 5. It has therefore been of significant interest that researchers of other languages, including the Bantu language Sesotho, have reported acquisition of the…

Cervical mucus and serum estradiol as predictors of response to progestin challenge.

PubMed

Rarick, L D; Shangold, M M; Ahmed, S W

1990-08-01

The present study was undertaken to assess the correlation between and relative predictive value of each of the following variables and progestin-induced withdrawal bleeding: cervical mucus appearance, serum E2 level, patient age, duration of amenorrhea, smoking and exercise habits, and body composition. Of 120 oligomenorrheic and amenorrheic women evaluated, only cervical mucus appearance and serum E2 level were significantly associated with response to progestin challenge. A multivariate logistical regression analysis showed cervical mucus to be the most predictive variable followed by serum E2 level. No absolute E2 level was found to discriminate between those who did and those who did not have withdrawal bleeding after progestin challenge. These data suggest that office examination of cervical mucus may be a useful indicator and guideline in planning therapy.

Planning as an Iterative Process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, David E.

2012-01-01

Activity planning for missions such as the Mars Exploration Rover mission presents many technical challenges, including oversubscription, consideration of time, concurrency, resources, preferences, and uncertainty. These challenges have all been addressed by the research community to varying degrees, but significant technical hurdles still remain. In addition, the integration of these capabilities into a single planning engine remains largely unaddressed. However, I argue that there is a deeper set of issues that needs to be considered namely the integration of planning into an iterative process that begins before the goals, objectives, and preferences are fully defined. This introduces a number of technical challenges for planning, including the ability to more naturally specify and utilize constraints on the planning process, the ability to generate multiple qualitatively different plans, and the ability to provide deep explanation of plans.

Challenges in the Management of a Patient with Myxoedema Coma in Ghana: A Case Report.

PubMed

Akpalu, Josephine; Atiase, Yacoba; Yorke, Ernest; Fiscian, Henrietta; Kootin-Sanwu, Cecilia; Akpalu, Albert

2017-03-01

Myxoedema coma is a rare life-threatening disease, and it is essential that it is managed appropriately to reduce the associated high mortality. However, in the setting where efficient healthcare delivery is hampered by inadequacies, the management of such cases may pose a significant challenge. We present the case of a middle-aged woman diagnosed with myxoedema coma and severe hyponatremia. The case report highlights some of the challenges that may be encountered during the management of myxoedema coma in similar settings and outlines the management strategies undertaken to overcome them in the absence of national guidelines. It also brings to the fore the need for clinicians to look out for clinical features suggestive of hypothyroidism particularly among high risk individuals for early diagnosis and treatment. None declared.

Near Real-Time Call Detail Record ETL Flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cochinwala, Munir; Panagos, Euthimios

Telecommunication companies face significant business challenges as they strive to reduce subscriber churn and increase average revenue per user (ARPU) by offering new services and incorporating new functionality into existing services. The increased number of service offerings and available functionality result in an ever growing volume of call detail records (CDRs). For many services (e.g., pre-paid), CDRs need to be processed and analyzed in near real-time for several reasons, including charging, on-line subscriber access to their accounts, and analytics for predicting subscriber usage and preventing fraudulent activity. In this paper, we describe the challenges associated with near real-time extract, transform, and load (ETL) of CDR data warehouse flows for supporting both the operational and business intelligence needs of telecommunication services, and we present our approach to addressing these challenges.

Design and manufacturing challenges of optogenetic neural interfaces: a review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goncalves, S. B.; Ribeiro, J. F.; Silva, A. F.; Costa, R. M.; Correia, J. H.

2017-08-01

Optogenetics is a relatively new technology to achieve cell-type specific neuromodulation with millisecond-scale temporal precision. Optogenetic tools are being developed to address neuroscience challenges, and to improve the knowledge about brain networks, with the ultimate aim of catalyzing new treatments for brain disorders and diseases. To reach this ambitious goal the implementation of mature and reliable engineered tools is required. The success of optogenetics relies on optical tools that can deliver light into the neural tissue. Objective/Approach: Here, the design and manufacturing approaches available to the scientific community are reviewed, and current challenges to accomplish appropriate scalable, multimodal and wireless optical devices are discussed. Significance: Overall, this review aims at presenting a helpful guidance to the engineering and design of optical microsystems for optogenetic applications.

A creative-bonding intervention and a friendly visit approach to promote nursing students' self-transcendence and positive attitudes toward elders: a pilot study.

PubMed

Walsh, Sandra M; Chen, Shiue; Hacker, Marcia; Broschard, Dawn

2008-04-01

Nursing students' disinterest in caring for elders presents health care challenges. As the aged population increases, nursing faculty are challenged to improve students' attitudes toward elder care. Reed's self-transcendence theory guided this pilot study with nursing students (n=22) who implemented either a Creative-Bonding Intervention (CBI) or a Friendly Visit (FV) at senior citizen centers to test the effect of creative approaches on student self-transcendence and attitudes toward elders. Demographic data, a revised Kogan's Attitudes toward Old People statements, and Reed's Self-transcendence Scale were analyzed with descriptive, paired t test, ANCOVA, and Pearson correlation statistics. Results demonstrated significant differences in attitudes in the FV and changes in the expected directions in the CBI group. Self-transcendence had no significant changes. Valuable information was provided by students' comments about the interventions. Reed's belief that self-transcendence is present regardless of age was supported. Future studies are suggested with an increased sample size, a combined CBI/FV intervention, and supportive help during students' intervention delivery.

Recreational drugs. Societal and professional issues.

PubMed

Solari-Twadell, P A

1991-06-01

Recreational drug use presents a challenge to society and, in particular, the profession of nursing. Recreational drug use must be appreciated for the implications it presents for the episodes of abuse and development of chronic health problems. The effects and recreational use of volatile substances, cannabis, opioids, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, cocaine, psychedelics, and designer drugs as well as alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine must be acknowledged and understood if options for change are to be considered. The resultant cost of recreational drug use as well as health care implications, public safety, and prevention are significant issues society is faced with today. These issues will continue to be significant unless the current posture toward recreational drug use and abuse is addressed. The profession of nursing continues to be faced with the problems associated with recreational drug use not only through caring for clients, but immediately by the effects of recreational drug use on individual professional nurses. To respond effectively, nursing education and nursing research must be challenged to create an emphasis on this focus. Only through this type of multifocal approach will long-term substantial change be affected for the betterment of future generations.

Evaluation of Adolescents Diagnosed with Acne Vulgaris for Quality of Life and Psychosocial Challenges

PubMed Central

Eyüboglu, Murat; Kalay, Incilay; Eyüboglu, Damla

2018-01-01

Background: Acne vulgaris is a common skin condition which affects most adolescents. It has a major impact on quality of life and psychosocial well-being. Aims: The aims of the study were to examine the psychosocial effects of acne on adolescents and changes in quality of life, and to reveal any difference in the possible effect between genders. In addition, an investigation of the association between acne severity and quality of life as well as psychosocial stress was conducted. Materials and Methods: The present study included 164 adolescents with a mean age of 12–18 years and was diagnosed with acne vulgaris without any previous treatment. The control group consisted of 188 healthy volunteers. Acne severity was evaluated by the global acne grading system. All patients filled in a Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index, Pediatric Quality of Life Questionnaire (PedsQL), and a Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results: The scores of SDQ and PedsQL were significantly lower in the case group. There was no significant correlation found between the genders in the control group for acne severity and scale scores. No significant correlation was found between acne severity and psychosocial challenges. Conclusions: The results of the present study show that acne has a significant effect on quality of life for adolescents, and this has an impact on their psychosocial life. Another important finding of the present study is that worsening in quality of life is not affected by some factors such as duration, severity of acne and age. PMID:29692454

Role of berberine in anti-bacterial as a high-affinity LPS antagonist binding to TLR4/MD-2 receptor

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Berberine is an isoquinoline alkaloid mainly extracted from Rhizoma Coptidis and has been shown to possess a potent inhibitory activity against bacterial. However, the role of berberine in anti-bacterial action has not been extensively studied. Methods The animal model was established to investigate the effects of berberine on bacterial and LPS infection. Docking analysis, Molecular dynamics simulations and Real-time RT-PCR analysis was adopted to investigate the molecular mechanism. Results Treatment with 40 mg/kg berberine significantly increased the survival rate of mice challenged with Salmonella typhimurium (LT2), but berberine show no effects in bacteriostasis. Further study indicated that treatment with 0.20 g/kg berberine markedly increased the survival rate of mice challenged with 2 EU/ml bacterial endotoxin (LPS) and postpone the death time of the dead mice. Moreover, pretreatment with 0.05 g/kg berberine significantly lower the increasing temperature of rabbits challenged with LPS. The studies of molecular mechanism demonstrated that Berberine was able to bind to the TLR4/MD-2 receptor, and presented higher affinity in comparison with LPS. Furthermore, berberine could significantly suppressed the increasing expression of NF-κB, IL-6, TNFα, and IFNβ in the RAW264.7 challenged with LPS. Conclusion Berberine can act as a LPS antagonist and block the LPS/TLR4 signaling from the sourse, resulting in the anti-bacterial action. PMID:24602493

Techno-economic, location, and carbon emission analysis of thermochemical biomass to transportation fuels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wright, Mark Mba

There are significant technological and systemic challenges faced by today's advanced biofuel industry. These challenges stem from the current state-of-technology and from the system (consumer market, infrastructure, environment...) in which this emerging industry is being developed. The state-of-technology will improve with continued efforts in technology development, but novel approaches are required to investigate the systemic challenges that limit the adoption of advanced biofuels. The motivation of this dissertation is to address the question of how to find cost-effective, sustainable, and environmentally responsible pathways for the production of biofuels. Economic competitiveness, long-term viability, and benign environmental impact are key for biofuels to be embraced by industry, government, and consumers. Techno-economic, location, and carbon emission analysis are research methodologies that help address each of these issues. The research approach presented in this dissertation is to combine these three methodologies into a holistic study of advanced biofuel technologies. The value of techno-economic, location, and carbon emission analysis is limited when conducted in isolation because of current public perception towards energy technologies. Energy technologies are evaluated based on multiple criteria with a significant emphasis on the three areas investigated in this study. There are important aspects within each of these fields that could significantly limit the value of advances in other fields of study. Therefore, it is necessary that future research in advanced biofuels always consider the systemic challenges faced by novel developments.

Deep Space Control Challenges of the New Millennium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bayard, David S.; Burdick, Garry M.

1999-01-01

The exploration of deep space presents a variety of significant control challenges. Long communication delays coupled with challenging new science objectives require high levels of system autonomy and increasingly demanding pointing and control capabilities. Historically, missions based on the use of a large single spacecraft have been successful and popular since the early days of NASA. However, these large spacecraft missions are currently being displaced by more frequent and more focused missions based on the use of smaller and less expensive spacecraft designs. This trend drives the need to design smart software and good algorithms which together with the miniaturization of control components will improve performance while replacing the heavier and more expensive hardware used in the past. NASA's future space exploration will also include mission types that have never been attempted before, posing significant challenges to the underlying control system. This includes controlled landing on small bodies (e.g., asteroids and comets), sample return missions (where samples are brought back from other planets), robotic exploration of planetary surfaces (e.g., intelligent rovers), high precision formation flying, and deep space optical interferometry, While the control of planetary spacecraft for traditional flyby and orbiter missions are based on well-understood methodologies, control approaches for many future missions will be fundamentally different. This paradigm shift will require completely new control system development approaches, system architectures, and much greater levels of system autonomy to meet expected performance in the presence of significant environmental disturbances, and plant uncertainties. This paper will trace the motivation for these changes and will layout the approach taken to meet the new challenges. Emerging missions will be used to explain and illustrate the need for these changes.

Experimental infection of Muscovy ducks with highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (H5N1) belonging to clade 2.2.

PubMed

Guionie, Olivier; Guillou-Cloarec, Cécile; Courtois, David; Bougeard, B Stéphanie; Amelot, Michel; Jestin, Véronique

2010-03-01

Highly pathogenic (HP) H5N1 avian influenza (AI) is enzootic in several countries of Asia and Africa and constitutes a major threat, at the world level, for both animal and public health. Ducks play an important role in the epidemiology of AI, including HP H5N1 AI. Although vaccination can be a useful tool to control AI, duck vaccination has not proved very efficient in the field, indicating a need to develop new vaccines and a challenge model to evaluate the protection for duck species. Although Muscovy duck is the duck species most often reared in France, the primary duck-producing country in Europe, and is also produced in Asia, it is rarely studied. Our team recently demonstrated a good cross-reactivity with hemagglutinin from clade 2.2 and inferred that this could be a good vaccine candidate for ducks. Two challenges using two French H5N1 HP strains, 1) A/mute swan/France/06299/06 (Swan/06299), clade 2.2.1, and 2) A/mute swan/France/070203/07 (Swan/070203), clade 2.2 (but different from subclade 2.2.1), were performed (each) on 20 Muscovy ducks (including five contacts) inoculated by oculo-nasal route (6 log10 median egg infectious doses per duck). Clinical signs were recorded daily, and cloacal and oropharyngeal swabs were collected throughout the assay. Autopsies were done on all dead ducks, and organs were taken for analyses. Virus was measured by quantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR based on the M gene AI virus. Ducks presented severe nervous signs in both challenges. Swan/070203 strain led to 80% morbidity (12/15 sick ducks) and 73% mortality (11/15 ducks) at 13.5 days postinfection (dpi), whereas Swan/06299 strain produced 100% mortality at 6.5 dpi. Viral RNA load was significantly lower via the cloacal route than via the oropharyngeal route in both trials, presenting a peak in the first challenge at 3.5 dpi and being more stable in the second challenge. The brain was the organ containing the highest viral RNA load in both challenges. Viral RNA load in a given organ was similar or statistically significantly higher in ducks challenged with Swan/06299 strain. Thus, the Swan/06299 strain was more virulent and could be used as a putative challenge model. Moreover, challenged ducks and contacts contained the same amounts of viral RNA load, demonstrating the rapid and efficient transmission of H5N1 HP in Muscovy ducks in our experimental conditions.

Segmental thoracic spinal anesthesia in patient with Byssinosis undergoing nephrectomy

PubMed Central

Patel, Kiran; Salgaonkar, Sweta

2012-01-01

Byssinosis is an occupational disease occurring commonly in cotton mill workers; it usually presents with features of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The management of patients with COPD presents a significant challenges to the anesthetist. Regional anesthesia is preferred in most of these patients to avoid perioperative and postoperative complications related to general anesthesia. We report a known case of Byssinosis who underwent nephrectomy under segmental spinal anesthesia at the low thoracic level. PMID:25885628

Carbamide peroxide whitening of nonvital single discolored teeth: case reports.

PubMed

Caughman, W F; Frazier, K B; Haywood, V B

1999-03-01

Patients who present with a single discolored tooth represent a significant restorative challenge. These case reports describe an economic and conservative treatment option for these patients. The situations presented demonstrate techniques for bleaching with carbamide peroxide in a traditional nightguard or with an inside-outside technique to achieve acceptable esthetic results on isolated nonvital discolored teeth. Although these techniques may not be effective in all cases, they do not compromise or eliminate any future treatment options.

Orally administered live attenuated Salmonella Typhimurium protects mice against lethal infection with H1N1 influenza virus.

PubMed

Kamble, Nitin Machindra; Hajam, Irshad Ahmed; Lee, John Hwa

2017-03-01

Pre-stimulation of toll-like receptors (TLRs) by agonists has been shown to increase protection against influenza virus infection. In this study, we evaluated the protective response generated against influenza A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 (PR8; H1N1) virus by oral and nasal administration of live attenuated Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, JOL911 strain, in mice. Oral and nasal inoculation of JOL911 significantly increased the mRNA copy number of TLR-2, TLR4 and TLR5, and downstream type I interferon (IFN) molecules, IFN-α and IFN-β, both in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and in lung tissue. Similarly, the mRNA copy number of interferon-inducible genes (ISGs), Mx and ISG15, were significantly increased in both the orally and the nasally inoculated mice. Post PR8 virus lethal challenge, the nasal JOL911 and the PBS control group mice showed significant loss of body weight with 70% and 100% mortality, respectively, compared to only 30% mortality in the oral JOL911 group mice. Post sub-lethal challenge, the significant reduction in PR8 virus copy number in lung tissue was observed in oral [on day 4 and 6 post-challenge (dpc)] and nasal (on 4dpc) than the PBS control group mice. The lethal and sub-lethal challenge showed that the generated stimulated innate resistance (StIR) in JOL911 inoculated mice conferred resistance to acute and initial influenza infection but might not be sufficient to prevent the PR8 virus invasion and replication in the lung. Overall, the present study indicates that oral administration of attenuated S. Typhimurium can pre-stimulate multiple TLR pathways in mice to provide immediate early StIR against a lethal H1N1 virus challenge. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics: Biological and Technological Aspects

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

Karpievitch, Yuliya V.; Polpitiya, Ashoka D.; Anderson, Gordon A.

2010-12-01

Mass spectrometry-based proteomics has become the tool of choice for identifying and quantifying the proteome of an organism. Though recent years have seen a tremendous improvement in instrument performance and the computational tools used, significant challenges remain, and there are many opportunities for statisticians to make important contributions. In the most widely used "bottom-up" approach to proteomics, complex mixtures of proteins are first subjected to enzymatic cleavage, the resulting peptide products are separated based on chemical or physical properties and analyzed using a mass spectrometer. The two fundamental challenges in the analysis of bottom-up MS-based proteomics are: (1) Identifying themore » proteins that are present in a sample, and (2) Quantifying the abundance levels of the identified proteins. Both of these challenges require knowledge of the biological and technological context that gives rise to observed data, as well as the application of sound statistical principles for estimation and inference. We present an overview of bottom-up proteomics and outline the key statistical issues that arise in protein identification and quantification.« less

Biologically Based Methods for Pest Management in Agriculture under Changing Climates: Challenges and Future Directions.

PubMed

Chidawanyika, Frank; Mudavanhu, Pride; Nyamukondiwa, Casper

2012-11-09

The current changes in global climatic regimes present a significant societal challenge, affecting in all likelihood insect physiology, biochemistry, biogeography and population dynamics. With the increasing resistance of many insect pest species to chemical insecticides and an increasing organic food market, pest control strategies are slowly shifting towards more sustainable, ecologically sound and economically viable options. Biologically based pest management strategies present such opportunities through predation or parasitism of pests and plant direct or indirect defense mechanisms that can all be important components of sustainable integrated pest management programs. Inevitably, the efficacy of biological control systems is highly dependent on natural enemy-prey interactions, which will likely be modified by changing climates. Therefore, knowledge of how insect pests and their natural enemies respond to climate variation is of fundamental importance in understanding biological insect pest management under global climate change. Here, we discuss biological control, its challenges under climate change scenarios and how increased global temperatures will require adaptive management strategies to cope with changing status of insects and their natural enemies.

COMPASS: A computational model to predict changes in MMSE scores 24-months after initial assessment of Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Zhu, Fan; Panwar, Bharat; Dodge, Hiroko H; Li, Hongdong; Hampstead, Benjamin M; Albin, Roger L; Paulson, Henry L; Guan, Yuanfang

2016-10-05

We present COMPASS, a COmputational Model to Predict the development of Alzheimer's diSease Spectrum, to model Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression. This was the best-performing method in recent crowdsourcing benchmark study, DREAM Alzheimer's Disease Big Data challenge to predict changes in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores over 24-months using standardized data. In the present study, we conducted three additional analyses beyond the DREAM challenge question to improve the clinical contribution of our approach, including: (1) adding pre-validated baseline cognitive composite scores of ADNI-MEM and ADNI-EF, (2) identifying subjects with significant declines in MMSE scores, and (3) incorporating SNPs of top 10 genes connected to APOE identified from functional-relationship network. For (1) above, we significantly improved predictive accuracy, especially for the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) group. For (2), we achieved an area under ROC of 0.814 in predicting significant MMSE decline: our model has 100% precision at 5% recall, and 91% accuracy at 10% recall. For (3), "genetic only" model has Pearson's correlation of 0.15 to predict progression in the MCI group. Even though addition of this limited genetic model to COMPASS did not improve prediction of progression of MCI group, the predictive ability of SNP information extended beyond well-known APOE allele.

Effects of 2 size classes of intratracheally administered airborne dust particles on primary and secondary specific antibody responses and body weight gain of broilers: a pilot study on the effects of naturally occurring dust.

PubMed

Lai, H T L; Nieuwland, M G B; Aarnink, A J A; Kemp, B; Parmentier, H K

2012-03-01

We studied the effects of a concurrent challenge on slow-growing broilers with 1) airborne particles of 2 sizes: fine dust (smaller than 2.5 microns) and coarse dust (between 2.5 and 10 microns) that were directly collected from a broiler house and 2) lipopolysaccharide on intratracheal immunizations with the specific antigen human serum albumin (HuSA) and measured primary and secondary systemic (total) antibody responses and (isotype-specific) IgM, IgG, and IgA responses at 3 and 7 wk of age. All treatments affected immune responses at several ages, heart morphology, and BW gain, albeit the latter only temporarily. Dust particles significantly decreased primary antibody (IgT and IgG) responses to HuSA at 3 wk of age but enhanced IgM responses to HuSA at 7 wk of age. Dust particles decreased secondary antibody responses to HuSA, albeit not significantly. All of the birds that were challenged with dust particles showed decreased BW gain after the primary but not after the secondary challenge. Relative heart weight was significantly decreased in birds challenged with coarse dust, fine dust, lipopolysaccharide, and HuSA at 3 wk of age, but not in birds challenged at 7 wk of age. Morphology (weight, width, and length) of hearts were also affected by the dust challenge at 3 wk of age. The present results indicate that airborne dust particles obtained from a broiler house when intratracheally administered at an early age affect specific humoral immune responsiveness and BW gain of broilers to simultaneously administered antigens differently than when administered at a later age. The hygienic status of broiler houses at a young age may be of importance for growth and immune responsiveness, and consequently, for vaccine efficacy and disease resistance in broilers. The consequences of our findings are discussed.

Vaginal microbicides and teenagers.

PubMed

Rupp, Richard E; Rosenthal, Susan L

2003-10-01

Sexually active teens are at significant risk from sexually transmitted infections and girls and women bear the greatest burden of these infections. New methods, such as vaginal microbicides, would provide female controlled options. Microbicides are currently in development and thus it is timely to discuss the progress made and factors that may influence acceptability for teens. Microbicide development presents many challenges, and several different potential mechanisms of action are being explored. There is interest in these products from women and men, and specific preferences are being investigated. Adolescents, due to reproductive system immaturity, developing cognitive abilities and the psychosocial context of their relationships, present a special set of challenges in efforts to foster microbicide use. Vaginal microbicides are on the horizon. Further study into teen issues is required to develop successful strategies for marketing and encouraging adolescent use of microbicides.

Health and safety strategies in a changing Europe.

PubMed

Walters, D

1998-01-01

This article presents a synthesis of some of the more significant findings from two recent surveys on working conditions and national strategies for their improvement in the European Union in the 1990s. As patterns and organization of employment have changed in the past decade, the consequences for health and safety present new challenges for legislators, the social partners, the regulatory agencies, and the specialists. These challenges are only partially met in most European member states. Because of the continued deregulation of employment, reduced public expenditure, and reduced trade union presence, the operation of strategies to implement a common framework of E.U. legislation is limited and often incomplete. This issue must be confronted if systems for promoting the well-being of people at work in Europe are to keep up with the rapidly changing nature of the risks that they face.

Enhancing audiovisual experience with haptic feedback: a survey on HAV.

PubMed

Danieau, F; Lecuyer, A; Guillotel, P; Fleureau, J; Mollet, N; Christie, M

2013-01-01

Haptic technology has been widely employed in applications ranging from teleoperation and medical simulation to art and design, including entertainment, flight simulation, and virtual reality. Today there is a growing interest among researchers in integrating haptic feedback into audiovisual systems. A new medium emerges from this effort: haptic-audiovisual (HAV) content. This paper presents the techniques, formalisms, and key results pertinent to this medium. We first review the three main stages of the HAV workflow: the production, distribution, and rendering of haptic effects. We then highlight the pressing necessity for evaluation techniques in this context and discuss the key challenges in the field. By building on existing technologies and tackling the specific challenges of the enhancement of audiovisual experience with haptics, we believe the field presents exciting research perspectives whose financial and societal stakes are significant.

Multigenerational Effects of Heavy Metals on Feeding, Growth, Initial Reproduction and Antioxidants in Caenorhabditis elegans

PubMed Central

Yu, ZhenYang; Zhang, Jing; Yin, DaQiang

2016-01-01

Earlier studies showed that toxicities of excessive metals lasted over generations. Yet, these studies mainly employed one-generation exposure, and the effects of multigenerational challenges need further studies. Presently, Caenorhabditis elegans were exposed to cadmium, copper, lead and zinc for four consecutive generations (G1 to G4) at environmental concentrations. The feeding, growth, initial reproduction, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were determined. All data were represented in the percentage of that in control (POC), and POC in the control was normalized to 100%. In G1 and G2, the POC values in feeding, growth and initial reproduction were generally within 10% of the control (100%), indicating non-significant effects. The POC values in SOD and CAT were significantly higher than 100%, showing stimulatory effects. In G3 and G4, the POC values in feeding, growth and initial reproduction were significantly lower than 100%, showing inhibitory effects which were more severe in G4 than in G3. Meanwhile, SOD and CAT continuously showed stimulatory effects, and the stimulatory effects on SOD increased from G1 to G4. The effects with multigenerational challenges were different from those in one-generation exposure. The effects in later generations demonstrated the importance of multigenerational challenges in judging long-term influences of metals. PMID:27116222

Rapamycin alleviates oxidative stress-induced damage in rat erythrocytes.

PubMed

Singh, Abhishek Kumar; Singh, Sandeep; Garg, Geetika; Rizvi, Syed Ibrahim

2016-10-01

An imbalanced cellular redox system promotes the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that may lead to oxidative stress-mediated cell death. Erythrocytes are the best-studied model of antioxidant defense mechanism. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of the immunosuppressant drug rapamycin, an inducer of autophagy, on redox balance of erythrocytes and blood plasma of oxidatively challenged rats. Male Wistar rats were oxidatively challenged with HgCl 2 (5 mg/kg body mass (b.m.)). A significant (p < 0.05) induction in ROS production, plasma membrane redox system (PMRS), intracellular Ca 2+ influx, lipid peroxidation (LPO), osmotic fragility, plasma protein carbonyl (PCO) content, and plasma advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) and simultaneously significant reduction in glutathione (GSH) level and ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) were observed in rats exposed to HgCl 2 . Furthermore, rapamycin (0.5 mg/kg b.m.) provided significant protection against HgCl 2 -induced alterations in rat erythrocytes and plasma by reducing ROS production, PMRS activity, intracellular Ca 2+ influx, LPO, osmotic fragility, PCO content, and AOPP and also restored the level of antioxidant GSH and FRAP. Our observations provide evidence that rapamycin improves redox status and attenuates oxidative stress in oxidatively challenged rats. Our data also demonstrate that rapamycin is a comparatively safe immunosuppressant drug.

DNA vaccines encoding proteins from wild-type and attenuated canine distemper virus protect equally well against wild-type virus challenge.

PubMed

Nielsen, Line; Jensen, Trine Hammer; Kristensen, Birte; Jensen, Tove Dannemann; Karlskov-Mortensen, Peter; Lund, Morten; Aasted, Bent; Blixenkrone-Møller, Merete

2012-10-01

Immunity induced by DNA vaccines containing the hemagglutinin (H) and nucleoprotein (N) genes of wild-type and attenuated canine distemper virus (CDV) was investigated in mink (Mustela vison), a highly susceptible natural host of CDV. All DNA-immunized mink seroconverted, and significant levels of virus-neutralizing (VN) antibodies were present on the day of challenge with wild-type CDV. The DNA vaccines also primed the cell-mediated memory responses, as indicated by an early increase in the number of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ)-producing lymphocytes after challenge. Importantly, the wild-type and attenuated CDV DNA vaccines had a long-term protective effect against wild-type CDV challenge. The vaccine-induced immunity induced by the H and N genes from wild-type CDV and those from attenuated CDV was comparable. Because these two DNA vaccines were shown to protect equally well against wild-type virus challenge, it is suggested that the genetic/antigenic heterogeneity between vaccine strains and contemporary wild-type strains are unlikely to cause vaccine failure.

Perceived Challenges in Primary Literature in a Master’s Class: Effects of Experience and Instruction

PubMed Central

Lie, Richard; Abdullah, Christopher; He, Wenliang; Tour, Ella

2016-01-01

Primary literature offers rich opportunities to teach students how to “think like a scientist,” but the challenges students face when they attempt to read research articles are not well understood. Here, we present an analysis of what master’s students perceive as the most challenging aspects of engaging with primary literature. We examined 69 pairs of pre- and postcourse responses from students enrolled in a master’s-level course that offered a structured analysis of primary literature. On the basis of these responses, we identified six categories of challenges. Before instruction, “techniques” and “experimental data” were the most frequently identified categories of challenges. The majority of difficulties students perceived in the primary literature corresponded to Bloom’s lower-order cognitive skills. After instruction, “conclusions” were identified as the most difficult aspect of primary literature, and the frequency of challenges that corresponded to higher-order cognitive skills increased significantly among students who reported less experience with primary literature. These changes are consistent with a more competent perception of the primary literature, in which these students increasingly focus on challenges requiring critical thinking. Students’ difficulties identified here can inform the design of instructional approaches aimed to teach students how to critically read scientific papers. PMID:27909027

Protective effects of a zinc-hydroxyapatite toothpaste on enamel erosion: SEM study

PubMed Central

Colombo, Marco; Beltrami, Riccardo; Rattalino, Davide; Mirando, Maria; Chiesa, Marco; Poggio, Claudio

2016-01-01

Summary Aim The aim of the present in vitro study was to evaluate the protective effects of a zinc-hydroxyapatite toothpaste against an erosive challenge produced by a soft drink (Coca-Cola) using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Methods Forty specimens were assigned to 4 groups of 10 specimens each (group 1: no erosive challenge, no toothpaste treatment, group 2: erosive challenge, no toothpaste treatment, group 3: erosive challenge, fluoride toothpaste treatment, group 4: erosive challenge, zinc-hydroxyapatite toothpaste treatment). The surface of each specimen was imaged by SEM. A visual rating system was used to evaluate the condition of the enamel surface; results were analyzed by nonparametric statistical methods. Results Statistically significant differences were found between the samples untreated and those immersed in Coca-Cola (group 1, 2); the highest grade of damage was found in group 2, while the lowest grade was recorded in the samples of group 4. Comparing the groups, the two analyzed toothpaste tended to protect in different extend. Conclusions In this study treatment of erosively challenged enamel with Zn-Hap toothpaste showed a clear protective effect. This was greater than the effect observed for a normal fluoride toothpaste and confirmed the potential benefit the Zn-HAP technology can provide in protecting enamel from erosive acid challenges. PMID:28149449

Protective effects of a zinc-hydroxyapatite toothpaste on enamel erosion: SEM study.

PubMed

Colombo, Marco; Beltrami, Riccardo; Rattalino, Davide; Mirando, Maria; Chiesa, Marco; Poggio, Claudio

2016-01-01

The aim of the present in vitro study was to evaluate the protective effects of a zinc-hydroxyapatite toothpaste against an erosive challenge produced by a soft drink (Coca-Cola) using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Forty specimens were assigned to 4 groups of 10 specimens each (group 1: no erosive challenge, no toothpaste treatment, group 2: erosive challenge, no toothpaste treatment, group 3: erosive challenge, fluoride toothpaste treatment, group 4: erosive challenge, zinc-hydroxyapatite toothpaste treatment). The surface of each specimen was imaged by SEM. A visual rating system was used to evaluate the condition of the enamel surface; results were analyzed by nonparametric statistical methods. Statistically significant differences were found between the samples untreated and those immersed in Coca-Cola (group 1, 2); the highest grade of damage was found in group 2, while the lowest grade was recorded in the samples of group 4. Comparing the groups, the two analyzed toothpaste tended to protect in different extend. In this study treatment of erosively challenged enamel with Zn-Hap toothpaste showed a clear protective effect. This was greater than the effect observed for a normal fluoride toothpaste and confirmed the potential benefit the Zn-HAP technology can provide in protecting enamel from erosive acid challenges.

Protective effect of zinc-hydroxyapatite toothpastes on enamel erosion: An in vitro study.

PubMed

Poggio, Claudio; Gulino, Chiara; Mirando, Maria; Colombo, Marco; Pietrocola, Giampiero

2017-01-01

The aim of the present study was to test the impact of different toothpastes with Zinc-Hydroxyapatite (Zn-HAP) on preventing and repairing enamel erosion compared to toothpastes with and without fluoride. The following four toothpastes were tested: two toothpastes with Zn-HAP, one toothpaste with fluoride and one toothpaste without fluoride. An additional control group was used in which enamel specimens were not treated with toothpaste. Repeated erosive challenges were provided by immersing bovine enamel specimens (10 per group) in a soft drink for 2 min (6mL, room temperature) at 0, 8, 24 and 32 h. After each erosive challenge, the toothpastes were applied neat onto the surface of specimens for 3 min without brushing and removed with distilled water. Between treatments the specimens were kept in artificial saliva. Enamel hardness, after the erosive challenge and toothpaste treatment was monitored using surface micro-hardness measurements. As expected, repeated erosive challenge by a soft drink for total of 8 min significantly reduced enamel surface hardness (ANOVA, p < 0.05). No re-hardening of the surface softened enamel was observed in the group treated with fluoride-free toothpaste. Surface hardness of the softened enamel increased when the specimens were treated with the fluoride toothpaste and the two toothpastes with Zn-HAP ( p < 0.05). Toothpaste with Zn-HAP resulted in significant enamel remineralisation of erosively challenged enamel, indicating that these toothpastes could provide enamel health benefits relevant to enamel erosion. Key words: Enamel, erosion, remineralization, surface hardness, toothpastes.

Has the biobank bubble burst? Withstanding the challenges for sustainable biobanking in the digital era.

PubMed

Chalmers, Don; Nicol, Dianne; Kaye, Jane; Bell, Jessica; Campbell, Alastair V; Ho, Calvin W L; Kato, Kazuto; Minari, Jusaku; Ho, Chih-Hsing; Mitchell, Colin; Molnár-Gábor, Fruzsina; Otlowski, Margaret; Thiel, Daniel; Fullerton, Stephanie M; Whitton, Tess

2016-07-12

Biobanks have been heralded as essential tools for translating biomedical research into practice, driving precision medicine to improve pathways for global healthcare treatment and services. Many nations have established specific governance systems to facilitate research and to address the complex ethical, legal and social challenges that they present, but this has not lead to uniformity across the world. Despite significant progress in responding to the ethical, legal and social implications of biobanking, operational, sustainability and funding challenges continue to emerge. No coherent strategy has yet been identified for addressing them. This has brought into question the overall viability and usefulness of biobanks in light of the significant resources required to keep them running. This review sets out the challenges that the biobanking community has had to overcome since their inception in the early 2000s. The first section provides a brief outline of the diversity in biobank and regulatory architecture in seven countries: Australia, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, the UK, and the USA. The article then discusses four waves of responses to biobanking challenges. This article had its genesis in a discussion on biobanks during the Centre for Health, Law and Emerging Technologies (HeLEX) conference in Oxford UK, co-sponsored by the Centre for Law and Genetics (University of Tasmania). This article aims to provide a review of the issues associated with biobank practices and governance, with a view to informing the future course of both large-scale and smaller scale biobanks.

The Roles of Heat Shock Proteins 70 and 90 in Exopalaemon carinicauda After WSSV and Vibrio anguillarum Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jitao; Li, Jian; Duan, Yafei; Chen, Ping; Liu, Ping

2018-04-01

Heat shock proteins (HSPs), such as HSP70 and HSP90, are a suite of highly conserved proteins produced in all cellular organisms when they are exposed to stresses. In aquatic animals, they have been proved to play important roles in response to environmental pollutants and particularly in the non-specific immune responses to pathogen infections. In the present study, the expression profiles of HSP70 and HSP90 genes in hemocytes and hepatopancreas from the ridgetail white prawn Exopalaemon carinicauda infected with WSSV and Vibrio anguillarum were detected using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). After WSSV challenge, the expression level of HSP 70 gene transcripts in the hemocytes and hepatopancreas increased to peak level at 6 h and 48 h, respectively. HSP90 gene transcripts in hemocytes and hepatopancreas were up-regulated significantly at 12 h and 6 h, respectively. During V. anguillarum challenge, the mRNA content of HSP70 gene in hemocytes and hepatopancreas increased significantly at 12 h and 6 h post-infection, respectively. The expression level of HSP90 gene both in hemocytes and hepatopancreas were up-regulated in the first 3 h. The expression patterns of HSP70 and HSP90 genes in hemocytes and hepatopancreas showed temporal and spatial differences after challenged with WSSV and V. anguillarum. The results suggested that HSPs might be involved in immune responses to pathogens challenge in E. carinicauda.

The roles of heat shock proteins 70 and 90 in Exopalaemon carinicauda after WSSV and Vibrio anguillarum challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jitao; Li, Jian; Duan, Yafei; Chen, Ping; Liu, Ping

2017-12-01

Heat shock proteins (HSPs), such as HSP70 and HSP90, are a suite of highly conserved proteins produced in all cellular organisms when they are exposed to stresses. In aquatic animals, they have been proved to play important roles in response to environmental pollutants and particularly in the non-specific immune responses to pathogen infections. In the present study, the expression profiles of HSP70 and HSP90 genes in hemocytes and hepatopancreas from the ridgetail white prawn Exopalaemon carinicauda infected with WSSV and Vibrio anguillarum were detected using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). After WSSV challenge, the expression level of HSP 70 gene transcripts in the hemocytes and hepatopancreas increased to peak level at 6 h and 48 h, respectively. HSP90 gene transcripts in hemocytes and hepatopancreas were up-regulated significantly at 12 h and 6 h, respectively. During V. anguillarum challenge, the mRNA content of HSP70 gene in hemocytes and hepatopancreas increased significantly at 12 h and 6 h post-infection, respectively. The expression level of HSP90 gene both in hemocytes and hepatopancreas were up-regulated in the first 3 h. The expression patterns of HSP70 and HSP90 genes in hemocytes and hepatopancreas showed temporal and spatial differences after challenged with WSSV and V. anguillarum. The results suggested that HSPs might be involved in immune responses to pathogens challenge in E. carinicauda.

Susceptibility of the Siberian polecat to subcutaneous and oral Yersinia pestis exposure

USGS Publications Warehouse

Castle, K.T.; Biggins, D.; Carter, L.G.; Chu, M.; Innes, Kim; Wimsatt, J.

2001-01-01

To determine if the Siberian polecat (Mustela eversmannii) represents a suitable model for the study of plague pathogenesis and prevention in the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), polecats were exposed to 103, 107, or 1010 Yersinia pestis organisms by subcutaneous injection; an additional group was exposed to Y. pestis via ingestion of a plague-killed mouse. Plague killed 88% of polecats exposed to Y. pestis (71% mortality in the 103 group, 100% mortality in the 107 and 1010 groups, and 83% mortality in the mouse-fed group). Within the challenged group, mean day of death post-challenge ranged from 3.6 to 7.6 days; all polecats died on or before day 12 post-challenge. Animals receiving the lowest parenteral dose survived significantly longer than those receiving higher parenteral doses. Within challenged animals, mean survival time was lower in those presenting with significant weight loss by day 3, lethargy, and low fecal output; time to onset of lethargy and other signs was also related to risk of dying and/or plague dose. Six polecats developed serum antibody titers to the Y. pestis F1 protein. Three seropositive polecats survived the initial challenge and a subsequent exposure to a plague-killed mouse, while two seropositive animals later died. This study confirms that the Siberian polecat is susceptible to plague and suggests that this species will offer an appropriate surrogate for black-footed ferrets in future plague studies and related vaccine trials.

Susceptibility of the Siberian polecat to subcutaneous and oral Yersinia pestis exposure.

PubMed

Castle, K T; Biggins, D; Carter, L G; Chu, M; Innes, K; Wimsatt, J

2001-10-01

To determine if the Siberian polecat (Mustela eversmannii) represents a suitable model for the study of plague pathogenesis and prevention in the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), polecats were exposed to 10(3), 10(7), or 10(10) Yersinia pestis organisms by subcutaneous injection; an additional group was exposed to Y. pestis via ingestion of a plague-killed mouse. Plague killed 88% of polecats exposed to Y. pestis (71% mortality in the 10(3) group, 100% mortality in the 10(7) and 10(10) groups, and 83% mortality in the mouse-fed group). Within the challenged group, mean day of death post-challenge ranged from 3.6 to 7.6 days; all polecats died on or before day 12 post-challenge. Animals receiving the lowest parenteral dose survived significantly longer than those receiving higher parenteral doses. Within challenged animals, mean survival time was lower in those presenting with significant weight loss by day 3, lethargy, and low fecal output; time to onset of lethargy and other signs was also related to risk of dying and/or plague dose. Six polecats developed serum antibody titers to the Y. pestis F1 protein. Three seropositive polecats survived the initial challenge and a subsequent exposure to a plague-killed mouse, while two seropositive animals later died. This study confirms that the Siberian polecat is susceptible to plague and suggests that this species will offer an appropriate surrogate for black-footed ferrets in future plague studies and related vaccine trials.

Public health engineering education in India: current scenario, opportunities and challenges.

PubMed

Hussain, Mohammad Akhtar; Sharma, Kavya; Zodpey, Sanjay

2011-01-01

Public health engineering can play an important and significant role in solving environmental health issues. In order to confront public health challenges emerging out of environmental problems we need adequately trained public health engineers / environmental engineers. Considering the current burden of disease attributable to environmental factors and expansion in scope of applications of public health / environmental engineering science, it is essential to understand the present scenario of teaching, training and capacity building programs in these areas. Against this background the present research was carried out to know the current teaching and training programs in public health engineering and related disciplines in India and to understand the potential opportunities and challenges available. A systematic, predefined approach was used to collect and assemble the data related to various teaching and training programs in public health engineering / environmental engineering in India. Public health engineering / environmental engineering education and training in the country is mainly offered through engineering institutions, as pre-service and in-service training. Pre-service programs include diploma, degree (graduate) and post-graduate courses affiliated to various state technical boards, institutes and universities, whereas in-service training is mainly provided by Government of India recognized engineering and public health training institutes. Though trainees of these programs acquire skills related to engineering sciences, they significantly lack in public health skills. The teaching and training of public health engineering / environmental engineering is limited as a part of public health programs (MD Community Medicine, MPH, DPH) in India. There is need for developing teaching and training of public health engineering or environmental engineering as an interdisciplinary subject. Public health institutes can play an important and significant role in this regard by engaging themselves in initiating specialized programs in this domain.

Your Voice Counts: Listening to the Voice of High School Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saggers, Beth; Hwang, Yoon-Suk; Mercer, K. Louise

2011-01-01

Supporting students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in inclusive settings presents both opportunities and significant challenges to school communities. This study, which explored the lived experience of nine students with ASD in an inclusive high school in Australia, is based on the belief that by listening to the voices of students, school…

The Power and Challenge of Facilitating Reframing: Applications in Teaching Negotiation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cannon, Mark D.

2017-01-01

Reframing is the ability to identify and significantly change assumptions or perspectives. It is a powerful skill but can be difficult to learn and apply. This article presents two experiential exercises for teaching reframing in negotiations: the Rental Home case and the Multiplex Saw case. These exercises are designed to produce frame-shifting…

Towards an Effective Freeware Resource for Music Composition in the Primary Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hart, Adam

2017-01-01

This paper presents an ongoing project to develop a freeware resource for music composition in the primary classroom. The national curriculum for music at Key Stages 1 and 2 calls for students to "compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music", a challenging aim that demands significant guidance,…

Antipruritic Effects of Botulinum Neurotoxins

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

This review explores current evidence to demonstrate that botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) exert antipruritic effects. Both experimental and clinical conditions in which botulinum neurotoxins have been applied for pruritus relief will be presented and significant findings will be highlighted. Potential mechanisms underlying antipruritic effects will also be discussed and ongoing challenges and unmet needs will be addressed. PMID:29596343

People, Pope and Planet: A Hermeneutic and Spectacle Analysis of "Laudato Si'" for Global Citizenship Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gaudelli, William

2017-01-01

Global citizenship education presents a number of challenges for educators, including the wide variety of texts available to be studied. I explore "Laudato Si'," Pope Francis' 2015 statement on global warming and human development. "Laudato Si'" includes contents that are broad, connective, and significant/relevant, making it a…

Now More than Ever: Building and Sustaining Capacity for School-Located Vaccination Initiatives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuehnert, Paul

2010-01-01

The fall 2009 campaign to vaccinate high-risk U.S. residents against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus presented three key challenges that had significant impact on the effectiveness of campaigns conducted by local health departments (LHDs), schools, and other community partners. These issues included those of communication and trust, both between…

Exploring the Usefulness of Two Conceptual Frameworks for Understanding How Organizational Factors Influence Innovation Implementation in Cancer Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Urquhart, Robin; Sargeant, Joan; Grunfeld, Eva

2013-01-01

Moving knowledge into practice and the implementation of innovations in health care remain significant challenges. Few researchers adequately address the influence of organizations on the implementation of innovations in health care. The aims of this article are to (1) present 2 conceptual frameworks for understanding the organizational factors…

"I Love My Work, but This Is Not My Life": Women of Color in the Academy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mena, Jasmine A.

2016-01-01

The present study used critical ethnography and intersectionality theory to better understand the experiences of Women of Color (WOC) in the academy. WOC experience numerous and significant challenges in the academy that have the potential to stifle their career growth. Claiming increased acceptance and diversity in the academy without a…

Immigration, Racial Profiling, and White Privilege: Community-Based Challenges and Practices for Adult Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kong, Luis J.

2010-01-01

In this chapter, the author will explore the significance of race from a social constructionist perspective. He will focus on immigration laws and on examples of legal cases that have set the stage for current definitions of whiteness and racial identification. A community-based transformational organizing model will be presented. The model will…

Understanding Depression in Adolescents: A Dynamic Psychosocial Web of Risk and Protective Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kassis, Wassilis; Artz, Sibylle; White, Jennifer

2017-01-01

Background: Adolescent depression has been recognized as a complex problem that presents a global public health challenge. Left undetected and untreated, depression can significantly reduce quality of life. Objective: The main purpose of this paper is to re-visit risk and protective factors for depression in adolescents with a specific focus on…

User Interface Preferences in the Design of a Camera-Based Navigation and Wayfinding Aid

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arditi, Aries; Tian, YingLi

2013-01-01

Introduction: Development of a sensing device that can provide a sufficient perceptual substrate for persons with visual impairments to orient themselves and travel confidently has been a persistent rehabilitation technology goal, with the user interface posing a significant challenge. In the study presented here, we enlist the advice and ideas of…

The Significance of Context: Moral Education and Religious Education Facing the Challenge of Sustainability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kvamme, Ole Andreas

2017-01-01

Education for sustainable development as presented by UNESCO involves a value dimension which is both pivotal and problematic. Pivotal, because values concern what matters to beings, problematic because the values brought forward are formulated as universal values, with the risk of suppressing the plurality of context. The first part of the…

Wildland fire management policy: Learning from the past and present and responding to future challenges

Treesearch

Tom Zimmerman

2009-01-01

Since its origin as a defined functional activity, wildland fire management has been the natural resource management program with the highest risk, complexity, and greatest potential for serious negative outcomes. During this time, this program has continually grown in temporal and spatial extent, operational complexity, ecological significance, social, economic, and...

The Challenges Facing the Integration of ICT in Teaching in Saudi Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alkahtani, Aishah

2017-01-01

A study was conducted the information and communications technology component (ICT) of the King Abdullah Public Education Development project (the Project)--part of sweeping educational reforms in Saudi Arabia at four schools in two cities. This study presents two significant shortcomings key players encountered: A lack of training and a lack of…

Enhancing Academic Instruction for Adolescent English Language Learners with or at Risk for Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haager, Diane; Osipova, Anna V.

2017-01-01

An increasing number of children worldwide attend schools where the language of instruction does not match their native language, presenting significant challenges with learning the content and vocabulary of academic content areas (e.g., social studies, science). In the U.S., these students are designated as English language learners…

Philosophy with Children, the Stingray and the Educative Value of Disequilibrium

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murris, Karin Saskia

2008-01-01

Philosophy with children (P4C) presents significant positive challenges for educators. Its "community of enquiry" pedagogy assumes not only an epistemological shift in the role of the educator, but also a different ontology of "child" and balance of power between educator and learner. After a brief historical sketch and an outline of the diversity…

new lease accounting and health care.

PubMed

Berman, Mindy

2016-05-01

Recently released lease accounting standards from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) present three significant challenges for healthcare organizations: All leases must be reported on a company's balance sheet, increasing liabilities on the balance sheets of healthcare organizations considerably. Contractual agreements not previously considered leases will now be treated as leases. Classification of some equipment leases could change.

Treatment with Youth Who Have Committed Sexual Offences: Extending the Reach of Systemic Interventions through Collaborative Partnerships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smallbone, Stephen; Rayment-McHugh, Susan; Crissman, Belinda; Shumack, Danielle

2008-01-01

Delivery of high-quality mental health services to clients in regional and remote areas in Australia presents significant challenges. Griffith Youth Forensic Service (GYFS) provides specialised, state-wide assessment and systemic treatment services for young people in Queensland who have committed sexual offences. In an effort to provide…

Elevated CO2, warmer temperatures and soil water deficit affect plant growth, physiology and water use of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Changes in temperature, atmospheric [CO2] and precipitation under the scenarios of projected climate change present a challenge to crop production, and may have significant impacts on the physiology, growth and yield of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). A glasshouse experiment explored the early growt...

Playing with History: A Look at Video Games, World History and Libraries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snow, Cason E.

2010-01-01

The ubiquity of video games in today's society presents unique challenges and opportunities for librarians and faculty. A significant subset of video games use historical periods as a setting, some with greater adherence to history than others. Many students are playing these games and bringing preconceived ideas of the historical period to the…

Beyond Social Constructionism: A Structural Analysis of the Cultural Significance of the Child Star

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Connor, Jane

2009-01-01

This article challenges the dominance of social constructionist theories of childhood by presenting a structural analysis of the child star as a recurrent, universal feature in the myths and legends of the world. The article argues that by conceptualising our understanding of children and childhood as being due solely to the socio-historical…

Academic Workload Implications of Assessing Student Learning in Work-Integrated Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bilgin, Ayse A.; Rowe, Anna D.; Clark, Lindie

2017-01-01

Assessment of student learning is a crucial part of quality work—integrated learning (WIL), yet presents some significant challenges for WIL practitioners. Assessment of WIL differs to assessment in classroom based courses because of the complexities of assessing the more holistic nature of learning in WIL, as well as (in many cases)…

Brief Report: Treating Stuttering in an Adult with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brundage, Shelley B.; Whelan, Cory J.; Burgess, Cathleen M.

2013-01-01

Stuttering and autism can co-occur and when they do it presents a significant communication challenge. This study examined the effectiveness of a modified version of the fluency rules program (FRP; Runyan and Runyan, Stuttering and related disorders of fluency, in 2007) to reduce stuttering frequency in a man with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).…

Non-invasive systemic drug delivery through mucosal routes.

PubMed

Goyal, Amit K; Singh, Ranjit; Chauhan, Gaurav; Rath, Goutam

2018-04-24

Science of drug delivery has achieved tremendous milestones in the last few decades. Emergence of novel drug delivery techniques and the most popular nanotechnology directed the drug delivery to another level. Without any doubt, present technology holds the proficiency to approach even the intercellular targets. Between all these success auras, there lies wads of giant challenges. One such challenge is delivering the molecule directly to the blood stream. Parenteral route is considered as the most effective route for delivering active pharmaceutical substances, but is associated with major disadvantages of painful drug delivery. Modern drug delivery suggests several approaches to outstrip this painful phenomenon. In the present article, we represent a new systematic vision to understand the ability and desirability of mucosal sites to achieve painless drug delivery. Human mucosa presents supreme proximity to the blood circulation that one can even observe with naked eye. Advances in drug delivery provide numerous approaches to exploit the mucosa for systemic reach. However, the revolutionary success is still unapproachable, with an understandable reason of associated complexities and challenges. This manuscript summarizes the significance of each mucosal site, on the basis of anatomical-physiological grounds. Particular attention is given to rationalize the selection of disease and a suitable drug delivery approach for its treatment.

New Insights into Perfluorinated Sulfonic-Acid Ionomers

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

Kusoglu, Ahmet; Weber, Adam Z.

In this comprehensive review, recent progress and developments on perfluorinated sulfonic-acid (PFSA) membranes have been summarized on many key topics. Although quite well investigated for decades, PFSA ionomers’ complex behavior, along with their key role in many emerging technologies, have presented significant scientific challenges but also helped create a unique cross-disciplinary research field to overcome such challenges. Research and progress on PFSAs, especially when considered with their applications, are at the forefront of bridging electrochemistry and polymer (physics), which have also opened up development of state-of-the-art in situ characterization techniques as well as multiphysics computation models. Topics reviewed stem frommore » correlating the various physical (e.g., mechanical) and transport properties with morphology and structure across time and length scales. In addition, topics of recent interest such as structure/transport correlations and modeling, composite PFSA membranes, degradation phenomena, and PFSA thin films are presented. Throughout, the impact of PFSA chemistry and side-chain is also discussed to present a broader perspective.« less

New Insights into Perfluorinated Sulfonic-Acid Ionomers

DOE PAGES

Kusoglu, Ahmet; Weber, Adam Z.

2017-01-23

In this comprehensive review, recent progress and developments on perfluorinated sulfonic-acid (PFSA) membranes have been summarized on many key topics. Although quite well investigated for decades, PFSA ionomers’ complex behavior, along with their key role in many emerging technologies, have presented significant scientific challenges but also helped create a unique cross-disciplinary research field to overcome such challenges. Research and progress on PFSAs, especially when considered with their applications, are at the forefront of bridging electrochemistry and polymer (physics), which have also opened up development of state-of-the-art in situ characterization techniques as well as multiphysics computation models. Topics reviewed stem frommore » correlating the various physical (e.g., mechanical) and transport properties with morphology and structure across time and length scales. In addition, topics of recent interest such as structure/transport correlations and modeling, composite PFSA membranes, degradation phenomena, and PFSA thin films are presented. Throughout, the impact of PFSA chemistry and side-chain is also discussed to present a broader perspective.« less

Status of Foreground and Instrument Challenges for 21cm EoR experiments - Design Strategies for SKA and HERA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thyagarajan, Nithyanandan

2018-05-01

Direct detection of the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) via redshifted 21 cm line of H i will reveal the nature of the first stars and galaxies as well as revolutionize our understanding of a poorly explored evolutionary phase of the Universe. Projects such as the MWA, LOFAR, and PAPER commenced in the last decade with the promise of high significance statistical detection of the EoR, but have so far only weakly constrained models owing to unforeseen challenges from bright foreground sources and instrument systematics. It is essential for next generation instruments like the HERA and SKA to have these challenges addressed. I present an analysis of these challenges - wide-field measurements, antenna beam chromaticity, reflections in the instrument, and antenna position errors - along with performance specifications and design solutions that will be critical to designing successful next-generation instruments in enabling the first detection and also in placing meaningful constraints on reionization models.

Financial challenges of immunization: a look at GAVI.

PubMed Central

Kaddar, Miloud; Lydon, Patrick; Levine, Ruth

2004-01-01

Securing reliable and adequate public funding for prevention services, even those that are considered highly cost effective, often presents a challenge. This has certainly been the case with childhood immunizations in developing countries. Although the traditional childhood vaccines cost relatively little, funding in poor countries is often at risk and subject to the political whims of donors and national governments. With the introduction of newer and more costly vaccines made possible under the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), the future financial challenges have become even greater. Experience so far suggests that choosing to introduce new combination vaccines can significantly increase the costs of national immunization programmes. With this experience comes a growing concern about their affordability in the medium term and long term and a realization that, for many countries, shared financial responsibility between national governments and international donors may initially be required. This article focuses on how GAVI is addressing the challenge of sustaining adequate and reliable funding for immunizations in the poorest countries. PMID:15628208

Eosinophilic airway disease in a patient with a negative skin prick test, but a positive patch test with platinum salts--implications for medical surveillance.

PubMed

Merget, Rolf; Fartasch, Manigé; Sander, Ingrid; Van Kampen, Vera; Raulf, Monika; Brüning, Thomas

2015-09-01

We present the case of a 52-year-old woman with a topic dermatitis since adolescence who developed work-related hand eczema, cough and runny nose 12 years after she had started working as a laboratory technician at a precious metals refinery. While skin prick test with sodium hexachloroplatinate (SPTPt ) was negative, patch testing with ammonium tetrachloroplatinate was positive after 24, 48, 72, and 96 hr. Inhalation challenge with sodium hexachloroplatinate yielded cough, mild shortness of breath, and a maximal decrease of FEV1 of 8% from baseline 24 hr after the challenge. Significant increases of bronchial hyperresponsiveness, exhaled nitric monoxide and sputum eosinophils were documented after the challenge. We conclude that eosinophilic airway disease due to platinum salts may occur in SPTPt negative subjects. Both, patch testing and inhalation challenge with platinum salts should be considered in SPT negative subjects with occupational exposure to precious metal salts and work-related allergic symptoms. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Improved obstacle avoidance and navigation for an autonomous ground vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giri, Binod; Cho, Hyunsu; Williams, Benjamin C.; Tann, Hokchhay; Shakya, Bicky; Bharam, Vishal; Ahlgren, David J.

2015-01-01

This paper presents improvements made to the intelligence algorithms employed on Q, an autonomous ground vehicle, for the 2014 Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC). In 2012, the IGVC committee combined the formerly separate autonomous and navigation challenges into a single AUT-NAV challenge. In this new challenge, the vehicle is required to navigate through a grassy obstacle course and stay within the course boundaries (a lane of two white painted lines) that guide it toward a given GPS waypoint. Once the vehicle reaches this waypoint, it enters an open course where it is required to navigate to another GPS waypoint while avoiding obstacles. After reaching the final waypoint, the vehicle is required to traverse another obstacle course before completing the run. Q uses modular parallel software architecture in which image processing, navigation, and sensor control algorithms run concurrently. A tuned navigation algorithm allows Q to smoothly maneuver through obstacle fields. For the 2014 competition, most revisions occurred in the vision system, which detects white lines and informs the navigation component. Barrel obstacles of various colors presented a new challenge for image processing: the previous color plane extraction algorithm would not suffice. To overcome this difficulty, laser range sensor data were overlaid on visual data. Q also participates in the Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JAUS) challenge at IGVC. For 2014, significant updates were implemented: the JAUS component accepted a greater variety of messages and showed better compliance to the JAUS technical standard. With these improvements, Q secured second place in the JAUS competition.

Summary: achievements, critical issues, and thoughts on the future.

PubMed

Held, Kathryn D

2012-11-01

The number of individuals exposed to particle radiations in cancer treatment worldwide is increasing rapidly, and space agencies are developing plans for long duration, deep space missions in which humans could be exposed to significant levels of radiation from charged particles. Hence, the NCRP 47 th Annual Meeting on "Scientific and Policy Challenges of Particle Radiations in Medical Therapy and Space Missions" was a timely opportunity to showcase the current scientific knowledge regarding charged particles, enhance cross-fertilization between the oncology and space scientific communities, and identify common needs and challenges to both communities as well as ways to address those challenges. This issue of Health Physics contains papers from talks presented at that meeting and highlights provocative questions and the ample opportunities for synergism between space and particle-therapy research to further understanding of the biological impacts of particle radiations.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis: challenges and opportunities for diagnosis and treatment.

PubMed

Koch, Anastasia; Cox, Helen; Mizrahi, Valerie

2018-06-06

With an estimated incidence of 490000 cases in 2016, multidrug resistant tuberculosis (TB), against which key first-line anti-tuberculars are less efficacious, presents major challenges for global health. Poor treatment outcomes coupled with a yawning treatment gap between those in need of second-line therapy and those who receive it, underscore the urgent need for new approaches to tackle the scourge of drug-resistant TB. Against this background, significant progress has been made in understanding the complex biology of TB drug resistance and disease pathogenesis, and in establishing a pipeline for delivering new drugs and drug combinations. In this review, we highlight the challenges of drug-resistant TB and the ways in which new advances could be harnessed to improve treatment outcomes. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Challenges in Hospital-Associated Infection Management: A Unit Perspective.

PubMed

Stacy, Kathleen M

2015-01-01

Maintaining a successful unit-based continuous quality improvement program for managing hospital-associated infections is a huge challenge and an overwhelming task. It requires strong organizational support and unit leadership, human and fiscal resources, time, and a dedicated and motivated nursing staff. A great deal of effort goes into implementing, monitoring, reporting, and evaluating quality improvement initiatives and can lead to significant frustration on the part of the leadership team and nursing staff when quality improvement efforts fail to produce the desired results. Each initiative presents its own unique set of challenges; however, common issues influence all initiatives. These common issues include organization and unit culture, current clinical practice guidelines being used to drive the initiatives, performance discrepancies on the part of nursing staff, availability of resources including equipment and supplies, monitoring of the data, and conflicting quality improvement priorities.

Insights into Broker - User interactions from the BCube Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santoro, M.; Nativi, S.; Pearlman, J.; Khalsa, S. J. S.; Fulweiler, R. W.

2015-12-01

Introducing a broad brokering capability for science interoperability and cross-disciplinary research has many challenges and perspectives. Developing a business model that is sustainable is one aspect. Engaging and supporting the science research community is a second. In working with this community, significant added value must be provided. Various facets of the broker capability from discovery and access to data transformations and mapping are elements that were examined and applied to science use cases. In this presentation, we look at these facets and their benefits and challenges for specific use cases in the areas of ocean, coastal and arctic research . Specific recommendations for future implementations will be discussed.

Ethical practice under fire: deployed physicians in the global war on terrorism.

PubMed

Sessums, Laura L; Collen, Jacob F; O'Malley, Patrick G; Jackson, Jeffery L; Roy, Michael J

2009-05-01

The Global War on Terrorism brings significant ethical challenges for military physicians. From Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay, the actions of health care providers have come under considerable scrutiny. Military providers have dual roles as military officers and medical professionals, which have the potential to come into conflict. Often they are inadequately prepared to manage this conflict. We review pertinent historical precedents, applicable laws, ethical guidelines, and military regulations. We also present examples of ethical challenges deployed clinicians have faced and their ethical solution. Finally, we propose a practical strategy to educate physicians on how to manage complex ethical dilemmas in war time settings.

Challenges Facing 3-D Audio Display Design for Multimedia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Begault, Durand R.; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

The challenges facing successful multimedia presentation depend largely on the expectations of the designer and end user for a given application. Perceptual limitations in distance, elevation and azimuth sound source simulation differ significantly between headphone and cross-talk cancellation loudspeaker listening and therefore must be considered. Simulation of an environmental context is desirable but the quality depends on processing resources and lack of interaction with the host acoustical environment. While techniques such as data reduction of head-related transfer functions have been used widely to improve simulation fidelity, another approach involves determining thresholds for environmental acoustic events. Psychoacoustic studies relevant to this approach are reviewed in consideration of multimedia applications

Wind Power: A Renewable Energy Source for Mars Transit Vehicle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flynn, Michael; Kohout, Lisa; Kliss, Mark (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

The Martian environment presents significant design challenges for the development of power generation systems. Nuclear-based systems may not be available due to political and safety concerns. The output of photovoltaics are limited by a solar intensity of 580 W/sqm as compared to 1353 W/sqm on Earth. The presence of dust particles in the Mars atmosphere will further reduce the photovoltaic output. Also, energy storage for a 12-hour night period must be provided. In this challenging environment, wind power generation capabilities may provide a viable option as a Martian power generation system. This paper provides an analysis of the feasibility of such a system.

Programming and Tuning a Quantum Annealing Device to Solve Real World Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perdomo-Ortiz, Alejandro; O'Gorman, Bryan; Fluegemann, Joseph; Smelyanskiy, Vadim

2015-03-01

Solving real-world applications with quantum algorithms requires overcoming several challenges, ranging from translating the computational problem at hand to the quantum-machine language to tuning parameters of the quantum algorithm that have a significant impact on the performance of the device. In this talk, we discuss these challenges, strategies developed to enhance performance, and also a more efficient implementation of several applications. Although we will focus on applications of interest to NASA's Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the methods and concepts presented here apply to a broader family of hard discrete optimization problems, including those that occur in many machine-learning algorithms.

Overcoming obstacles to repurposing for neurodegenerative disease

PubMed Central

Shineman, Diana W; Alam, John; Anderson, Margaret; Black, Sandra E; Carman, Aaron J; Cummings, Jeffrey L; Dacks, Penny A; Dudley, Joel T; Frail, Donald E; Green, Allan; Lane, Rachel F; Lappin, Debra; Simuni, Tanya; Stefanacci, Richard G; Sherer, Todd; Fillit, Howard M

2014-01-01

Repurposing Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs for a new indication may offer an accelerated pathway for new treatments to patients but is also fraught with significant commercial, regulatory, and reimbursement challenges. The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) convened an advisory panel in October 2013 to understand stakeholder perspectives related to repurposing FDA-approved drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we present opportunities on how philanthropy, industry, and government can begin to address these challenges, promote policy changes, and develop targeted funding strategies to accelerate the potential of FDA-approved repurposed drugs. PMID:25356422

Lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticle-mediated therapeutics delivery: advances and challenges.

PubMed

Bose, Rajendran J C; Ravikumar, Rramaswamy; Karuppagounder, Vengadeshprabu; Bennet, Devasier; Rangasamy, Sabarinathan; Thandavarayan, Rajarajan A

2017-08-01

With rapid advances in nanomedicine, lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles (LPHNPs) have emerged as promising nanocarriers for several biomedical applications, including therapeutics delivery and biomedical imaging. Significant research has been dedicated to biomimetic or targeting functionalization, as well as controlled and image-guided drug-release capabilities. Despite this research, the clinical translation of LPHNP-mediated therapeutics delivery has progressed incrementally. In this review, we discuss the recent advances in and challenges to the development and application of LPHNPs, present examples to demonstrate the advantages of LPHNPs in therapeutics delivery and imaging applications, and discuss the translational obstacles to LPHNP technology. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Characterizing Rapidly Rotating Asteroids with Filtered Photometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arion, Douglas

2018-01-01

It is challenging to characterize rapidly rotating asteroids, as their aspect changes significantly between exposures using different filters. Indeed, small asteroids may very well be agglomerations of smaller components that may have differing compositions, and thus the shape and composition of the body may be incorrectly inferred. We have observed a number of smaller, rapidly rotating bodies to try to separate compositional and shape elements from light curves in B, V, R, and I. Results from these observations will be presented, as well as identifying the challenges in conducting this research will be discussed. This work has been supported by the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium.

Challenging Ulcerative Vulvar Conditions: Hidradenitis Suppurativa, Crohn Disease, and Aphthous Ulcers.

PubMed

Stewart, Kristen M A

2017-09-01

This article discusses the clinical evaluation and approach to patients with 3 complex ulcerative vulvar conditions: hidradenitis suppurativa, metastatic Crohn disease of the vulva, and aphthous ulcers. These conditions are particularly challenging to medical providers because, although each is known to present with nonspecific examination findings that vary in morphology, the predominance of the diagnosis is based on clinical examination and exclusion of a wide variety of other conditions. Care of patients with these conditions is further complicated by the lack of therapeutic data and the significant impact these conditions have on quality of life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Crohn's disease presenting as acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage

PubMed Central

Podugu, Amareshwar; Tandon, Kanwarpreet; Castro, Fernando J

2016-01-01

Severe gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage is a rare complication of Crohn’s disease (CD). Although several surgical and non-surgical approaches have been described over the last 2 decades this complication still poses significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Given the relative infrequency of severe bleeding in CD, available medical literature on this topic is mostly in the form of retrospective case series and reports. In this article we review the risk factors, diagnostic modalities and treatment options for the management of CD presenting as GI hemorrhage. PMID:27122659

Somatic symptom disorder treated with electroconvulsive therapy.

PubMed

Borisovskaya, Anna; Augsburger, Jay Alan

2017-05-01

Somatic symptom disorder (SSD) is a challenging condition to treat with chronic pain, a common and disabling symptom. We present a patient who received electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for SSD with significant improvement in pain and gastrointestinal symptoms. We also present a brief literature review of similar cases treated with ECT. Preliminary evidence suggests that ECT should be considered for treatment of SSD comorbid with major depressive disorder, when standard treatments fail. Further research is needed to clarify whether ECT can be used for SSD without associated depression.

Exploring the Unknown: Detection of Fast Variability of Starlight (Abstract)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanton, R. H.

2017-12-01

(Abstract only) In previous papers the author described a photometer designed for observing high-speed events such as lunar and asteroid occultations, and for searching for new varieties of fast stellar variability. A significant challenge presented by such a system is how one deals with the large quantity of data generated in order to process it efficiently and reveal any hidden information that might be present. This paper surveys some of the techniques used to achieve this goal.

Addendum to the article: Misuse of null hypothesis significance testing: Would estimation of positive and negative predictive values improve certainty of chemical risk assessment?

PubMed

Bundschuh, Mirco; Newman, Michael C; Zubrod, Jochen P; Seitz, Frank; Rosenfeldt, Ricki R; Schulz, Ralf

2015-03-01

We argued recently that the positive predictive value (PPV) and the negative predictive value (NPV) are valuable metrics to include during null hypothesis significance testing: They inform the researcher about the probability of statistically significant and non-significant test outcomes actually being true. Although commonly misunderstood, a reported p value estimates only the probability of obtaining the results or more extreme results if the null hypothesis of no effect was true. Calculations of the more informative PPV and NPV require a priori estimate of the probability (R). The present document discusses challenges of estimating R.

DNA vaccination with a plasmid encoding LACK-TSA fusion against Leishmania major infection in BALB/c mice.

PubMed

Maspi, N; Ghaffarifar, F; Sharifi, Z; Dalimi, A; Khademi, S Z

2017-12-01

Vaccination would be the most important strategy for the prevention and elimination of leishmaniasis. The aim of the present study was to compare the immune responses induced following DNA vaccination with LACK (Leishmania analogue of the receptor kinase C), TSA (Thiol-specific-antioxidant) genes alone or LACK-TSA fusion against cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Cellular and humoral immune responses were evaluated before and after challenge with Leishmania major (L. major). In addition, the mean lesion size was also measured from 3th week post-infection. All immunized mice showed a partial immunity characterized by higher interferon (IFN)-γ and Immunoglobulin G (IgG2a) levels compared to control groups (p<0.05). IFN-γ/ Interleukin (IL)-4 and IgG2a/IgG1 ratios demonstrated the highest IFN-γ and IgG2a levels in the group receiving LACK-TSA fusion. Mean lesion sizes reduced significantly in all immunized mice compared with control groups at 7th week post-infection (p<0.05). In addition, there was a significant reduction in mean lesion size of LACK-TSA and TSA groups than LACK group after challenge (p<0.05). In the present study, DNA immunization promoted Th1 immune response and confirmed the previous observations on immunogenicity of LACK and TSA antigens against CL. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that a bivalent vaccine can induce stronger immune responses and protection against infectious challenge with L. major.

[CHALLENGES IN THE INTERVENTION OF PUERTO RICAN ADOLESCENTS THAT SHOW SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR].

PubMed

Vélez, Yovanska Duarté; Dávila, Paloma Torres; Hernández, Samariz Laboy

2015-01-01

This article is a case study of a Puerto Rican adolescent with suicidal behavior. The adolescent began a Socio-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Suicidal Behavior (SCBT), an ambulatory treatment, after being hospitalized for a suicide attempt. The SCBT incorporates an ecological and developmental perspective to CBT. She initially presented low self-esteem, and significant depressive and anxiety symptoms. At the end of treatment, the adolescent revealed a significant change in symptoms, and a better use of her coping skills. No suicidal ideation was presented during previous months, neither during follow up. Case analysis allowed treatment protocol modifications, particularly family sessions and communication skills, thus contributing to its further feasibility.

Central autonomic nervous system response to autonomic challenges is altered in patients with a previous episode of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

PubMed

Pereira, Vitor H; Marques, Paulo; Magalhães, Ricardo; Português, João; Calvo, Lucy; Cerqueira, João J; Sousa, Nuno

2016-04-01

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is an intriguing disease characterized by acute transient left ventricular dysfunction usually triggered by an episode of severe stress. The excessive levels of catecholamines and the overactivation of the sympathetic system are believed to be the main pathophysiologic mechanisms of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, but it is unclear whether there is a structural or functional signature of the disease. In this sense, our aim was to characterize the central autonomic system response to autonomic challenges in patients with a previous episode of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy when compared with a control group of healthy volunteers. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed in four patients with a previous episode of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (average age of 67 ± 12 years) and in eight healthy volunteers (average age of 66 ± 5 years) while being submitted to different autonomic challenges (cold exposure and Valsalva manoeuvre). The fMRI analysis revealed a significant variation of the blood oxygen level dependent signal triggered by the Valsalva manoeuvre in specific areas of the brain involved in the cortical control of the autonomic system and significant differences in the pattern of activation of the insular cortex, amygdala and the right hippocampus between patients with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and controls, even though these regions did not present significant volumetric changes. The central autonomic response to autonomic challenges is altered in patients with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, thus suggesting a dysregulation of the central autonomic nervous system network. Subsequent studies are needed to unveil whether these alterations are causal or predisposing factors to Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. © The European Society of Cardiology 2015.

Silent Bias: Challenges, Obstacles, and Strategies for Leadership Development in Academic Medicine-Lessons From Oral Histories of Women Professors at the University of Kansas.

PubMed

Pingleton, Susan K; Jones, Emily V M; Rosolowski, Tacey A; Zimmerman, Mary K

2016-08-01

Despite dramatic increases in female learners and junior faculty, a significant gap remains in female leadership in academic medicine. To assess challenges and obstacles encountered, strategies for academic success, and lessons learned for leadership development, the authors conducted an in-depth study of women full professors. The authors used a qualitative oral history approach, interviewing 87% of the cohort of female full professors at one Midwestern medical school in 2013 using a pretested, open-ended, semistructured interview guide. Interviews were videotaped and the audio recordings transcribed. Content was sorted into categories and key themes identified within each category. Participants described significant challenges: being treated with "silent bias," "being ignored," and being seen as an "other." Coping strategies included downplaying, keeping a distance, employing humor, and using symbols (e.g., white coat) to carefully present themselves. Explanations for success included intelligence, meritocracy, being even-tempered, and carefully constructing femininity. The participants recommended individual skills and actions to prepare for leadership development. Virtually all women could describe an individual mentor (sponsor), usually male, who provided essential assistance for their career success. At the same time, they stressed the importance of institutional support for diversity, especially with child care. Attaining "full professor" status is the pinnacle of academic success. Women who successfully navigated this academic ladder describe significant external and internal challenges that require multiple strategies to overcome. Leadership development entails a combination of individual support through mentors and sponsors, self-education and reflection, and organizational structural support to promote diversity.

The Relationship Between Challenging Behaviour, Cognitions and Stress in Mothers of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities.

PubMed

Rose, John; Nelson, Lisa; Hardiman, Rebecca

2016-11-01

Cognitions are starting to receive more prominence as important when examining a number of factors including the topography of challenging behaviour. This study examined the relationships between maternal stress, challenging behaviour (aggressive and self-injurious behaviours) and parental cognitions and specifically whether maternal cognitions mediated the effect of challenging behaviour on parenting stress. 46 mothers of children and young adults with ID completed questionnaires regarding their child's challenging behaviour, maternal cognitions and stress. Significant correlations were found between challenging behaviour and maternal stress. The overall mediation models for aggression and self-injurious behaviour were significant. The Challenging Behaviour Perception Questionnaire: Consequences client subscale was the only independent significant mediator for both behaviours. Cognitions do play an important part in mediating the relationship between challenging behaviour and stress. Further research is needed to examine the similarities and differences between the mediation models for aggression and self-injurious behaviour.

Protective immune responses during prepatency in goat kids experimentally infected with Eimeria ninakohlyakimovae.

PubMed

Matos, L; Muñoz, M C; Molina, J M; Rodríguez, F; Perez, D; Lopez, A; Ferrer, O; Hermosilla, C; Taubert, A; Ruiz, A

2017-08-15

During the first schizogony, the goat coccidia Eimeria ninakohlyakimovae develops macroschizonts in lacteal duct endothelial cells, whose rupture leads to severe ileal damage and clinical signs during the prepatent period. The immune response elicited against early stages of the parasite development still requires to be investigated. In the present study we have evaluated immune reactions in goat kids primary- and challenged-infected with Eimeria ninakohlyakimovae, and sacrificed during prepatency (7days after challenge). The oocyst output during the primary infection, body weight and clinical condition of all the animals were examined and, at the end of the experiment, all the goat kids were euthanized and subjected to necropsy. Samples were taken from different sections of the ileum, colon and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) of primary- and challenged E. ninakohlyakimovae-infected animals. Intestinal leukocyte subpopulations were characterized in E. ninakohlyakimovae-infected mucosa and counts of lymphocytes, eosinophils, polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), globular leukocytes and mast cells were recorded. Additionally, gene expression of caprine IL-2, IL-4, IL-10 and INFγ of ileal, colonic and MLN tissues were performed, as well as the immunohistochemical characterization of immune cells. The E. ninakohlyakimovae primary infection resulted in moderate to severe enteritis with different degrees of diarrhoea and was accompanied by high OPG counts and an increase of most immune cells analyzed when compared to uninfected control animals. Furthermore, eosinophil-, lymphocyte-, globular leukocyte- and mast cell-counts were significantly higher in the challenge group compared to the primary infected animals, whilst the opposite was true for PMN counts. The challenge infection was also associated with moderate increased levels of local mucosal IgA. Interestingly, the number of immature schizonts found at the ileal mucosa was statistically higher in the challenge infected group compared to the challenged control animals. Furthermore, in the challenged E. ninakohlyakimovae-infected animals a significantly higher number of mucosal CD4 + and CD8 + lymphocytes were observed, indicating that these T cell subpopulations might be involved in protective host immune response elicited against early stages of parasite development. The immune response was however very complex, as antigen presenting cells and other effector cell populations of the innate immune system, as well as certain cytokines, were involved. In summary, the results of this study contribute to the better understanding of local cellular and humoral immune responses against caprine E. ninakohlyakimovae, particularly during the prepatency. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

International Space Station Passive Thermal Control System Analysis, Top Ten Lessons-Learned

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Iovine, John

2011-01-01

The International Space Station (ISS) has been on-orbit for over 10 years, and there have been numerous technical challenges along the way from design to assembly to on-orbit anomalies and repairs. The Passive Thermal Control System (PTCS) management team has been a key player in successfully dealing with these challenges. The PTCS team performs thermal analysis in support of design and verification, launch and assembly constraints, integration, sustaining engineering, failure response, and model validation. This analysis is a significant body of work and provides a unique opportunity to compile a wealth of real world engineering and analysis knowledge and the corresponding lessons-learned. The analysis lessons encompass the full life cycle of flight hardware from design to on-orbit performance and sustaining engineering. These lessons can provide significant insight for new projects and programs. Key areas to be presented include thermal model fidelity, verification methods, analysis uncertainty, and operations support.

Large eddy simulation applications in gas turbines.

PubMed

Menzies, Kevin

2009-07-28

The gas turbine presents significant challenges to any computational fluid dynamics techniques. The combination of a wide range of flow phenomena with complex geometry is difficult to model in the context of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solvers. We review the potential for large eddy simulation (LES) in modelling the flow in the different components of the gas turbine during a practical engineering design cycle. We show that while LES has demonstrated considerable promise for reliable prediction of many flows in the engine that are difficult for RANS it is not a panacea and considerable application challenges remain. However, for many flows, especially those dominated by shear layer mixing such as in combustion chambers and exhausts, LES has demonstrated a clear superiority over RANS for moderately complex geometries although at significantly higher cost which will remain an issue in making the calculations relevant within the design cycle.

Co-Optimization of Internal Combustion Engines and Biofuels

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

McCormick, Robert L.

2016-03-08

The development of advanced engines has significant potential advantages in reduced aftertreatment costs for air pollutant emission control, and just as importantly for efficiency improvements and associated greenhouse gas emission reductions. There are significant opportunities to leverage fuel properties to create more optimal engine designs for both advanced spark-ignition and compression-ignition combustion strategies. The fact that biofuel blendstocks offer a potentially low-carbon approach to fuel production, leads to the idea of optimizing the entire fuel production-utilization value chain as a system from the standpoint of life cycle greenhouse gas emissions. This is a difficult challenge that has yet to bemore » realized. This presentation will discuss the relationship between chemical structure and critical fuel properties for more efficient combustion, survey the properties of a range of biofuels that may be produced in the future, and describe the ongoing challenges of fuel-engine co-optimization.« less

CNS embryonal tumours: WHO 2016 and beyond.

PubMed

Pickles, J C; Hawkins, C; Pietsch, T; Jacques, T S

2018-02-01

Embryonal tumours of the central nervous system (CNS) present a significant clinical challenge. Many of these neoplasms affect young children, have a very high mortality and therapeutic strategies are often aggressive with poor long-term outcomes. There is a great need to accurately diagnose embryonal tumours, predict their outcome and adapt therapy to the individual patient's risk. For the first time in 2016, the WHO classification took into account molecular characteristics for the diagnosis of CNS tumours. This integration of histological features with genetic information has significantly changed the diagnostic work-up and reporting of tumours of the CNS. However, this remains challenging in embryonal tumours due to their previously unaccounted tumour heterogeneity. We describe the recent revisions made to the 4th edition of the WHO classification of CNS tumours and review the main changes, while highlighting some of the more common diagnostic testing strategies. © 2017 British Neuropathological Society.

Current challenges in organic photovoltaic solar energy conversion.

PubMed

Schlenker, Cody W; Thompson, Mark E

2012-01-01

Over the last 10 years, significant interest in utilizing conjugated organic molecules for solid-state solar to electric conversion has produced rapid improvement in device efficiencies. Organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices are attractive for their compatibility with low-cost processing techniques and thin-film applicability to flexible and conformal applications. However, many of the processes that lead to power losses in these systems still remain poorly understood, posing a significant challenge for the future efficiency improvements required to make these devices an attractive solar technology. While semiconductor band models have been employed to describe OPV operation, a more appropriate molecular picture of the pertinent processes is beginning to emerge. This chapter presents mechanisms of OPV device operation, based on the bound molecular nature of the involved transient species. With the intention to underscore the importance of considering both thermodynamic and kinetic factors, recent progress in elucidating molecular characteristics that dictate photovoltage losses in heterojunction organic photovoltaics is also discussed.

A theoretical framework for negotiating the path of emergency management multi-agency coordination.

PubMed

Curnin, Steven; Owen, Christine; Paton, Douglas; Brooks, Benjamin

2015-03-01

Multi-agency coordination represents a significant challenge in emergency management. The need for liaison officers working in strategic level emergency operations centres to play organizational boundary spanning roles within multi-agency coordination arrangements that are enacted in complex and dynamic emergency response scenarios creates significant research and practical challenges. The aim of the paper is to address a gap in the literature regarding the concept of multi-agency coordination from a human-environment interaction perspective. We present a theoretical framework for facilitating multi-agency coordination in emergency management that is grounded in human factors and ergonomics using the methodology of core-task analysis. As a result we believe the framework will enable liaison officers to cope more efficiently within the work domain. In addition, we provide suggestions for extending the theory of core-task analysis to an alternate high reliability environment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Use of the Gastrografin challenge in patients with a history of abdominal or pelvic malignancy.

PubMed

Khasawneh, Mohammad A; Eiken, Patrick W; Srvantstyan, Boris; Bannon, Michael P; Zielinski, Martin D

2013-10-01

The Gastrografin (GG) challenge was developed to predict the need for operative management in patients with small bowel obstruction (SBO). Although clinical trials have demonstrated that it is an effective diagnostic and therapeutic modality, these studies excluded patients with a history of abdominal/pelvic malignancy. This study aims to examine the outcomes of the GG challenge for patients with a history of abdominal/pelvic malignancies. Institutional review board approval was obtained to review retrospectively patients admitted with SBO in 3 separate categories: Group 1, patients presenting between 2010 and 2012 with SBO who received the GG challenge and had a concurrent history of abdominal or pelvic malignancy; group 2, patients presenting between 2010 and 2012 with SBO who underwent the GG challenge but did not have a concurrent history of abdominal or pelvic malignancy; and group 3, patients presenting between 2007 and 2010 (before our incorporation of the GG challenge protocol) with SBO and a concurrent history of abdominal or pelvic malignancy who did not receive GG . Two distinct comparisons were made. The first analysis was made between groups 1 and 2. The second comparison was performed comparing patients from groups 1 and 3. A total of 237 patients (74 group 1, 83 group 2, 80 group 3) were identified with a mean age of 69.1 years (range, 20-101); 115 were male (48%).There were no adverse events related to GG administration in our study. Analysis of groups 1 and 2 showed similar rates of exploration (25% vs 18%) and complications (32% vs 24%); however, mortality was greater among patients with history of malignancy at 12 months (26% vs 7%). Both groups had similar readmission rates for SBO, as well as exploration upon readmission. Analysis between groups 1 and 3 showed that the need for operative exploration at index admission was less in patients who underwent the GG challenge (26% vs 41%); however, hospital duration of stay was similar (8 vs 9 days). There was no difference in SBO recurrence at 12 months (28% vs 26%); however, mortality was significantly greater among patients not receiving GG (26% vs 41%). The GG challenge was safe and effective in patients presenting with SBO and a history of abdominal or pelvic malignancy. As a result, GG has the potential to improve these terminal patients' quality of life. Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Mechanisms underlying the inhibitory effects of tachykinin receptor antagonists on eosinophil recruitment in an allergic pleurisy model in mice

PubMed Central

Alessandri, Ana Letícia; Pinho, Vanessa; Souza, Danielle G; Castro, Maria Salete de A; Klein, André; Teixeira, Mauro M

2003-01-01

The activation of tachykinin NK receptors by neuropeptides may induce the recruitment of eosinophils in vivo. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects and underlying mechanism(s) of the action of tachykinin receptor antagonists on eosinophil recruitment in a model of allergic pleurisy in mice. Pretreatment of immunized mice with capsaicin partially prevented the recruitment of eosinophils after antigen challenge, suggesting the potential contribution of sensory nerves for the recruitment of eosinophils Local (10–50 nmol per pleural cavity) or systemic (100–300 nmol per animal) pretreatment with the tachykinin NK1 receptor antagonist SR140333 prevented the recruitment of eosinophils induced by antigen challenge of immunized mice. Neither tachykinin NK2 nor NK3 receptor antagonists suppressed eosinophil recruitment. Pretreatment with SR140333 failed to prevent the antigen-induced increase of interleukin-5 concentrations in the pleural cavity. Similarly, SR140333 failed to affect the bone marrow eosinophilia observed at 48 h after antigen challenge of immunized mice. SR140333 induced a significant increase in the concentrations of antigen-induced eotaxin at 6 h after challenge. Antigen challenge of immunized mice induced a significant increase of Leucotriene B4 (LTB4) concentrations at 6 h after challenge. Pretreatment with SR140333 prevented the antigen-induced increase of LTB4 concentrations. Our data suggest an important role for NK1 receptor activation with consequent LTB4 release and eosinophil recruitment in a model of allergic pleurisy in the mouse. Tachykinins appear to be released mainly from peripheral endings of capsaicin-sensitive sensory neurons and may act on mast cells to facilitate antigen-driven release of LTB4. PMID:14585802

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

Stewart, John; Halbgewachs, Ron; Chavez, Adrian

The manner in which the control systems are being designed and operated in the energy sector is undergoing some of the most significant changes in history due to the evolution of technology and the increasing number of interconnections to other system. With these changes however come two significant challenges that the energy sector must face; 1) Cyber security is more important than ever before, and 2) Cyber security is more complicated than ever before. A key requirement in helping utilities and vendors alike in meeting these challenges is interoperability. While interoperability has been present in much of the discussions relatingmore » to technology utilized within the energy sector and especially the Smart Grid, it has been absent in the context of cyber security. The Lemnos project addresses these challenges by focusing on the interoperability of devices utilized within utility control systems which support critical cyber security functions. In theory, interoperability is possible with many of the cyber security solutions available to utilities today. The reality is that the effort required to achieve cyber security interoperability is often a barrier for utilities. For example, consider IPSec, a widely-used Internet Protocol to define Virtual Private Networks, or tunnels , to communicate securely through untrusted public and private networks. The IPSec protocol suite has a significant number of configuration options and encryption parameters to choose from, which must be agreed upon and adopted by both parties establishing the tunnel. The exercise in getting software or devices from different vendors to interoperate is labor intensive and requires a significant amount of security expertise by the end user. Scale this effort to a significant number of devices operating over a large geographical area and the challenge becomes so overwhelming that it often leads utilities to pursue solutions from a single vendor. These single vendor solutions may inadvertently lock utilities into proprietary and closed systems.« less

Changes in the highest frequency of breath sounds without wheezing during methacholine inhalation challenge in children.

PubMed

Habukawa, Chizu; Murakami, Katsumi; Mochizuki, Hiroyuki; Takami, Satoru; Muramatsu, Reiko; Tadaki, Hiromi; Hagiwara, Satomi; Mizuno, Takahisa; Arakawa, Hirokazu; Nagasaka, Yukio

2010-04-01

It is difficult for clinicians to identify changes in breath sounds caused by bronchoconstriction when wheezing is not audible. A breath sound analyser can identify changes in the frequency of breath sounds caused by bronchoconstriction. The present study aimed to identify the changes in the frequency of breath sounds during bronchoconstriction and bronchodilatation using a breath sound analyser. Thirty-six children (8.2 +/- 3.7 years; males : females, 22 : 14) underwent spirometry, methacholine inhalation challenge and breath sound analysis. Methacholine inhalation challenge was performed and baseline respiratory resistance, minimum dose of methacholine (bronchial sensitivity) and speed of bronchoconstriction in response to methacholine (Sm: bronchial reactivity) were calculated. The highest frequency of inspiratory breath sounds (HFI), the highest frequency of expiratory breath sounds (HFE) and the percentage change in HFI and HFE were determined. The HFI and HFE were compared before methacholine inhalation (pre-HFI and pre-HFE), when respiratory resistance reached double the baseline value (max HFI and max HFE), and after bronchodilator inhalation (post-HFI and post-HFE). Breath sounds increased during methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction. Max HFI was significantly greater than pre-HFI (P < 0.001), and decreased to the basal level after bronchodilator inhalation. Post-HFI was significantly lower than max HFI (P < 0.001). HFI and HFE were also significantly changed (P < 0.001). The percentage change in HFI showed a significant correlation with the speed of bronchoconstriction in response to methacholine (P = 0.007). Methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction significantly increased HFI, and the increase in HFI was correlated with bronchial reactivity.

Imbalanced learning for pattern recognition: an empirical study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Haibo; Chen, Sheng; Man, Hong; Desai, Sachi; Quoraishee, Shafik

2010-10-01

The imbalanced learning problem (learning from imbalanced data) presents a significant new challenge to the pattern recognition and machine learning society because in most instances real-world data is imbalanced. When considering military applications, the imbalanced learning problem becomes much more critical because such skewed distributions normally carry the most interesting and critical information. This critical information is necessary to support the decision-making process in battlefield scenarios, such as anomaly or intrusion detection. The fundamental issue with imbalanced learning is the ability of imbalanced data to compromise the performance of standard learning algorithms, which assume balanced class distributions or equal misclassification penalty costs. Therefore, when presented with complex imbalanced data sets these algorithms may not be able to properly represent the distributive characteristics of the data. In this paper we present an empirical study of several popular imbalanced learning algorithms on an army relevant data set. Specifically we will conduct various experiments with SMOTE (Synthetic Minority Over-Sampling Technique), ADASYN (Adaptive Synthetic Sampling), SMOTEBoost (Synthetic Minority Over-Sampling in Boosting), and AdaCost (Misclassification Cost-Sensitive Boosting method) schemes. Detailed experimental settings and simulation results are presented in this work, and a brief discussion of future research opportunities/challenges is also presented.

Design of a rear anamorphic attachment for digital cinematography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cifuentes, A.; Valles, A.

2008-09-01

Digital taking systems for HDTV and now for the film industry present a particularly challenging design problem for rear adapters in general. The thick 3-channel prism block in the camera provides an important challenge in the design. In this paper the design of a 1.33x rear anamorphic attachment is presented. The new design departs significantly from the traditional Bravais condition due to the thick dichroic prism block. Design strategies for non-rotationally symmetric systems and fields of view are discussed. Anamorphic images intrinsically have a lower contrast and less resolution than their rotationally symmetric counterparts, therefore proper image evaluation must be considered. The interpretation of the traditional image quality methods applied to anamorphic images is also discussed in relation to the design process. The final design has a total track less than 50 mm, maintaining the telecentricity of the digital prime lens and taking full advantage of the f/1.4 prism block.

Tuberculosis and mental health in the Asia-Pacific.

PubMed

Mason, Paul H; Sweetland, Annika C; Fox, Greg J; Halovic, Shaun; Nguyen, Thu Anh; Marks, Guy B

2016-12-01

This opinion piece encourages mental health researchers and clinicians to engage with mental health issues among tuberculosis patients in the Asia-Pacific region in a culturally appropriate and ethical manner. The diversity of cultural contexts and the high burden of tuberculosis throughout the Asia-Pacific presents significant challenges. Research into tuberculosis and mental illness in this region is an opportunity to develop more nuanced models of mental illness and treatment, while simultaneously contributing meaningfully to regional tuberculosis care and prevention. We overview key issues in tuberculosis and mental illness co-morbidity, highlight ethical concerns and advocate for a regional approach to tuberculosis and mental health that is consistent with the transnational challenges presented by this airborne infectious disease. Integrating tuberculosis and mental health services will go a long way to addressing the needs of vulnerable populations and stopping the transmission of one of the world's biggest infectious killers. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2016.

Overcoming the four toughest management challenges. Increase your effectiveness by using situational leadership.

PubMed

Ketchum, S M

1991-01-01

The high-pressure work environment of the clinical laboratory presents significant challenges for managers. Often thrust into supervisory roles without formal management training, laboratory managers must find ways to delegate tasks, mediate conflict, minimize office politics, and build effective teams out of employees who may be quite diverse in their experience levels, motivation levels, and cultural backgrounds. This article explores the concept of situational leadership, which was developed by Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey, and its applicability within the clinical laboratory. This practical paradigm involves matching one of four distinct management styles to the four development levels of employees. Each leadership style is explained, along with guidelines for giving performance feedback to employees, so that managers can evaluate their own supervisory styles. Finally, step-by-step recommendations for coping with the four management roles of delegator, referee, influencer, and team builder are presented.

Spectral signatures for RDX-based explosives in the 3 micron region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osborn, Tabetha; Kaimal, Sindhu; Reeve, Scott W.; Burns, William

2008-04-01

Explosive compounds such as RDX, and HMX present significant challenges to optically based sensors. This difficulty is due in part to the low vapor pressures these compounds possess. One approach for sensing explosives that circumvents the low explosive vapor pressure problem, involves focusing on the trace amounts of relatively high vapor pressure impurities that will be present in the vapor signature. In order to effectively detect these volatile impurities, the spectral signature databases must be readily available. One of our goals therefore, is the generation of a database of high resolution spectral signatures for these volatile organic impurities. Some rather formidable spectroscopic measurement challenges have been encountered while working to extend the spectral signature effort to the 3 micron region. Here we will outline progress to date, with a focus on the volatile organic compounds formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, nitromethane, acetone, isobutene, and cyclohexanone.

Rock climbing: A local-global algorithm to compute minimum energy and minimum free energy pathways.

PubMed

Templeton, Clark; Chen, Szu-Hua; Fathizadeh, Arman; Elber, Ron

2017-10-21

The calculation of minimum energy or minimum free energy paths is an important step in the quantitative and qualitative studies of chemical and physical processes. The computations of these coordinates present a significant challenge and have attracted considerable theoretical and computational interest. Here we present a new local-global approach to study reaction coordinates, based on a gradual optimization of an action. Like other global algorithms, it provides a path between known reactants and products, but it uses a local algorithm to extend the current path in small steps. The local-global approach does not require an initial guess to the path, a major challenge for global pathway finders. Finally, it provides an exact answer (the steepest descent path) at the end of the calculations. Numerical examples are provided for the Mueller potential and for a conformational transition in a solvated ring system.

Reducing myocardial infarct size: challenges and future opportunities

PubMed Central

Bulluck, Heerajnarain; Yellon, Derek M; Hausenloy, Derek J

2016-01-01

Despite prompt reperfusion by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI), the mortality and morbidity of patients presenting with an acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) remain significant with 9% death and 10% heart failure at 1 year. In these patients, one important neglected therapeutic target is ‘myocardial reperfusion injury’, a term given to the cardiomyocyte death and microvascular dysfunction which occurs on reperfusing ischaemic myocardium. A number of cardioprotective therapies (both mechanical and pharmacological), which are known to target myocardial reperfusion injury, have been shown to reduce myocardial infarct (MI) size in small proof-of-concept clinical studies—however, being able to demonstrate improved clinical outcomes has been elusive. In this article, we review the challenges facing clinical cardioprotection research, and highlight future therapies for reducing MI size and preventing heart failure in patients presenting with STEMI at risk of myocardial reperfusion injury. PMID:26674987

Directing solar photons to sustainably meet food, energy, and water needs.

PubMed

Gençer, Emre; Miskin, Caleb; Sun, Xingshu; Khan, M Ryyan; Bermel, Peter; Alam, M Ashraf; Agrawal, Rakesh

2017-06-09

As we approach a "Full Earth" of over ten billion people within the next century, unprecedented demands will be placed on food, energy and water (FEW) supplies. The grand challenge before us is to sustainably meet humanity's FEW needs using scarcer resources. To overcome this challenge, we propose the utilization of the entire solar spectrum by redirecting solar photons to maximize FEW production from a given land area. We present novel solar spectrum unbundling FEW systems (SUFEWS), which can meet FEW needs locally while reducing the overall environmental impact of meeting these needs. The ability to meet FEW needs locally is critical, as significant population growth is expected in less-developed areas of the world. The proposed system presents a solution to harness the same amount of solar products (crops, electricity, and purified water) that could otherwise require ~60% more land if SUFEWS were not used-a major step for Full Earth preparedness.

Measuring Pressure Volume Loops in the Mouse.

PubMed

Townsend, DeWayne

2016-05-02

Understanding the causes and progression of heart disease presents a significant challenge to the biomedical community. The genetic flexibility of the mouse provides great potential to explore cardiac function at the molecular level. The mouse's small size does present some challenges in regards to performing detailed cardiac phenotyping. Miniaturization and other advancements in technology have made many methods of cardiac assessment possible in the mouse. Of these, the simultaneous collection of pressure and volume data provides a detailed picture of cardiac function that is not available through any other modality. Here a detailed procedure for the collection of pressure-volume loop data is described. Included is a discussion of the principles underlying the measurements and the potential sources of error. Anesthetic management and surgical approaches are discussed in great detail as they are both critical to obtaining high quality hemodynamic measurements. The principles of hemodynamic protocol development and relevant aspects of data analysis are also addressed.

Professional development for teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing: facing the assessment challenge.

PubMed

Cawthon, Stephanie

2009-01-01

Teachers of students with low-incidence disabilities, such as students who are deaf or hard of hearing, face unique challenges in putting education policy into practice. The present article presents professional development findings from the Third Annual National Survey of Accommodations and Assessment for Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (Cawthon, Hersh, Kim, & Online Research Lab, in press). A total of 391 participants described professional development they had experienced related to assessment of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Teachers reported greater exposure to topics in school/district sessions and discussion with their colleagues than in their preparation programs. Teaching at a school for the deaf or teaching students in high school were significant predictors of an increased prevalence of professional development opportunities on assessment-related topics for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Ground Truth Creation for Complex Clinical NLP Tasks - an Iterative Vetting Approach and Lessons Learned.

PubMed

Liang, Jennifer J; Tsou, Ching-Huei; Devarakonda, Murthy V

2017-01-01

Natural language processing (NLP) holds the promise of effectively analyzing patient record data to reduce cognitive load on physicians and clinicians in patient care, clinical research, and hospital operations management. A critical need in developing such methods is the "ground truth" dataset needed for training and testing the algorithms. Beyond localizable, relatively simple tasks, ground truth creation is a significant challenge because medical experts, just as physicians in patient care, have to assimilate vast amounts of data in EHR systems. To mitigate potential inaccuracies of the cognitive challenges, we present an iterative vetting approach for creating the ground truth for complex NLP tasks. In this paper, we present the methodology, and report on its use for an automated problem list generation task, its effect on the ground truth quality and system accuracy, and lessons learned from the effort.

Solid Solution Characterization in Metal by Original Tomographic Scanning Microwave Microscopy Technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourillot, Eric; Vitry, Pauline; Optasanu, Virgil; Plassard, Cédric; Lacroute, Yvon; Montessin, Tony; Lesniewska, Eric

A general challenge in metallic components is the need for materials research to improve the service lifetime of the structural tanks or tubes subjected to harsh environments or the storage medium for the products. One major problem is the formation of lightest chemical elements bubbles or different chemical association, which can have a significant impact on the mechanical properties and structural stability of materials. The high migration mobility of these light chemical elements in solids presents a challenge for experimental characterization. Here, we present work relating to an original non-destructive, with high spatial resolution, tomographic technique based on Scanning Microwave Microscopy (SMM), which is used to visualize in-depth chemical composition of solid solution of a light chemical element in a metal. The experiments showed the capacity of SMM to detect volume. Measurements realized at different frequencies give access to a tomographic study of the sample.

Identification of Microorganisms by High Resolution Tandem Mass Spectrometry with Accurate Statistical Significance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alves, Gelio; Wang, Guanghui; Ogurtsov, Aleksey Y.; Drake, Steven K.; Gucek, Marjan; Suffredini, Anthony F.; Sacks, David B.; Yu, Yi-Kuo

2016-02-01

Correct and rapid identification of microorganisms is the key to the success of many important applications in health and safety, including, but not limited to, infection treatment, food safety, and biodefense. With the advance of mass spectrometry (MS) technology, the speed of identification can be greatly improved. However, the increasing number of microbes sequenced is challenging correct microbial identification because of the large number of choices present. To properly disentangle candidate microbes, one needs to go beyond apparent morphology or simple `fingerprinting'; to correctly prioritize the candidate microbes, one needs to have accurate statistical significance in microbial identification. We meet these challenges by using peptidome profiles of microbes to better separate them and by designing an analysis method that yields accurate statistical significance. Here, we present an analysis pipeline that uses tandem MS (MS/MS) spectra for microbial identification or classification. We have demonstrated, using MS/MS data of 81 samples, each composed of a single known microorganism, that the proposed pipeline can correctly identify microorganisms at least at the genus and species levels. We have also shown that the proposed pipeline computes accurate statistical significances, i.e., E-values for identified peptides and unified E-values for identified microorganisms. The proposed analysis pipeline has been implemented in MiCId, a freely available software for Microorganism Classification and Identification. MiCId is available for download at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Yu/downloads.html.

Improving the evidence base in palliative care to inform practice and policy: thinking outside the box.

PubMed

Aoun, Samar M; Nekolaichuk, Cheryl

2014-12-01

The adoption of evidence-based hierarchies and research methods from other disciplines may not completely translate to complex palliative care settings. The heterogeneity of the palliative care population, complexity of clinical presentations, and fluctuating health states present significant research challenges. The aim of this narrative review was to explore the debate about the use of current evidence-based approaches for conducting research, such as randomized controlled trials and other study designs, in palliative care, and more specifically to (1) describe key myths about palliative care research; (2) highlight substantive challenges of conducting palliative care research, using case illustrations; and (3) propose specific strategies to address some of these challenges. Myths about research in palliative care revolve around evidence hierarchies, sample heterogeneity, random assignment, participant burden, and measurement issues. Challenges arise because of the complex physical, psychological, existential, and spiritual problems faced by patients, families, and service providers. These challenges can be organized according to six general domains: patient, system/organization, context/setting, study design, research team, and ethics. A number of approaches for dealing with challenges in conducting research fall into five separate domains: study design, sampling, conceptual, statistical, and measures and outcomes. Although randomized controlled trials have their place whenever possible, alternative designs may offer more feasible research protocols that can be successfully implemented in palliative care. Therefore, this article highlights "outside the box" approaches that would benefit both clinicians and researchers in the palliative care field. Ultimately, the selection of research designs is dependent on a clearly articulated research question, which drives the research process. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Large-scale online semantic indexing of biomedical articles via an ensemble of multi-label classification models.

PubMed

Papanikolaou, Yannis; Tsoumakas, Grigorios; Laliotis, Manos; Markantonatos, Nikos; Vlahavas, Ioannis

2017-09-22

In this paper we present the approach that we employed to deal with large scale multi-label semantic indexing of biomedical papers. This work was mainly implemented within the context of the BioASQ challenge (2013-2017), a challenge concerned with biomedical semantic indexing and question answering. Our main contribution is a MUlti-Label Ensemble method (MULE) that incorporates a McNemar statistical significance test in order to validate the combination of the constituent machine learning algorithms. Some secondary contributions include a study on the temporal aspects of the BioASQ corpus (observations apply also to the BioASQ's super-set, the PubMed articles collection) and the proper parametrization of the algorithms used to deal with this challenging classification task. The ensemble method that we developed is compared to other approaches in experimental scenarios with subsets of the BioASQ corpus giving positive results. In our participation in the BioASQ challenge we obtained the first place in 2013 and the second place in the four following years, steadily outperforming MTI, the indexing system of the National Library of Medicine (NLM). The results of our experimental comparisons, suggest that employing a statistical significance test to validate the ensemble method's choices, is the optimal approach for ensembling multi-label classifiers, especially in contexts with many rare labels.

The interplay between physical activity and anxiety sensitivity in fearful responding to carbon dioxide challenge.

PubMed

Smits, Jasper A J; Tart, Candyce D; Rosenfield, David; Zvolensky, Michael J

2011-01-01

Physical activity may confer protective effects in the development of anxiety and its disorders. These effects may be particularly strong among individuals who have elevated levels of anxiety sensitivity (AS; i.e., the fear of somatic arousal), an established cognitive-based risk factor for anxiety and its disorders. The present study performed a laboratory test of the interplay between physical activity and AS. The participants were adults free of Axis I psychopathology (n = 145) who completed measures of physical activity and AS before undergoing a recurrent 20% carbon dioxide-enriched air (CO(2)) challenge. Consistent with the hypothesis, physical activity was significantly related to CO(2) challenge reactivity among persons with elevated levels of AS, at high levels of physical activity (p < .001) but not at low levels of physical activity (p = .90). Also consistent with hypothesis, irrespective of the level of physical activity, physical activity did not relate significantly to CO(2) challenge reactivity among persons with normative levels of AS (p = .28). These findings provide novel empirical insight into the role that physical activity may play in terms of resiliency for the development of anxiety disorders. Specifically, the protective effects of physical activity may only be evident at higher doses and among persons who are at increased risk of developing anxiety disorders because they have elevated AS.

Cybersecurity and Optimization in Smart “Autonomous” Buildings

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

Mylrea, Michael E.; Gourisetti, Sri Nikhil Gup

Significant resources have been invested in making buildings “smart” by digitizing, networking and automating key systems and operations. Smart autonomous buildings create new energy efficiency, economic and environmental opportunities. But as buildings become increasingly networked to the Internet, they can also become more vulnerable to various cyber threats. Automated and Internet-connected buildings systems, equipment, controls, and sensors can significantly increase cyber and physical vulnerabilities that threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of critical systems in organizations. Securing smart autonomous buildings presents a national security and economic challenge to the nation. Ignoring this challenge threatens business continuity and the availability ofmore » critical infrastructures that are enabled by smart buildings. In this chapter, the authors address challenges and explore new opportunities in securing smart buildings that are enhanced by machine learning, cognitive sensing, artificial intelligence (AI) and smart-energy technologies. The chapter begins by identifying cyber-threats and challenges to smart autonomous buildings. Then it provides recommendations on how AI enabled solutions can help smart buildings and facilities better protect, detect and respond to cyber-physical threats and vulnerabilities. Next, the chapter will provide case studies that examine how combining AI with innovative smart-energy technologies can increase both cybersecurity and energy efficiency savings in buildings. The chapter will conclude by proposing recommendations for future cybersecurity and energy optimization research for examining AI enabled smart-energy technology.« less

Nutrient and media recycling in heterotrophic microalgae cultures.

PubMed

Lowrey, Joshua; Armenta, Roberto E; Brooks, Marianne S

2016-02-01

In order for microalgae-based processes to reach commercial production for biofuels and high-value products such as omega-3 fatty acids, it is necessary that economic feasibility be demonstrated at the industrial scale. Therefore, process optimization is critical to ensure that the maximum yield can be achieved from the most efficient use of resources. This is particularly true for processes involving heterotrophic microalgae, which have not been studied as extensively as phototrophic microalgae. An area that has received significant conceptual praise, but little experimental validation, is that of nutrient recycling, where the waste materials from prior cultures and post-lipid extraction are reused for secondary fermentations. While the concept is very simple and could result in significant economic and environmental benefits, there are some underlying challenges that must be overcome before adoption of nutrient recycling is viable at commercial scale. Even more, adapting nutrient recycling for optimized heterotrophic cultures presents some added challenges that must be identified and addressed that have been largely unexplored to date. These challenges center on carbon and nitrogen recycling and the implications of using waste materials in conjunction with virgin nutrients for secondary cultures. The aim of this review is to provide a foundation for further understanding of nutrient recycling for microalgae cultivation. As such, we outline the current state of technology and practical challenges associated with nutrient recycling for heterotrophic microalgae on an industrial scale and give recommendations for future work.

50TH Project Air Force, 1946 - 1996.

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-01-01

the study results challenged current doctrine on the uses of airpower by suggesting...FORCE gives us a unique opportunity to reflect on past achieve- ments and the legacy they provide for the future. The essays in this volume offer a...montage of per- sonal perspectives on that legacy. While they do not present a comprehensive history they help us grasp the significance of

Assessment of Cognitive Ability of Students with Severe and Low-Incidence Disabilities--Part 2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crepeau-Hobson, Franci; Vujeva, Hana

2012-01-01

The assessment of cognitive ability in students with the most severe disabilities presents a challenge to the clinicians who are charged with this task. This article is the second of a two-part series that summarizes what is currently known about effective assessment of the cognitive ability of students with significant impairments in order to…

Capital Requirements for the Air Transport Industry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

James, G. W.

1972-01-01

In recent years the U.S. scheduled airline industry has been involved in the largest re-equipment program that involves the addition of hundreds of new aircraft to the airline fleet. The costs associated with the purchase of this new equipment, along with the other costs involving such matters as the environment and security, are presenting the carriers with significant financial challenges.

Developing Software Requirements for a Knowledge Management System That Coordinates Training Programs with Business Processes and Policies in Large Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiper, J. Richard

2013-01-01

For large organizations, updating instructional programs presents a challenge to keep abreast of constantly changing business processes and policies. Each time a process or policy changes, significant resources are required to locate and modify the training materials that convey the new content. Moreover, without the ability to track learning…

Student Dropout in Upper Secondary Education in Norway: A Challenge to the Principles of the Welfare State?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halvorsrud, Kristoffer

2017-01-01

This article presents a review of extant research on student dropout in Norway, originally undertaken as part of a systematic review. The article contextualizes the foundational principle of equality as championed by the welfare state and identifies the significance of dropout in upper secondary education in Norway. The article then assesses…

A Perceptual Study of Girls Education, Its Factors and Challenges in South Kashmir

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gul, Showkeen Bilal Ahmad; Khan, Zebun Nisa

2015-01-01

Education is accepted as an important tool for human development in all dimensions of life, it is at same level of significance for boys and girls. Despite this recognition, girls are one of the most vulnerable groups, deprived of education by various socio-cultural, economical and political reasons. The present study is a perceptual study, which…

Role-Playing in a Consumption Context: An Experiential Learning Activity Focused on the Consumer Decision-Making Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Veronica L.; Magnotta, Sarah R.; Chang, Hua; Steffes, Erin

2018-01-01

Instructors are faced with the challenge of teaching a significant amount of material covering a wide variety of topics in a Principles of Marketing course. In order to present the critical consumer decision-making process concept in a meaningful way while remaining mindful of time constraints, we propose a semi-structured classroom activity that…

Achieving Diversity. Issues in the Recruitment and Retention of Underrepresented Racial/Ethnic Students in Higher Education: A Review of the Literature.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Courtland

Much has been done in recent years to enhance the quality of the educational experience for students from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups on college campuses. However, many major problems still exist, presenting professionals concerned with the educational development of students with many significant challenges. This literature review…

Getting the Balance Right: The Challenge of Balancing Praise and Correction for Early School Years Children Who Exhibit Oppositional and Defiant Behaviour

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fields, Barry

2012-01-01

Increasingly, early childhood practitioners are faced with children who present with significant levels of oppositional and defiant behaviour. The management of this behaviour is often difficult and stressful. Efforts to minimise disruptive behaviour and to encourage more prosocial behaviour have very much revolved around the teaching of…

A Parallel Controlled Study of the Effectiveness of a Partially Flipped Organic Chemistry Course on Student Performance, Perceptions, and Course Completion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shattuck, James C.

2016-01-01

Organic chemistry is very challenging to many students pursuing science careers. Flipping the classroom presents an opportunity to significantly improve student success by increasing active learning, which research shows is highly beneficial to student learning. However, flipping an entire course may seem too daunting or an instructor may simply…

Fatigue, Wellbeing and Parental Self-Efficacy in Mothers of Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giallo, Rebecca; Wood, Catherine E.; Jellett, Rachel; Porter, Rachelle

2013-01-01

Raising a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) presents significant challenges for parents that potentially have a impact on their health and wellbeing. The current study examined the extent to which parents experience fatigue and its relationship to other aspects of wellbeing and parenting. Fifty mothers of children with an ASD aged 2-5…

Addressing Ethics and Technology in Business: Preparing Today's Students for the Ethical Challenges Presented by Technology in the Workplace

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Rochelle

2008-01-01

The ethical development of information systems is but one of those sensitive scenarios associated with computer technology that has a tremendous impact on individuals and social life. The significance of these issues of concern cannot be overstated. However, since computer ethics is meant to be everybody's responsibility, the result can often be…

Academic Writing in the Business School: The Genre of the Business Case Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nathan, Philip

2013-01-01

The writing of business case reports is a common requirement for students on academic business programmes and presents significant challenges for both native and non-native speaker students. In order to support the development of pedagogical practice in the teaching of case report writing, this paper reports a genre-based study of a corpus of 53…

A Review of Treatments for Deficits in Social Skills and Self-Help Skills in Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flynn, Lorna; Healy, Olive

2012-01-01

Deficits in social skills and self-help skills present significant challenges for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Much research in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has been devoted to treatments for deficits in social skills and there exist a number of extensive reviews on the research in this area. Some research has…

Starting Early with English Language Learners: First Lessons from Illinois

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Severns, Maggie

2012-01-01

In recent years, a boom in immigration and high birth rates among the foreign-born population has led to significant growth in the number of children in the United States who speak a language other than English at home. This demographic change presents a challenge to the public school system, where English proficiency is central to a child's…

Governor and Course Leaders' Reflections on HE in FE: Strategic Ambition and Curriculum Practice in Two Large Colleges in England

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dhillon, Jaswinder K.; Bentley, Jon

2016-01-01

In the turbulent "dog eat dog" environment of the learning and skills sector in England the provision and expansion of higher education taught in further education colleges (HE in FE) offers potential opportunities for greater diversification of higher education. However, it also presents significant challenges, which include developing…

Fearless Public Speaking: Oral Presentation Activities for the Elementary Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyce, Janet S.; Alber-Morgan, Sheila R.; Riley, Jeanetta G.

2007-01-01

Nausea, sweating, weak knees, and a dry mouth are all symptoms associated with the fear of standing in front of an audience. Considering the anxiety that public speaking produces, students of any age are facing a significant challenge when they speak in front of a group. While speaking is considered to be an integral part of language arts, it…

From an Executive Network to Executive Control: A Computational Model of the "n"-Back Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chatham, Christopher H.; Herd, Seth A.; Brant, Angela M.; Hazy, Thomas E.; Miyake, Akira; O'Reilly, Randy; Friedman, Naomi P.

2011-01-01

A paradigmatic test of executive control, the n-back task, is known to recruit a widely distributed parietal, frontal, and striatal "executive network," and is thought to require an equally wide array of executive functions. The mapping of functions onto substrates in such a complex task presents a significant challenge to any theoretical…

Student and Teacher Responses to Prayer at a Modern Orthodox Jewish High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lehmann, Devra

2010-01-01

This article presents the attitudes of students and teachers to prayer at an American Modern Orthodox Jewish high school. Relevant data, based on observation and interviews, emerged from a larger study of the school's Jewish and secular worlds. A significant gap in responses became apparent. Students viewed prayer as a challenge to their autonomy,…

Combustion efficiency and emission factors for wildfire-season fires in mixed conifer forests of the northern Rocky Mountains, US

Treesearch

S. P. Urbanski

2013-01-01

In the US, wildfires and prescribed burning present significant challenges to air regulatory agencies attempting to achieve and maintain compliance with air quality regulations. Fire emission factors (EF) are essential input for the emission models used to develop wildland fire emission inventories. Most previous studies quantifying wildland fire EF of temperate...

The significance of cocaine use to dental practice.

PubMed

Maloney, William James

2010-11-01

Patients who use cocaine illicitly present obstacles and potential challenges for the treating dental professional. There are many manifestations--both systemic and oral--that the dentist needs to be aware of to treat known abusers and to identify those who are not forthcoming about their cocaine use. Certain modifications to treatment, or even a delay in treatment, may be indicated in cocaine abusers.

Cardiotoxic effects of chemotherapy: A review of both cytotoxic and molecular targeted oncology therapies and their effect on the cardiovascular system.

PubMed

Babiker, Hani M; McBride, Ali; Newton, Michael; Boehmer, Leigh M; Drucker, Adrienne Goeller; Gowan, Mollie; Cassagnol, Manouchkathe; Camenisch, Todd D; Anwer, Faiz; Hollands, James M

2018-06-01

Cardiotoxic effects of chemotherapy and targeted drugs are ubiquitous and challenging in the field of oncology therapeutics. The broad spectrum of toxicities ranging from ischemic, hypertensive, cardiomyopathic, and arrhythmic complications can present as a significant challenge for clinicians treating cancer patients. If early diagnosis and intervention of cardiotoxic complications is missed, this can lead to delay or abrogation of planned treatment, which can potentially culminate to significant morbidity due to not only the cardiotoxic complications but also the progression of cancer. Hence, full knowledge of cardiovascular complications of chemotherapeutic agents, essential diagnostics tests to order, and appropriate management is paramount to oncologist, oncology pharmacists, and scientific clinical investigators. The aforementioned is particularly true in the current oncology era of plenteous early clinical trials studying several pathway/molecular-targeting agents with an increased cardiotoxic potential and the rapid expedited approval of those drugs by the FDA. Herein, we present a review discussing cardiotoxic effects of drugs and guidelines for management of the toxicities to assist the medical field in general managing patients with cancer. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Viking viewer for connectomics: scalable multi-user annotation and summarization of large volume data sets

PubMed Central

ANDERSON, JR; MOHAMMED, S; GRIMM, B; JONES, BW; KOSHEVOY, P; TASDIZEN, T; WHITAKER, R; MARC, RE

2011-01-01

Modern microscope automation permits the collection of vast amounts of continuous anatomical imagery in both two and three dimensions. These large data sets present significant challenges for data storage, access, viewing, annotation and analysis. The cost and overhead of collecting and storing the data can be extremely high. Large data sets quickly exceed an individual's capability for timely analysis and present challenges in efficiently applying transforms, if needed. Finally annotated anatomical data sets can represent a significant investment of resources and should be easily accessible to the scientific community. The Viking application was our solution created to view and annotate a 16.5 TB ultrastructural retinal connectome volume and we demonstrate its utility in reconstructing neural networks for a distinctive retinal amacrine cell class. Viking has several key features. (1) It works over the internet using HTTP and supports many concurrent users limited only by hardware. (2) It supports a multi-user, collaborative annotation strategy. (3) It cleanly demarcates viewing and analysis from data collection and hosting. (4) It is capable of applying transformations in real-time. (5) It has an easily extensible user interface, allowing addition of specialized modules without rewriting the viewer. PMID:21118201

New Approaches to HSCT Multidisciplinary Design and Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schrage, D. P.; Craig, J. I.; Fulton, R. E.; Mistree, F.

1996-01-01

The successful development of a capable and economically viable high speed civil transport (HSCT) is perhaps one of the most challenging tasks in aeronautics for the next two decades. At its heart it is fundamentally the design of a complex engineered system that has significant societal, environmental and political impacts. As such it presents a formidable challenge to all areas of aeronautics, and it is therefore a particularly appropriate subject for research in multidisciplinary design and optimization (MDO). In fact, it is starkly clear that without the availability of powerful and versatile multidisciplinary design, analysis and optimization methods, the design, construction and operation of im HSCT simply cannot be achieved. The present research project is focused on the development and evaluation of MDO methods that, while broader and more general in scope, are particularly appropriate to the HSCT design problem. The research aims to not only develop the basic methods but also to apply them to relevant examples from the NASA HSCT R&D effort. The research involves a three year effort aimed first at the HSCT MDO problem description, next the development of the problem, and finally a solution to a significant portion of the problem.

Skin cancers in albinos in a teaching Hospital in eastern Nigeria - presentation and challenges of care.

PubMed

Opara, Kingsley O; Jiburum, Bernard C

2010-08-25

Albinism is a genetic disorder characterized by lack of skin pigmentation. It has a worldwide distribution but is commoner in areas close to the equator like Nigeria. Skin cancers are a major risk associated with albinism and are thought to be a major cause of death in African albinos. Challenges faced in the care of these patients need to be highlighted in order to develop a holistic management approach with a significant public health impact. The aim of the study was to determine the pattern of skin cancers seen in Albinos, and to highlight problems encountered in their management. Case records of albinos managed in Imo state University teaching Hospital from June 2007 to May 2009 were reviewed. The data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics. In the period under review, albinos accounted for 67% of patients managed for primary skin cancers. There were twenty patients with thirty eight (38) lesions. Sixty one percent of the patients were below 40 years. Average duration of symptoms at presentation was 26 months. The commonest reason for late presentation was the lack of funds. Squamous cell carcinoma was the commonest histologic variant. Most patients were unable to complete treatment due to lack of funds. Albinism appears to be the most important risk factor in the development of skin cancers in our environment. Late presentation and poor rate of completion of treatment due to poverty are major challenges.

Empowering Personalized Medicine with Big Data and Semantic Web Technology: Promises, Challenges, and Use Cases.

PubMed

Panahiazar, Maryam; Taslimitehrani, Vahid; Jadhav, Ashutosh; Pathak, Jyotishman

2014-10-01

In healthcare, big data tools and technologies have the potential to create significant value by improving outcomes while lowering costs for each individual patient. Diagnostic images, genetic test results and biometric information are increasingly generated and stored in electronic health records presenting us with challenges in data that is by nature high volume, variety and velocity, thereby necessitating novel ways to store, manage and process big data. This presents an urgent need to develop new, scalable and expandable big data infrastructure and analytical methods that can enable healthcare providers access knowledge for the individual patient, yielding better decisions and outcomes. In this paper, we briefly discuss the nature of big data and the role of semantic web and data analysis for generating "smart data" which offer actionable information that supports better decision for personalized medicine. In our view, the biggest challenge is to create a system that makes big data robust and smart for healthcare providers and patients that can lead to more effective clinical decision-making, improved health outcomes, and ultimately, managing the healthcare costs. We highlight some of the challenges in using big data and propose the need for a semantic data-driven environment to address them. We illustrate our vision with practical use cases, and discuss a path for empowering personalized medicine using big data and semantic web technology.

The Impact of Helicobacter pylori Infection on the Gastric Microbiota of the Rhesus Macaque

PubMed Central

Martin, Miriam E.; Bhatnagar, Srijak; George, Michael D.; Paster, Bruce J.; Canfield, Don R.; Eisen, Jonathan A.; Solnick, Jay V.

2013-01-01

Helicobacter pylori colonization is highly prevalent among humans and causes significant gastric disease in a subset of those infected. When present, this bacterium dominates the gastric microbiota of humans and induces antimicrobial responses in the host. Since the microbial context of H. pylori colonization influences the disease outcome in a mouse model, we sought to assess the impact of H. pylori challenge upon the pre-existing gastric microbial community members in the rhesus macaque model. Deep sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene identified a community profile of 221 phylotypes that was distinct from that of the rhesus macaque distal gut and mouth, although there were taxa in common. High proportions of both H. pylori and H. suis were observed in the post-challenge libraries, but at a given time, only one Helicobacter species was dominant. However, the relative abundance of non-Helicobacter taxa was not significantly different before and after challenge with H. pylori. These results suggest that while different gastric species may show competitive exclusion in the gastric niche, the rhesus gastric microbial community is largely stable despite immune and physiological changes due to H. pylori infection. PMID:24116104

Effect of coccidia challenge and natural betaine supplementation on performance, nutrient utilization, and intestinal lesion scores of broiler chickens fed suboptimal level of dietary methionine

PubMed Central

Amerah, A. M.; Ravindran, V.

2015-01-01

The aim of the present experiment was to examine the effect of coccidia challenge and natural betaine supplementation on performance, nutrient utilization, and intestinal lesion scores of broiler chickens fed suboptimal level of dietary methionine. The experimental design was a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments evaluating two levels of betaine supplementation (0 and 960 g betaine/t of feed) without or with coccidia challenge. Each treatment was fed to 8 cages of 8 male broilers (Ross 308) for 1 to 21d. On d 14, birds in the 2 challenged groups received mixed inocula of Eimeria species from a recent field isolate, containing approximately 180,000 E. acervulina, 6,000 E. maxima, and 18,000 E. tenella oocysts. At 21d, digesta from the terminal ileum was collected for the determination of dry matter, energy, nitrogen, amino acids, starch, fat, and ash digestibilities. Lesion scores in the different segments of the small intestine were also measured on d 21. Performance and nutrient digestibility data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA. Lesion score data were analyzed using Pearson chi-square test to identify significant differences between treatments. Orthogonal polynomial contrasts were used to assess the significance of linear or quadratic models to describe the response in the dependent variable to total lesion scores. Coccidia challenge reduced (P < 0.0001) the weight gain and feed intake, and increased (P < 0.0001) the feed conversion ratio. Betaine supplementation had no effect (P > 0.05) on the weight gain or feed intake, but lowered (P < 0.05) the feed conversion ratio. No interaction (P > 0.05) between coccidia challenge and betaine supplementation was observed for performance parameters. Betaine supplementation increased (P < 0.05) the digestibility of dry matter, nitrogen, energy, fat, and amino acids only in birds challenged with coccidia as indicated by the significant interaction (P < 0.0001) between betaine supplementation and coccidia challenge. The main effect of coccidia challenge reduced (P < 0.05) starch digestibility. Betaine supplementation improved (P < 0.05) starch digestibility regardless of the coccidia challenge. For each unit increase in the total lesion score, there was a linear (P < 0.001) decrease in digestibility of mean amino acids, starch, and fat by 3.8, 3.4 and 16%, respectively. Increasing total lesion scores resulted in a quadratic (P < 0.05) decrease in dry matter digestibility and ileal digestible energy. No lesions were found in the intestine or ceca of the unchallenged treatments. In the challenged treatments, betaine supplementation reduced (P < 0.01) the lesion scores at the duodenum, lower jejunum, and total lesion scores compared to the treatment without supplements. In conclusion, coccidia challenge lowered the digestibility of energy and nutrients and increased the feed conversion ratio of broilers. However, betaine supplementation reduced the impact of coccidia challenge and positively affected nutrient digestibility and the feed conversion ratio. PMID:25691757

Predicting nutrient responses to mitigation at catchment to national scale: the UK research platform (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnes, P.

2013-12-01

Nutrient enrichment of waters from land-based and atmospheric sources presents a significant management challenge, requiring effective stakeholder engagement and policy development, properly underpinned by robust scientific evidence. The challenge is complex, raising significant questions about the specific sources, apportionment and pathways that determine nutrient enrichment and the key priorities for effective management and policy intervention. This paper presents outputs from 4 major UK research programmes: the Defra Demonstration Test Catchments programme (DTC), the Environment Agency's Catchment Sensitive Farming monitoring and evaluation programme (CSF), Natural Resources Wales Welsh Catchment Initiative (WCI) and the NERC Environmental Virtual Observatory programme (EVOp). Funded to meet this challenge, they are delivering new understanding of the rates and sources of pollutant fluxes from land to water, their impacts on ecosystem goods and services, and likely trends under future climate and land use change from field to national scale. DTC, a 12m investment by the UK Government, has set up long-term, high resolution research platforms equipped with novel telemetered sensor networks to monitor stream ecosystem responses to on-farm mitigation measures at a representative scale for catchment management. Ecosystem structural and functional responses and bulk hydrochemistry are also being monitored using standard protocols. CSF has set up long-term, enhanced monitoring in 8 priority catchments, with monthly monitoring in a further 72 English catchments and 6 Welsh priority catchments, to identify shifts in pollutant flux to waters resulting from mitigation measures in priority areas and farming sectors. CSF and WCI have contributed to >50 million of targeted farm improvements to date, representing a significant shift in farming practice. Each programme has generated detailed evidence on stream ecosystem responses to targeted mitigation. However, to provide effective underpinning for policy the major challenge has been to upscale this knowledge beyond these data-rich systems and identify the dominant contributing areas and priorities for management intervention to control nutrient flux and ecological impacts in data-poor systems which are located downstream from existing monitoring infrastructure or are in unmonitored catchments in remote locations. EVOp has directly addressed this challenge, developing a cloud computing enabled National Biogeochemical Modelling Framework to support ensemble modelling, knowledge capture and transfer from DTC, CSF, WCI and data-rich research catchments. This platform provides opportunities for further development of national biogeochemical modelling capability, allowing upscaled predictions from plot to catchment and national scale, enabling knowledge transfer from data-rich to data-poor areas. This paper presents initial findings from these research platforms, identifying the key priorities for action emerging from our national scale scenario analysis, and future research directions to further improve understanding, prediction and management capability in nutrient enriched waters and their catchments under changing climate and land use.

Instructional strategies for online introductory college physics based on learning styles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ekwue, Eleazer U.

The practical nature of physics and its reliance on mathematical presentations and problem solving pose a challenge toward presentation of the course in an online environment for effective learning experience. Most first-time introductory college physics students fail to grasp the basic concepts of the course and the problem solving skills if the instructional strategy used to deliver the course is not compatible with the learners' preferred learning styles. This study investigates the effect of four instructional strategies based on four learning styles (listening, reading, iconic, and direct-experience) to improve learning for introductory college physics in an online environment. Learning styles of 146 participants were determined with Canfield Learning Style inventory. Of the 85 learners who completed the study, research results showed a statistically significant increase in learning performance following the online instruction in all four learning style groups. No statistically significant differences in learning were found among the four groups. However, greater significant academic improvement was found among learners with iconic and direct-experience modes of learning. Learners in all four groups expressed that the design of the unit presentation to match their individual learning styles contributed most to their learning experience. They were satisfied with learning a new physics concept online that, in their opinion, is either comparable or better than an instructor-led classroom experience. Findings from this study suggest that learners' performance and satisfaction in an online introductory physics course could be improved by using instructional designs that are tailored to learners' preferred ways of learning. It could contribute toward the challenge of providing viable online physics instruction in colleges and universities.

Innovative Trajectory Designs to meet Exploration Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Folta, David C.

2006-01-01

This document is a viewgraph presentation of the conference paper. Missions incorporated into NASA's Vision for Space Exploration include many different destinations and regions; are challenging to plan; and need new and innovative trajectory design methods to enable them. By combining proven methods with chaos dynamics, exploration goals that require maximum payload mass or minimum duration can be achieved. The implementation of these innovative methods, such as weak stability boundaries, has altered NASA's approach to meet exploration challenges and is described to show how exploration goals may be met in the next decade. With knowledge that various perturbations play a significant role, the mission designer must rely on both traditional design strategies as well as these innovative methods. Over the past decades, improvements have been made that would at first glance seem dramatic. This paper provides a brief narrative on how a fundamental shift has occurred and how chaos dynamics improve the design of exploration missions with complex constraints.

Use and Adoption of an Assisted Cognition System to Support Therapies for People with Dementia.

PubMed

Navarro, René F; Rodríguez, Marcela D; Favela, Jesús

2016-01-01

The cognitive deficits in persons with dementia (PwD) can produce significant functional impairment from early stages. Although memory decline is most prominent, impairments in attention, orientation, language, reasoning, and executive functioning are also common. Dementia is also characterized by changes in personality and behavioral functioning that can be very challenging for caregivers and patients. This paper presents results on the use and adoption of an assisted cognition system to support occupational therapy to address psychological and behavioral symptoms of dementia. During 16 weeks, we conducted an in situ evaluation with two caregiver-PwD dyads to assess the adoption and effectiveness of the system to ameliorate challenging behaviors and reducing caregiver burden. Evaluation results indicate that intervention personalization and a touch-based interface encouraged the adoption of the system, helping reduce challenging behaviors in PwD and caregiver burden.

Are deaf students' reading challenges really about reading?

PubMed

Marschark, Marc; Sapere, Patricia; Convertino, Carol M; Mayer, Connie; Wauters, Loes; Sarchet, Thomastine

2009-01-01

Reading achievement among deaf students typically lags significantly behind hearing peers, a situation that has changed little despite decades of research. This lack of progress and recent findings indicating that deaf students face many of the same challenges in comprehending sign language as they do in comprehending text suggest that difficulties frequently observed in their learning from text may involve more than just reading. Two experiments examined college students' learning of material from science texts. Passages were presented to deaf (signing) students in print or American Sign Language and to hearing students in print or auditorially. Several measures of learning indicated that the deaf students learned as much or more from print as they did from sign language, but less than hearing students in both cases. These and other results suggest that challenges to deaf students' reading comprehension may be more complex than is generally assumed.

Optimal Design of MPPT Controllers for Grid Connected Photovoltaic Array System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebrahim, M. A.; AbdelHadi, H. A.; Mahmoud, H. M.; Saied, E. M.; Salama, M. M.

2016-10-01

Integrating photovoltaic (PV) plants into electric power system exhibits challenges to power system dynamic performance. These challenges stem primarily from the natural characteristics of PV plants, which differ in some respects from the conventional plants. The most significant challenge is how to extract and regulate the maximum power from the sun. This paper presents the optimal design for the most commonly used Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) techniques based on Proportional Integral tuned by Particle Swarm Optimization (PI-PSO). These suggested techniques are, (1) the incremental conductance, (2) perturb and observe, (3) fractional short circuit current and (4) fractional open circuit voltage techniques. This research work provides a comprehensive comparative study with the energy availability ratio from photovoltaic panels. The simulation results proved that the proposed controllers have an impressive tracking response. The system dynamic performance improved greatly using the proposed controllers.

Non-laparoscopic minimal surgical approach to pyloromyotomy: An experience from a challenged resource setting.

PubMed

Zakaria, Ossama M

2016-01-01

The aim of the study is to review the experience with the classic Ramstedt's pyloromyotomy through the RUQ approach and the circumlinear supraumbilical fold approach (circumumbilical [CU]) pyloromyotomy (an approach that combines the ease and safety of the open pyloromyotomy with the advantages of minimal invasiveness). A single centre review in a period of 12 years from January 2001 to December 2013 with the institutional ethical committee's approval, evaluating 316 pyloromyotomies based on surgical approach: RUQ (171); and CU (145). Patients' demographics, acid-base/electrolyte status on presentation, mean operative time (MOT), postoperative length of stay (LOS) at hospital, and complications were recorded. Patients demographics, acid - base/electrolyte status on presentation; and MOT were not significantly different. The median LOS was 33 and 30 minutes for CU and RUQ, respectively, with no statistical significant difference between the two groups. One patient in the CU group had a late adhesive bowel obstruction requiring laparotomy and bowel resection. Moreover, wound infection rates did not differ significantly between the two groups (CU 3; and RUQ; 3; P = 0.15). Pyloromyotomy is associated with a low complication rate. Cosmetically, CU is superior to the RUQ approach. Its short learning curve and the feasibility to examine the integrity of the duodenal mucosa intraoperatively may make CU a safer alternative in case of surgeons who are still practicing the RUQ approach in countries with a challenged resource settings.

High-risk medical devices, children and the FDA: regulatory challenges facing pediatric mechanical circulatory support devices.

PubMed

Almond, Christopher S D; Chen, Eric A; Berman, Michael R; Less, Joanne R; Baldwin, J Timothy; Linde-Feucht, Sarah R; Hoke, Tracey R; Pearson, Gail D; Jenkins, Kathy; Duncan, Brian W; Zuckerman, Bram D

2007-01-01

Pediatric mechanical circulatory support is a critical unmet need in the United States. Infant- and child-sized ventricular assist devices are currently being developed largely through federal contracts and grants through the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Human testing and marketing of high-risk devices for children raises epidemiologic and regulatory issues that will need to be addressed. Leaders from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), NHLBI, academic pediatric community, and industry convened in January 2006 for the first FDA Workshop on the Regulatory Process for Pediatric Mechanical Circulatory Support Devices. The purpose was to provide the pediatric community with an overview of the federal regulatory process for high-risk medical devices and to review the challenges specific to the development and regulation of pediatric mechanical circulatory support devices. Pediatric mechanical circulatory support present significant epidemiologic, logistic, and financial challenges to industry, federal regulators, and the pediatric community. Early interactions with the FDA, shared appreciation of challenges, and careful planning will be critical to avoid unnecessary delays in making potentially life-saving devices available for children. Collaborative efforts to address these challenges are warranted.

Earth Science Project Office (ESPO) Field Experiences During ORACLES, ATom, KORUS and POSIDON

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salazar, Vidal; Zavaleta, Jhony

2017-01-01

Very often, scientific field campaigns entail years of planning and incur substantial cost, especially if they involve the operation of large research aircraft in remote locations. Deploying and operating these aircrafts even for short periods of time poses challenges that, if not addressed properly, can have significant negative consequences and potentially jeopardize the success of a scientific campaign. Challenges vary from country to country and range from safety, health, and security risks to differences in cultural and social norms. Our presentation will focus on sharing experiences on the ESPO 2016 conducted field campaigns ORACLES, ATom, KORUS and POSIDON. We will focus on the best practices, lessons learned, international relations and coordination aspects of the country-specific experiences. This presentation will be part of the ICARE Conference (2nd International Conference on Airborne Research for the Environment (ICARE 2017) that will focus on "Developing the infrastructure to meet future scientific challenges". This unique conference and gathering of facility support experts will not only allow for dissemination and sharing of knowledge but also promote collaboration and networking among groups that support scientific research using airborne platforms around the globe.

Early detection of sporadic pancreatic cancer: summative review.

PubMed

Chari, Suresh T; Kelly, Kimberly; Hollingsworth, Michael A; Thayer, Sarah P; Ahlquist, David A; Andersen, Dana K; Batra, Surinder K; Brentnall, Teresa A; Canto, Marcia; Cleeter, Deborah F; Firpo, Matthew A; Gambhir, Sanjiv Sam; Go, Vay Liang W; Hines, O Joe; Kenner, Barbara J; Klimstra, David S; Lerch, Markus M; Levy, Michael J; Maitra, Anirban; Mulvihill, Sean J; Petersen, Gloria M; Rhim, Andrew D; Simeone, Diane M; Srivastava, Sudhir; Tanaka, Masao; Vinik, Aaron I; Wong, David

2015-07-01

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is estimated to become the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States by 2020. Early detection is the key to improving survival in PC. Addressing this urgent need, the Kenner Family Research Fund conducted the inaugural Early Detection of Sporadic Pancreatic Cancer Summit Conference in 2014 in conjunction with the 45th Anniversary Meeting of the American Pancreatic Association and Japan Pancreas Society. This seminal convening of international representatives from science, practice, and clinical research was designed to facilitate challenging interdisciplinary conversations to generate innovative ideas leading to the creation of a defined collaborative strategic pathway for the future of the field. An in-depth summary of current efforts in the field, analysis of gaps in specific areas of expertise, and challenges that exist in early detection is presented within distinct areas of inquiry: Case for Early Detection: Definitions, Detection, Survival, and Challenges; Biomarkers for Early Detection; Imaging; and Collaborative Studies. In addition, an overview of efforts in familial PC is presented in an addendum to this article. It is clear from the summit deliberations that only strategically designed collaboration among investigators, institutions, and funders will lead to significant progress in early detection of sporadic PC.

EUV tools: hydrogen gas purification and recovery strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Landoni, Cristian; Succi, Marco; Applegarth, Chuck; Riddle Vogt, Sarah

2015-03-01

The technological challenges that have been overcome to make extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) a reality have been enormous1. This vacuum driven technology poses significant purity challenges for the gases employed for purging and cleaning the scanner EUV chamber and source. Hydrogen, nitrogen, argon and ultra-high purity compressed dry air (UHPCDA) are the most common gases utilized at the scanner and source level. Purity requirements are tighter than for previous technology node tools. In addition, specifically for hydrogen, EUV tool users are facing not only gas purity challenges but also the need for safe disposal of the hydrogen at the tool outlet. Recovery, reuse or recycling strategies could mitigate the disposal process and reduce the overall tool cost of operation. This paper will review the types of purification technologies that are currently available to generate high purity hydrogen suitable for EUV applications. Advantages and disadvantages of each purification technology will be presented. Guidelines on how to select the most appropriate technology for each application and experimental conditions will be presented. A discussion of the most common approaches utilized at the facility level to operate EUV tools along with possible hydrogen recovery strategies will also be reported.

Challenges to parenting in a new culture: Implications for child and family welfare.

PubMed

Lewig, Kerry; Arney, Fiona; Salveron, Mary

2010-08-01

Increasing numbers of families arriving through Australia's humanitarian settlement scheme are coming into contact with Australian child protection systems. A large number of these families come from African and Middle Eastern countries and have common experiences of trauma, dislocation, loss and many are victims of genocide, war, and torture. Pre-migration experiences together with the considerable challenges of settling into a new country can significantly affect family well-being and parenting practices. It is therefore important that child and family welfare service planners are well informed about how best to support refugee families using culturally competent family intervention and community development practices. This paper draws on the findings of a research project designed to examine why recently arrived families from refugee backgrounds are presenting in the South Australian child protection system and to identify culturally appropriate strategies for intervention. The paper presents findings from the project that relate to (1) refugee parents', community members' and child protection practitioners' perspectives on the challenges to being a refugee parent in Australia and (2) strategies and resources relevant to prevention and early intervention in refugee families before statutory child protection intervention becomes necessary. Copyright (c)2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Early Detection of Sporadic Pancreatic Cancer

PubMed Central

Chari, Suresh T.; Kelly, Kimberly; Hollingsworth, Michael A.; Thayer, Sarah P.; Ahlquist, David A.; Andersen, Dana K.; Batra, Surinder K.; Brentnall, Teresa A.; Canto, Marcia; Cleeter, Deborah F.; Firpo, Matthew A.; Gambhir, Sanjiv Sam; Go, Vay Liang W.; Hines, O. Joe; Kenner, Barbara J.; Klimstra, David S.; Lerch, Markus M.; Levy, Michael J.; Maitra, Anirban; Mulvihill, Sean J.; Petersen, Gloria M.; Rhim, Andrew D.; Simeone, Diane M.; Srivastava, Sudhir; Tanaka, Masao; Vinik, Aaron I.; Wong, David

2015-01-01

Abstract Pancreatic cancer (PC) is estimated to become the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States by 2020. Early detection is the key to improving survival in PC. Addressing this urgent need, the Kenner Family Research Fund conducted the inaugural Early Detection of Sporadic Pancreatic Cancer Summit Conference in 2014 in conjunction with the 45th Anniversary Meeting of the American Pancreatic Association and Japan Pancreas Society. This seminal convening of international representatives from science, practice, and clinical research was designed to facilitate challenging interdisciplinary conversations to generate innovative ideas leading to the creation of a defined collaborative strategic pathway for the future of the field. An in-depth summary of current efforts in the field, analysis of gaps in specific areas of expertise, and challenges that exist in early detection is presented within distinct areas of inquiry: Case for Early Detection: Definitions, Detection, Survival, and Challenges; Biomarkers for Early Detection; Imaging; and Collaborative Studies. In addition, an overview of efforts in familial PC is presented in an addendum to this article. It is clear from the summit deliberations that only strategically designed collaboration among investigators, institutions, and funders will lead to significant progress in early detection of sporadic PC. PMID:25931254

Lessons Learned From an Epidemiologist-Led Countywide Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) in Oregon.

PubMed

Repp, Kimberly K; Hawes, Eva; Rees, Kathleen J; Vorderstrasse, Beth; Mohnkern, Sue

2018-06-07

Conducting a large-scale Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) in a geographically and linguistically diverse county presents significant methodological challenges that require advance planning. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has adapted methodology and provided a toolkit for a rapid needs assessment after a disaster. The assessment provides representative data of the sampling frame to help guide effective distribution of resources. This article describes methodological considerations and lessons learned from a CASPER exercise conducted by Washington County Public Health in June 2016 to assess community emergency preparedness. The CDC's CASPER toolkit provides detailed guidance for exercises in urban areas where city blocks are well defined with many single family homes. Converting the exercise to include rural areas with challenging geographical terrain, including accessing homes without public roads, required considerable adjustments in planning. Adequate preparations for vulnerable populations with English linguistic barriers required additional significant resources. Lessons learned are presented from the first countywide CASPER exercise in Oregon. Approximately 61% of interviews were completed, and 85% of volunteers reported they would participate in another CASPER exercise. Results from the emergency preparedness survey will be presented elsewhere. This experience indicates the most important considerations for conducting a CASPER exercise are oversampling clusters, overrecruiting volunteers, anticipating the actual cost of staff time, and ensuring timely language services are available during the event.

Comparison of Two Commercial Type 1 Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) Modified Live Vaccines against Heterologous Type 1 and Type 2 PRRSV Challenge in Growing Pigs.

PubMed

Kim, Taeyeon; Park, Changhoon; Choi, Kyuhyung; Jeong, Jiwoon; Kang, Ikjae; Park, Su-Jin; Chae, Chanhee

2015-06-01

The objective of the present study was to compare the efficacy of two commercial type 1 porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) modified live vaccines against heterologous type 1 and type 2 PRRSV challenge in growing pigs. Vaccination with a type 1 PRRSV vaccine reduced the level of viremia after type 1 PRRSV challenge but did not reduce the level of viremia after the type 2 PRRSV challenge in pigs. Increased levels of interleukin-10 (IL-10) stimulated by type 2 PRRSV coincided with the low numbers of type 2 PRRSV-specific interferon gamma-secreting cells (IFN-γ-SC) in vaccinated pigs after type 2 PRRSV challenge, whereas low levels of IL-10 stimulated by type 1 PRRSV coincided with high numbers of type 1 PRRSV-specific IFN-γ-SC in vaccinated pigs after type 1 PRRSV challenge. Additionally, vaccination with the type 1 PRRSV vaccine effectively reduced the lung lesions and type 1 PRRSV nucleic acids in type 1 PRRSV-challenged pigs but did not reduce lung lesions and type 2 PRRSV nucleic acids in type 2 PRRSV-challenged pigs. There were no significant differences between two commercial type 1 PRRSV vaccines against type 1 and type 2 PRRSV challenge based on virological results, immunological responses, and pathological outcomes. This study demonstrates that vaccinating pigs with the type 1 PRRSV vaccine provides partial protection against respiratory disease with heterologous type 1 PRRSV challenge but no protection with heterologous type 2 PRRSV challenge. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Challenges and lessons learned in the application of autonomy to space operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forrest, David J.; Statman, Joseph I.

2001-01-01

NASA's Space Operations Management Office (SOMO) is working toward a goal of providing an integrated infrastructure of mission and data services for space missions undertaken by NASA enterprises. A significant portion of this effort is focused on reducing the cost of these services. We are interested in the potential of autonomy to reduce operations costs. Some attempts have already been made to apply autonomy and automation in these areas in the past with varying degrees of success. We present brief case histories and the lessons inferred from them. Combining this past experience with anticipated future needs, we attempt to clarify the challenges that must be met in order to realize the benefits of autonomy.

Jaundice and life-threatening hemobilia: an uncommon presentation of choledochal cyst.

PubMed

Koh, Peng Soon; Yoong, Boon Koon; Vijayananthan, Anushya; Nawawi, Ouzreiah; Mahadeva, Sanjiv

2013-08-01

Hemobilia with jaundice as a result of cholestasis and bleeding from choledochal cyst is uncommon. Ascertaining the diagnosis is often challenging and delayed diagnosis can lead to significant consequences due to hemodynamic instability, particularly in elderly patients. Although surgery remains the definitive treatment modality, interventional radiology for hemostasis has been increasingly recognized as an option. In this manuscript, we described two Malaysian cases of jaundice and hemobilia associated with choledochal cysts and the challenges related with clinical diagnosis and management. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Digestive Diseases © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd and Chinese Medical Association Shanghai Branch, Chinese Society of Gastroenterology, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine.

Challenges facing an understanding of the nature of low-energy excited states in photosynthesis.

PubMed

Reimers, Jeffrey R; Biczysko, Malgorzata; Bruce, Douglas; Coker, David F; Frankcombe, Terry J; Hashimoto, Hideki; Hauer, Jürgen; Jankowiak, Ryszard; Kramer, Tobias; Linnanto, Juha; Mamedov, Fikret; Müh, Frank; Rätsep, Margus; Renger, Thomas; Styring, Stenbjörn; Wan, Jian; Wang, Zhuan; Wang-Otomo, Zheng-Yu; Weng, Yu-Xiang; Yang, Chunhong; Zhang, Jian-Ping; Freiberg, Arvi; Krausz, Elmars

2016-09-01

While the majority of the photochemical states and pathways related to the biological capture of solar energy are now well understood and provide paradigms for artificial device design, additional low-energy states have been discovered in many systems with obscure origins and significance. However, as low-energy states are naively expected to be critical to function, these observations pose important challenges. A review of known properties of low energy states covering eight photochemical systems, and options for their interpretation, are presented. A concerted experimental and theoretical research strategy is suggested and outlined, this being aimed at providing a fully comprehensive understanding. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Challenges in managing a mother with a dual diagnosis of peripartum cardiomyopathy and paranoid schizophrenia - a case report.

PubMed

Weerasundera, Rajiv; Yogaratnam, Jegan

2013-01-01

Psychotic illness has a low incidence in the puerperal period. Peripartum cardiomyopathy as a complication of pregnancy is also rare. We report a case where the above two conditions occurred simultaneously in a patient and posed significant difficulties in the clinical management. She was diagnosed as having paranoid schizophrenia and peripartum cardiomyopathy. Many of the antipsychotics were contraindicated, and electroconvulsive therapy could not be administered due to the added risks involved with regard to anesthesia. She was therefore managed with clonazepam and olanzapine. This case highlights the challenges in a patient with a psychiatric illness presenting with comorbid physical illness. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Challenges of In Space Robotic Servicing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roberts, Brian John

2015-01-01

As future space missions extend beyond the friendly confines of low earth orbit, robots are becoming an increasingly vital component on flight manifests. While the main focus to-date has been on satellite servicing due to its high commercial potential, robots are also being considered for orbital debris removal, space construction, and asteroid sample retrieval. The robotic technologies and automation required to carry out these missions represent a significant advancement beyond the manipulation technology used previously on the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and planetary rovers. While higher demands are being driven by the more ambitious nature of the tasks, the handling of uncooperative targets such as satellites and asteroids, present a greater challenge.

MEMS reliability: The challenge and the promise

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

Miller, W.M.; Tanner, D.M.; Miller, S.L.

1998-05-01

MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) that think, sense, act and communicate will open up a broad new array of cost effective solutions only if they prove to be sufficiently reliable. A valid reliability assessment of MEMS has three prerequisites: (1) statistical significance; (2) a technique for accelerating fundamental failure mechanisms, and (3) valid physical models to allow prediction of failures during actual use. These already exist for the microelectronics portion of such integrated systems. The challenge lies in the less well understood micromachine portions and its synergistic effects with microelectronics. This paper presents a methodology addressing these prerequisites and a description ofmore » the underlying physics of reliability for micromachines.« less

Comparison of Traditional and Innovative Techniques to Solve Technical Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perchonok, Michele

2011-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the use of traditional and innovative techniques to solve technical challenges in food storage technology. The planning for a mission to Mars is underway, and the food storage technology improvements requires that improvements be made. This new technology is required, because current food storage technology is inadequate,refrigerators or freezers are not available for food preservation, and that a shelf life of 5 years is expected. A 10 year effort to improve food packaging technology has not enhanced significantly food packaging capabilities. Two innovation techniques were attempted InnoCentive and Yet2.com and have provided good results, and are still under due diligence for solver verification.

Workshop on Advanced Technologies for Planetary Instruments, part 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Appleby, John F. (Editor)

1993-01-01

This meeting was conceived in response to new challenges facing NASA's robotic solar system exploration program. This volume contains papers presented at the Workshop on Advanced Technologies for Planetary Instruments on 28-30 Apr. 1993. This meeting was conceived in response to new challenges facing NASA's robotic solar system exploration program. Over the past several years, SDIO has sponsored a significant technology development program aimed, in part, at the production of instruments with these characteristics. This workshop provided an opportunity for specialists from the planetary science and DoD communities to establish contacts, to explore common technical ground in an open forum, and more specifically, to discuss the applicability of SDIO's technology base to planetary science instruments.

From Nonissue to Healthcare Crisis: A Historical Review of Aging and Dying With an Intellectual and Developmental Disability.

PubMed

McGinley, Jacqueline M

2016-04-01

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are living unprecedentedly longer lives primarily due to the long-term benefits of the deinstitutionalization movement and widespread improvements in health outcomes. However, the consequences of this protracted aging process are significant, complex, and often poor not only for the individuals and their caregivers but for the mainstream healthcare community. This article will explore, utilizing a constructionist perspective, how these challenges evolved from a nonissue to an impending crisis in less than 25 years. Additionally, present-day efforts by researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to address these challenges will be explored and recommendations will be made for future directions.

Revisiting Antipsychotic-induced Akathisia: Current Issues and Prospective Challenges

PubMed Central

Salem, Haitham; Nagpal, Caesa; Pigott, Teresa; Teixeira, Antonio Lucio

2017-01-01

Background: Akathisia continues to be a significant challenge in current neurological and psychiatric practice. Prompt and accurate detection is often difficult and there is a lack of consensus concerning the neurobiological basis of akathisia. No definitive treatment has been established for akathisia despite numerous preclinical and clinical studies. Method: We reviewed antipsychotic-induced akathisia including its clinical presentation, proposed underlying pathophysiology, current and under investigation therapeutic strategies. Conclusion: Despite the initial promise that second generation antipsychotics would be devoid of akathisia effects, this has not been confirmed. Currently, there are limited therapeutic options for the clinical practice and the evidence supporting the most widely used treatments (beta blockers, anticholinergic drugs) is still absent or inconsistent. PMID:27928948

Sex differences in the resistance of turkeys to Escherichia coli challenge after immunosuppression with dexamethasone.

PubMed

Huff, G R; Huff, W E; Balog, J M; Rath, N C

1999-01-01

Five-week-old male and female commercial turkeys were immunosuppressed with two levels of dexamethasone (DEX) and challenged by airsac inoculation with 100 cfu of Escherichia coli. Mortality and airsacculitis (AS) scores were significantly higher in challenged birds treated with DEX and marginally higher in males than in females. Male mortalities had significantly higher AS scores than females. Recovery of E. coli from blood and tissues was significantly higher in challenged birds treated with DEX, marginally higher in males (P = 0.09), and significantly higher in male mortalities than in female mortalities. The low level of DEX seemed to have a protective effect against bacterial challenge in males, whereas the high level of DEX had a more adverse effect in males than in females. Body weights 2 wk postchallenge were significantly decreased by both DEX and E. coli, challenge. Relative liver and heart weights were increased by both DEX and E. coli, challenge, whereas bursal:spleen ratios were decreased by both treatments. Total leukocyte counts and relative heterophil counts from blood samples taken 24 h postinfection were significantly higher in DEX-treated birds and in unchallenged DEX-treated females than in males. The DEX treatment resulted in significantly higher heterophil:lymphocyte ratios, but there was no difference between sexes. Males had significantly lower serum levels of uric acid, total protein, albumin, aspartate aminotransferase, and lactate dehydrogenase than did females. Dexamethasone treatment also resulted in lower levels of total protein, albumin, and aspartate aminotransferase. These data suggest that male turkeys may be more susceptible to colisepticemia than female turkeys, especially when under severe stress.

Bacillus sp. LT3 improves the survival of gnotobiotic brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) larvae challenged with Vibrio campbellii by enhancing the innate immune response and by decreasing the activity of shrimp-associated vibrios.

PubMed

Niu, Yufeng; Defoirdt, Tom; Baruah, Kartik; Van de Wiele, Tom; Dong, Shuanglin; Bossier, Peter

2014-10-10

Bacteria belonging to the genus Bacillus are amongst the most intensively studied group of bacteria for use as probiotics in aquaculture. However, the exact mechanism of action of these bacteria is often not well described, and the microbiota that are naturally present in cultures of test organisms often compromise the interpretation of the results. The present study aimed to evaluate the putative probiotic effect of Bacillus sp. LT3 in a model system with gnotobiotic brine shrimp Artemia franciscana larvae. The strain significantly increased the survival of brine shrimp larvae challenged with Vibrio campbellii when administered 6h before the challenge. Under these conditions, LT3 was able to colonize the brine shrimp gastrointestinal tract and to decrease the in vivo pathogen activity as indicated by the bioluminescence of the V. campbellii associated with brine shrimp larvae. In order to investigate the effect of the Bacillus strain on the innate immune system of the brine shrimp larvae, prophenoloxidase and transglutaminase mRNA levels were monitored, while heat shock protein 70 mRNA levels were measured as an indicator of physiological stress. Interestingly, 12h after challenge, the prophenoloxidase mRNA level in the larvae pre-treated with LT3 and challenged with V. campbellii was approximately 8-fold higher than in the other treatments. Further, a decreased mRNA level of transglutaminase gene and heat shock protein 70 gene suggested that pretreatment with LT3 results in less stress and tissue damage in the brine shrimp larvae upon V. campbellii challenge. These results indicated that Bacillus sp. LT3 could improve the survival of brine shrimp larvae when challenged with pathogenic V. campbellii, both by decreasing the in vivo activity of the pathogen and by priming the innate immune response through activating the prophenoloxidase system. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Parental perceptions in egg allergy: does egg challenge make a difference?

PubMed

Kemp, Andrew Stewart; Allen, Clare Wendy; Campbell, Dianne Elisabeth

2009-11-01

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of an oral egg challenge in egg sensitized children on parental perceptions relating to their child's allergy. A questionnaire was completed by parents for 167 children attending a tertiary paediatric clinic with egg sensitization. The questionnaires included 10 questions concerning parental perceptions of their child's egg allergy. Parental perceptions of those children who had not had an egg challenge (n = 83) were compared with those whose children had a positive (n = 27) and those with a negative (n = 57) egg challenge. A significant difference (p = < or =0.02) was observed between challenge positive(CP) and challenge negative (CN) subjects in reported changes to lifestyle and the fact that more parents in the CN group expected little or no future inconvenience for the child. The responses of parents whose child had undergone an egg challenge differed significantly (p = < or =0.005) from those not challenged with a significant reduction in the following parameters; the effect on out-of-home care arrangements, the perception of being more severe as compared to other common childhood illnesses, whether they found egg allergy to be moderately or very stressful, whether their lifestyle was changed, the expectation of little or no future discomfort for the child and whether others treated the child differently. The performance of an egg challenge was associated with reduced adverse parental concerns. For 6/10 parameters, expectations concerning egg allergy in children who had been challenged were significantly better than those who had never been challenged irrespective of the challenge outcome. The greater certainty provided by the performance of a food challenge may be a positive outcome in both CP and CN children.

DCT based interpolation filter for motion compensation in HEVC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alshin, Alexander; Alshina, Elena; Park, Jeong Hoon; Han, Woo-Jin

2012-10-01

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) draft standard has a challenging goal to improve coding efficiency twice compare to H.264/AVC. Many aspects of the traditional hybrid coding framework were improved during new standard development. Motion compensated prediction, in particular the interpolation filter, is one area that was improved significantly over H.264/AVC. This paper presents the details of the interpolation filter design of the draft HEVC standard. The coding efficiency improvements over H.264/AVC interpolation filter is studied and experimental results are presented, which show a 4.0% average bitrate reduction for Luma component and 11.3% average bitrate reduction for Chroma component. The coding efficiency gains are significant for some video sequences and can reach up 21.7%.

Bioinspired Tuning of Hydrogel Permeability-Rigidity Dependency for 3D Cell Culture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Min Kyung; Rich, Max H.; Baek, Kwanghyun; Lee, Jonghwi; Kong, Hyunjoon

2015-03-01

Hydrogels are being extensively used for three-dimensional immobilization and culture of cells in fundamental biological studies, biochemical processes, and clinical treatments. However, it is still a challenge to support viability and regulate phenotypic activities of cells in a structurally stable gel, because the gel becomes less permeable with increasing rigidity. To resolve this challenge, this study demonstrates a unique method to enhance the permeability of a cell-laden hydrogel while avoiding a significant change in rigidity of the gel. Inspired by the grooved skin textures of marine organisms, a hydrogel is assembled to present computationally optimized micro-sized grooves on the surface. Separately, a gel is engineered to preset aligned microchannels similar to a plant's vascular bundles through a uniaxial freeze-drying process. The resulting gel displays significantly increased water diffusivity with reduced changes of gel stiffness, exclusively when the microgrooves and microchannels are aligned together. No significant enhancement of rehydration is achieved when the microgrooves and microchannels are not aligned. Such material design greatly enhances viability and neural differentiation of stem cells and 3D neural network formation within the gel.

Remineralizing effect of a zinc-hydroxyapatite toothpaste on enamel erosion caused by soft drinks: Ultrastructural analysis.

PubMed

Colombo, Marco; Mirando, Maria; Rattalino, Davide; Beltrami, Riccardo; Chiesa, Marco; Poggio, Claudio

2017-07-01

The aim of the present in vitro study was to evaluate the protective effects of a zinc-hydroxyapatite toothpaste on repairing enamel erosion produced by a soft drink (Coca-Cola) compared to toothpastes with and without fluoride using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Fifty specimens were assigned to 5 groups of 10 specimens each. (Group 1: no erosive challenge, no toothpaste treatment, group 2: erosive challenge, no toothpaste treatment, 3: erosive challenge, toothpaste without fluoride, group 4: erosive challenge, fluoride toothpaste treatment, group 5: erosive challenge, zinc-hydroxyapatite toothpaste treatment). Repeated erosive challenges were provided by immersing bovine enamel specimens (10 per group) in a soft drink for 2 min (6mL, room temperature) at 0, 8, 24 and 32 h. After each erosive challenge, the toothpastes were applied neat onto the surface of specimens for 3 min without brushing and removed with distilled water. Between treatments the specimens were kept in artificial saliva. The surface of each specimen was imaged by SEM. Statistically significant differences were found between the samples used as control and those immersed in Coca-Cola (group 1 and 2): indeed among all groups the highest grade of damage was found in group 2. Instead the lowest grade was recorded in the samples of group 5 (Zinc hydroxyapatite toothpaste). The results of this study confirmed the potential benefit the Zn-HAP technology could provide in protecting enamel from erosive acid challenges. The treatment of erosively challenged enamel with Zn-Hap toothpaste showed a clear protective effect. Key words: Dental erosion, enamel, SEM, toothpaste.

Contextual Challenges to Safe Surgery in a Resource-limited Setting: A Multicenter, Multiprofessional Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Scott, John W; Lin, Yihan; Ntakiyiruta, Georges; Mutabazi, Zeta A; Davis, William Austin; Morris, Megan A; Smink, Douglas S; Riviello, Robert; Yule, Steven

2018-03-01

Safe surgery should be available to all patients, no matter the setting. The purpose of this study was to explore the contextual-specific challenges to safe surgical care encountered by surgeons and surgical teams in many in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and to understand the ways in which surgical teams overcome them. Optimal surgical performance is highly complex and requires providers to integrate and communicate information regarding the patient, task, team, and environment to coordinate team-based care that is timely, effective, and safe. Resource limitations common to many LMICs present unique challenges to surgeons operating in these environments, but have never been formally described. Using a grounded theory approach, we interviewed 34 experienced providers (surgeons, anesthetists, and nurses) at the 4 tertiary referral centers in Rwanda, to understand the challenges to safe surgical care and strategies to overcome them. Interview transcripts were coded line-by-line and iteratively analyzed for emerging themes until thematic saturation was reached. Rwandan-described challenges related to 4 domains: physical resources, human resources, overall systems support, and communication/language. The majority of these challenges arose from significant variability in either the quantity or quality of these domains. Surgical providers exhibited examples of resilient strategies to anticipate, monitor, respond to, and learn from these challenges. Resource variability rather than lack of resources underlies many contextual challenges to safe surgical care in a LMIC setting. Understanding these challenges and resilient strategies to overcome them is critical for both LMIC surgical providers and surgeons from HICs working in similar settings.

Potential of poly(amidoamine) dendrimers as drug carriers of camptothecin based on encapsulation studies.

PubMed

Cheng, Yiyun; Li, Mingzhong; Xu, Tongwen

2008-08-01

Camptothecin (CPT), a plant alkaloid isolated from Camptotheca acuminata, has an extremely low solubility in aqueous medium, which presents a major challenge during drug formulation in clinical trails. In the present study we investigated the potential of poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers as drug carriers of CPT through aqueous solubility studies. Results showed that the aqueous solubility of CPT was significantly increased by PAMAM dendrimers. The effect of PAMAM generation on CPT solubility was also evaluated. These studies indicated that PAMAM dendrimers might be considered as biocompatible carriers of CPT.

Evaluation of Warm and Cold Shaft Designs for Large Multi-megawatt Direct Drive Offshore Superconducting Wind Generators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kulkarni, Devdatta; Chen, Edward; Ho, Mantak; Karmaker, Haran

For offshore large multi-megawatt direct drive wind generators, because of its ability to generate high flux fields, superconducting (SC) technology can offer significant size and mass reduction over traditional technologies. However, cryogenic cooling design remains as one of the major obstacles to overcome. Different cryogenic cooling designs, such as warm shaft and cold shaft rotor design, present different advantages and challenges technically and commercially. This paper presents the investigations on both designs for large SC generators from manufacturability and service perspectives.

Approach to and Treatment of Thyroid Disorders in the Elderly

PubMed Central

Papaleontiou, Maria

2012-01-01

Synopsis Thyroid gland dysfunction is prevalent in older adults and may be associated with significant morbidity if misdiagnosed and left untreated. Due to a decreased number of symptoms at presentation, an increased susceptibility to adverse events if not treated, and a greater likelihood of harm from treatment, the diagnosis and management of thyroid disorders in older adults can be challenging. This review focuses on the epidemiology, clinical presentation, risks/complications, and management of thyroid disorders (including hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer) in older adults. PMID:22443977

Atherectomy in Peripheral Artery Disease: A Review.

PubMed

Bhat, Tariq M; Afari, Maxwell E; Garcia, Lawrence A

2017-04-01

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a clinical manifestation of systemic atherosclerosis and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The physiological force and shear stress from angioplasty and stenting have made PAD treatment challenging. Atherectomy devices have continued to emerge as a major therapy in the management of peripheral vascular disease. This article presents a review of the current literature for the atherectomy devices used in PAD.

Russian Organizational Learning in the Context of the Afghanistan and Chechnya Counterinsurgencies

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-04

Russian Organizational Learning in the Context of the Afghanistan and Chechnya Counterinsurgencies A Monograph By MAJ Anthony M. Roh...SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER Russian Organizational Learning in the Context of the Afghanistan and Chechnya Counterinsurgencies 5b...not view this as a significant challenge to their military model. Then, when presented a similar situation in Chechnya , instead of approaching the

The Role of Technology: Theme Group 3. Proceedings of the International Congress on Mathematical Education (5th, Adelaide, South Australia, August 24-30, 1984).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohyla, Jury, Ed.

This conference report bears witness to the centrality and growing significance of the debate on the impact of technology on mathematics education. It presents an overview of the conference's Technology Theme group's work, featuring summaries of the reports of 17 constituent working groups under 6 major headings: (1) "Challenges to the…

Planning for the Future of the Adult Education Service: A Challenge for VECs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muircheartaigh, Lucas O.

2004-01-01

In this paper, the author points out that there has been a significant development of the adult education service in Ireland in recent years. However, if the service is to become part of the mainstream of Irish education, the issue of structures at all levels within the system has to be addressed. Quite frankly the present system is very…

English Language Education in Jordan: Some Recent Trends and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alhabahba, Mohammad Madallh; Pandian, Ambigapathy; Mahfoodh, Omer Hassan Ali

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to map out the status of English language teaching (ELT) as practised in the Arab World and, specifically, in Jordan today. The study also aims to bring into focus significant issues that need to be addressed in ELT in the Arab World. This paper presents a review of the current status of English language education,…

Age, Cumulative Trauma and Stressful Life Events, and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms among Older Adults in Prison: Do Subjective Impressions Matter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maschi, Tina; Morgen, Keith; Zgoba, Kristen; Courtney, Deborah; Ristow, Jennifer

2011-01-01

Background: The aging prison population in the United States presents a significant public health challenge with high rates of trauma and mental health issues that the correctional system alone is ill-prepared to address. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of age, objective, and subjective measures of trauma and stressful…

The Value of Clinical Teachers for EMR Implementations and Conversions

PubMed Central

Pantaleoni, J.L.; Longhurst, C.A.

2015-01-01

Summary Effective physician training is an essential aspect of EMR implementation. However, it can be challenging to find instructors who can present the material in a clinically relevant manner. The authors describe a unique physician-training program, utilizing medical students as course instructors. This approach resulted in high learner satisfaction rates and provided significant cost-savings compared to alternative options. PMID:25848414

Restaurant Energy Use Benchmarking Guideline

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

Hedrick, R.; Smith, V.; Field, K.

2011-07-01

A significant operational challenge for food service operators is defining energy use benchmark metrics to compare against the performance of individual stores. Without metrics, multiunit operators and managers have difficulty identifying which stores in their portfolios require extra attention to bring their energy performance in line with expectations. This report presents a method whereby multiunit operators may use their own utility data to create suitable metrics for evaluating their operations.

Photovoltaic Cell Operation on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Landis, Geoffrey A.; Kerslake, Thomas; Jenkins, Phillip P.; Scheiman, David A.

2004-01-01

The Martian surface environment provides peculiar challenges for the operation of solar arrays: low temperature, solar flux with a significant scattered component that varies in intensity and spectrum with the amount of suspended atmospheric dust, and the possibility of performance loss due to dust deposition on the array surface. This paper presents theoretical analyses of solar cell performance on the surface of Mars and measurements of cells under Martian conditions.

The FRAME Project - A collaborative modeling approach to natural resource management at Mesa Verde National Park

Treesearch

Christine E. Turner; William H. Romme; Jim Chew; Mark E. Miller; Lisa Floyd-Hanna Leavesley; George San Miguel; Neil Cobb; Richard Zirbes; Roland Viger; Kirsten Ironside

2008-01-01

The rapid pace of social and environmental changes over the past few decades has presented significant challenges for the people who manage our public lands. Demographic shifts have placed large populations in close proximity to public lands and have resulted in increased public scrutiny of decision making on those lands. Natural resource managers are required to make...

Enhancing Library Business Performance by Implementation of Enterprise 2.0 via Intrapreneurship: The Case of a Serbian Library

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sofronijevic, Adam; Milicevic, Vesna; Ilic, Bojan; Seaman, Scott

2011-01-01

As academic libraries around the world face the dual challenges of rising demand but limits on funding, managers look for ways to improve library performance that do not add significantly to the budget. This paper presents a novel relationship between intrapreneurship and Enterprise 2.0 that suggests there are relatively cheap and easy ways to…

Effects of erosive, cariogenic or combined erosive/cariogenic challenges on human enamel: an in situ/ex vivo study.

PubMed

Honório, H M; Rios, D; Santos, C F; Magalhães, A C; Buzalaf, M A R; Machado, M A A M

2008-01-01

Individuals with cariogenic diet can also consume erosive beverages. Thus, it seems necessary to investigate a possible caries/erosion interaction. To test in situ/ex vivo a combination of these challenges, 11 subjects wore intraoral appliances containing four enamel blocks randomly assigned. In the first 2-week phase, the appliances were immersed in a cola drink 3 times/day. Two blocks were free of plaque (erosion only: EO) and two blocks were covered with plaque (erosion + plaque: EP). In the second 2-week phase, four new blocks were all covered with plaque and subjected to a sucrose solution 8 times/day. Among the four new blocks, two were also subjected to the cola drink 3 times/day (erosion + caries: EC) while the other two were not (caries only: CO). Thus, in EO, the specimens were fixed at the intraoral appliance level. In EP, EC and CO they were fixed 1.0 mm under the appliance level and covered with plastic meshes for dental plaque accumulation. Changes in wear and hardness were measured. Data were tested using ANOVA and Tukey's test (p < 0.05). Mean values of wear (microm) and change in hardness (kp/mm(2)) were: EO 4.82/310; EP 0.14/48; EC 0.34/245; CO 0.42/309. With respect to surface softening, EP and EC differed significantly from each other and from EO and CO, which did not differ significantly. EO presented significantly higher wear than the other groups. The data suggest that the presence of dental plaque can decrease the acid attack of an erosive drink and the association of erosive and cariogenic challenges showed less enamel alterations when compared to erosive or cariogenic challenges only. (c) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Immune protection of microneme 7 (EmMIC7) against Eimeria maxima challenge in chickens.

PubMed

Huang, Jingwei; Zhang, Zhenchao; Li, Menghui; Song, Xiaokai; Yan, Ruofeng; Xu, Lixin; Li, Xiangrui

2015-10-01

In the present study, the immune protective effects of recombinant microneme protein 7 of Eimeria maxima (rEmMIC7) and a DNA vaccine encoding this antigen (pVAX1-EmMIC7) on experimental challenge were evaluated. Two-week-old chickens were randomly divided into five groups. Experimental groups of chickens were immunized with 100 μg DNA vaccine pVAX1-MIC7 or 200 μg rEmMIC7, while control groups of chickens were injected with pVAX1 plasmid or sterile phosphate buffered saline (PBS). The results showed that the anti-EmMIC7 antibody titres in chickens of both rEmMIC7 and pVAX1-MIC7 groups were significantly higher as compared to PBS and pVAX1 control (P < .05). The splenocytes from both vaccinated groups of chickens displayed significantly greater proliferation response compared with the controls (P < .05). Serum from chickens immunized with pVAX1-MIC7 and rEmMIC7 displayed significantly high levels of interleukin-2, interferon-γ, IL-10, IL-17, tumour growth factor-β and IL-4 (P < .05) compared to those of negative controls. The challenge experiment results showed that both the recombinant antigen and the DNA vaccine could obviously alleviate jejunum lesions, body weight loss and enhance oocyst decrease ratio. The anti-coccidial index (ACI) of the pVAX1-MIC7 group was 167.84, higher than that of the recombinant MIC7 protein group, 167.10. Our data suggested that immunization with EmMIC7 was effective in imparting partial protection against E. maxima challenge in chickens and it could be an effective antigen candidate for the development of new vaccines against E. maxima.

Eimeria maxima microneme protein 2 delivered as DNA vaccine and recombinant protein induces immunity against experimental homogenous challenge.

PubMed

Huang, Jingwei; Zhang, Zhenchao; Li, Menghui; Song, Xiaokai; Yan, Ruofeng; Xu, Lixin; Li, Xiangrui

2015-10-01

E. maxima is one of the seven species of Eimeria that infects chicken. Until now, only a few antigenic genes of E. maxima have been reported. In the present study, the immune protective effects against E. maxima challenge of recombinant protein and DNA vaccine encoding EmMIC2 were evaluated. Two-week-old chickens were randomly divided into five groups. The experimental group of chickens was immunized with 100 μg DNA vaccine pVAX1-MIC2 or 200 μg rEmMIC2 protein while the control group of chickens was injected with pVAX1 plasmid or sterile PBS. The results showed that the anti-EmMIC2 antibody titers of both rEmMIC2 protein and pVAX1-MIC2 groups were significantly higher as compared to PBS and pVAX1 control (P<0.05). The splenocytes from both vaccinated groups of chickens displayed significantly greater proliferation compared with the controls (P<0.05). Serum from chickens immunized with pVAX1-MIC2 and rEmMIC2 protein displayed significantly high levels of IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-10, IL-17, TGF-β and IL-4 (P<0.05) compared to those of negative controls. The challenge experiment results showed that both the recombinant protein and the DNA vaccine could obviously alleviate jejunum lesions, body weight loss, increase oocyst, decrease ratio and provide ACIs of more than 165. All the above results suggested that immunization with EmMIC2 was effective in imparting partial protection against E. maxima challenge and it could be an effective antigen candidate for the development of new vaccines against E. maxima. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Polar ice-sheet contributions to sea level during past warm periods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutton, A.

2015-12-01

Recent sea-level rise has been dominated by thermal expansion and glacier loss, but the contribution from mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets is expected to exceed other contributions under future sustained warming. Due to limitations of existing ice sheet models and the lack of relevant analogues in the historical record, projecting the timing and magnitude of polar ice sheet mass loss in the future remains challenging. One approach to improving our understanding of how polar ice-sheet retreat will unfold is to integrate observations and models of sea level, ice sheets, and climate during past intervals of warmth when the polar ice sheets contributed to higher sea levels. A recent review evaluated the evidence of polar ice sheet mass loss during several warm periods, including interglacials during the mid-Pliocene warm period, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11, 5e (Last Interglacial), and 1 (Holocene). Sea-level benchmarks of ice-sheet retreat during the first of these three periods, when global mean climate was ~1 to 3 deg. C warmer than preindustrial, are useful for understanding the long-term potential for future sea-level rise. Despite existing uncertainties in these reconstructions, it is clear that our present climate is warming to a level associated with significant polar ice-sheet loss in the past, resulting in a conservative estimate for a global mean sea-level rise of 6 meters above present (or more). This presentation will focus on identifying the approaches that have yielded significant advances in terms of past sea level and ice sheet reconstruction as well as outstanding challenges. A key element of recent advances in sea-level reconstructions is the ability to recognize and quantify the imprint of geophysical processes, such as glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) and dynamic topography, that lead to significant spatial variability in sea level reconstructions. Identifying specific ice-sheet sources that contributed to higher sea levels is a challenge that is currently hindered by limited field evidence at high latitudes. Finally, I will explore the concept of how increasing the quantity and quality of paleo sea level and ice sheet reconstructions can lead to improved quantification of contemporary changes in ice sheets and sea level.

Immune challenges and visual signalling in tree frogs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Desprat, Julia L.; Lengagne, Thierry; Mondy, Nathalie

2017-04-01

In animals, mate-choice is often based on sexual signals that carry information and help the receiver make the best choice to improve the receiver's fitness. Orange visual sexual signals have been hypothesised to carry immune information because they are often due to carotenoid pigments which are also involved in immunity response. Although many studies have focused on the direct relationships between coloration and immunocompetence, few studies have simultaneously studied immunocompetent response and coloration variation after an immune challenge. We tested this hypothesis on starved and ad libitum-fed males of the European tree frog Hyla arborea. Our results show that male coloration is not a reliable indicator of its immune response capacity in this species. However, after an immune challenge induced by a PHA ( Phaseolus vulgaris phytohaemagglutinin) injection, starved males presented a significant coloration loss and this alteration was related to the immune response intensity. Taken together, these results suggest that the brighter (lighter) coloration may be used as a cue by female to exclude males with a recent immune challenge, due to diseases or parasites for example.

Analysis of velocity and magnetic field fluctuations from simulated Solar Probe Plus measurements: Interpretation and predictions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez, J. C.; Chandran, B. D. G.

2016-12-01

As Solar Probe Plus (SPP) explores the near-Sun environment, our ability to obtain meaningful interpretation of in-situ measurements faces two significant challenges. The first challenge is that the Taylor Hypothesis (TH), which is normally used in the interpretation of existing spacecraft data, breaks down at the low heliocentric distances that SPP mission will explore. The second challenge is our limited understanding of turbulence in this region, largely due to the theoretical and numerical difficulties in modeling this problem. In this work we present recent progress towards overcoming these challenges using high-resolution numerical simulations of Alfvenic turbulence in the inner heliosphere. We fly virtual SPP spacecraft in the simulation domain to obtain single-point measurements of the velocity and magnetic field fluctuations at several radial locations relevant to SPP. We use these virtual measurements to 1) validate a recently introduced modified TH that allows one to recover the spatial structure of the dominant (outward-propagating) Alfvenic fluctuations, of the kind SPP will encounter; and 2) to compare these virtual observations with our most recent phenomenological models of reflection-driven Alfven turbulence.

Attenuated microglial activation mediates tolerance to the neurotoxic effects of methamphetamine.

PubMed

Thomas, David M; Kuhn, Donald M

2005-02-01

Methamphetamine causes persistent damage to dopamine nerve endings of the striatum. Repeated, intermittent treatment of mice with low doses of methamphetamine leads to the development of tolerance to its neurotoxic effects. The mechanisms underlying tolerance are not understood but clearly involve more than alterations in drug bioavailability or reductions in the hyperthermia caused by methamphetamine. Microglia have been implicated recently as mediators of methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity. The purpose of the present studies was to determine if a tolerance regimen of methamphetamine would attenuate the microglial response to a neurotoxic challenge. Mice treated with a low-dose methamphetamine tolerance regimen showed minor reductions in striatal dopamine content and low levels of microglial activation. When the tolerance regimen preceded a neurotoxic challenge of methamphetamine, the depletion of dopamine normally seen was significantly attenuated. The microglial activation that occurs after a toxic methamphetamine challenge was blunted likewise. Despite the induction of tolerance against drug-induced toxicity and microglial activation, a neurotoxic challenge with methamphetamine still caused hyperthermia. These results suggest that tolerance to methamphetamine neurotoxicity is associated with attenuated microglial activation and they further dissociate its neurotoxicity from drug-induced hyperthermia.

Implementation of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses strategy: challenges and recommendations in Botswana.

PubMed

Mupara, Lucia U; Lubbe, Johanna C

2016-01-01

Under-five mortality has been a major public health challenge from time immemorial. In response to this challenge, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund developed the Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) strategy and presented it to the whole world as a key approach to reduce child morbidity and mortality. Botswana started to implement the IMCI strategy in 1998. Reductions in the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) have been documented, although the reduction is not on par with the expected Millennium Development Goal 4 predictions. A quantitative study was done to identify the problems IMCI implementers face when tending children under 5 years in the Gaborone Health District of Botswana. The study population was made up of all the IMCI-trained and registered nurses, and systematic sampling was used to randomly select study participants. Questionnaires were used to collect data. The study findings indicated challenges related to low training coverage, health systems, and the unique features of the IMCI strategy. The comprehensive implementation of the IMCI strategy has the potential to significantly influence the U5MR in Botswana.

Diagnostic challenges of tubercular lesions of breast

PubMed Central

Jairajpuri, Zeeba Shamim; Jetley, Sujata; Rana, Safia; Khetrapal, Shaan; Khan, Sabina; Hassan, Mohammad Jaseem

2018-01-01

INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis (TB) in the developing countries presents with both pulmonary and extrapulmonary manifestations. Breast TB, however, remains a rare presentation. Its importance lies in the fact that it may mimic malignancy or present as inflammatory lump/abscess. AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study is to highlight the importance of breast TB and its diagnostic challenges. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a retrospective study conducted at a tertiary care hospital, over 2 years between 2013 and 2015 during which eight cases of breast lesions were diagnosed as of tubercular origin. RESULTS: Granulomas were seen in five cases while three cases revealed only few epithelioid cells, and necrosis was seen in all cases on fine-needle aspiration cytology. Histopathological evaluation was available in six out of the eight cases, while acid–fast bacilli were positive in three cases, the characteristic granulomas were seen in all the six cases evaluated. CONCLUSION: Significance of TB breast lies in the fact that it may masquerade as breast malignancy or pyogenic abscess. India is a developing country where TB is endemic, a high index of suspicion should be expressed in evaluating breast masses, and TB should be considered in the differential diagnosis. PMID:29692584

Manned spacecraft electrical power systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, William E.; Nored, Donald L.

1987-01-01

A brief history of the development of electrical power systems from the earliest manned space flights illustrates a natural trend toward a growth of electrical power requirements and operational lifetimes with each succeeding space program. A review of the design philosophy and development experience associated with the Space Shuttle Orbiter electrical power system is presented, beginning with the state of technology at the conclusion of the Apollo Program. A discussion of prototype, verification, and qualification hardware is included, and several design improvements following the first Orbiter flight are described. The problems encountered, the scientific and engineering approaches used to meet the technological challenges, and the results obtained are stressed. Major technology barriers and their solutions are discussed, and a brief Orbiter flight experience summary of early Space Shuttle missions is included. A description of projected Space Station power requirements and candidate system concepts which could satisfy these anticipated needs is presented. Significant challenges different from Space Shuttle, innovative concepts and ideas, and station growth considerations are discussed. The Phase B Advanced Development hardware program is summarized and a status of Phase B preliminary tradeoff studies is presented.

Co-existence of Blau syndrome and NAID? Diagnostic challenges associated with presence of multiple pathogenic variants in NOD2 gene: a case report.

PubMed

Dziedzic, Magdalena; Marjańska, Agata; Bąbol-Pokora, Katarzyna; Urbańczyk, Anna; Grześk, Elżbieta; Młynarski, Wojciech; Kołtan, Sylwia

2017-07-27

Pediatric autoinflammatory diseases are rare and still poorly understood conditions resulting from defective genetic control of innate immune system, inter alia from anomalies of NOD2 gene. The product of this gene is Nod2 protein, taking part in maintenance of immune homeostasis. Clinical form of resultant autoinflammatory condition depends on NOD2 genotype; usually patients with NOD2 defects present with Blau syndrome, NOD2-associated autoinflammatory disease (NAID) or Crohn's disease. We present the case of a 7-year-old girl with co-existing symptoms of two rare diseases, Blau syndrome and NAID. Overlapping manifestations of two syndromes raised a significant diagnostic challenge, until next-generation molecular test (NGS) identified presence of three pathogenic variants of NOD2 gene: P268S, IVS8 +158 , 1007 fs, and established the ultimate diagnosis. Presence of multiple genetical abnormalities resulted in an ambiguous clinical presentation with overlapping symptoms of Blau syndrome and NAID. Final diagnosis of autoinflammatory disease opened new therapeutic possibilities, including the use of biological treatments.

Association between Plasma Antibody Response and Protection in Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss Immersion Vaccinated against Yersinia ruckeri

PubMed Central

Raida, Martin K.; Nylén, Jørgen; Holten-Andersen, Lars; Buchmann, Kurt

2011-01-01

A key hallmark of the vertebrate adaptive immune system is the generation of antigen-specific antibodies from B cells. Fish are the most primitive gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates) possessing an adaptive immune system. Vaccination of rainbow trout against enteric redmouth disease (ERM) by immersion in Yersinia ruckeri bacterin confers a high degree of protection to the fish. The immune mechanisms responsible for protection may comprise both cellular and humoral elements but the role of specific immunoglobulins in this system has been questioned and not previously described. The present study demonstrates significant increase in plasma antibody titers following immersion vaccination and significantly reduced mortality during Y. ruckeri challenge. Rainbow trout were immersion-vaccinated, using either a commercial ERM vaccine (AquaVac™ ERM vet) or an experimental Y. ruckeri bacterin. Half of the trout vaccinated with AquaVac™ ERM vet received an oral booster (AquaVac™ ERM Oral vet). Sub-groups of the fish from each group were subsequently exposed to 1x109 CFU Y. ruckeri/ml either eight or twenty-six weeks post vaccination (wpv). All vaccinated groups showed 0% mortality when challenged, which was highly significant compared to the non-vaccinated controls (40 and 28% mortality eight and twenty-six weeks post vaccination (wpv), respectively) (P<0.0001). Plasma samples from all groups of vaccinated fish were taken 0, 4, 8, 12, 16 and 26 wpv. and Y. ruckeri specific IgM antibody levels were measured with ELISA. A significant increase in titers was recorded in vaccinated fish, which also showed a reduced bacteremia during challenge. In vitro plasma studies showed a significantly increased bactericidal effect of fresh plasma from vaccinated fish indicating that plasma proteins may play a role in protection of vaccinated rainbow trout. PMID:21731605

[Predictive value of central venous-to-arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure difference for fluid responsiveness in septic shock patients: a prospective clinical study].

PubMed

Liu, Guangyun; Huang, Huibin; Qin, Hanyu; Du, Bin

2018-05-01

To evaluate the accuracy of central venous-to-arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure difference (Pcv-aCO 2 ) before and after rapid rehydration test (fluid challenge) in predicting the fluid responsiveness in patients with septic shock. A prospective observation was conducted. Forty septic shock patients admitted to medical intensive care unit (ICU) of Peking Union Medical College Hospital from October 2015 to June 2017 were enrolled. All of the patients received fluid challenge in the presence of invasive hemodynamic monitoring. Heart rate (HR), blood pressure, cardiac index (CI), Pcv-aCO 2 and other physiological variables were recorded at 10 minutes before and immediately after fluid challenge. Fluid responsiveness was defined as an increase in CI greater than 10% after fluid challenge, whereas fluid non-responsiveness was defined as no increase or increase in CI less than 10%. The correlation between Pcv-aCO 2 and CI was explored by Pearson correlation analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were established to evaluate the discriminatory abilities of baseline and the changes after fluid challenge in Pcv-aCO 2 and other physiological variables to define the fluid responsiveness. The patients were separated into two groups according to the initial value of Pcv-aCO 2 . The cut-off value of 6 mmHg (1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa) was chosen according to previous studies. The discriminatory abilities of baseline and the change in Pcv-aCO 2 (ΔPcv-aCO 2 ) were assessed in each group. A total of 40 patients were finally included in this study. Twenty-two patients responded to the fluid challenge (responders). Eighteen patients were fluid non-responders. There was no significant difference in baseline physiological variable between the two groups. Fluid challenge could increase CI and blood pressure significantly, decrease HR notably and had no effect on Pcv-aCO 2 in fluid responders. In non-responders, blood pressure was increased significantly and CI, HR, Pcv-aCO 2 showed no change after fluid challenge. Pcv-aCO 2 was comparable in responders and non-responders. In 40 patients, CI and Pcv-aCO 2 was inversely correlated before fluid challenge (r = -0.391, P = 0.012) and the correlation between them weakened after fluid challenge (r = -0.301, P = 0.059). There was no significant correlation between the changes in CI and Pcv-aCO 2 after fluid challenge (r = -0.164, P = 0.312). The baseline Pcv-aCO 2 and ΔPcv-aCO 2 could not discriminate between responders and non-responders, with the area under ROC curve (AUC) of 0.50 [95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 0.32-0.69] and 0.51 (95%CI = 0.33-0.70), respectively. HR and blood pressure before fluid challenge and their changes after fluid challenge showed very poor discriminative performances. Before fluid challenge, 16 patients had a Pcv-aCO 2 > 6 mmHg. Their mean CI was significantly lower and Pcv-aCO 2 was significantly higher than that in 24 patients whose Pcv-aCO 2 ≤ 6 mmHg [n = 24; CI (mL×s -1 ×m -2 ): 48.3±11.7 vs. 65.0±18.3, P < 0.01; Pcv-aCO 2 (mmHg): 8.4±1.9 vs. 2.9±2.8, P < 0.01]. Pcv-aCO 2 was decreased significantly after fluid challenge in patients with an initial Pcv-aCO 2 > 6 mmHg and their ΔPcv-aCO 2 was notably different as compared with the patients whose baseline Pcv-aCO 2 ≤ 6 mmHg (mmHg: -3.8±3.4 vs. 0.9±2.9, P < 0.01). 68.8% (11/16) patients responded to the fluid challenge in patients with an initial Pcv-aCO 2 > 6 mmHg. The AUC of the baseline Pcv-aCO 2 and ΔPcv-aCO 2 to define fluid responsiveness was 0.85 (95%CI = 0.66-1.00) and 0.84 (95%CI = 0.63-1.00), respectively, and the positive predictive value was 1 when the cut-off value was 8.0 mmHg and -4.2 mmHg, respectively. 45.8% (11/24) patients responded to the fluid challenge in patients whose baseline Pcv-aCO 2 ≤ 6 mmHg. There was no predictive value of baseline Pcv-aCO 2 and ΔPcv-aCO 2 on fluid responsiveness. Pcv-aCO 2 and its change cannot serve as a surrogate of the change in cardiac output to define the response to fluid challenge in septic shock patients whose baseline Pcv-aCO 2 ≤ 6 mmHg, while the predictive values of baseline Pcv-aCO 2 and the change in Pcv-aCO 2 are presented in patients with the initial value of Pcv-aCO 2 > 6 mmHg. Clinical Trials, NCT01941472.

Perception of care and barriers to treatment in individuals with diabetic retinopathy in India: 11-city 9-state study.

PubMed

Shukla, Rajan; Gudlavalleti, Murthy V S; Bandyopadhyay, Souvik; Anchala, Raghupathy; Gudlavalleti, Aashrai Sai Venkat; Jotheeswaran, A T; Ramachandra, Srikrishna S; Singh, Vivek; Vashist, Praveen; Allagh, Komal; Ballabh, Hira Pant; Gilbert, Clare E

2016-04-01

Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of visual impairment. Low awareness about the disease and inequitable distribution of care are major challenges in India. Assess perception of care and challenges faced in availing care among diabetics. The cross-sectional, hospital based survey was conducted in eleven cities. In each city, public and private providers of eye-care were identified. Both multispecialty and standalone facilities were included. Specially designed semi-open ended questionnaires were administered to the clients. 376 diabetics were interviewed in the eye clinics, of whom 62.8% (236) were selected from facilities in cities with a population of 7 million or more. The mean duration of known diabetes was 11.1 (±7.7) years. Half the respondents understood the meaning of adequate glycemic control and 45% reported that they had visual loss when they first presented to an eye facility. Facilities in smaller cities and those with higher educational status were found to be statistically significant predictors of self-reported good/adequate control of diabetes. The correct awareness of glycemic control was significantly high among attending privately-funded facilities and higher educational status. Self-monitoring of glycemic status at home was significantly associated with respondents from larger cities, privately-funded facilities, those who were better educated and reported longer duration of diabetes. Duration of diabetes (41%), poor glycemic control (39.4%) and age (20.7%) were identified as the leading causes of DR. The commonest challenges faced were lifestyle/behavior related. The findings have significant implications for the organization of diabetes services in India.

The challenges, advantages and future of phenome-wide association studies.

PubMed

Hebbring, Scott J

2014-02-01

Over the last decade, significant technological breakthroughs have revolutionized human genomic research in the form of genome-wide association studies (GWASs). GWASs have identified thousands of statistically significant genetic variants associated with hundreds of human conditions including many with immunological aetiologies (e.g. multiple sclerosis, ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis). Unfortunately, most GWASs fail to identify clinically significant associations. Identifying biologically significant variants by GWAS also presents a challenge. The GWAS is a phenotype-to-genotype approach. As a complementary/alternative approach to the GWAS, investigators have begun to exploit extensive electronic medical record systems to conduct a genotype-to-phenotype approach when studying human disease - specifically, the phenome-wide association study (PheWAS). Although the PheWAS approach is in its infancy, this method has already demonstrated its capacity to rediscover important genetic associations related to immunological diseases/conditions. Furthermore, PheWAS has the advantage of identifying genetic variants with pleiotropic properties. This is particularly relevant for HLA variants. For example, PheWAS results have demonstrated that the HLA-DRB1 variant associated with multiple sclerosis may also be associated with erythematous conditions including rosacea. Likewise, PheWAS has demonstrated that the HLA-B genotype is not only associated with spondylopathies, uveitis, and variability in platelet count, but may also play an important role in other conditions, such as mastoiditis. This review will discuss and compare general PheWAS methodologies, describe both the challenges and advantages of the PheWAS, and provide insight into the potential directions in which PheWAS may lead. © 2013 The Authors. Immunology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Supportability Challenges, Metrics, and Key Decisions for Future Human Spaceflight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Owens, Andrew C.; de Weck, Olivier L.; Stromgren, Chel; Cirillo, William; Goodliff, Kandyce

2017-01-01

Future crewed missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) represent a logistical challenge that is unprecedented in human space flight. Astronauts will travel farther and stay in space for longer than any previous mission, far from timely abort or resupply from Earth. Under these conditions, supportability { defined as the set of system characteristics that influence the logistics and support required to enable safe and effective operations of systems { will be a much more significant driver of space system lifecycle properties than it has been in the past. This paper presents an overview of supportability for future human space flight. The particular challenges of future missions are discussed, with the differences between past, present, and future missions highlighted. The relationship between supportability metrics and mission cost, performance, schedule, and risk is also discussed. A set of pro- posed strategies for managing supportability is presented (including reliability growth, uncertainty reduction, level of repair, commonality, redundancy, In-Space Manufacturing (ISM) (including the use of material recycling and In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) for spares and maintenance items), reduced complexity, and spares inventory decisions such as the use of predeployed or cached spares - along with a discussion of the potential impacts of each of those strategies. References are provided to various sources that describe these supportability metrics and strategies, as well as associated modeling and optimization techniques, in greater detail. Overall, supportability is an emergent system characteristic and a holistic challenge for future system development. System designers and mission planners must carefully consider and balance the supportability metrics and decisions described in this paper in order to enable safe and effective beyond-LEO human space flight.

The influence of dietary and supplemental calcium on postprandial effects of a high-fat meal on lipaemia, glycaemia, C-reactive protein and adiponectin in obese women.

PubMed

Ferreira, Thaís da S; Antunes, Vanessa P; Leal, Priscila M; Sanjuliani, Antonio F; Klein, Márcia R S T

2017-10-01

Non-fasting hypertriacylglycerolaemia is a risk factor for CVD and the amount of fat in a meal seems to be the main factor influencing postprandial lipaemia. Although several studies suggest that Ca can increase faecal fat excretion, it is not known whether Ca can decrease postprandial TAG. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of dietary Ca (DC) and supplemental Ca (SC) on lipaemia, glucose metabolism, C-reactive protein (CRP) and adiponectin during postprandial period in obese women challenged with a high-fat meal. In this cross-over controlled trial, sixteen obese women aged 20-50 years were randomly assigned to receive three test meals (approximately 2900 kJ; 48 % fat): high DC (547 mg DC), high SC (HSCM; 500 mg SC-calcium carbonate) and low Ca (42 mg DC). Blood samples were collected in the fasting period and at minutes 120 and 240 after meals to evaluate total cholesterol and fractions, TAG, glucose, insulin, high-sensitivity CRP and adiponectin. Serum levels of TAG and insulin increased significantly after all test meals. Only after HSCM total cholesterol did not present a significant increase and LDL-cholesterol had a significant decrease. Postprandial glucose, HDL-cholesterol, CRP and adiponectin did not present significant changes after the three test meals. The comparative analysis of the effects of the three test meals on serum lipids, glucose, insulin, CRP and adiponectin revealed no significant meal-by-time interaction. These results suggest that in obese women challenged with a high-fat meal DC and SC do not interfere with postprandial lipaemia, glucose metabolism, CRP and adiponectin.

The fecal presence of enterotoxin and F4 genes as an indicator of efficacy of treatment with colistin sulfate in pigs.

PubMed

Rhouma, Mohamed; Fairbrother, John Morris; Thériault, William; Beaudry, Francis; Bergeron, Nadia; Laurent-Lewandowski, Sylvette; Letellier, Ann

2017-01-05

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains producing multiple enterotoxins are important causes of post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) in pigs. The aim of the present study was to investigate the fecal presence of ETEC enterotoxin as well as F4 and F18 genes as an indicator of colistin sulfate (CS) efficacy for treatment of PWD in pigs. Forty-eight piglets were weaned at the age of 21 days, and were divided into four groups: challenged treated, challenged untreated, unchallenged treated, and unchallenged untreated. Challenge was performed using 10 9  CFU of an ETEC: F4 strain, and treatment was conducted using oral CS at the dose of 50,000 IU/kg. The fecal presence of genes encoding for STa, STb, LT, F4 and F18 was detected using PCR. The PCR amplification of ETEC virulence genes showed that nearly 100% of pigs excreted genes encoding for STa and STb toxins in the feces before the challenge. These genes, in the absence of the gene encoding F4, were considered as a marker for F4-negative ETEC. One day after ETEC: F4 oral challenge pigs in the two challenged groups excreted the genes encoding LT and F4 in the feces. These genes were considered as a marker for F4-positive ETEC. However, the gene encoding F18 was not detected in any fecal samples of the 4 groups throughout the experiment. After only 3 days of successive oral treatment with CS, a significant reduction in both the F4-positive and negative ETEC populations was observed in the challenged treated group compared to the challenged untreated group (p < 0.0001). Our study is among the first to report that under controlled farming conditions, oral CS treatment had a significant effect on both fecal F4-positive and F4-negative ETEC in pigs. However, CS clinical efficiency was correlated with non-detection of F4-positive ETEC in the feces. Furthermore the fecal presence of F4-negative ETEC was not associated with clinical symptoms of post-weaning diarrhea in pigs.

Vagal afferents contribute to exacerbated airway responses following ozone and allergen challenge

PubMed Central

Schelegle, Edward S.; Walby, William F.

2012-01-01

Brown-Norway rats (n = 113) sensitized and challenged with nDer f 1 allergen were used to examine the contribution of lung sensory nerves to ozone (O3) exacerbation of asthma. Prior to their third challenge rats inhaled 1.0 ppm O3 for 8 hours. There were three groups: 1) control; 2) vagus perineural capsaicin treatment (PCT) with or without hexamethonium; and 3) vagotomy. O3 inhalation resulted in a significant increase in lung resistance (RL) and an exaggerated response to subsequent allergen challenge. PCT abolished the O3-induced increase in RL and significantly reduced the increase in RL induced by a subsequent allergen challenge, while hexamethonium treatment reestablished bronchoconstriction induced by allergen challenge. Vagotomy resulted in a significant increase in the bronchoconstriction induced by O3 inhalation and subsequent challenge with allergen. In this model of O3 exacerbation of asthma, vagal C-fibers initiate reflex bronchoconstriction, vagal myelinated fibers initiate reflex bronchodilation, and mediators released within the airway initiate bronchoconstriction. PMID:22525484

Maxillary Chronic Osteomyelitis Caused by Domestic Violence: A Diagnostic Challenge

PubMed Central

Oliveira, Tamyris Inácio; de Carli, Marina Lara; Ribeiro Junior, Noé Vital; Pereira, Alessandro Antônio Costa; Tatakis, Dimitris N.; Hanemann, João Adolfo Costa

2014-01-01

Maxillary osteomyelitis is a rare condition defined as inflammation of the bone primarily caused by odontogenic bacteria, with trauma being the second leading cause. The present report documents a rare case of maxillary osteomyelitis in a 38-year-old female who was the victim of domestic violence approximately a year prior to presentation. Intraoral examination revealed a lesion appearing as exposed bony sequestrum, with significant destruction of gingiva and alveolar mucosa in the maxillary right quadrant, accompanied by significant pain, local edema, and continued purulence. Teeth numbers 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 were mobile, not responsive to percussion, and nonvital. Treatment included antibiotic therapy for seven days followed by total enucleation of the necrotic bone tissue and extraction of the involved teeth. Microscopic findings confirmed the clinical diagnosis of chronic suppurative osteomyelitis. Six months postoperatively, the treated area presented complete healing and there was no sign of recurrence of the lesion. PMID:25610667

[Entering the Dawn of a New Life: A Discussion of Life for Survivors of the Formosa Fun Coast Water Park Explosion].

PubMed

Wen, Hui-Min

2016-02-01

A dust explosion at the Formosa Fun Coast water park in Taiwan caused nearly 500 burn injury cases. One hundred of these cases involved burns over more than 20% of the total body surface area. This tragedy inundated hospitals across northern Taiwan with an unprecedented number of burn patients. Significant manpower and medical resources were targeted on related resuscitation and treatment efforts, with support and assistance provided by agencies and organizations nationwide. Most of the burn patients were young people in their teens and twenties, whose severe burns posed the greatest threat and challenge to their lives so far. Furthermore, their experience presented major psychosocial and physical health challenges. Patients received an array of clinical treatments such as debridement, skin grafting, dressing, and rehabilitation. Debilitating pain, skin damage, changes to body image, physical disabilities, helplessness, sadness, and anxiety have not only deeply affected the patients physically and psychologically but also created significant life stresses for their family members / companions, which requires counseling in order to facilitate emotional healing. Although burn patients gradually recover as they pass through the acute, recovery, and rehabilitation phases, they will face the challenges of lifelong rehabilitation after discharge. I hope that these young victims will take courage and be brave and strong in dealing with the difficulties and challenges of daily life and will embrace the future with hope as they enter the dawn of their new life.

Examining the Challenging Hindrances facing in the Construction Projects: South India’s Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subramanyam, K.; Haridharan, M. K.

2017-07-01

Developing countries like India require a huge infrastructure to facilitate needs of the people. Construction industry provides several opportunities to the individuals. Construction manager work is to supervise and organize the construction activities in construction projects. Now a day construction manager facing challenges. This paper aimed to study the challenges facing by the construction manager in the perception of construction professionals. 39 variables were taken from the literature review which found to be severe impact on construction managers’ performance. Construction manager, project manager and site engineers are the respondents for this survey. Using SPSS, regression analysis was done and recognized significant challenges. These challenges were classified into 5 domains. In management challenges, resource availability and allocation, risks and uncertainties existing in the project onsite, top management support and cost constraints are the most significant variables. In skills requirement of a construction manager challenges, technical skills required to learn and adapt new technology in the project, decision making and planning according to the situation in site are the most significant variables. In performance challenges, implementation of tasks according to the plan is the important variable whereas in onsite challenges, manage project risks, develop project policies and procedures are the most important.

Effect of coccidia challenge and natural betaine supplementation on performance, nutrient utilization, and intestinal lesion scores of broiler chickens fed suboptimal level of dietary methionine.

PubMed

Amerah, A M; Ravindran, V

2015-04-01

The aim of the present experiment was to examine the effect of coccidia challenge and natural betaine supplementation on performance, nutrient utilization, and intestinal lesion scores of broiler chickens fed suboptimal level of dietary methionine. The experimental design was a 2×2 factorial arrangement of treatments evaluating two levels of betaine supplementation (0 and 960 g betaine/t of feed) without or with coccidia challenge. Each treatment was fed to 8 cages of 8 male broilers (Ross 308) for 1 to 21d. On d 14, birds in the 2 challenged groups received mixed inocula of Eimeria species from a recent field isolate, containing approximately 180,000 E. acervulina, 6,000 E. maxima, and 18,000 E. tenella oocysts. At 21d, digesta from the terminal ileum was collected for the determination of dry matter, energy, nitrogen, amino acids, starch, fat, and ash digestibilities. Lesion scores in the different segments of the small intestine were also measured on d 21. Performance and nutrient digestibility data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA. Lesion score data were analyzed using Pearson chi-square test to identify significant differences between treatments. Orthogonal polynomial contrasts were used to assess the significance of linear or quadratic models to describe the response in the dependent variable to total lesion scores. Coccidia challenge reduced (P<0.0001) the weight gain and feed intake, and increased (P<0.0001) the feed conversion ratio. Betaine supplementation had no effect (P>0.05) on the weight gain or feed intake, but lowered (P<0.05) the feed conversion ratio. No interaction (P>0.05) between coccidia challenge and betaine supplementation was observed for performance parameters. Betaine supplementation increased (P<0.05) the digestibility of dry matter, nitrogen, energy, fat, and amino acids only in birds challenged with coccidia as indicated by the significant interaction (P<0.0001) between betaine supplementation and coccidia challenge. The main effect of coccidia challenge reduced (P<0.05) starch digestibility. Betaine supplementation improved (P<0.05) starch digestibility regardless of the coccidia challenge. For each unit increase in the total lesion score, there was a linear (P<0.001) decrease in digestibility of mean amino acids, starch, and fat by 3.8, 3.4 and 16%, respectively. Increasing total lesion scores resulted in a quadratic (P<0.05) decrease in dry matter digestibility and ileal digestible energy. No lesions were found in the intestine or ceca of the unchallenged treatments. In the challenged treatments, betaine supplementation reduced (P<0.01) the lesion scores at the duodenum, lower jejunum, and total lesion scores compared to the treatment without supplements. In conclusion, coccidia challenge lowered the digestibility of energy and nutrients and increased the feed conversion ratio of broilers. However, betaine supplementation reduced the impact of coccidia challenge and positively affected nutrient digestibility and the feed conversion ratio. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Poultry Science Association.

Investigating low adaptive behaviour and presence of the triad of impairments characteristic of autistic spectrum disorder as indicators of risk for challenging behaviour among adults with intellectual disabilities.

PubMed

Felce, D; Kerr, M

2013-02-01

Identification of possible personal indicators of risk for challenging behaviour has generally been through association in cross-sectional prevalence studies, but few analyses have controlled for intercorrelation between potential risk factors. The aim was to investigate the extent to which gender, age, presence of the triad of impairments characteristic of autism and level of adaptive behaviour were independently associated with level of challenging behaviour among adults with intellectual disabilities. Five datasets were merged to produce information on challenging behaviour, adaptive behaviour, presence of the triad of impairments, gender and age of 818 adults. Variables were entered into a multivariate linear regression, which also tested the interaction between the presence of the triad of impairments and level of adaptive behaviour. Presence of the triad of impairments, level of adaptive behaviour, their interaction, and age, but not gender, significantly and independently contributed to the prediction of challenging behaviour. Presence/absence of the triad of impairments moderated the effect of adaptive behaviour on challenging behaviour. The inverse relationship found in the absence of the triad of impairments was virtually removed when present. This study has shown that it is necessary to control for intercorrelation between potential risk factors for challenging behaviour and to explore how interaction between them might moderate associations. © 2012 The Author. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

No detectable effects of acute tryptophan depletion on short-term immune system cytokine levels in healthy adults.

PubMed

Hildebrandt, Caroline S; Helmbold, Katrin; Linden, Maike; Langen, Karl-Josef; Filss, C P; Runions, Kevin C; Stewart, Richard M; Rao, Pradeep; Moore, Julie K; Mahfouda, Simone; Morandini, Hugo A E; Wong, Janice W Y; Rink, Lothar; Zepf, Florian D

2018-04-26

Recent research suggested an influence of diminished central nervous serotonin (5-HT) synthesis on the leptin axis via immunological mechanisms in healthy adult females. However, studies assessing immunological parameters in combination with dietary challenge techniques that impact brain 5-HT synthesis in humans are lacking.  Methods: In the present trial, a pilot analysis was conducted on data obtained in healthy adult humans receiving either different dietary acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) challenge or tryptophan (TRP)-balanced control conditions (BAL) to study the effects of reduced central nervous 5-HT synthesis on serum tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-6 concentrations. The data of N = 35 healthy adults were analysed who were randomly subjected to one of the following two dietary conditions in a double-blind between-subject approach: (1) The Moja-De ATD challenge (ATD), or (2) TRP-balanced control condition for ATD Moja-De (BAL). Serum concentrations for the assessment of relevant parameters (TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6) and relevant TRP-related characteristics after the respective challenge procedures were assessed at baseline (T0) and in hourly intervals after administration over a period of 6 h (T1-T6).  Results: The ATD condition did not result in significant changes to cytokine concentrations for the entire study sample, or in male and female subgroups. Depletion of CNS 5-HT via dietary TRP depletion appears to have no statistically significant short-term impact on cytokine concentrations in healthy adults.  Conclusions: Future research on immunological stressors in combination with challenge techniques will be of value in order to further disentangle the complex interplay between brain 5-HT synthesis and immunological pathways.

Evaluating the efficacy of epinastine ophthalmic solution using a conjunctivitis allergen challenge model in patients with birch pollen allergic conjunctivitis.

PubMed

Tagawa, Yoshiaki; Namba, Kenichi; Nakazono, Yumi; Iwata, Daiju; Ishida, Susumu

2017-04-01

The efficacy of epinastine 0.05% ophthalmic solution for pollen allergic conjunctivitis has already been shown in a conjunctival allergen challenge (CAC) test using cedar pollen as a challenge. The present study investigated the efficacy of this solution against birch pollen conjunctivitis in a CAC test. Ten adult subjects (eight males and two females) with asymptomatic birch pollen conjunctivitis were enrolled in this study. The average age of the subjects was 41.1 years. This study was conducted during a period without birch pollen dispersion. In each subject, the epinastine 0.05% ophthalmic solution was instilled in one eye, and an artificial tear fluid was instilled in the fellow eye in a double-blind manner. Five minutes or 4 h after the drug instillation, both eyes were challenged with an optimal concentration of birch pollen, and ocular itching and conjunctival hyperemia were then graded. Tears were collected before the drug instillation and 20 min after the pollen challenge, and the histamine level was measured. The ocular itching scores and palpebral conjunctival hyperemia scores of the epinastine-treated eyes were significantly lower than those of the contralateral control eyes when the eyes were pretreated with the drug 4 h before the CAC. There was a significant correlation between the tear histamine level and mean ocular itching score of three time points (3, 5 and 10 min) following the CAC in the control eyes but not the epinastine-treated eyes. Epinastine is effective in suppressing ocular itching and conjunctival hyperemia in birch pollen conjunctivitis. Copyright © 2017 Japanese Society of Allergology. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The challenge of developmentally appropriate care: predictive genetic testing in young people for familial adenomatous polyposis.

PubMed

Duncan, Rony E; Gillam, Lynn; Savulescu, Julian; Williamson, Robert; Rogers, John G; Delatycki, Martin B

2010-03-01

Predictive genetic tests for familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) are routinely offered to young people during early adolescence. While this is not controversial, due to the medical benefit conferred by the test, it is nonetheless challenging as a consequence of the stage of life of the young people, and the simultaneous involvement of multiple family members. Despite these challenges, it is possible to ensure that the test is offered in such a way that it actively acknowledges and facilitates young people's developing autonomy and psychosocial well-being. In this paper we present findings from ten in-depth interviews with young people who have undergone predictive genetic testing for FAP (four male, six female; five gene-positive, five gene-negative; aged 10-17 years at the time of their predictive test; aged 12-25 years at the time of their research interview). We present five themes that emerged from the interviews which highlight key ethical challenges associated with such testing. These are: (1) the significance of the test; (2) young people's lack of involvement in the decision to be tested; (3) young people's limited understanding; (4) provision of the blood test at the first visit; and (5) group testing of family members. We draw on these themes to make eight recommendations for future practice. Together, these recommendations highlight the importance of providing developmentally appropriate care to young people undergoing predictive genetic testing for FAP.

The effects of sodium hypochlorite and chlorhexidine irrigants on the antibacterial activities of alkaline media against Enterococcus faecalis.

PubMed

Ma, Jinglei; Tong, Zhongchun; Ling, Junqi; Liu, Hongyan; Wei, Xi

2015-07-01

Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), chlorhexidine (CHX) and calcium hydroxide are common intracanal medicaments. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of NaOCl and CHX on the antibacterial activities of alkaline media against Enterococcus faecalis. The survival rates of planktonic and biofilm E. faecalis were evaluated by plate counts after 1 min of pretreatment with NaOCl and CHX, and time-kill assays were then used to assess subsequent pH alkaline challenges. Dead and living cells in the E. faecalis biofilm were assessed with SYTO 9 and PI staining in combination with confocal laser scanning microscopy following exposure to NaOCl or CHX and subsequent alkaline challenges by common root canal irrigation and dressing procedures. One minute of pretreatment with 2% CHX, 0.2% CHX, or 5.25% NaOCl in combination with a subsequent alkaline challenge significantly decreased planktonic E. faecalis survival rates, but pretreatment with 1% NaOCl did not. The E. faecalis biofilm survival rates were reduced in the subsequent alkaline challenge following CHX pretreatment but gradually increased following NaOCl pretreatment. Similarly, CLSM analysis revealed that the greatest proportions of dead E. faecalis cells in the biofilms were presented in the CHX and alkaline treatment group. CHX might be more effective in improving the antibacterial activities of alkaline root canal medicaments against E. faecalis than NaOCl during routine root canal therapy procedures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using Israel's National Cancer Registry Database to Track Progress in the War against Cancer: A Challenge for Health Services.

PubMed

Robinson, Eliezer; Silverman, Barbara G; Keinan-Boker, Lital

2017-04-01

The number of cancer survivors has been increasing worldwide and is now approximately 32.6 million and growing. Cancer survivors present a challenge to health care providers because of their higher susceptibility to long-term health outcomes related to their primary disease and treatment. To report on the number of cancer survivors and incident cancer cases in the period 1960-2009 in Israel, in order to provide data on the scope of the challenge Israel's health care funds face. The Israel National Cancer Registry (INCR) database was used to identify new cancer cases diagnosed during the period 1960-2009. Lifetable analysis was used to assess changes in cumulative survival and population prevalence of cancer survivors throughout the 50 year study period. Almost 600,000 invasive cancer cases were diagnosed during the period 1960-2009 (overall absolute survival rate 54%). Within this time period, the number of new patients diagnosed with cancer increased fivefold and that of cancer survivors ninefold. The absolute survival of cancer patients and the prevalence of cancer survivors in the general population significantly increased with time from 34% and 0.5%, respectively (1960-1969), to 62% and 1.9%, respectively (2000-2009). Cumulative absolute survival for 5, 10 and 15 years following diagnosis increased with time as well. The INCR database is useful to assess progress in the war against cancer. The growing numbers of cancer survivors in Israel present a challenge to the national health and social services system.

Obturator hernia: A diagnostic challenge.

PubMed

Kulkarni, Sanjeev R; Punamiya, Aditya R; Naniwadekar, Ramchandra G; Janugade, Hemant B; Chotai, Tejas D; Vimal Singh, T; Natchair, Arafath

2013-01-01

Obturator hernia is an extremely rare type of hernia with relatively high mortality and morbidity. Its early diagnosis is challenging since the signs and symptoms are non specific. Here in we present a case of 70 years old women who presented with complaints of intermittent colicky abdominal pain and vomiting. Plain radiograph of abdomen showed acute dilatation of stomach. Ultrasonography showed small bowel obstruction at the mid ileal level with evidence of coiled loops of ileum in pelvis. On exploration, Right Obstructed Obturator hernia was found. The obstructed Intestine was reduced and resected and the obturator foramen was closed with simple sutures. Postoperative period was uneventful. Obturator hernia is a rare pelvic hernia and poses a diagnostic challenge. Obturator hernia occurs when there is protrusion of intra-abdominal contents through the obturator foramen in the pelvis. The signs and symptoms are non specific and generally the diagnosis is made during exploration for the intestinal obstruction, one of the four cardinal features. Others are pain on the medial aspect of thigh called as Howship Rombergs sign, repeated attacks of Intestinal Obstruction and palpable mass on the medial aspect of thigh. Obturator hernia is a rare but significant cause of intestinal obstruction especially in emaciated elderly woman and a diagnostic challenge for the Doctors. CT scan is valuable to establish preoperative diagnosis. Surgery either open or laproscopic, is the only treatment. The need for the awareness is stressed and CT scan can be helpful. Copyright © 2013 Surgical Associates Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Challenges and Opportunities in Disease Forecasting in Outbreak Settings: A Case Study of Measles in Lola Prefecture, Guinea

PubMed Central

Graham, Matthew; Suk, Jonathan E.; Takahashi, Saki; Metcalf, C. Jessica; Jimenez, A. Paez; Prikazsky, Vladimir; Ferrari, Matthew J.; Lessler, Justin

2018-01-01

Abstract. We report on and evaluate the process and findings of a real-time modeling exercise in response to an outbreak of measles in Lola prefecture, Guinea, in early 2015 in the wake of the Ebola crisis. Multiple statistical methods for the estimation of the size of the susceptible (i.e., unvaccinated) population were applied to weekly reported measles case data on seven subprefectures throughout Lola. Stochastic compartmental models were used to project future measles incidence in each subprefecture in both an initial and a follow-up iteration of forecasting. Measles susceptibility among 1- to 5-year-olds was estimated to be between 24% and 43% at the beginning of the outbreak. Based on this high baseline susceptibility, initial projections forecasted a large outbreak occurring over approximately 10 weeks and infecting 40 children per 1,000. Subsequent forecasts based on updated data mitigated this initial projection, but still predicted a significant outbreak. A catch-up vaccination campaign took place at the same time as this second forecast and measles cases quickly receded. Of note, case reports used to fit models changed significantly between forecast rounds. Model-based projections of both current population risk and future incidence can help in setting priorities and planning during an outbreak response. A swiftly changing situation on the ground, coupled with data uncertainties and the need to adjust standard analytical approaches to deal with sparse data, presents significant challenges. Appropriate presentation of results as planning scenarios, as well as presentations of uncertainty and two-way communication, is essential to the effective use of modeling studies in outbreak response. PMID:29532773

Challenges and Opportunities in Disease Forecasting in Outbreak Settings: A Case Study of Measles in Lola Prefecture, Guinea.

PubMed

Graham, Matthew; Suk, Jonathan E; Takahashi, Saki; Metcalf, C Jessica; Jimenez, A Paez; Prikazsky, Vladimir; Ferrari, Matthew J; Lessler, Justin

2018-05-01

We report on and evaluate the process and findings of a real-time modeling exercise in response to an outbreak of measles in Lola prefecture, Guinea, in early 2015 in the wake of the Ebola crisis. Multiple statistical methods for the estimation of the size of the susceptible (i.e., unvaccinated) population were applied to weekly reported measles case data on seven subprefectures throughout Lola. Stochastic compartmental models were used to project future measles incidence in each subprefecture in both an initial and a follow-up iteration of forecasting. Measles susceptibility among 1- to 5-year-olds was estimated to be between 24% and 43% at the beginning of the outbreak. Based on this high baseline susceptibility, initial projections forecasted a large outbreak occurring over approximately 10 weeks and infecting 40 children per 1,000. Subsequent forecasts based on updated data mitigated this initial projection, but still predicted a significant outbreak. A catch-up vaccination campaign took place at the same time as this second forecast and measles cases quickly receded. Of note, case reports used to fit models changed significantly between forecast rounds. Model-based projections of both current population risk and future incidence can help in setting priorities and planning during an outbreak response. A swiftly changing situation on the ground, coupled with data uncertainties and the need to adjust standard analytical approaches to deal with sparse data, presents significant challenges. Appropriate presentation of results as planning scenarios, as well as presentations of uncertainty and two-way communication, is essential to the effective use of modeling studies in outbreak response.

Catchment scale water resource constraints on UK policies for low-carbon energy system transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konadu, D. D.; Fenner, R. A.

2017-12-01

Long-term low-carbon energy transition policy of the UK presents national scale propositions of different low-carbon energy system options that lead to meeting GHG emissions reduction target of 80% on 1990 levels by 2050. Whilst national-scale assessments suggests that water availability may not be a significant constrain on future thermal power generation systems in this pursuit, these analysis fail to capture the appropriate spatial scale where water resource decisions are made, i.e. at the catchment scale. Water is a local resource, which also has significant spatio-temporal regional and national variability, thus any policy-relevant water-energy nexus analysis must be reflective of these characteristics. This presents a critical challenge for policy relevant water-energy nexus analysis. This study seeks to overcome the above challenge by using a linear spatial-downscaling model to allocate nationally projected water-intensive energy system infrastructure/technologies to the catchment level, and estimating the water requirements for the deployment of these technologies. The model is applied to the UK Committee on Climate Change Carbon Budgets to 2030 as a case study. The paper concludes that whilst national-scale analyses show minimal long-term water related impacts, catchment level appraisal of water resource requirements reveal significant constraints in some locations. The approach and results presented in this study thus, highlights the importance of bringing together scientific understanding, data and analysis tools to provide better insights for water-energy nexus decisions at the appropriate spatial scale. This is particularly important for water stressed regions where the water-energy nexus must be analysed at appropriate spatial resolution to capture the full water resource impact of national energy policy.

High-speed civil transport - Advanced flight deck challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swink, Jay R.; Goins, Richard T.

1992-01-01

This paper presents the results of a nine month study of the HSCT flight deck challenges and assessment of its benefits. Operational requirements are discussed and the most significant findings for specified advanced concepts are highlighted. These concepts are a no nose-droop configuration, a far forward cockpit location and advanced crew monitoring and control of complex systems. Results indicate that the no nose-droop configuration is critically dependent on the design and development of a safe, reliable and certifiable synthetic vision system (SVS). This configuration would cause significant weight, performance and cost penalties. A far forward cockpit configuration with a tandem seating arrangement allows either an increase in additional payload or potential downsizing of the vehicle leading to increased performance efficiency and reductions in emissions. The technologies enabling such capabilities, which provide for Category III all-weather opreations on every flight represent a benefit multiplier in a 20005 ATM network in terms of enhanced economic viability and environmental acceptability.

An overview of poultry industry in Pakistan

PubMed Central

HUSSAIN, J.; RABBANI, I.; ASLAM, S.; AHMAD, H.A.

2015-01-01

The poultry sector is an important and vibrant segment of agriculture in Pakistan with a significant contribution to the national GDP (1.3%). Commercial poultry production in Pakistan started in the 1960’s and has been providing a significant portion of daily proteins to the Pakistani population ever since. During its evolution the industry enjoyed promotional policies of the Government, but has faced several challenges such as disease outbreaks and retail price fluctuations. Despite its important role in the country’s economy, not a single scientific study is available on its evolutionary history. The data available in this regard are scattered and lack reliability. This review is an effort to encompass the history of the overall growth of the poultry industry in Pakistan, its present status (2012 statistics) and future directions and challenges. This article may serve as the basic source of information on Pakistan’s poultry industry achievements. It will also guide poultry experts and policy makers for developing strategic planning for further growth of the industry. PMID:26696690

Outcome for the extremely premature neonate: how far do we push the edge?

PubMed

Boat, Anne C; Sadhasivam, Senthilkumar; Loepke, Andreas W; Kurth, Charles D

2011-07-01

Significant advances in perinatal and neonatal medicine over the last 20 years and the recent emergence of fetal surgery has resulted in anesthesia providers caring for a growing number of infants born at the margin of viability. Anesthetic management in this patient population has to take into consideration the immature function of many vital organ systems as well as the effects of the underlying disease processes, which can frequently lead to severe physiological derangements. Accordingly, premature infants presenting for major surgeries early in life can represent a significant anesthetic challenge. However, even with advanced anesthetic and surgical management and optimal intensive care, extremely premature infants face substantial postoperative morbidity and mortality, as well as prolonged hospital courses. In this article, we will discuss the following questions: How far have we come in improving outcomes of extreme prematurity? And what will the future medical and societal challenges be, as we continue to redefine the limits of viability? © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Management of Pediatric Migraine: Current Therapies.

PubMed

Khrizman, Marina; Pakalnis, Ann

2018-02-01

Migraine is one of the most common neurologic conditions in pediatrics. It can be a significant stressor, causing absences from school and interruption of parents' work and family schedules. The mainstay of treatment remains educating patients about healthy lifestyle practices and the influences of sleep, stressors, and hydration on triggering migraine attacks. Psychological therapies such as biofeedback or cognitive-behavioral therapy may be beneficial in some patients, especially those with prominent psychological comorbidities. New advances in the pathophysiology of migraine and additional pediatric approval of abortive therapy with triptans have led to significant advances in the management of migraine in children. Some challenges to preventive therapy were recently noted with the negative results obtained in the Childhood and Adolescent Migraine Prevention Study, which compared prescription drugs to placebo. Inherent differences between adult and pediatric headaches, with shorter duration of pediatric migraine and prominent placebo effect, present recurring challenges for clinicians. [Pediatr Ann. 2018;47(2):e55-e60.]. Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.

An overview of poultry industry in Pakistan.

PubMed

Hussain, J; Rabbani, I; Aslam, S; Ahmad, H A

2015-12-01

The poultry sector is an important and vibrant segment of agriculture in Pakistan with a significant contribution to the national GDP (1.3%). Commercial poultry production in Pakistan started in the 1960's and has been providing a significant portion of daily proteins to the Pakistani population ever since. During its evolution the industry enjoyed promotional policies of the Government, but has faced several challenges such as disease outbreaks and retail price fluctuations. Despite its important role in the country's economy, not a single scientific study is available on its evolutionary history. The data available in this regard are scattered and lack reliability. This review is an effort to encompass the history of the overall growth of the poultry industry in Pakistan, its present status (2012 statistics) and future directions and challenges. This article may serve as the basic source of information on Pakistan's poultry industry achievements. It will also guide poultry experts and policy makers for developing strategic planning for further growth of the industry.

Reduction and temporary stabilization of Tile C pelvic ring injuries using a posteriorly based external fixation system.

PubMed

Martin, Murphy P; Rojas, David; Mauffrey, Cyril

2018-07-01

Tile C pelvic ring injuries are challenging to manage even in the most experienced hands. The majority of such injuries can be managed using percutaneous reduction techniques, and the posterior ring can be stabilized using percutaneous transiliac-transsacral screw fixation. However, a subgroup of patients present with inadequate bony corridors, significant sacral zone 2 comminution or significant lateral/vertical displacement of the hemipelvis through a complete sacral fracture. Percutaneous strategies in such circumstances can be dangerous. Those patients may benefit from prone positioning and open reduction of the sacral fracture with fixation through tension band plating or lumbo-pelvic fixation. Soft tissue handling is critical, and direct reduction techniques around the sacrum can be difficult due to the complex anatomy and the fragile nature of the sacrum making clamp placement and tightening a challenge. In this paper, we propose a mini-invasive technique of indirect reduction and temporary stabilization, which is soft tissue friendly and permits maintenance of reduction during definitive fixation surgical.

Application of a Fuzzy Verification Technique for Assessment of the Weather Running Estimate-Nowcast (WRE-N) Model

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-01

comes when considering numerous scores and statistics during a preliminary evaluation of the applicability of the fuzzy- verification minimum coverage...The selection of thresholds with which to generate categorical-verification scores and statistics from the application of both traditional and...of statistically significant numbers of cases; the latter presents a challenge of limited application for assessment of the forecast models’ ability

Real Time Quality Control Methods for Cued EMI Data Collection

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-01-12

of magnetic geology creating false source locations;  out of the remaining 78 recollects that were due to legitimate sources (i.e., a metal...White River Technologies January 2016 The magnetic geology at the site presented the most significant challenge to the technology and...object, magnetic geology , etc.); however, many of the reacquires due to common errors such as inaccurate target picking could be replaced by in-field

The Montessori Method's Use of Seguin's Three-Period Lesson and Its Impact on the Book Choices and Word Learning of Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Rebecca L. W.

2011-01-01

It has been well established in the literature that the acquisition of literacy presents a significant challenge for most students who are deaf or hard of hearing (Allen, 1986; Babbini & Quigley, 1970; Holt, 1993; Lane & Baker, 1974; Marschark, Lang, & Albertini, 2002; Moog & Geers, 1985; Traxler, 2000; Trybus & Karchmer, 1977). Vocabulary, which…

Case Series: Chikungunya and Dengue at a Forward Operating Location

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-05-01

Journal Article 3. DATES COVERED (From – To) November 2014 – January 2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Case Series: Chikungunya and Dengue at a Forward...series and discusses the significance of this disease in the Americas and diagnostic challenges when other arboviruses such as dengue are present. 15...SUBJECT TERMS Chikungunya, dengue , mosquitoes 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT SAR 18. NUMBER OF PAGES 3

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Title I: Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged. 107th Congress, 1st Session.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, Washington, DC.

The purpose of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic assessments. After presenting a statement of…

[Lung cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. An interdisciplinary challenge].

PubMed

Rubbert-Roth, A; Zander, T; Kneitz, C; Baerwald, C; Wirtz, H; Witt, C

2016-02-01

Lung cancer is a frequently occurring disease, particularly in the elderly; however, within the last 10 years the pharmaceutical treatment of lung cancer has been significantly improved. Due to a better understanding of the pathophysiological events and the identification of molecular subgroups of lung tumors, new therapeutic drugs have been developed that significantly prolong survival of patients with the respective molecular pattern. In particular immunotherapeutic agents, such as programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and programmed death 1 (PD1) antibodies have shown promising clinical results in a subgroup of lung cancer patients. Due to the high incidence of both lung cancer and rheumatic diseases they often occur together, which necessitates an interdisciplinary management. The success of improved therapy of lung cancer has led to a greater focus on the treatment of comorbidities; however, interventions into the immune system by immune checkpoint inhibitors can lead to new challenges when an autoimmune disease is simultaneously present. The possibility of an effective screening for lung cancer in the future also presents the prospect of an improvement in mortality, which raises the question of the optimal monitoring of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) under immunosuppressive therapy. The aim of this review is to discuss the interaction between lung cancer and RA with respect to the currently available data.

The Viking viewer for connectomics: scalable multi-user annotation and summarization of large volume data sets.

PubMed

Anderson, J R; Mohammed, S; Grimm, B; Jones, B W; Koshevoy, P; Tasdizen, T; Whitaker, R; Marc, R E

2011-01-01

Modern microscope automation permits the collection of vast amounts of continuous anatomical imagery in both two and three dimensions. These large data sets present significant challenges for data storage, access, viewing, annotation and analysis. The cost and overhead of collecting and storing the data can be extremely high. Large data sets quickly exceed an individual's capability for timely analysis and present challenges in efficiently applying transforms, if needed. Finally annotated anatomical data sets can represent a significant investment of resources and should be easily accessible to the scientific community. The Viking application was our solution created to view and annotate a 16.5 TB ultrastructural retinal connectome volume and we demonstrate its utility in reconstructing neural networks for a distinctive retinal amacrine cell class. Viking has several key features. (1) It works over the internet using HTTP and supports many concurrent users limited only by hardware. (2) It supports a multi-user, collaborative annotation strategy. (3) It cleanly demarcates viewing and analysis from data collection and hosting. (4) It is capable of applying transformations in real-time. (5) It has an easily extensible user interface, allowing addition of specialized modules without rewriting the viewer. © 2010 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2010 The Royal Microscopical Society.

Recent progress toward the identification of anti-viral immune mechanisms in decapod crustaceans.

PubMed

Hauton, Chris

2017-07-01

The sustainable intensification of crustacean aquaculture, which is dominated by the farming of penaeid shrimp species, continues to be beset by viral disease outbreaks. Despite this, reports exist of differential susceptibility to viral infection between different shrimp species and populations, and between shrimp and other decapod crustaceans. These reports have, in part, provided the motivation to identify key mechanisms of antiviral resistance, or refractivity, in commercially-important species. Within the last decade these studies have created significant advances in our understanding of host virus interactions in decapod models. However, at the same time, the complexity of host virus interactions has presented significant challenges for interpretation of anti-viral immune responses. In this short review, recent progress in our understanding of the complexity of host virus interactions are considered, and challenges to the unequivocal identification of anti-viral immunity are highlighted. Special consideration is given to the advances in understanding being created by the use of RNA interference approaches. Based on the 'state of the art', it is concluded that the identification of effective intervention strategies for application at farm scale currently presents an unrealistic target for the aquaculture industry. Future technical developments necessary to support continued progress are also considered. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.