Bubbles in extended inflation and multi-production of universes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakai, Nobuyuki; Maeda, Kei-ichi

Developing the thin-wall method of Israel, we present a formalism to investigate bubble dynamics in generalized Einstein theories. We derive the equations of motion for a bubble, finding that the space-time inside a bubble is always inhomogeneous. Applying this formalism to extended inflation, we find the following two results: (1) Any true vacuum bubble expands, contrary to the results of Goldwirth-Zaglauer, who claim that bubbles created initially later collapse. We show that their initial conditions for collapsing bubbles are physically inconsistent. (2) Concerning the global space-time structure of the Universe in extended inflation, we show that worm-holes are produced as in old inflation, resulting in the multi-production of universes.

Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Resource-Constrained Settings for Hypoglycaemia Detection: Looking at the Problem from the Other Side of the Coin.

PubMed

Bila, Rubao; Varo, Rosauro; Madrid, Lola; Sitoe, Antonio; Bassat, Quique

2018-04-25

The appearance, over a decade ago, of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices has triggered a patient-centred revolution in the control and management of diabetes mellitus and other metabolic conditions, improving the patient’s glycaemic control and quality of life. Such devices, the use of which remains typically restricted to high-income countries on account of their elevated costs, at present show very limited implantation in resource-constrained settings, where many other urgent health priorities beyond diabetes prevention and management still need to be resolved. In this commentary, we argue that such devices could have an additional utility in low-income settings, whereby they could be selectively used among severely ill children admitted to hospital for closer monitoring of paediatric hypoglycaemia, a life-threatening condition often complicating severe cases of malaria, malnutrition, and other common paediatric conditions.

Hybrid algorithms for fuzzy reverse supply chain network design.

PubMed

Che, Z H; Chiang, Tzu-An; Kuo, Y C; Cui, Zhihua

2014-01-01

In consideration of capacity constraints, fuzzy defect ratio, and fuzzy transport loss ratio, this paper attempted to establish an optimized decision model for production planning and distribution of a multiphase, multiproduct reverse supply chain, which addresses defects returned to original manufacturers, and in addition, develops hybrid algorithms such as Particle Swarm Optimization-Genetic Algorithm (PSO-GA), Genetic Algorithm-Simulated Annealing (GA-SA), and Particle Swarm Optimization-Simulated Annealing (PSO-SA) for solving the optimized model. During a case study of a multi-phase, multi-product reverse supply chain network, this paper explained the suitability of the optimized decision model and the applicability of the algorithms. Finally, the hybrid algorithms showed excellent solving capability when compared with original GA and PSO methods.

Hybrid Algorithms for Fuzzy Reverse Supply Chain Network Design

PubMed Central

Che, Z. H.; Chiang, Tzu-An; Kuo, Y. C.

2014-01-01

In consideration of capacity constraints, fuzzy defect ratio, and fuzzy transport loss ratio, this paper attempted to establish an optimized decision model for production planning and distribution of a multiphase, multiproduct reverse supply chain, which addresses defects returned to original manufacturers, and in addition, develops hybrid algorithms such as Particle Swarm Optimization-Genetic Algorithm (PSO-GA), Genetic Algorithm-Simulated Annealing (GA-SA), and Particle Swarm Optimization-Simulated Annealing (PSO-SA) for solving the optimized model. During a case study of a multi-phase, multi-product reverse supply chain network, this paper explained the suitability of the optimized decision model and the applicability of the algorithms. Finally, the hybrid algorithms showed excellent solving capability when compared with original GA and PSO methods. PMID:24892057

Feasibility of commercial space manufacturing, production of pharmaceuticals. Volume 2: Technical analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

A technical analysis on the feasibility of commercial manufacturing of pharmaceuticals in space is presented. The method of obtaining pharmaceutical company involvement, laboratory results of the separation of serum proteins by the continuous flow electrophoresis process, the selection and study of candidate products, and their production requirements is described. The candidate products are antihemophilic factor, beta cells, erythropoietin, epidermal growth factor, alpha-1-antitrypsin and interferon. Production mass balances for antihemophelic factor, beta cells, and erythropoietin were compared for space versus ground operation. A conceptual description of a multiproduct processing system for space operation is discussed. Production requirements for epidermal growth factor of alpha-1-antitrypsin and interferon are presented.

Employee choice of consumer-driven health insurance in a multiplan, multiproduct setting.

PubMed

Parente, Stephen T; Feldman, Roger; Christianson, Jon B

2004-08-01

To determine who chooses a Consumer-Driven Health Plan (CDHP) in a multiplan, multiproduct setting, and, specifically, whether the CDHP attracts the sicker employees in a company's risk pool. We estimated a health plan choice equation for employees of the University of Minnesota, who had a choice in 2002 of a CDHP and three other health plans--a traditional health maintenance organization (HMO), a preferred provider organization (PPO), and a tiered network product based on care systems. Data from an employee survey were matched to information from the university's payroll system. Chronic illness of the employee or family members had no effect on choice of the CDHP, but such employees tended to choose the PPO. The employee's age was not related to CDHP choice. Higher-income employees chose the CDHP, as well as those who preferred health plans with a national provider panel that includes their physician in the panel. Employees tended to choose plans with lower out-of-pocket premiums, and surprisingly, employees with a chronic health condition themselves or in their family were more price-sensitive. This study provides the first evidence on who chooses a CDHP in a multiplan, multiproduct setting. The CDHP was not chosen disproportionately by the young and healthy, but it did attract the wealthy and those who found the availability of providers more appealing. Low out-of-pocket premiums are important features of health plans and in this setting, low premiums appeal to those who are less healthy.

Intellectual Transformation and Budgetary Savings through Academic Reorganization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Capaldi, Elizabeth D.

2009-01-01

When times are good, there is little urgency to evaluate fundamental assumptions, as investments can be made in new projects and structures while the old continue. Constrained resources do not allow this luxury. The current economic crisis and associated budget woes in universities requires individuals to be open to more radical and rapid change…

Using self-assessments to enhance business continuity programmes.

PubMed

Trousdale, Lisa

2015-01-01

Self-assessments have limitations and are no substitute for independent audits of a business continuity programme. Nevertheless, they can be an economical way to identify gaps, enhance the programme and create awareness. Self- assessments can also help prepare the programme and team members for an independent audit. In a resource-constrained environment, self-assessments can provide an opportunity to obtain measurable outputs about current state that can be tracked over time to capture improvement and maturity or identify deficiencies. Self-assessments can have a valuable place in any business continuity programme.

Employee Choice of Consumer-Driven Health Insurance in a Multiplan, Multiproduct Setting

PubMed Central

Parente, Stephen T; Feldman, Roger; Christianson, Jon B

2004-01-01

Objective To determine who chooses a Consumer-Driven Health Plan (CDHP) in a multiplan, multiproduct setting, and, specifically, whether the CDHP attracts the sicker employees in a company's risk pool. Study Design We estimated a health plan choice equation for employees of the University of Minnesota, who had a choice in 2002 of a CDHP and three other health plans—a traditional health maintenance organization (HMO), a preferred provider organization (PPO), and a tiered network product based on care systems. Data from an employee survey were matched to information from the university's payroll system. Principal Findings Chronic illness of the employee or family members had no effect on choice of the CDHP, but such employees tended to choose the PPO. The employee's age was not related to CDHP choice. Higher-income employees chose the CDHP, as well as those who preferred health plans with a national provider panel that includes their physician in the panel. Employees tended to choose plans with lower out-of-pocket premiums, and surprisingly, employees with a chronic health condition themselves or in their family were more price-sensitive. Conclusions This study provides the first evidence on who chooses a CDHP in a multiplan, multiproduct setting. The CDHP was not chosen disproportionately by the young and healthy, but it did attract the wealthy and those who found the availability of providers more appealing. Low out-of-pocket premiums are important features of health plans and in this setting, low premiums appeal to those who are less healthy. PMID:15230913

Sustaining Lesson Study: Resources and Factors That Support and Constrain Mathematics Teachers' Ability to Continue after the Grant Ends

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Druken, Bridget Kinsella

2015-01-01

Lesson study, a teacher-led vehicle for inquiring into teacher practice through creating, enacting, and reflecting on collaboratively designed research lessons, has been shown to improve mathematics teacher practice in the United States, such as improving knowledge about mathematics, changing teacher practice, and developing communities of…

A soft computing-based approach to optimise queuing-inventory control problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alaghebandha, Mohammad; Hajipour, Vahid

2015-04-01

In this paper, a multi-product continuous review inventory control problem within batch arrival queuing approach (MQr/M/1) is developed to find the optimal quantities of maximum inventory. The objective function is to minimise summation of ordering, holding and shortage costs under warehouse space, service level and expected lost-sales shortage cost constraints from retailer and warehouse viewpoints. Since the proposed model is Non-deterministic Polynomial-time hard, an efficient imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA) is proposed to solve the model. To justify proposed ICA, both ganetic algorithm and simulated annealing algorithm are utilised. In order to determine the best value of algorithm parameters that result in a better solution, a fine-tuning procedure is executed. Finally, the performance of the proposed ICA is analysed using some numerical illustrations.

Replicating systems concepts: Self-replicating lunar factory and demonstration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

Automation of lunar mining and manufacturing facility maintenance and repair is addressed. Designing the factory as an automated, multiproduct, remotely controlled, reprogrammable Lunar Manufacturing Facility capable of constructing duplicates of itself which would themselves be capable of further replication is proposed.

Impacts of efficient transportation capacity utilization via multi-product consolidation on transportation network usage and congestion.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-08-06

We study multi-item inventory problems that explicitly account for realistic : transportation cost structures and constraints, including a per-truck capacity and per-truck cost. : We analyze shipment consolidation and coordination policies under thes...

Building sustainable organizational capacity to deliver HIV programs in resource-constrained settings: stakeholder perspectives.

PubMed

Sharma, Anjali; Chiliade, Philippe; Michael Reyes, E; Thomas, Kate K; Collens, Stephen R; Rafael Morales, José

2013-12-13

In 2008, the US government mandated that HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs funded by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) should shift from US-based international partners (IPs) to registered locally owned organizations (local partners, or LPs). The US Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) developed the Clinical Assessment for Systems Strengthening (ClASS) framework for technical assistance in resource-constrained settings. The ClASS framework involves all stakeholders in the identification of LPs' strengths and needs for technical assistance. This article examines the role of ClASS in building capacity of LPs that can endure and adapt to changing financial and policy environments. All stakeholders (n=68) in Kenya, Zambia, and Nigeria who had participated in the ClASS from LPs and IPs, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and, in Nigeria, HIV/AIDS treatment facilities (TFs) were interviewed individually or in groups (n=42) using an open-ended interview guide. Thematic analysis revealed stakeholder perspectives on ClASS-initiated changes and their sustainability. Local organizations were motivated to make changes in internal operations with the ClASS approach, PEPFAR's competitive funding climate, organizational goals, and desired patient health outcomes. Local organizations drew on internal resources and, if needed, technical assistance from IPs. Reportedly, ClASS-initiated changes and remedial action plans made LPs more competitive for PEPFAR funding. LPs also attributed their successful funding applications to their preexisting systems and reputation. Bureaucracy, complex and competing tasks, and staff attrition impeded progress toward the desired changes. Although CDC continues to provide technical assistance through IPs, declining PEPFAR funds threaten the consolidation of gains, smooth program transition, and continuity of treatment services. The well-timed adaptation and implementation of ClASS successfully engaged stakeholders who committed their own resources toward strengthening organizational capacity. The sustainability of built capacity depends on continued investment in leadership, staff retention, and quality improvement.

Building sustainable organizational capacity to deliver HIV programs in resource-constrained settings: stakeholder perspectives

PubMed Central

Sharma, Anjali; Chiliade, Philippe; Reyes, E. Michael; Thomas, Kate K.; Collens, Stephen R.; Morales, José Rafael

2013-01-01

Background In 2008, the US government mandated that HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs funded by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) should shift from US-based international partners (IPs) to registered locally owned organizations (local partners, or LPs). The US Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) developed the Clinical Assessment for Systems Strengthening (ClASS) framework for technical assistance in resource-constrained settings. The ClASS framework involves all stakeholders in the identification of LPs’ strengths and needs for technical assistance. Objective This article examines the role of ClASS in building capacity of LPs that can endure and adapt to changing financial and policy environments. Design All stakeholders (n=68) in Kenya, Zambia, and Nigeria who had participated in the ClASS from LPs and IPs, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and, in Nigeria, HIV/AIDS treatment facilities (TFs) were interviewed individually or in groups (n=42) using an open-ended interview guide. Thematic analysis revealed stakeholder perspectives on ClASS-initiated changes and their sustainability. Results Local organizations were motivated to make changes in internal operations with the ClASS approach, PEPFAR's competitive funding climate, organizational goals, and desired patient health outcomes. Local organizations drew on internal resources and, if needed, technical assistance from IPs. Reportedly, ClASS-initiated changes and remedial action plans made LPs more competitive for PEPFAR funding. LPs also attributed their successful funding applications to their preexisting systems and reputation. Bureaucracy, complex and competing tasks, and staff attrition impeded progress toward the desired changes. Although CDC continues to provide technical assistance through IPs, declining PEPFAR funds threaten the consolidation of gains, smooth program transition, and continuity of treatment services. Conclusions The well-timed adaptation and implementation of ClASS successfully engaged stakeholders who committed their own resources toward strengthening organizational capacity. The sustainability of built capacity depends on continued investment in leadership, staff retention, and quality improvement. PMID:24331715

Good, Fast, Cheap: How Centers of Teaching and Learning Can Capitalize in Today's Resource-Constrained Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Truong, Michael H.; Juillerat, Stephanie; Gin, Deborah H. C.

2016-01-01

This article provides leaders and educational developers of Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTL) with innovative and practical strategies on how to increase their centers' capacity and impact by focusing on quality, efficiency, and cost. This "good, fast, cheap" model represents a promising way that CTL can continue to grow, scale,…

Optimal Solutions of Multiproduct Batch Chemical Process Using Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm with Expert Decision System

PubMed Central

Mokeddem, Diab; Khellaf, Abdelhafid

2009-01-01

Optimal design problem are widely known by their multiple performance measures that are often competing with each other. In this paper, an optimal multiproduct batch chemical plant design is presented. The design is firstly formulated as a multiobjective optimization problem, to be solved using the well suited non dominating sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II). The NSGA-II have capability to achieve fine tuning of variables in determining a set of non dominating solutions distributed along the Pareto front in a single run of the algorithm. The NSGA-II ability to identify a set of optimal solutions provides the decision-maker DM with a complete picture of the optimal solution space to gain better and appropriate choices. Then an outranking with PROMETHEE II helps the decision-maker to finalize the selection of a best compromise. The effectiveness of NSGA-II method with multiojective optimization problem is illustrated through two carefully referenced examples. PMID:19543537

Penicillin Hydrolysis: A Kinetic Study of a Multistep, Multiproduct Reaction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCarrick, Thomas A.; McLafferty, Fred W.

1984-01-01

Background, procedures used, and typical results are provided for an experiment in which students carry out the necessary measurements on the acid-catalysis of penicillin in two hours. By applying kinetic theory to the data obtained, the reaction pathways for the hydrolysis of potassium benzyl penicillin are elucidated. (JN)

Building cancer nursing skills in a resource-constrained government hospital.

PubMed

Strother, R M; Fitch, Margaret; Kamau, Peter; Beattie, Kathy; Boudreau, Angela; Busakhalla, N; Loehrer, P J

2012-09-01

Cancer is a rising cause of morbidity and mortality in resource-constrained settings. Few places in the developing world have cancer care experts and infrastructure for caring for cancer patients; therefore, it is imperative to develop this infrastructure and expertise. A critical component of cancer care, rarely addressed in the published literature, is cancer nursing. This report describes an effort to develop cancer nursing subspecialty knowledge and skills in support of a growing resource-constrained comprehensive cancer care program in Western Kenya. This report highlights the context of cancer care delivery in a resource-constrained setting, and describes one targeted intervention to further develop the skill set and knowledge of cancer care providers, as part of collaboration between developed world academic institutions and a medical school and governmental hospital in Western Kenya. Based on observations of current practice, practice setting, and resource limitations, a pragmatic curriculum for cancer care nursing was developed and implemented.

The economics of a mechanized multiproduct harvesting system for stand conversion of northern hardwoods.

Treesearch

John A. Sturos; Edwin S. Miyata; Helmuth M. Steinhilb; Robert M. Barron

1983-01-01

Describes chip and saw log yields, production, costs, and potential profits of clearcutting, down to a 2-inch diameter, a northern hardwood poletimber stand by a conventional whole-tree harvesting system and three sawtimber stands by several combinations of whole-tree chipping and saw log recovery.

Estimating and validating harvesting system production through computer simulation

Treesearch

John E. Baumgras; Curt C. Hassler; Chris B. LeDoux

1993-01-01

A Ground Based Harvesting System Simulation model (GB-SIM) has been developed to estimate stump-to-truck production rates and multiproduct yields for conventional ground-based timber harvesting systems in Appalachian hardwood stands. Simulation results reflect inputs that define harvest site and timber stand attributes, wood utilization options, and key attributes of...

Economies of Scope in Distance Education: The Case of Chinese Research Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Fengliang; Chen, Xinlei

2012-01-01

With the rapid development of information technologies, distance education has become "another form of product differentiation in the output mix produced by the multi-product university or college" (Cohn & Cooper, 2004, p. 607). This article aims at analyzing the economies of scope of distance education (as an educational output) in…

Far-from-equilibrium bidirectional transport system with constrained entrances competing for pool of limited resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verma, Atul Kumar; Sharma, Natasha; Gupta, Arvind Kumar

2018-02-01

Motivated by the wide occurrence of limited resources in many real-life systems, we investigate two-lane totally asymmetric simple exclusion process with constrained entrances under finite supply of particles. We analyze the system within the framework of mean-field theory and examine various complex phenomena, including phase separation, phase transition, and symmetry breaking. Based on the theoretical analysis, we analytically derive the phase boundaries for various symmetric as well as asymmetric phases. It has been observed that the symmetry-breaking phenomenon initiates even for very small number of particles in the system. The phases with broken symmetry originates as shock-low density phase under limited resources, which is in contrast to the scenario with infinite number of particles. As expected, the symmetry breaking continues to persist even for higher values of system particles. Seven stationary phases are observed, with three of them exhibiting symmetry-breaking phenomena. The critical values of a total number of system particles, beyond which various symmetrical and asymmetrical phases appear and disappear are identified. Theoretical outcomes are supported by extensive Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, the size-scaling effect and symmetry-breaking phenomenon on the simulation results have also been examined based on particle density histograms.

Four Possible Directions for Economic Reform in Russia: Will They Constrain the Military?

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-11-01

shortage continues, causing more frequent demonstrations by homeless servicemen. Unfortunately, this grim situation does not promise to improve in...military with even the basic survival funds and resources. To preserve unit solidarity and protect their subordinates, local commanders are turning more...its member states. For example, in 1988, the World Bank arranged a $1 billion loan to Argentina despite the fact that Argentina had no IMF program and

The Role of the Global SOF Network in a Resource Constrained Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-11-01

backed by actions. Step Two: Matching Skill Sets with Individuals: Who Needs to Know What? This step sounds simple enough in theory . You need to...Training Finally, step five is the recognition that, like physical training and condition- ing, cognitive skills need to be continuously refreshed. These...and maintaining the data needed , and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other

Constraining continuous rainfall simulations for derived design flood estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woldemeskel, F. M.; Sharma, A.; Mehrotra, R.; Westra, S.

2016-11-01

Stochastic rainfall generation is important for a range of hydrologic and water resources applications. Stochastic rainfall can be generated using a number of models; however, preserving relevant attributes of the observed rainfall-including rainfall occurrence, variability and the magnitude of extremes-continues to be difficult. This paper develops an approach to constrain stochastically generated rainfall with an aim of preserving the intensity-durationfrequency (IFD) relationships of the observed data. Two main steps are involved. First, the generated annual maximum rainfall is corrected recursively by matching the generated intensity-frequency relationships to the target (observed) relationships. Second, the remaining (non-annual maximum) rainfall is rescaled such that the mass balance of the generated rain before and after scaling is maintained. The recursive correction is performed at selected storm durations to minimise the dependence between annual maximum values of higher and lower durations for the same year. This ensures that the resulting sequences remain true to the observed rainfall as well as represent the design extremes that may have been developed separately and are needed for compliance reasons. The method is tested on simulated 6 min rainfall series across five Australian stations with different climatic characteristics. The results suggest that the annual maximum and the IFD relationships are well reproduced after constraining the simulated rainfall. While our presentation focusses on the representation of design rainfall attributes (IFDs), the proposed approach can also be easily extended to constrain other attributes of the generated rainfall, providing an effective platform for post-processing of stochastic rainfall generators.

Multi-Product Total Cost Functions for Higher Education: The Case of Chinese Research Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Longlong, Hou; Fengliang, Li; Weifang, Min

2009-01-01

This paper empirically investigates the economies of scale and economies of scope for the Chinese research universities by employing the flexible fixed cost quadratic (FFCQ) function. The empirical results show that both economies of scale and economies of scope exist in the Chinese higher education system and support the common belief of…

Impact of product mix and markets on the economic feasibility of hardwood thinning

Treesearch

John E. Baumgras; Chris B. LeDoux

1989-01-01

Results demonstrate how the economic feasibility of commercial hardwood thinning is impacted by tree diameter, product mix, and primary product markets. These results indicate that multiproduct harvesting can increase revenues by $0.01/ft³ to $0.32/ft³; and that small shifts in price levels or haul distance can postpone commercial thinning...

Trends in Timber Use and Product Recovery in New York

Treesearch

Eric H. Wharton; Thomas W. Birch; Thomas W. Birch

1999-01-01

High demand for a variety of timber products from New York's forests has stimulated increased timber utilization and product recovery. Utilization studies in New York suggest that the recovery of timber has improved over the years. Although current methods of multiproduct harvesting have improved recovery of residual material, an estimated 38.6 million cubic feet...

Analysis of harvesting opportunities for thinning eastern hardwoods on steep terrain

Treesearch

Chris B. LeDoux; John E. Baumgras

1988-01-01

Harvesting cost and revenue models were used to evaluate yarding costs by yarder type and to compare stump-to-mill harvesting costs to revenues available from multiproduct thinnings in eastern hardwoods. This analysis includes six types of cable yarders and thinnings in stands where the average diameter at breast height of trees harvested ranged from 7 to 12 inches. To...

User's Manual for Total-Tree Multiproduct Cruise Program

Treesearch

Alexander Clark; Thomas M. Burgan; Richard C. Field; Peter E. Dress

1985-01-01

This interactive computer program uses standard tree-cruise data to estimate the weight and volume of the total tree, saw logs, plylogs, chipping logs, pulpwood, crown firewood, and logging residue in timber stands.Input is cumulative cruise data for tree counts by d.b.h. and height. Output is in tables: board-foot volume by d.b.h.; total-tree and tree-component...

Are Public Master's Institutions Cost Efficient? A Stochastic Frontier and Spatial Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Titus, Marvin A.; Vamosiu, Adriana; McClure, Kevin R.

2017-01-01

The current study examines costs, measured by educational and general (E&G) spending, and cost efficiency at 252 public master's institutions in the United States over a nine-year (2004-2012) period. We use a multi-product quadratic cost function and results from a random-effects model with a first-order autoregressive (AR1) disturbance term…

A chance-constrained programming model to allocate wildfire initial attack resources for a fire season

Treesearch

Yu Wei; Michael Bevers; Erin Belval; Benjamin Bird

2015-01-01

This research developed a chance-constrained two-stage stochastic programming model to support wildfire initial attack resource acquisition and location on a planning unit for a fire season. Fire growth constraints account for the interaction between fire perimeter growth and construction to prevent overestimation of resource requirements. We used this model to examine...

Management of multiple myeloma in resource-constrained settings.

PubMed

Kumar, Lalit; Kumar Sahoo, Ranjit

2016-12-01

The prognosis of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) has improved significantly in the past two decades. This is attributed to use of novel agents for induction, high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), maintenance therapy, and improved supportive care. Currently, evidence-based management guidelines/recommendations developed by International societies/groups are being followed partially in low-resource settings. Lack of quality diagnostics (eg, cytogenetics/fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), serum free light chains), novel therapeutics, and trained manpower, and limited financial resources are key challanges. An optimal utilization of available resources with continued educational activities of treating physicians focused on improving knowledge in the management of such patients may be a way forward to improve the outcome of myeloma patients in these countries. Our current approach to the management of this disease is presented here through a discussion of clinical vignettes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reliable design of a closed loop supply chain network under uncertainty: An interval fuzzy possibilistic chance-constrained model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vahdani, Behnam; Tavakkoli-Moghaddam, Reza; Jolai, Fariborz; Baboli, Arman

2013-06-01

This article seeks to offer a systematic approach to establishing a reliable network of facilities in closed loop supply chains (CLSCs) under uncertainties. Facilities that are located in this article concurrently satisfy both traditional objective functions and reliability considerations in CLSC network designs. To attack this problem, a novel mathematical model is developed that integrates the network design decisions in both forward and reverse supply chain networks. The model also utilizes an effective reliability approach to find a robust network design. In order to make the results of this article more realistic, a CLSC for a case study in the iron and steel industry has been explored. The considered CLSC is multi-echelon, multi-facility, multi-product and multi-supplier. Furthermore, multiple facilities exist in the reverse logistics network leading to high complexities. Since the collection centres play an important role in this network, the reliability concept of these facilities is taken into consideration. To solve the proposed model, a novel interactive hybrid solution methodology is developed by combining a number of efficient solution approaches from the recent literature. The proposed solution methodology is a bi-objective interval fuzzy possibilistic chance-constraint mixed integer linear programming (BOIFPCCMILP). Finally, computational experiments are provided to demonstrate the applicability and suitability of the proposed model in a supply chain environment and to help decision makers facilitate their analyses.

Computer Aided Process Planning of Machined Metal Parts

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-09-01

the manufac- turer to accentuate the positive to assist marketing . Machine usage costs and facility loadings are frequently critical. For example...Variant systems currently on the market include Multiplan (TM of OIR, Inc.), CY-Miplan (TM of Computervision), PICAPP (TM of PICAPP, Inc.) and CSD...Multiproduct, Multistage Manufacturing Systems, Journal of Engineering for Industry, ASME, August 1977. Hitomi, K. and I. Ham, Product Mix and Machine Loading

PROFIT-PC: a program for estimating maximum net revenue from multiproduct harvests in Appalachian hardwoods

Treesearch

Chris B. LeDoux; John E. Baumgras; R. Bryan Selbe

1989-01-01

PROFIT-PC is a menu driven, interactive PC (personal computer) program that estimates optimum product mix and maximum net harvesting revenue based on projected product yields and stump-to-mill timber harvesting costs. Required inputs include the number of trees/acre by species and 2 inches diameter at breast-height class, delivered product prices by species and product...

Context- and Template-Based Compression for Efficient Management of Data Models in Resource-Constrained Systems.

PubMed

Macho, Jorge Berzosa; Montón, Luis Gardeazabal; Rodriguez, Roberto Cortiñas

2017-08-01

The Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) paradigm is based on the deployment of interconnected heterogeneous devices and systems, so interoperability is at the heart of any CPS architecture design. In this sense, the adoption of standard and generic data formats for data representation and communication, e.g., XML or JSON, effectively addresses the interoperability problem among heterogeneous systems. Nevertheless, the verbosity of those standard data formats usually demands system resources that might suppose an overload for the resource-constrained devices that are typically deployed in CPS. In this work we present Context- and Template-based Compression (CTC), a data compression approach targeted to resource-constrained devices, which allows reducing the resources needed to transmit, store and process data models. Additionally, we provide a benchmark evaluation and comparison with current implementations of the Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) processor, which is promoted by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and it is the most prominent XML compression mechanism nowadays. Interestingly, the results from the evaluation show that CTC outperforms EXI implementations in terms of memory usage and speed, keeping similar compression rates. As a conclusion, CTC is shown to be a good candidate for managing standard data model representation formats in CPS composed of resource-constrained devices.

Context- and Template-Based Compression for Efficient Management of Data Models in Resource-Constrained Systems

PubMed Central

Montón, Luis Gardeazabal

2017-01-01

The Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) paradigm is based on the deployment of interconnected heterogeneous devices and systems, so interoperability is at the heart of any CPS architecture design. In this sense, the adoption of standard and generic data formats for data representation and communication, e.g., XML or JSON, effectively addresses the interoperability problem among heterogeneous systems. Nevertheless, the verbosity of those standard data formats usually demands system resources that might suppose an overload for the resource-constrained devices that are typically deployed in CPS. In this work we present Context- and Template-based Compression (CTC), a data compression approach targeted to resource-constrained devices, which allows reducing the resources needed to transmit, store and process data models. Additionally, we provide a benchmark evaluation and comparison with current implementations of the Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) processor, which is promoted by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and it is the most prominent XML compression mechanism nowadays. Interestingly, the results from the evaluation show that CTC outperforms EXI implementations in terms of memory usage and speed, keeping similar compression rates. As a conclusion, CTC is shown to be a good candidate for managing standard data model representation formats in CPS composed of resource-constrained devices. PMID:28763013

Exponential Arithmetic Based Self-Healing Group Key Distribution Scheme with Backward Secrecy under the Resource-Constrained Wireless Networks

PubMed Central

Guo, Hua; Zheng, Yandong; Zhang, Xiyong; Li, Zhoujun

2016-01-01

In resource-constrained wireless networks, resources such as storage space and communication bandwidth are limited. To guarantee secure communication in resource-constrained wireless networks, group keys should be distributed to users. The self-healing group key distribution (SGKD) scheme is a promising cryptographic tool, which can be used to distribute and update the group key for the secure group communication over unreliable wireless networks. Among all known SGKD schemes, exponential arithmetic based SGKD (E-SGKD) schemes reduce the storage overhead to constant, thus is suitable for the the resource-constrained wireless networks. In this paper, we provide a new mechanism to achieve E-SGKD schemes with backward secrecy. We first propose a basic E-SGKD scheme based on a known polynomial-based SGKD, where it has optimal storage overhead while having no backward secrecy. To obtain the backward secrecy and reduce the communication overhead, we introduce a novel approach for message broadcasting and self-healing. Compared with other E-SGKD schemes, our new E-SGKD scheme has the optimal storage overhead, high communication efficiency and satisfactory security. The simulation results in Zigbee-based networks show that the proposed scheme is suitable for the resource-restrained wireless networks. Finally, we show the application of our proposed scheme. PMID:27136550

Optimizing Multi-Product Multi-Constraint Inventory Control Systems with Stochastic Replenishments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allah Taleizadeh, Ata; Aryanezhad, Mir-Bahador; Niaki, Seyed Taghi Akhavan

Multi-periodic inventory control problems are mainly studied employing two assumptions. The first is the continuous review, where depending on the inventory level orders can happen at any time and the other is the periodic review, where orders can only happen at the beginning of each period. In this study, we relax these assumptions and assume that the periodic replenishments are stochastic in nature. Furthermore, we assume that the periods between two replenishments are independent and identically random variables. For the problem at hand, the decision variables are of integer-type and there are two kinds of space and service level constraints for each product. We develop a model of the problem in which a combination of back-order and lost-sales are considered for the shortages. Then, we show that the model is of an integer-nonlinear-programming type and in order to solve it, a search algorithm can be utilized. We employ a simulated annealing approach and provide a numerical example to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methodology.

2015 RAD-AID Conference on International Radiology for Developing Countries: The Evolving Global Radiology Landscape.

PubMed

Kesselman, Andrew; Soroosh, Garshasb; Mollura, Daniel J

2016-09-01

Radiology in low- and middle-income (developing) countries continues to make progress. Research and international outreach projects presented at the 2015 annual RAD-AID conference emphasize important global themes, including (1) recent slowing of emerging market growth that threatens to constrain the advance of radiology, (2) increasing global noncommunicable diseases (such as cancer and cardiovascular disease) needing radiology for detection and management, (3) strategic prioritization for pediatric radiology in global public health initiatives, (4) continuous expansion of global health curricula at radiology residencies and the RAD-AID Chapter Network's participating institutions, and (5) technologic innovation for recently accelerated implementation of PACS in low-resource countries. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Tools and Strategies for Product Life Cycle Management ñ A Case Study in Foundry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patil, Rajashekar; Kumar, S. Mohan; Abhilash, E.

2012-08-01

Advances in information and communication technology (ICT) have opened new possibilities of collaborations among the customers, suppliers, manufactures and partners to effectively tackle various business challenges. Product Life Cycle Management(PLM) has been a proven approach for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to increase their productivity, improve their product quality, speed up delivery, and increase their profit and to become more efficient. However, their Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers like foundry industries are still in their infancy without adopting PLM. Hence to enhance their understanding, the basic concepts, the tools and strategies for PLM are presented is this paper. By selecting and implementing appropriate PLM strategies in a small foundry, an attempt was also made to understand the immediate benefits of using PLM tools (commercial PLM software and digital manufacturing tools). This study indicated a reduction in lead time and improved utilization of organizational resources in the production of automobile impeller. These observations may be further extrapolated to other multiproduct, multi-discipline and multi-customer companies to realize the advantages of using PLM technology

Support for Resource Constrained Microcontroller Programming by a Broad Developer Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amar, Amichi

2010-01-01

Resource constrained microcontrollers with as little as several hundred bytes of RAM and a few dozen megahertz of processing power are the most prevalent computing devices on earth. Microcontrollers and the many application components that interface to them, such as sensors, actuators, transceivers and displays are now cheap and readily available.…

Local Telephone Costs and the Design of Rate Structures,

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-05-01

guide the setting of prices for the multi-product regulated firm. Economic effi- ciency can be increased by designing rate structures that incorporate the... basic principles developed from this theory. These principles call for provisionally pricing each of the firm’s outputs at its marginal cost, testing...rule--prices are increased above marginal costs in inverse proportion to the individual price elasticities of demand. This paper applies ratemaking

Google matrix analysis of the multiproduct world trade network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ermann, Leonardo; Shepelyansky, Dima L.

2015-04-01

Using the United Nations COMTRADE database [United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database, available at: http://comtrade.un.org/db/. Accessed November (2014)] we construct the Google matrix G of multiproduct world trade between the UN countries and analyze the properties of trade flows on this network for years 1962-2010. This construction, based on Markov chains, treats all countries on equal democratic grounds independently of their richness and at the same time it considers the contributions of trade products proportionally to their trade volume. We consider the trade with 61 products for up to 227 countries. The obtained results show that the trade contribution of products is asymmetric: some of them are export oriented while others are import oriented even if the ranking by their trade volume is symmetric in respect to export and import after averaging over all world countries. The construction of the Google matrix allows to investigate the sensitivity of trade balance in respect to price variations of products, e.g. petroleum and gas, taking into account the world connectivity of trade links. The trade balance based on PageRank and CheiRank probabilities highlights the leading role of China and other BRICS countries in the world trade in recent years. We also show that the eigenstates of G with large eigenvalues select specific trade communities.

Assessing the Readiness of Nursing Sectors in Low- and Middle-Income Countries to Adopt Holistic Practice: Rwanda as Exemplar.

PubMed

Rosa, William

Over the past several years, holistic nursing education has become more readily available to nurses working in high-income nations, and holistic practice has become better defined and promoted through countless organizational and governmental initiatives. However, global nursing community members, particularly those serving in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) within resource-constrained health care systems, may not find holistic nursing easily accessible or applicable to practice. The purpose of this article is to assess the readiness of nursing sectors within these resource-constrained settings to access, understand, and apply holistic nursing principles and practices within the context of cultural norms, diverse definitions of the nursing role, and the current status of health care in these countries. The history, current status, and projected national goals of professional nursing in Rwanda is used as an exemplar to forward the discussion regarding the readiness of nurses to adopt holistic education into practice in LMICs. A background of holistic nursing practice in the United States is provided to illustrate the multifaceted aspects of support necessary in order that such a specialty continues to evolve and thrive within health care arenas and the communities it cares for.

Creating opportunities for training California's public health workforce.

PubMed

Demers, Anne L; Mamary, Edward; Ebin, Vicki J

2011-01-01

Today there are significant challenges to public health, and effective responses to them will require complex approaches and strategies implemented by a qualified workforce. An adequately prepared workforce requires long-term development; however, local health departments have limited financial and staff resources. Schools and programs accredited by the Council for Education on Public Health (CEPH) are required to provide continuing education but are constrained by the lack of resources, limited time, and geography. To meet these challenges, a statewide university/community collaborative model for delivering continuing education programs was developed. A needs assessment of California's public health workforce was conducted to identify areas of interest, and two continuing education trainings were developed and implemented using innovative distance education technology. Thirty-six percent of the participants completed electronic evaluations of learning outcomes and use of the digital technology platform. Participants indicated a significant increase in knowledge, reported that the trainings were cost effective and convenient, and said that they would participate in future online trainings. Collaborative partners found that this model provides a cost-effective, environmentally sound, and institutionally sustainable method for providing continuing education to public health professionals. Offering continuing education via distance technology requires substantial institutional infrastructure and resources that are often beyond what many public institutions can provide alone. This project provides a model for collaborating with community partners to provide trainings, using a digital technology platform that requires minimal training and allows presenters and participants to log on from anywhere there is Internet access. Copyright © 2011 The Alliance for Continuing Medical Education, the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education, and the Council on CME, Association for Hospital Medical Education.

A strategy to implement and support pre-hospital emergency medical systems in developing, resource-constrained areas of South Africa.

PubMed

Sun, Jared H; Shing, Rachel; Twomey, Michele; Wallis, Lee A

2014-01-01

Resource-constrained countries are in extreme need of pre-hospital emergency care systems. However, current popular strategies to provide pre-hospital emergency care are inappropriate for and beyond the means of a resource-constrained country, and so new ones are needed-ones that can both function in an under-developed area's particular context and be done with the area's limited resources. In this study, we used a two-location pilot and consensus approach to develop a strategy to implement and support pre-hospital emergency care in one such developing, resource-constrained area: the Western Cape province of South Africa. Local community members are trained to be emergency first aid responders who can provide immediate, on-scene care until a Transporter can take the patient to the hospital. Management of the system is done through local Community Based Organizations, which can adapt the model to their communities as needed to ensure local appropriateness and feasibility. Within a community, the system is implemented in a graduated manner based on available resources, and is designed to not rely on the whole system being implemented first to provide partial function. The University of Cape Town's Division of Emergency Medicine and the Western Cape's provincial METRO EMS intend to follow this model, along with sharing it with other South African provinces. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The WHO/PEPFAR collaboration to prepare an operations manual for HIV prevention, care, and treatment at primary health centers in high-prevalence, resource-constrained settings: defining laboratory services.

PubMed

Spira, Thomas; Lindegren, Mary Lou; Ferris, Robert; Habiyambere, Vincent; Ellerbrock, Tedd

2009-06-01

The expansion of HIV/AIDS care and treatment in resource-constrained countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, has generally developed in a top-down manner. Further expansion will involve primary health centers where human and other resources are limited. This article describes the World Health Organization/President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief collaboration formed to help scale up HIV services in primary health centers in high-prevalence, resource-constrained settings. It reviews the contents of the Operations Manual developed, with emphasis on the Laboratory Services chapter, which discusses essential laboratory services, both at the center and the district hospital level, laboratory safety, laboratory testing, specimen transport, how to set up a laboratory, human resources, equipment maintenance, training materials, and references. The chapter provides specific information on essential tests and generic job aids for them. It also includes annexes containing a list of laboratory supplies for the health center and sample forms.

Autonomy for Constellation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Truszkowski, Walt; Szczur, Martha R. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The newer types of space systems, which are planned for the future, are placing challenging demands for newer autonomy concepts and techniques. Motivating these challenges are resource constraints. Even though onboard computing power will surely increase in the coming years, the resource constraints associated with space-based processes will continue to be a major factor that needs to be considered when dealing with, for example, agent-based spacecraft autonomy. To realize "economical intelligence", i.e., constrained computational intelligence that can reside within a process under severe resource constraints (time, power, space, etc.), is a major goal for such space systems as the Nanosat constellations. To begin to address the new challenges, we are developing approaches to constellation autonomy with constraints in mind. Within the Agent Concepts Testbed (ACT) at the Goddard Space Flight Center we are currently developing a Nanosat-related prototype for the first of the two-step program.

LiteNet: Lightweight Neural Network for Detecting Arrhythmias at Resource-Constrained Mobile Devices.

PubMed

He, Ziyang; Zhang, Xiaoqing; Cao, Yangjie; Liu, Zhi; Zhang, Bo; Wang, Xiaoyan

2018-04-17

By running applications and services closer to the user, edge processing provides many advantages, such as short response time and reduced network traffic. Deep-learning based algorithms provide significantly better performances than traditional algorithms in many fields but demand more resources, such as higher computational power and more memory. Hence, designing deep learning algorithms that are more suitable for resource-constrained mobile devices is vital. In this paper, we build a lightweight neural network, termed LiteNet which uses a deep learning algorithm design to diagnose arrhythmias, as an example to show how we design deep learning schemes for resource-constrained mobile devices. Compare to other deep learning models with an equivalent accuracy, LiteNet has several advantages. It requires less memory, incurs lower computational cost, and is more feasible for deployment on resource-constrained mobile devices. It can be trained faster than other neural network algorithms and requires less communication across different processing units during distributed training. It uses filters of heterogeneous size in a convolutional layer, which contributes to the generation of various feature maps. The algorithm was tested using the MIT-BIH electrocardiogram (ECG) arrhythmia database; the results showed that LiteNet outperforms comparable schemes in diagnosing arrhythmias, and in its feasibility for use at the mobile devices.

LiteNet: Lightweight Neural Network for Detecting Arrhythmias at Resource-Constrained Mobile Devices

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xiaoqing; Cao, Yangjie; Liu, Zhi; Zhang, Bo; Wang, Xiaoyan

2018-01-01

By running applications and services closer to the user, edge processing provides many advantages, such as short response time and reduced network traffic. Deep-learning based algorithms provide significantly better performances than traditional algorithms in many fields but demand more resources, such as higher computational power and more memory. Hence, designing deep learning algorithms that are more suitable for resource-constrained mobile devices is vital. In this paper, we build a lightweight neural network, termed LiteNet which uses a deep learning algorithm design to diagnose arrhythmias, as an example to show how we design deep learning schemes for resource-constrained mobile devices. Compare to other deep learning models with an equivalent accuracy, LiteNet has several advantages. It requires less memory, incurs lower computational cost, and is more feasible for deployment on resource-constrained mobile devices. It can be trained faster than other neural network algorithms and requires less communication across different processing units during distributed training. It uses filters of heterogeneous size in a convolutional layer, which contributes to the generation of various feature maps. The algorithm was tested using the MIT-BIH electrocardiogram (ECG) arrhythmia database; the results showed that LiteNet outperforms comparable schemes in diagnosing arrhythmias, and in its feasibility for use at the mobile devices. PMID:29673171

Treating Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer With Concurrent Chemoradiation Without Brachytherapy in Low-resource Countries.

PubMed

Chuang, Linus; Kanis, Margaux J; Miller, Brigitte; Wright, Jason; Small, William; Creasman, William

2016-02-01

To summarize the literature on options of management of patients treated for locally advanced cervical cancers with a specific focus on resource-constrained settings where brachytherapy is not available. A Medline search was performed to summarize studies about treatment approaches including neoadjuvant chemotherapy, primary surgery for bulky cervical cancer, and chemoradiation followed by surgery. Summaries are by treatment approaches that are relevant to resource-constrained settings. There are a lack of studies performed on neoadjuvant chemotherapy in low-resource settings. Primary surgery followed by chemoradiation therapy for selected patients with bulky cervical cancer is a feasible option. The disadvantage is the potential increase in treatment complications. Chemoradiation without brachytherapy followed by surgery has been found to have equivalent outcomes and is associated with acceptable morbidity. In resource-constrained settings where brachytherapy is not available, performing radical hysterectomy after chemoradiation therapy without brachytherapy has been shown to produce equivalent outcomes. It seems reasonable to adopt a modified therapeutic protocol of chemoradiation followed by extrafascial hysterectomy as an alternative treatment option in low-resource countries where brachytherapy is not readily available.

Improving Service Management in the Internet of Things

PubMed Central

Sammarco, Chiara; Iera, Antonio

2012-01-01

In the Internet of Things (IoT) research arena, many efforts are devoted to adapt the existing IP standards to emerging IoT nodes. This is the direction followed by three Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Working Groups, which paved the way for research on IP-based constrained networks. Through a simplification of the whole TCP/IP stack, resource constrained nodes become direct interlocutors of application level entities in every point of the network. In this paper we analyze some side effects of this solution, when in the presence of large amounts of data to transmit. In particular, we conduct a performance analysis of the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP), a widely accepted web transfer protocol for the Internet of Things, and propose a service management enhancement that improves the exploitation of the network and node resources. This is specifically thought for constrained nodes in the abovementioned conditions and proves to be able to significantly improve the node energetic performance when in the presence of large resource representations (hence, large data transmissions).

Giant fibrosarcoma prostuberans of abodominal wall: management problems in resources-constrained country.

PubMed

Chukwuanukwu, T O G; Anyanwu, S N C

2009-09-01

Abdominal wall sarcomas represent less than 1% of adult malignancies. Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans can grow to very large sizes and the recommended resection 2-3 cm from the macroscopic tumour margin can produce very large full thickness defects of the abdominal wall. Reconstruction of such defects can be quite challenging in resource constrained areas where patients present late with giant lesions. To highlight the presentation and management challenges faced by the surgical oncologist and reconstructive surgeon in a resource constrained country when faced with giant Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans of the abdominal wall. Prospective study of patients with abdominal wall soft tissue sarcoma presenting to the authors. Cases of giant dermatofibrosarcoma protuberns who underwent surgery were analysed. Seven cases managed over an eight year period (January 2000 to December 2007). Age ranged from 27-70 yrs with slight female preponderance 1.5:1 F:M. Three presented with recurrent fungating masses. Only one could be reconstructed with prolene mesh. One recurrence was noted during the period under study. Poverty, ignorance and lack of necessary working tools are major challenges faced by the surgical oncologist and reconstructive surgeon in resource constrained areas and pose a major obstacle to the control of cancer in these areas.

Explanation of random experiment sheduling and its application to space station analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, J. E.

1970-01-01

The capability of the McDonnell-Douglas Phase B space station concept to complete the Blue Book Experiment program is analyzed and the Random experiment program with Resource Impact (REPRI) which was used to generate the data is described. The results indicate that station manpower and electrical power are the two resources which will constrain the amount of the Blue Book program that the station can complete. The station experiment program and its resource requirements are sensitive to levels of manpower and electrical power 13.5 men and 11 kilowatts. Continuous artificial gravity experiments have much less impact on the experiment program than experiments using separate artificial gravity periods. Station storage volume presently allocated for the FPE's and their supplies (1600 cu ft) is more than adequate. The REPRI program uses the Monte Carlo technique to generate a set of feasible experiment schedules for a space station. The schedules are statistically analyzed to determine the impact of the station experiment program resource requirements on the station concept. Also, the sensitivity of the station concept to one or more resources is assessed.

Management strategies in the treatment of neonatal and pediatric gastroenteritis

PubMed Central

Ciccarelli, Simona; Stolfi, Ilaria; Caramia, Giuseppe

2013-01-01

Acute gastroenteritis, characterized by the onset of diarrhea with or without vomiting, continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children in mostly resource-constrained nations. Although generally a mild and self-limiting disease, gastroenteritis is one of the most common causes of hospitalization and is associated with a substantial disease burden. Worldwide, up to 40% of children aged less than 5 years with diarrhea are hospitalized with rotavirus. Also, some microorganisms have been found predominantly in resource-constrained nations, including Shigella spp, Vibrio cholerae, and the protozoan infections. Prevention remains essential, and the rotavirus vaccines have demonstrated good safety and efficacy profiles in large clinical trials. Because dehydration is the major complication associated with gastroenteritis, appropriate fluid management (oral or intravenous) is an effective and safe strategy for rehydration. Continuation of breastfeeding is strongly recommended. New treatments such as antiemetics (ondansetron), some antidiarrheal agents (racecadotril), and chemotherapeutic agents are often proposed, but not yet universally recommended. Probiotics, also known as “food supplement,” seem to improve intestinal microbial balance, reducing the duration and the severity of acute infectious diarrhea. The European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and the European Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases guidelines make a stronger recommendation for the use of probiotics for the management of acute gastroenteritis, particularly those with documented efficacy such as Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, Lactobacillus reuteri, and Saccharomyces boulardii. To date, the management of acute gastroenteritis has been based on the option of “doing the least”: oral rehydration-solution administration, early refeeding, no testing, no unnecessary drugs. PMID:24194646

Optimization of a Multi-Product Intra-Supply Chain System with Failure in Rework.

PubMed

Chiu, Singa Wang; Chen, Shin-Wei; Chang, Chih-Kai; Chiu, Yuan-Shyi Peter

2016-01-01

Globalization has created tremendous opportunities, but also made business environment highly competitive and turbulent. To gain competitive advantage, management of present-day transnational firms always seeks options to trim down various transaction and coordination costs, especially in the area of controllable intra-supply chain system. This study investigates a multi-product intra-supply chain system with failure in rework. To achieve maximum machine utilization, multiple products are fabricated in succession on a single machine. During the process, production of some defective items is inevitable. Reworking of nonconforming items is used to reduce the quality cost in production and achieving the goal of lower overall production cost. Because reworks are sometimes unsuccessful, failures in rework are also considered in this study. Finished goods for each product are transported to the sales offices when the entire production lot is quality assured after rework. A multi-delivery policy is used, wherein fixed quantity n installments of the finished lot are transported at fixed intervals during delivery time. The objective is to jointly determine the common production cycle time and the number of deliveries needed to minimize the long-term expected production-inventory-delivery costs for the problem. With the help of a mathematical model along with optimization technique, the optimal production-shipment policy is obtained. We have used a numerical example to demonstrate applicability of the result of our research.

Microenvironmental independence associated with tumor progression.

PubMed

Anderson, Alexander R A; Hassanein, Mohamed; Branch, Kevin M; Lu, Jenny; Lobdell, Nichole A; Maier, Julie; Basanta, David; Weidow, Brandy; Narasanna, Archana; Arteaga, Carlos L; Reynolds, Albert B; Quaranta, Vito; Estrada, Lourdes; Weaver, Alissa M

2009-11-15

Tumor-microenvironment interactions are increasingly recognized to influence tumor progression. To understand the competitive dynamics of tumor cells in diverse microenvironments, we experimentally parameterized a hybrid discrete-continuum mathematical model with phenotypic trait data from a set of related mammary cell lines with normal, transformed, or tumorigenic properties. Surprisingly, in a resource-rich microenvironment, with few limitations on proliferation or migration, transformed (but not tumorigenic) cells were most successful and outcompeted other cell types in heterogeneous tumor simulations. Conversely, constrained microenvironments with limitations on space and/or growth factors gave a selective advantage to phenotypes derived from tumorigenic cell lines. Analysis of the relative performance of each phenotype in constrained versus unconstrained microenvironments revealed that, although all cell types grew more slowly in resource-constrained microenvironments, the most aggressive cells were least affected by microenvironmental constraints. A game theory model testing the relationship between microenvironment resource availability and competitive cellular dynamics supports the concept that microenvironmental independence is an advantageous cellular trait in resource-limited microenvironments.

A Hierarchical Auction-Based Mechanism for Real-Time Resource Allocation in Cloud Robotic Systems.

PubMed

Wang, Lujia; Liu, Ming; Meng, Max Q-H

2017-02-01

Cloud computing enables users to share computing resources on-demand. The cloud computing framework cannot be directly mapped to cloud robotic systems with ad hoc networks since cloud robotic systems have additional constraints such as limited bandwidth and dynamic structure. However, most multirobotic applications with cooperative control adopt this decentralized approach to avoid a single point of failure. Robots need to continuously update intensive data to execute tasks in a coordinated manner, which implies real-time requirements. Thus, a resource allocation strategy is required, especially in such resource-constrained environments. This paper proposes a hierarchical auction-based mechanism, namely link quality matrix (LQM) auction, which is suitable for ad hoc networks by introducing a link quality indicator. The proposed algorithm produces a fast and robust method that is accurate and scalable. It reduces both global communication and unnecessary repeated computation. The proposed method is designed for firm real-time resource retrieval for physical multirobot systems. A joint surveillance scenario empirically validates the proposed mechanism by assessing several practical metrics. The results show that the proposed LQM auction outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms for resource allocation.

Design and optimization of organic rankine cycle for low temperature geothermal power plant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barse, Kirtipal A.

Rising oil prices and environmental concerns have increased attention to renewable energy. Geothermal energy is a very attractive source of renewable energy. Although low temperature resources (90°C to 150°C) are the most common and most abundant source of geothermal energy, they were not considered economical and technologically feasible for commercial power generation. Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology makes it feasible to use low temperature resources to generate power by using low boiling temperature organic liquids. The first hypothesis for this research is that using ORC is technologically and economically feasible to generate electricity from low temperature geothermal resources. The second hypothesis for this research is redesigning the ORC system for the given resource condition will improve efficiency along with improving economics. ORC model was developed using process simulator and validated with the data obtained from Chena Hot Springs, Alaska. A correlation was observed between the critical temperature of the working fluid and the efficiency for the cycle. Exergy analysis of the cycle revealed that the highest exergy destruction occurs in evaporator followed by condenser, turbine and working fluid pump for the base case scenarios. Performance of ORC was studied using twelve working fluids in base, Internal Heat Exchanger and turbine bleeding constrained and non-constrained configurations. R601a, R245ca, R600 showed highest first and second law efficiency in the non-constrained IHX configuration. The highest net power was observed for R245ca, R601a and R601 working fluids in the non-constrained base configuration. Combined heat exchanger area and size parameter of the turbine showed an increasing trend as the critical temperature of the working fluid decreased. The lowest levelized cost of electricity was observed for R245ca followed by R601a, R236ea in non-constrained base configuration. The next best candidates in terms of LCOE were R601a, R245ca and R600 in non-constrained IHX configuration. LCOE is dependent on net power and higher net power favors to lower the cost of electricity. Overall R245ca, R601, R601a, R600 and R236ea show better performance among the fluids studied. Non constrained configurations display better performance compared to the constrained configurations. Base non-constrained offered the highest net power and lowest LCOE.

Characteristics and critical success factors for implementing problem-based learning in a human resource-constrained country.

PubMed

Giva, Karen R N; Duma, Sinegugu E

2015-08-31

Problem-based learning (PBL) was introduced in Malawi in 2002 in order to improve the nursing education system and respond to the acute nursing human resources shortage. However, its implementation has been very slow throughout the country. The objectives of the study were to explore and describe the goals that were identified by the college to facilitate the implementation of PBL, the resources of the organisation that facilitated the implementation of PBL, the factors related to sources of students that facilitated the implementation of PBL, and the influence of the external system of the organisation on facilitating the implementation of PBL, and to identify critical success factors that could guide the implementation of PBL in nursing education in Malawi. This is an ethnographic, exploratory and descriptive qualitative case study. Purposive sampling was employed to select the nursing college, participants and documents for review.Three data collection methods, including semi-structured interviews, participant observation and document reviews, were used to collect data. The four steps of thematic analysis were used to analyse data from all three sources. Four themes and related subthemes emerged from the triangulated data sources. The first three themes and their subthemes are related to the characteristics related to successful implementation of PBL in a human resource-constrained nursing college, whilst the last theme is related to critical success factors that contribute to successful implementation of PBL in a human resource-constrained country like Malawi. This article shows that implementation of PBL is possible in a human resource-constrained country if there is political commitment and support.

Design of supply chain in fuzzy environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rao, Kandukuri Narayana; Subbaiah, Kambagowni Venkata; Singh, Ganja Veera Pratap

2013-05-01

Nowadays, customer expectations are increasing and organizations are prone to operate in an uncertain environment. Under this uncertain environment, the ultimate success of the firm depends on its ability to integrate business processes among supply chain partners. Supply chain management emphasizes cross-functional links to improve the competitive strategy of organizations. Now, companies are moving from decoupled decision processes towards more integrated design and control of their components to achieve the strategic fit. In this paper, a new approach is developed to design a multi-echelon, multi-facility, and multi-product supply chain in fuzzy environment. In fuzzy environment, mixed integer programming problem is formulated through fuzzy goal programming in strategic level with supply chain cost and volume flexibility as fuzzy goals. These fuzzy goals are aggregated using minimum operator. In tactical level, continuous review policy for controlling raw material inventories in supplier echelon and controlling finished product inventories in plant as well as distribution center echelon is considered as fuzzy goals. A non-linear programming model is formulated through fuzzy goal programming using minimum operator in the tactical level. The proposed approach is illustrated with a numerical example.

Emergy evaluation of contrasting dairy systems at multiple levels.

PubMed

Vigne, Mathieu; Peyraud, Jean-Louis; Lecomte, Philippe; Corson, Michael S; Wilfart, Aurélie

2013-11-15

Emergy accounting (EmA) was applied to a range of dairy systems, from low-input smallholder systems in South Mali (SM), to intermediate-input systems in two regions of France, Poitou-Charentes (PC) and Bretagne (BR), to high-input systems on Reunion Island (RI). These systems were studied at three different levels: whole-farm (dairy system and cropping system), dairy-system (dairy herd and forage land), and herd (animals only). Dairy farms in SM used the lowest total emergy at all levels and was the highest user of renewable resources. Despite the low quality of resources consumed (crop residues and natural pasture), efficiency of their use was similar to that of industrialised inputs by intensive systems in RI, PC and BR. In addition, among the systems studied, SM dairy farms lay closest to environmental sustainability, contradicting the usual image of high environmental impact of cattle production in developing countries. EmA also revealed characteristics of the three intensive systems. Systems from RI and PC had lower resource transformation efficiency and higher environmental impacts than those from BR, due mainly to feeding strategies that differed due to differing socio-climatic constraints. Application of EmA at multiple levels revealed the importance of a multi-level analysis. While the whole-farm level assesses the overall contribution of the system to its environment, the dairy-system level is suitable for comparison of multi-product systems. In contrast, the herd level focuses on herd management and bypasses debates about definition of system boundaries by excluding land management. Combining all levels highlights the contribution of livestock to the global agricultural system and identifies inefficiencies and influences of system components on the environment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

21 CFR 888.3230 - Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3230 Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device intended...

21 CFR 888.3230 - Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3230 Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device intended...

21 CFR 888.3230 - Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3230 Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device intended...

21 CFR 888.3230 - Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3230 Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device intended...

21 CFR 888.3230 - Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3230 Finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A finger joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device intended...

Centralized mission planning and scheduling system for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kavelaars, Alicia; Barnoy, Assaf M.; Gregory, Shawna; Garcia, Gonzalo; Talon, Cesar; Greer, Gregory; Williams, Jason; Dulski, Vicki

2014-01-01

Satellites in Low Earth Orbit provide missions with closer range for studying aspects such as geography and topography, but often require efficient utilization of space and ground assets. Optimizing schedules for these satellites amounts to a complex planning puzzle since it requires operators to face issues such as discontinuous ground contacts, limited onboard memory storage, constrained downlink margin, and shared ground antenna resources. To solve this issue for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM, Landsat 8), all the scheduling exchanges for science data request, ground/space station contact, and spacecraft maintenance and control will be coordinated through a centralized Mission Planning and Scheduling (MPS) engine, based upon GMV’s scheduling system flexplan9 . The synchronization between all operational functions must be strictly maintained to ensure efficient mission utilization of ground and spacecraft activities while working within the bounds of the space and ground resources, such as Solid State Recorder (SSR) and available antennas. This paper outlines the functionalities that the centralized planning and scheduling system has in its operational control and management of the Landsat 8 spacecraft.

Ensuring Biologics Advanced Development and Manufacturing Capability for the United States Government: A Summary of Key Findings and Conclusions

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-06

Government: A Summary of Key Findings and Conclusions. This report has passed the Department of Defense’s security review process and is approved for...manufacturing and combine advance development and production of biologics in a multi-product facility focused on satisfying USG needs. Finally, the study...MCM needs of both DoD and HHS, an extensive survey was conducted. This included a review of all published requirements, the biodefense R&D portfolio

Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Analysis Fields Inter-Comparisons. Part 1: A GHRSST Multi-Product Ensemble (GMPE)

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-05-02

Le Borgne, P., Poulter, D., Vazquez-Cuervo, J., Armstrong, E., Beggs, H., Llewellyn - Jones , D., Minnett, P., Merchant, C., Evans, R., 2009. The GODAE...Donlon i, Chelle Gentemann j, Robert Grumbine k, Shiro Ishizaki l, Eileen Maturi b, Richard W. Reynoldsm, Jonah Roberts- Jones a a Met Office, Exeter...high-resolution sea surface temperature pilot project. Oceanography 22, 34–45. Donlon, C.J., Martin, M., Stark, J.D., Roberts- Jones , J., Fiedler, E

From managed care to consumer health insurance: the fall and rise of Aetna.

PubMed

Robinson, James C

2004-01-01

This paper documents Aetna's fall as the nation's largest managed care plan and its subsequent reemergence as a smaller but more profitable multiproduct insurer. The paper emphasizes the transformation in corporate goals, product design, organizational structure, information technology, product mix, premiums, cash flow, net income, and share prices. Disciplined underwriting and pricing have restored the firm to profitability and set the foundation for new growth. The implications for the health care system as a whole are less unambiguously positive.

21 CFR 888.3790 - Wrist joint metal constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Wrist joint metal constrained cemented prosthesis... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3790 Wrist joint metal constrained cemented prosthesis. (a) Identification. A wrist joint metal constrained cemented prosthesis is a...

21 CFR 888.3790 - Wrist joint metal constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Wrist joint metal constrained cemented prosthesis... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3790 Wrist joint metal constrained cemented prosthesis. (a) Identification. A wrist joint metal constrained cemented prosthesis is a...

21 CFR 888.3720 - Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888.3720... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3720 Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device made of silicone...

21 CFR 888.3780 - Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3780 Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device made of...

21 CFR 888.3300 - Hip joint metal constrained cemented or uncemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Hip joint metal constrained cemented or uncemented... HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3300 Hip joint metal constrained cemented or uncemented prosthesis. (a) Identification. A hip joint metal constrained...

21 CFR 888.3720 - Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888.3720... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3720 Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device made of silicone...

21 CFR 888.3780 - Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3780 Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device made of...

21 CFR 888.3780 - Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3780 Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device made of...

21 CFR 888.3780 - Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3780 Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device made of...

21 CFR 888.3720 - Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888.3720... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3720 Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device made of silicone...

21 CFR 888.3720 - Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888.3720... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3720 Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device made of silicone...

21 CFR 888.3780 - Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3780 Wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A wrist joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device made of...

21 CFR 888.3720 - Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis. 888.3720... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3720 Toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis. (a) Identification. A toe joint polymer constrained prosthesis is a device made of silicone...

Human Adaptive Behavior in Common Pool Resource Systems

PubMed Central

Brandt, Gunnar; Merico, Agostino; Vollan, Björn; Schlüter, Achim

2012-01-01

Overexploitation of common-pool resources, resulting from uncooperative harvest behavior, is a major problem in many social-ecological systems. Feedbacks between user behavior and resource productivity induce non-linear dynamics in the harvest and the resource stock that complicate the understanding and the prediction of the co-evolutionary system. With an adaptive model constrained by data from a behavioral economic experiment, we show that users’ expectations of future pay-offs vary as a result of the previous harvest experience, the time-horizon, and the ability to communicate. In our model, harvest behavior is a trait that adjusts to continuously changing potential returns according to a trade-off between the users’ current harvest and the discounted future productivity of the resource. Given a maximum discount factor, which quantifies the users’ perception of future pay-offs, the temporal dynamics of harvest behavior and ecological resource can be predicted. Our results reveal a non-linear relation between the previous harvest and current discount rates, which is most sensitive around a reference harvest level. While higher than expected returns resulting from cooperative harvesting in the past increase the importance of future resource productivity and foster sustainability, harvests below the reference level lead to a downward spiral of increasing overexploitation and disappointing returns. PMID:23285180

Distributional impacts of water markets on small farmers: Is there a safety net?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hadjigeorgalis, Ereney

2008-10-01

The United Nations 2006 human development report states that water markets have not been shown to protect the interests of the poor, while other research has found that water markets have benefited smaller, resource-constrained farmers. This article provides insight into this international development debate by analyzing the impact of water markets on small farmers in the Limarí River Basin of Chile. The analysis is based on data collected from an extensive in-person survey of 316 farmers in the basin. Results show that water markets in the basin have been successful in moving water and water rights from low- to high-valued uses and that resource-constrained farmers use temporary water sales as a safety net. The long-term beneficial effects of water market trades for the most resource-constrained farmers, however, remain unclear. These results are relevant to both Chile and a host of developing countries where agriculture is a predominant activity and water resources are scarce. They are also applicable to the western United States, where water market trades often originate in the agricultural sector.

Resource Constrained Planning of Multiple Projects with Separable Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujii, Susumu; Morita, Hiroshi; Kanawa, Takuya

In this study we consider a resource constrained planning problem of multiple projects with separable activities. This problem provides a plan to process the activities considering a resource availability with time window. We propose a solution algorithm based on the branch and bound method to obtain the optimal solution minimizing the completion time of all projects. We develop three methods for improvement of computational efficiency, that is, to obtain initial solution with minimum slack time rule, to estimate lower bound considering both time and resource constraints and to introduce an equivalence relation for bounding operation. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is demonstrated by numerical examples. Especially as the number of planning projects increases, the average computational time and the number of searched nodes are reduced.

Geopotential Field Anomaly Continuation with Multi-Altitude Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Jeong Woo; Kim, Hyung Rae; von Frese, Ralph; Taylor, Patrick; Rangelova, Elena

2012-01-01

Conventional gravity and magnetic anomaly continuation invokes the standard Poisson boundary condition of a zero anomaly at an infinite vertical distance from the observation surface. This simple continuation is limited, however, where multiple altitude slices of the anomaly field have been observed. Increasingly, areas are becoming available constrained by multiple boundary conditions from surface, airborne, and satellite surveys. This paper describes the implementation of continuation with multi-altitude boundary conditions in Cartesian and spherical coordinates and investigates the advantages and limitations of these applications. Continuations by EPS (Equivalent Point Source) inversion and the FT (Fourier Transform), as well as by SCHA (Spherical Cap Harmonic Analysis) are considered. These methods were selected because they are especially well suited for analyzing multi-altitude data over finite patches of the earth such as covered by the ADMAP database. In general, continuations constrained by multi-altitude data surfaces are invariably superior to those constrained by a single altitude data surface due to anomaly measurement errors and the non-uniqueness of continuation.

Geopotential Field Anomaly Continuation with Multi-Altitude Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Jeong Woo; Kim, Hyung Rae; vonFrese, Ralph; Taylor, Patrick; Rangelova, Elena

2011-01-01

Conventional gravity and magnetic anomaly continuation invokes the standard Poisson boundary condition of a zero anomaly at an infinite vertical distance from the observation surface. This simple continuation is limited, however, where multiple altitude slices of the anomaly field have been observed. Increasingly, areas are becoming available constrained by multiple boundary conditions from surface, airborne, and satellite surveys. This paper describes the implementation of continuation with multi-altitude boundary conditions in Cartesian and spherical coordinates and investigates the advantages and limitations of these applications. Continuations by EPS (Equivalent Point Source) inversion and the FT (Fourier Transform), as well as by SCHA (Spherical Cap Harmonic Analysis) are considered. These methods were selected because they are especially well suited for analyzing multi-altitude data over finite patches of the earth such as covered by the ADMAP database. In general, continuations constrained by multi-altitude data surfaces are invariably superior to those constrained by a single altitude data surface due to anomaly measurement errors and the non-uniqueness of continuation.

Health care: economic impact of caring for geriatric patients.

PubMed

Rich, Preston B; Adams, Sasha D

2015-02-01

National health care expenditures constitute a continuously expanding component of the US economy. Health care resources are distributed unequally among the population, and geriatric patients are disproportionately represented. Characterizing this group of individuals that accounts for the largest percentage of US health spending may facilitate the introduction of targeted interventions in key high-impact areas. Changing demographics, an increasing incidence of chronic disease and progressive disability, rapid technological advances, and systemic market failures in the health care sector combine to drive cost. A multidisciplinary approach will become increasingly necessary to balance the delicate relationship between our constrained supply and increasing demand. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A continuous high resolution water isotope dataset to constrain Alpine water balance estimates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michelon, Anthony; Ceperley, Natalie; Beria, Harsh; Larsen, Josh; Schaefli, Bettina

2017-04-01

Water delivered from Alpine environments is a crucial resource for many countries around the world. Precipitation accumulated during cold seasons as snowpack or glaciers is often an important source of water during warm (dry) season but also a dominant contributor to the annual water balance. In Switzerland, water from high Alpine, glacier-fed catchments provides a large portion of both the hydroelectric power and water supply. However, large uncertainties regarding changes in glacier volume and snow accumulation can have significant impacts on hydrologic, biologic, physical and economic understanding, modeling, and predictions. Accurately quantifying these water resources is therefore an on-going challenge. Given the well-known difficulty observing solid precipitation (snowfall), it can be assumed that most of the uncertainty in water balance estimates for snow-dominated environments is due to: 1) Poor measurement of winter precipitation and 2) A poor estimation of timing and amount of snow melt. It is noteworthy that the timing of melt plays a crucial role even for annual water balance estimates since it might significantly influence melt runoff flow paths and thereby groundwater recharge. We use continuous monitoring of water stable isotopes over the entire annual cycle in an Alpine catchment to shed light on how such observations can constrain water balance estimates. The selected catchment is the experimental Vallon de Nant catchment in the Vaud Alps of Switzerland, where detailed hydrologic observations have recently started in addition to the existing vegetation and soil investigations. The Vallon de Nant (14 km2, and an altitude ranging from 1200 to 3051 m) is a narrow valley that accumulates large amounts of snow during winter. In spring and summer, the river discharge is mainly supplied by snowmelt, with additional inputs from a small glacier and rainfall. Continuous monitoring of water stable isotopes (δO18 and δD) is combined with measurements of climatic and hydrological parameters to quantify water fluxes. Measurements and sampling in such an environment is challenging and has rarely been done at such a high temporal resolution for a full annual cycle. We will discuss the advantage of our approach for 1) evaluating the dominant hydrological processes and pathways in Alpine environments and 2) for reducing the uncertainties of water resource estimation in Alpine catchments.

Small-kernel, constrained least-squares restoration of sampled image data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hazra, Rajeeb; Park, Stephen K.

1992-01-01

Following the work of Park (1989), who extended a derivation of the Wiener filter based on the incomplete discrete/discrete model to a more comprehensive end-to-end continuous/discrete/continuous model, it is shown that a derivation of the constrained least-squares (CLS) filter based on the discrete/discrete model can also be extended to this more comprehensive continuous/discrete/continuous model. This results in an improved CLS restoration filter, which can be efficiently implemented as a small-kernel convolution in the spatial domain.

The Tractable Cognition Thesis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Rooij, Iris

2008-01-01

The recognition that human minds/brains are finite systems with limited resources for computation has led some researchers to advance the "Tractable Cognition thesis": Human cognitive capacities are constrained by computational tractability. This thesis, if true, serves cognitive psychology by constraining the space of computational-level theories…

Configuration of the thermal landscape determines thermoregulatory performance of ectotherms

PubMed Central

Sears, Michael W.; Angilletta, Michael J.; Schuler, Matthew S.; Borchert, Jason; Dilliplane, Katherine F.; Stegman, Monica; Rusch, Travis W.; Mitchell, William A.

2016-01-01

Although most organisms thermoregulate behaviorally, biologists still cannot easily predict whether mobile animals will thermoregulate in natural environments. Current models fail because they ignore how the spatial distribution of thermal resources constrains thermoregulatory performance over space and time. To overcome this limitation, we modeled the spatially explicit movements of animals constrained by access to thermal resources. Our models predict that ectotherms thermoregulate more accurately when thermal resources are dispersed throughout space than when these resources are clumped. This prediction was supported by thermoregulatory behaviors of lizards in outdoor arenas with known distributions of environmental temperatures. Further, simulations showed how the spatial structure of the landscape qualitatively affects responses of animals to climate. Biologists will need spatially explicit models to predict impacts of climate change on local scales. PMID:27601639

The oncology pharmacy in cancer care delivery in a resource-constrained setting in western Kenya.

PubMed

Strother, R Matthew; Rao, Kamakshi V; Gregory, Kelly M; Jakait, Beatrice; Busakhala, Naftali; Schellhase, Ellen; Pastakia, Sonak; Krzyzanowska, Monika; Loehrer, Patrick J

2012-12-01

The movement to deliver cancer care in resource-limited settings is gaining momentum, with particular emphasis on the creation of cost-effective, rational algorithms utilizing affordable chemotherapeutics to treat curable disease. The delivery of cancer care in resource-replete settings is a concerted effort by a team of multidisciplinary care providers. The oncology pharmacy, which is now considered integral to cancer care in resourced medical practice, developed over the last several decades in an effort to limit healthcare provider exposure to workplace hazards and to limit risk to patients. In developing cancer care services in resource-constrained settings, creation of oncology pharmacies can help to both mitigate the risks to practitioners and patients, and also limit the costs of cancer care and the environmental impact of chemotherapeutics. This article describes the experience and lessons learned in establishing a chemotherapy pharmacy in western Kenya.

Physician anger: Leggo dem managed care blues--leadership beyond the era of managed cost.

PubMed

Kirz, H L

1999-01-01

While managed care has caused great disruption, it has also provided physician executives with a natural leadership raison d'être. Managed care, with all its pros and cons, is largely a response to certain unrelenting trends. The core functions of leaders comprise the stewardship of organizations and colleagues in response to these trends. Four trends are explored: (1) The demise of open-ended funding of American health care; (2) continued competition for health care resources; (3) thriving pluralism; and (4) patients continually adjusting to assure themselves of appropriate health care access, quality, and service. In the 21st century, the industry will need a new brand of leader, one capable of balancing the needs of the professionals with the business and accountability requirements of a permanently competitive and resource-constrained service industry. The keys to successful leadership in the future include: (1) Clear service differentiation and a compelling vision to match it; (2) recruiting and retaining top clinical talent, including the required return to physician self-direction and governance; (3) successful partnerships with others outside your organization; and (4) a steady focus on performance in all its dimensions.

InSAR constraints on soil moisture evolution after the March 2015 extreme precipitation event in Chile.

PubMed

Scott, C P; Lohman, R B; Jordan, T E

2017-07-07

Constraints on soil moisture can guide agricultural practices, act as input into weather, flooding and climate models and inform water resource policies. Space-based interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) observations provide near-global coverage, even in the presence of clouds, of proxies for soil moisture derived from the amplitude and phase content of radar imagery. We describe results from a 1.5 year-long InSAR time series spanning the March, 2015 extreme precipitation event in the hyperarid Atacama desert of Chile, constraining the immediate increase in soil moisture and drying out over the following months, as well as the response to a later, smaller precipitation event. The inferred temporal evolution of soil moisture is remarkably consistent between independent, overlapping SAR tracks covering a region ~100 km in extent. The unusually large rain event, combined with the extensive spatial and temporal coverage of the SAR dataset, present an unprecedented opportunity to image the time-evolution of soil characteristics over different surface types. Constraints on the timescale of shallow water storage after precipitation events are increasingly valuable as global water resources continue to be stretched to their limits and communities continue to develop in flood-prone areas.

A Constrained Scheme for High Precision Downward Continuation of Potential Field Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jun; Meng, Xiaohong; Zhou, Zhiwen

2018-04-01

To further improve the accuracy of the downward continuation of potential field data, we present a novel constrained scheme in this paper combining the ideas of the truncated Taylor series expansion, the principal component analysis, the iterative continuation and the prior constraint. In the scheme, the initial downward continued field on the target plane is obtained from the original measured field using the truncated Taylor series expansion method. If the original field was with particularly low signal-to-noise ratio, the principal component analysis is utilized to suppress the noise influence. Then, the downward continued field is upward continued to the plane of the prior information. If the prior information was on the target plane, it should be upward continued over a short distance to get the updated prior information. Next, the difference between the calculated field and the updated prior information is calculated. The cosine attenuation function is adopted to get the scope of constraint and the corresponding modification item. Afterward, a correction is performed on the downward continued field on the target plane by adding the modification item. The correction process is iteratively repeated until the difference meets the convergence condition. The accuracy of the proposed constrained scheme is tested on synthetic data with and without noise. Numerous model tests demonstrate that downward continuation using the constrained strategy can yield more precise results compared to other downward continuation methods without constraints and is relatively insensitive to noise even for downward continuation over a large distance. Finally, the proposed scheme is applied to real magnetic data collected within the Dapai polymetallic deposit from the Fujian province in South China. This practical application also indicates the superiority of the presented scheme.

Solution techniques for transient stability-constrained optimal power flow – Part II

DOE PAGES

Geng, Guangchao; Abhyankar, Shrirang; Wang, Xiaoyu; ...

2017-06-28

Transient stability-constrained optimal power flow is an important emerging problem with power systems pushed to the limits for economic benefits, dense and larger interconnected systems, and reduced inertia due to expected proliferation of renewable energy resources. In this study, two more approaches: single machine equivalent and computational intelligence are presented. Also discussed are various application areas, and future directions in this research area. In conclusion, a comprehensive resource for the available literature, publicly available test systems, and relevant numerical libraries is also provided.

Solution techniques for transient stability-constrained optimal power flow – Part II

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

Geng, Guangchao; Abhyankar, Shrirang; Wang, Xiaoyu

Transient stability-constrained optimal power flow is an important emerging problem with power systems pushed to the limits for economic benefits, dense and larger interconnected systems, and reduced inertia due to expected proliferation of renewable energy resources. In this study, two more approaches: single machine equivalent and computational intelligence are presented. Also discussed are various application areas, and future directions in this research area. In conclusion, a comprehensive resource for the available literature, publicly available test systems, and relevant numerical libraries is also provided.

Optimising multi-product multi-chance-constraint inventory control system with stochastic period lengths and total discount under fuzzy purchasing price and holding costs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allah Taleizadeh, Ata; Niaki, Seyed Taghi Akhavan; Aryanezhad, Mir-Bahador

2010-10-01

While the usual assumptions in multi-periodic inventory control problems are that the orders are placed at the beginning of each period (periodic review) or depending on the inventory level they can happen at any time (continuous review), in this article, we relax these assumptions and assume that the periods between two replenishments of the products are independent and identically distributed random variables. Furthermore, assuming that the purchasing price are triangular fuzzy variables, the quantities of the orders are of integer-type and that there are space and service level constraints, total discount are considered to purchase products and a combination of back-order and lost-sales are taken into account for the shortages. We show that the model of this problem is a fuzzy mixed-integer nonlinear programming type and in order to solve it, a hybrid meta-heuristic intelligent algorithm is proposed. At the end, a numerical example is given to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methodology and to compare its performance with one of the existing algorithms in real world inventory control problems.

Prognoses of diameter and height of trees of eucalyptus using artificial intelligence.

PubMed

Vieira, Giovanni Correia; de Mendonça, Adriano Ribeiro; da Silva, Gilson Fernandes; Zanetti, Sidney Sára; da Silva, Mayra Marques; Dos Santos, Alexandre Rosa

2018-04-01

Models of individual trees are composed of sub-models that generally estimate competition, mortality, and growth in height and diameter of each tree. They are usually adopted when we want more detailed information to estimate forest multiproduct. In these models, estimates of growth in diameter at 1.30m above the ground (DBH) and total height (H) are obtained by regression analysis. Recently, artificial intelligence techniques (AIT) have been used with satisfactory performance in forest measurement. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of two AIT, artificial neural networks and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system, to estimate the growth in DBH and H of eucalyptus trees. We used data of continuous forest inventories of eucalyptus, with annual measurements of DBH, H, and the dominant height of trees of 398 plots, plus two qualitative variables: genetic material and site index. It was observed that the two AIT showed accuracy in growth estimation of DBH and H. Therefore, the two techniques discussed can be used for the prognosis of DBH and H in even-aged eucalyptus stands. The techniques used could also be adapted to other areas and forest species. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Two-stage stochastic unit commitment model including non-generation resources with conditional value-at-risk constraints

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

Huang, Yuping; Zheng, Qipeng P.; Wang, Jianhui

2014-11-01

tThis paper presents a two-stage stochastic unit commitment (UC) model, which integrates non-generation resources such as demand response (DR) and energy storage (ES) while including riskconstraints to balance between cost and system reliability due to the fluctuation of variable genera-tion such as wind and solar power. This paper uses conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) measures to modelrisks associated with the decisions in a stochastic environment. In contrast to chance-constrained modelsrequiring extra binary variables, risk constraints based on CVaR only involve linear constraints and con-tinuous variables, making it more computationally attractive. The proposed models with risk constraintsare able to avoid over-conservative solutions butmore » still ensure system reliability represented by loss ofloads. Then numerical experiments are conducted to study the effects of non-generation resources ongenerator schedules and the difference of total expected generation costs with risk consideration. Sen-sitivity analysis based on reliability parameters is also performed to test the decision preferences ofconfidence levels and load-shedding loss allowances on generation cost reduction.« less

Effective Teaching of Economics: A Constrained Optimization Problem?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hultberg, Patrik T.; Calonge, David Santandreu

2017-01-01

One of the fundamental tenets of economics is that decisions are often the result of optimization problems subject to resource constraints. Consumers optimize utility, subject to constraints imposed by prices and income. As economics faculty, instructors attempt to maximize student learning while being constrained by their own and students'…

Implementing interprofessional education and practice: Lessons from a resource-constrained university.

PubMed

Frantz, J M; Rhoda, A J

2017-03-01

Interprofessional education is seen as a vehicle to facilitate collaborative practice and, therefore, address the complex health needs of populations. A number of concerns have, however, been raised with the implementation of interprofessional education. The three core concerns raised in the literature and addressed in the article include the lack of an explicit framework, challenges operationalising interprofessional education and practice, and the lack of critical mass in terms of human resources to drive activities related to interprofessional education and practice. This article aims to present lessons learnt when attempting to overcome the main challenges and implementing interprofessional education activities in a resource-constrained higher education setting in South Africa. Boyer's model of scholarship, which incorporates research, teaching integration, and application, was used to address the challenge of a lack of a framework in which to conceptualise the activities of interprofressional education. In addition, a scaffolding approach to teaching activities within a curriculum was used to operationalise interprofessional education and practice. Faculty development initiatives were additionally used to develop a critical mass that focused on driving interprofessional education. Lessons learnt highlighted that if a conceptual model is agreed upon by all, it allows for a more focused approach, and both human and financial resources may be channelled towards a common goal which may assist resource-constrained institutions in successfully implementing interprofessional activities.

Novel Formulation of Adaptive MPC as EKF Using ANN Model: Multiproduct Semibatch Polymerization Reactor Case Study.

PubMed

Kamesh, Reddi; Rani, Kalipatnapu Yamuna

2017-12-01

In this paper, a novel formulation for nonlinear model predictive control (MPC) has been proposed incorporating the extended Kalman filter (EKF) control concept using a purely data-driven artificial neural network (ANN) model based on measurements for supervisory control. The proposed scheme consists of two modules focusing on online parameter estimation based on past measurements and control estimation over control horizon based on minimizing the deviation of model output predictions from set points along the prediction horizon. An industrial case study for temperature control of a multiproduct semibatch polymerization reactor posed as a challenge problem has been considered as a test bed to apply the proposed ANN-EKFMPC strategy at supervisory level as a cascade control configuration along with proportional integral controller [ANN-EKFMPC with PI (ANN-EKFMPC-PI)]. The proposed approach is formulated incorporating all aspects of MPC including move suppression factor for control effort minimization and constraint-handling capability including terminal constraints. The nominal stability analysis and offset-free tracking capabilities of the proposed controller are proved. Its performance is evaluated by comparison with a standard MPC-based cascade control approach using the same adaptive ANN model. The ANN-EKFMPC-PI control configuration has shown better controller performance in terms of temperature tracking, smoother input profiles, as well as constraint-handling ability compared with the ANN-MPC with PI approach for two products in summer and winter. The proposed scheme is found to be versatile although it is based on a purely data-driven model with online parameter estimation.

Using the World Health Organization's 4S-Framework to Strengthen National Strategies, Policies and Services to Address Mental Health Problems in Adolescents in Resource-Constrained Settings

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Most adolescents live in resource-constrained countries and their mental health has been less well recognised than other aspects of their health. The World Health Organization's 4-S Framework provides a structure for national initiatives to improve adolescent health through: gathering and using strategic information; developing evidence-informed policies; scaling up provision and use of health services; and strengthening linkages with other government sectors. The aim of this paper is to discuss how the findings of a recent systematic review of mental health problems in adolescents in resource-constrained settings might be applied using the 4-S Framework. Method Analysis of the implications of the findings of a systematic search of the English-language literature for national strategies, policies, services and cross-sectoral linkages to improve the mental health of adolescents in resource-constrained settings. Results Data are available for only 33/112 [29%] resource-constrained countries, but in all where data are available, non-psychotic mental health problems in adolescents are identifiable, prevalent and associated with reduced quality of life, impaired participation and compromised development. In the absence of evidence about effective interventions in these settings expert opinion is that a broad public policy response which addresses direct strategies for prevention, early intervention and treatment; health service and health workforce requirements; social inclusion of marginalised groups of adolescents; and specific education is required. Specific endorsed strategies include public education, parent education, training for teachers and primary healthcare workers, psycho-educational curricula, identification through periodic screening of the most vulnerable and referral for care, and the availability of counsellors or other identified trained staff members in schools from whom adolescents can seek assistance for personal, peer and family relationship problems. Conclusion The predominant endorsed action is not that dedicated mental health services for adolescents are required, but that mental health care should be integrated using cross-sectoral strategies into the communities in which adolescents live, the institutions they attend and the organisations in which they participate. PMID:21923901

A Near-Optimal Distributed QoS Constrained Routing Algorithm for Multichannel Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Lin, Frank Yeong-Sung; Hsiao, Chiu-Han; Yen, Hong-Hsu; Hsieh, Yu-Jen

2013-01-01

One of the important applications in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is video surveillance that includes the tasks of video data processing and transmission. Processing and transmission of image and video data in WSNs has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. This is known as Wireless Visual Sensor Networks (WVSNs). WVSNs are distributed intelligent systems for collecting image or video data with unique performance, complexity, and quality of service challenges. WVSNs consist of a large number of battery-powered and resource constrained camera nodes. End-to-end delay is a very important Quality of Service (QoS) metric for video surveillance application in WVSNs. How to meet the stringent delay QoS in resource constrained WVSNs is a challenging issue that requires novel distributed and collaborative routing strategies. This paper proposes a Near-Optimal Distributed QoS Constrained (NODQC) routing algorithm to achieve an end-to-end route with lower delay and higher throughput. A Lagrangian Relaxation (LR)-based routing metric that considers the “system perspective” and “user perspective” is proposed to determine the near-optimal routing paths that satisfy end-to-end delay constraints with high system throughput. The empirical results show that the NODQC routing algorithm outperforms others in terms of higher system throughput with lower average end-to-end delay and delay jitter. In this paper, for the first time, the algorithm shows how to meet the delay QoS and at the same time how to achieve higher system throughput in stringently resource constrained WVSNs.

Breaking down the barriers of using strong authentication and encryption in resource constrained embedded systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knobler, Ron; Scheffel, Peter; Jackson, Scott; Gaj, Kris; Kaps, Jens Peter

2013-05-01

Various embedded systems, such as unattended ground sensors (UGS), are deployed in dangerous areas, where they are subject to compromise. Since numerous systems contain a network of devices that communicate with each other (often times with commercial off the shelf [COTS] radios), an adversary is able to intercept messages between system devices, which jeopardizes sensitive information transmitted by the system (e.g. location of system devices). Secret key algorithms such as AES are a very common means to encrypt all system messages to a sufficient security level, for which lightweight implementations exist for even very resource constrained devices. However, all system devices must use the appropriate key to encrypt and decrypt messages from each other. While traditional public key algorithms (PKAs), such as RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), provide a sufficiently secure means to provide authentication and a means to exchange keys, these traditional PKAs are not suitable for very resource constrained embedded systems or systems which contain low reliability communication links (e.g. mesh networks), especially as the size of the network increases. Therefore, most UGS and other embedded systems resort to pre-placed keys (PPKs) or other naïve schemes which greatly reduce the security and effectiveness of the overall cryptographic approach. McQ has teamed with the Cryptographic Engineering Research Group (CERG) at George Mason University (GMU) to develop an approach using revolutionary cryptographic techniques that provides both authentication and encryption, but on resource constrained embedded devices, without the burden of large amounts of key distribution or storage.

The Philosophy of the Starship -- Revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parkinson, B.

2014-06-01

The concept of a long-term, open ended project like the starship raises questions about why the human race should engage in such an endeavour. Thinking about such a project inevitably means considering the effects of change ­ not only in our technology, but also in our understanding of the world and even to ourselves. Project Daedalus was carried out in a time before the "Modern Age" with its instant communication, availability of information and massive computing resources, and the change is continuing. Considerations of possible encounters with extraterrestrials and even our evolution into "post-human" societies constrain us not to think about the future of an interstellar humanity but the future of creative consciousness.

Resource and activity substitutes for recreational salmon fishing in New Zealand

Treesearch

Bo Shelby

1985-01-01

Substitutes become an issue when people are constrained from participating in desired activities. This study investigates and compares activity and resource substitutes for recreational salmon fishing in New Zealand. Results suggest that resource substitution and inventories need more attention, user perceptions of substitutes are important, substitutes can be...

Landscape Simplification Constrains Adult Size in a Native Ground-Nesting Bee

PubMed Central

Renauld, Miles; Hutchinson, Alena; Loeb, Gregory; Poveda, Katja; Connelly, Heather

2016-01-01

Bees provide critical pollination services to 87% of angiosperm plants; however, the reliability of these services may become threatened as bee populations decline. Agricultural intensification, resulting in the simplification of environments at the landscape scale, greatly changes the quality and quantity of resources available for female bees to provision their offspring. These changes may alter or constrain the tradeoffs in maternal investment allocation between offspring size, number and sex required to maximize fitness. Here we investigate the relationship between landscape scale agricultural intensification and the size and number of individuals within a wild ground nesting bee species, Andrena nasonii. We show that agricultural intensification at the landscape scale was associated with a reduction in the average size of field collected A. nasonii adults in highly agricultural landscapes but not with the number of individuals collected. Small females carried significantly smaller (40%) pollen loads than large females, which is likely to have consequences for subsequent offspring production and fitness. Thus, landscape simplification is likely to constrain allocation of resources to offspring through a reduction in the overall quantity, quality and distribution of resources. PMID:26943127

Landscape Simplification Constrains Adult Size in a Native Ground-Nesting Bee.

PubMed

Renauld, Miles; Hutchinson, Alena; Loeb, Gregory; Poveda, Katja; Connelly, Heather

2016-01-01

Bees provide critical pollination services to 87% of angiosperm plants; however, the reliability of these services may become threatened as bee populations decline. Agricultural intensification, resulting in the simplification of environments at the landscape scale, greatly changes the quality and quantity of resources available for female bees to provision their offspring. These changes may alter or constrain the tradeoffs in maternal investment allocation between offspring size, number and sex required to maximize fitness. Here we investigate the relationship between landscape scale agricultural intensification and the size and number of individuals within a wild ground nesting bee species, Andrena nasonii. We show that agricultural intensification at the landscape scale was associated with a reduction in the average size of field collected A. nasonii adults in highly agricultural landscapes but not with the number of individuals collected. Small females carried significantly smaller (40%) pollen loads than large females, which is likely to have consequences for subsequent offspring production and fitness. Thus, landscape simplification is likely to constrain allocation of resources to offspring through a reduction in the overall quantity, quality and distribution of resources.

An Authentication and Key Management Mechanism for Resource Constrained Devices in IEEE 802.11-based IoT Access Networks.

PubMed

Kim, Ki-Wook; Han, Youn-Hee; Min, Sung-Gi

2017-09-21

Many Internet of Things (IoT) services utilize an IoT access network to connect small devices with remote servers. They can share an access network with standard communication technology, such as IEEE 802.11ah. However, an authentication and key management (AKM) mechanism for resource constrained IoT devices using IEEE 802.11ah has not been proposed as yet. We therefore propose a new AKM mechanism for an IoT access network, which is based on IEEE 802.11 key management with the IEEE 802.1X authentication mechanism. The proposed AKM mechanism does not require any pre-configured security information between the access network domain and the IoT service domain. It considers the resource constraints of IoT devices, allowing IoT devices to delegate the burden of AKM processes to a powerful agent. The agent has sufficient power to support various authentication methods for the access point, and it performs cryptographic functions for the IoT devices. Performance analysis shows that the proposed mechanism greatly reduces computation costs, network costs, and memory usage of the resource-constrained IoT device as compared to the existing IEEE 802.11 Key Management with the IEEE 802.1X authentication mechanism.

An Authentication and Key Management Mechanism for Resource Constrained Devices in IEEE 802.11-based IoT Access Networks

PubMed Central

Han, Youn-Hee; Min, Sung-Gi

2017-01-01

Many Internet of Things (IoT) services utilize an IoT access network to connect small devices with remote servers. They can share an access network with standard communication technology, such as IEEE 802.11ah. However, an authentication and key management (AKM) mechanism for resource constrained IoT devices using IEEE 802.11ah has not been proposed as yet. We therefore propose a new AKM mechanism for an IoT access network, which is based on IEEE 802.11 key management with the IEEE 802.1X authentication mechanism. The proposed AKM mechanism does not require any pre-configured security information between the access network domain and the IoT service domain. It considers the resource constraints of IoT devices, allowing IoT devices to delegate the burden of AKM processes to a powerful agent. The agent has sufficient power to support various authentication methods for the access point, and it performs cryptographic functions for the IoT devices. Performance analysis shows that the proposed mechanism greatly reduces computation costs, network costs, and memory usage of the resource-constrained IoT device as compared to the existing IEEE 802.11 Key Management with the IEEE 802.1X authentication mechanism. PMID:28934152

Working Memory in Children: A Time-Constrained Functioning Similar to Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Portrat, Sophie; Camos, Valerie; Barrouillet, Pierre

2009-01-01

Within the time-based resource-sharing (TBRS) model, we tested a new conception of the relationships between processing and storage in which the core mechanisms of working memory (WM) are time constrained. However, our previous studies were restricted to adults. The current study aimed at demonstrating that these mechanisms are present and…

Stochastic Averaging for Constrained Optimization With Application to Online Resource Allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Tianyi; Mokhtari, Aryan; Wang, Xin; Ribeiro, Alejandro; Giannakis, Georgios B.

2017-06-01

Existing approaches to resource allocation for nowadays stochastic networks are challenged to meet fast convergence and tolerable delay requirements. The present paper leverages online learning advances to facilitate stochastic resource allocation tasks. By recognizing the central role of Lagrange multipliers, the underlying constrained optimization problem is formulated as a machine learning task involving both training and operational modes, with the goal of learning the sought multipliers in a fast and efficient manner. To this end, an order-optimal offline learning approach is developed first for batch training, and it is then generalized to the online setting with a procedure termed learn-and-adapt. The novel resource allocation protocol permeates benefits of stochastic approximation and statistical learning to obtain low-complexity online updates with learning errors close to the statistical accuracy limits, while still preserving adaptation performance, which in the stochastic network optimization context guarantees queue stability. Analysis and simulated tests demonstrate that the proposed data-driven approach improves the delay and convergence performance of existing resource allocation schemes.

Resource Management in Constrained Dynamic Situations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seok, Jinwoo

Resource management is considered in this dissertation for systems with limited resources, possibly combined with other system constraints, in unpredictably dynamic environments. Resources may represent fuel, power, capabilities, energy, and so on. Resource management is important for many practical systems; usually, resources are limited, and their use must be optimized. Furthermore, systems are often constrained, and constraints must be satisfied for safe operation. Simplistic resource management can result in poor use of resources and failure of the system. Furthermore, many real-world situations involve dynamic environments. Many traditional problems are formulated based on the assumptions of given probabilities or perfect knowledge of future events. However, in many cases, the future is completely unknown, and information on or probabilities about future events are not available. In other words, we operate in unpredictably dynamic situations. Thus, a method is needed to handle dynamic situations without knowledge of the future, but few formal methods have been developed to address them. Thus, the goal is to design resource management methods for constrained systems, with limited resources, in unpredictably dynamic environments. To this end, resource management is organized hierarchically into two levels: 1) planning, and 2) control. In the planning level, the set of tasks to be performed is scheduled based on limited resources to maximize resource usage in unpredictably dynamic environments. In the control level, the system controller is designed to follow the schedule by considering all the system constraints for safe and efficient operation. Consequently, this dissertation is mainly divided into two parts: 1) planning level design, based on finite state machines, and 2) control level methods, based on model predictive control. We define a recomposable restricted finite state machine to handle limited resource situations and unpredictably dynamic environments for the planning level. To obtain a policy, dynamic programing is applied, and to obtain a solution, limited breadth-first search is applied to the recomposable restricted finite state machine. A multi-function phased array radar resource management problem and an unmanned aerial vehicle patrolling problem are treated using recomposable restricted finite state machines. Then, we use model predictive control for the control level, because it allows constraint handling and setpoint tracking for the schedule. An aircraft power system management problem is treated that aims to develop an integrated control system for an aircraft gas turbine engine and electrical power system using rate-based model predictive control. Our results indicate that at the planning level, limited breadth-first search for recomposable restricted finite state machines generates good scheduling solutions in limited resource situations and unpredictably dynamic environments. The importance of cooperation in the planning level is also verified. At the control level, a rate-based model predictive controller allows good schedule tracking and safe operations. The importance of considering the system constraints and interactions between the subsystems is indicated. For the best resource management in constrained dynamic situations, the planning level and the control level need to be considered together.

Exploring constrained quantum control landscapes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, Katharine W.; Rabitz, Herschel

2012-10-01

The broad success of optimally controlling quantum systems with external fields has been attributed to the favorable topology of the underlying control landscape, where the landscape is the physical observable as a function of the controls. The control landscape can be shown to contain no suboptimal trapping extrema upon satisfaction of reasonable physical assumptions, but this topological analysis does not hold when significant constraints are placed on the control resources. This work employs simulations to explore the topology and features of the control landscape for pure-state population transfer with a constrained class of control fields. The fields are parameterized in terms of a set of uniformly spaced spectral frequencies, with the associated phases acting as the controls. This restricted family of fields provides a simple illustration for assessing the impact of constraints upon seeking optimal control. Optimization results reveal that the minimum number of phase controls necessary to assure a high yield in the target state has a special dependence on the number of accessible energy levels in the quantum system, revealed from an analysis of the first- and second-order variation of the yield with respect to the controls. When an insufficient number of controls and/or a weak control fluence are employed, trapping extrema and saddle points are observed on the landscape. When the control resources are sufficiently flexible, solutions producing the globally maximal yield are found to form connected "level sets" of continuously variable control fields that preserve the yield. These optimal yield level sets are found to shrink to isolated points on the top of the landscape as the control field fluence is decreased, and further reduction of the fluence turns these points into suboptimal trapping extrema on the landscape. Although constrained control fields can come in many forms beyond the cases explored here, the behavior found in this paper is illustrative of the impacts that constraints can introduce.

More for less: best patient outcomes in a time of financial restraint.

PubMed

Merry, Alan F; Hamblin, Richard

2012-12-01

In many countries, expenditure on health care has increased dramatically over recent years. There have been parallel improvements in many indicators of population health, but too many patients continue to be harmed by health care or receive care that is supply-sensitive, ineffective, or poorly aligned with their needs and values. In addition to human costs, this translates into substantial waste of resource. The world has recently faced economic challenges unseen since the great depression of the 1930s. The financial situation of a country can, like a business, be expressed in three sets of accounts: statements of financial position, financial performance, and cash flow. A key test of solvency is the ability to pay debts as they become due (whether from current account or further borrowing). In general, this is a function of public debt, which for many countries has become very high. However, private debt and net financial position are also relevant to a country's financial prospects. Ultimately, borrowing is not sustainable indefinitely and given limited prospects for growth in income in the coming years, most countries will likely need to reduce or at least constrain expenditure on health care. This implies obtaining better value from the resources that are available, and we suggest that the key to this lies in improving the quality of care and, in particular, reducing variation in health care. In the United States, new legislation promoting accountable care organizations may help to do this. Cardiac surgery can be particularly effective in extending patients' lives and in improving the quality of their lives. Our ability to continue to provide cardiac surgery in the face of constrained economic times will depend on engaging more actively in ensuring that what we do is the right thing: that our operations are effective and that they truly meet the needs and values of our patients. It will also depend on doing these operations right the first time.

More for Less: Best Patient Outcomes in a Time of Financial Restraint

PubMed Central

Merry, Alan F.; Hamblin, Richard

2012-01-01

Abstract: In many countries, expenditure on health care has increased dramatically over recent years. There have been parallel improvements in many indicators of population health, but too many patients continue to be harmed by health care or receive care that is supply-sensitive, ineffective, or poorly aligned with their needs and values. In addition to human costs, this translates into substantial waste of resource. The world has recently faced economic challenges unseen since the great depression of the 1930s. The financial situation of a country can, like a business, be expressed in three sets of accounts: statements of financial position, financial performance, and cash flow. A key test of solvency is the ability to pay debts as they become due (whether from current account or further borrowing). In general, this is a function of public debt, which for many countries has become very high. However, private debt and net financial position are also relevant to a country’s financial prospects. Ultimately, borrowing is not sustainable indefinitely and given limited prospects for growth in income in the coming years, most countries will likely need to reduce or at least constrain expenditure on health care. This implies obtaining better value from the resources that are available, and we suggest that the key to this lies in improving the quality of care and, in particular, reducing variation in health care. In the United States, new legislation promoting accountable care organizations may help to do this. Cardiac surgery can be particularly effective in extending patients’ lives and in improving the quality of their lives. Our ability to continue to provide cardiac surgery in the face of constrained economic times will depend on engaging more actively in ensuring that what we do is the right thing: that our operations are effective and that they truly meet the needs and values of our patients. It will also depend on doing these operations right the first time. PMID:23441557

Human Resource Development Issues in the Implementation of the Western China Development Strategy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xiao, Mingzheng

2007-01-01

This paper systematically illustrates the value and role of human resource development in the implementation of the Western China development strategy. It analyzes in details some current human resource issues constraining the implementation of the Western China development strategy and those on the sustainable development process of economic…

Communities and School Ratings: Examining Geography of Opportunity in an Urban School District Located in a Resource-Rich City

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Terrance L.; Sánchez, Joanna; Germain, Emily

2017-01-01

Research on geography of opportunity documents how residential patterns influence students' access to equitable educational opportunities and resources. This scholarship often highlights how geography reinforces educational inequity in urban school districts located in resource-constrained cities. Yet, less research has explored how the geography…

A New Continuous-Time Equality-Constrained Optimization to Avoid Singularity.

PubMed

Quan, Quan; Cai, Kai-Yuan

2016-02-01

In equality-constrained optimization, a standard regularity assumption is often associated with feasible point methods, namely, that the gradients of constraints are linearly independent. In practice, the regularity assumption may be violated. In order to avoid such a singularity, a new projection matrix is proposed based on which a feasible point method to continuous-time, equality-constrained optimization is developed. First, the equality constraint is transformed into a continuous-time dynamical system with solutions that always satisfy the equality constraint. Second, a new projection matrix without singularity is proposed to realize the transformation. An update (or say a controller) is subsequently designed to decrease the objective function along the solutions of the transformed continuous-time dynamical system. The invariance principle is then applied to analyze the behavior of the solution. Furthermore, the proposed method is modified to address cases in which solutions do not satisfy the equality constraint. Finally, the proposed optimization approach is applied to three examples to demonstrate its effectiveness.

Integrated simulation of consumptive use and land subsidence in the Central Valley, California, for the past and for a future subject to urbanization and climate change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hanson, Randall T.; Flint, Alan L.; Faunt, Claudia C.; Cayan, Daniel R.; Flint, Lorraine E.; Leake, Stanley A.; Schmid, Wolfgang

2010-01-01

Competition for water resources is growing throughout California, particularly in the Central Valley where about 20% of all groundwater used in the United States is consumed for agriculture and urban water supply. Continued agricultural use coupled with urban growth and potential climate change would result in continued depletion of groundwater storage and associated land subsidence throughout the Central Valley. For 1962-2003, an estimated 1,230 hectare meters (hm3) of water was withdrawn from fine-grained beds, resulting in more than three meters (m) of additional land subsidence locally. Linked physically-based, supply-constrained and emanddriven hydrologic models were used to simulate future hydrologic conditions under the A2 climate projection scenario that assumes continued "business as usual" greenhouse gas emissions. Results indicate an increased subsidence in the second half of the twenty-first century. Potential simulated land subsidence extends into urban areas and the eastern side of the valley where future surface-water deliveries may be depleted. 

Public Input on Stream Monitoring in the Willamette Valley, Oregon

EPA Science Inventory

The goal of environmental monitoring is to track resource condition, and thereby support environmental knowledge and management. Judgments are inevitable during monitoring design regarding what resource features will be assessed. Constraining what to measure given a complex envir...

Public input on stream monitoring in the Willamette Valley, Oregon - ACES

EPA Science Inventory

The goal of environmental monitoring is to track resource condition, and thereby support environmental knowledge and management. Judgments are inevitable during monitoring design regarding what resource features will be assessed. Constraining what to measure given a complex envir...

What Do They Want to Know? Public Input on Stream Monitoring

EPA Science Inventory

The goal of environmental monitoring is to track resource condition, and thereby support environmental knowledge and management. Judgments are inevitable during monitoring design regarding what resource features will be assessed. Constraining what to measure in a complex environm...

The professional responsibility model of physician leadership.

PubMed

Chervenak, Frank A; McCullough, Laurence B; Brent, Robert L

2013-02-01

The challenges physician leaders confront today call to mind Odysseus' challenge to steer his fragile ship successfully between Scylla and Charybdis. The modern Scylla takes the form of ever-increasing pressures to provide more resources for professional liability, compliance, patient satisfaction, central administration, and a host of other demands. The modern Charybdis takes the form of ever-increasing pressures to procure resources when fewer are available and competition is continuously increasing the need for resources, including managed care, hospital administration, payers, employers, patients who are uninsured or underinsured, research funding, and philanthropy. This publication provides physician leaders with guidance for identifying and managing common leadership challenges on the basis of the professional responsibility model of physician leadership. This model is based on Plato's concept of leadership as a life of service and the professional medical ethics of Drs John Gregory and Thomas Percival. Four professional virtues should guide physician leaders: self-effacement, self-sacrifice, compassion, and integrity. These professional virtues direct physician leaders to treat colleagues as ends in themselves, to provide justice-based resource management, to use power constrained by medical professionalism, and to prevent and respond effectively to organizational dysfunction. The professional responsibility model guides physician leaders by proving an explicit "tool kit" to complement managerial skills. Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

An Efficient Approach to Improve the Usability of e-Learning Resources: The Role of Heuristic Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davids, Mogamat Razeen; Chikte, Usuf M. E.; Halperin, Mitchell L.

2013-01-01

Optimizing the usability of e-learning materials is necessary to maximize their potential educational impact, but this is often neglected when time and other resources are limited, leading to the release of materials that cannot deliver the desired learning outcomes. As clinician-teachers in a resource-constrained environment, we investigated…

A Two-stage Approach for Water Demand Prediction under Constrained total water use and Water Environmental Capacity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Y.; Xiaohong, C.; Lin, K.; Wang, Z.

2016-12-01

Water demand (WD) is the basis for water allocation (WA) because it can fully reflect the pressure on water resources from population and socioeconomic development. To deal with the great uncertainties and the absence of consideration of water environmental capacity (WEC) in traditional water demand prediction methods, e.g. Statistical models, System Dynamics and quota method, this study develops a two-stage approach to predict WD under constrained total water use from the perspective of ecological restraint. Regional total water demand (RTWD) is constrained by WEC, available water resources amount and total water use quota. Based on RTWD, WD is allocated in two stages according to the game theory, including predicting sub regional total water demand (SRWD) by calculating the sub region weights based on the selected indicators of socioeconomic development and predicting industrial water demand (IWD) according to the game theory. Taking the Dongjiang river basin, South China as an example of WD prediction, according to its constrained total water use quota and WEC, RTWD in 2020 is 9.83 billion m3, and IWD for agriculture, industry, service, ecology (off-stream), and domesticity are 2.32 billion m3, 3.79 billion m3, 0.75 billion m3 , 0.18 billion m3and 1.79 billion m3 respectively. The results from this study provide useful insights for effective water allocation under climate change and the strict policy of water resources management.

Identity formation and motivation of new faculty developers: A replication study in a resource constrained university.

PubMed

O'Sullivan, Patricia S; Mkony, Charles; Beard, Jessica; Irby, David M

2016-09-01

Previous studies on the identity development and motivation of faculty developers have occurred with seasoned developers in a research-rich environment. We sought to determine if the findings of those studies could be replicated with novice faculty developers in a resource-constrained environment. We interviewed 15 novice faculty developers from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) who, at the time, had led faculty development activities for no more than two years. We conducted a qualitative analysis sensitized by the previous findings. Results were very similar to the previous work. The developers described compartmentalized, hierarchical, and merged identities. The impact was on their teaching as well as on others at MUHAS and on the institution itself. The motivations related to mastery, purpose, duty, satisfaction, and relatedness. This replication led us to conclude that identity development as a faculty developer occurs even in novice developers who do faculty development as only part of their work and despite constrained resources and a different culture. These developers find the work richly rewarding and their motivations benefit the institution. This body of research highlights how faculty development provides benefits to the institution as well as engaging career opportunities.

The epidemiology of substance use among street children in resource-constrained settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Embleton, Lonnie; Mwangi, Ann; Vreeman, Rachel; Ayuku, David; Braitstein, Paula

2013-01-01

Aims To compile and analyze critically the literature published on street children and substance use in resource-constrained settings. Methods We searched the literature systematically and used meta-analytical procedures to synthesize literature that met the review’s inclusion criteria. Pooled-prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using the random-effects model for life-time substance use by geographical region as well as by type of substance used. Results Fifty studies from 22 countries were included into the review. Meta-analysis of combined life-time substance use from 27 studies yielded an overall drug use pooled-prevalence estimate of 60% (95% CI = 51–69%). Studies from 14 countries contributed to an overall pooled prevalence for street children’s reported inhalant use of 47% (95% CI = 36–58%). This review reveals significant gaps in the literature, including a dearth of data on physical and mental health outcomes, HIV and mortality in association with street children’s substance use. Conclusions Street children from resource-constrained settings reported high life-time substance use. Inhalants are the predominant substances used, followed by tobacco, alcohol and marijuana. PMID:23844822

The Ha Noi Expert Statement: recognition of maternal mental health in resource-constrained settings is essential for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

PubMed

Fisher, Jane Rw; de Mello, Meena Cabral; Izutsu, Takashi; Tran, Tuan

2011-01-07

Mental health problems in women during pregnancy and after childbirth and their adverse consequences for child health and development have received sustained detailed attention in high-income countries. In contrast, evidence has only been generated more recently in resource-constrained settings.In June 2007 the United Nations Population Fund, the World Health Organization, the Key Centre for Women's Health in Society, a WHO Collaborating Centre for Women's Health and the Research and Training Centre for Community Development in Vietnam convened the first international expert meeting on maternal mental health and child health and development in resource-constrained settings. It aimed to appraise the evidence about the nature, prevalence and risks for common perinatal mental disorders in women; the consequences of these for child health and development and ameliorative strategies in these contexts.The substantial disparity in rates of perinatal mental disorders between women living in high- and low-income settings, suggests social rather than biological determinants. Risks in resource-constrained contexts include: poverty; crowded living situations; limited reproductive autonomy; unintended pregnancy; lack of empathy from the intimate partner; rigid gender stereotypes about responsibility for household work and infant care; family violence; poor physical health and discrimination. Development is adversely affected if infants lack day-to-day interactions with a caregiver who can interpret their cues, and respond effectively. Women with compromised mental health are less able to provide sensitive, responsive infant care. In resource-constrained settings infants whose mothers are depressed are less likely to thrive and to receive optimal care than those whose mothers are well.The meeting outcome is the Hanoi Expert Statement (Additional file 1). It argues that the Millennium Development Goals to improve maternal health, reduce child mortality, promote gender equality and empower women, achieve universal primary education and eradicate extreme poverty and hunger cannot be attained without a specific focus on women's mental health. It was co-signed by the international expert group; relevant WHO and UNFPA departmental representatives and international authorities. They concur that social rather than medical responses are required. Improvements in maternal mental health require a cross-sectoral response addressing poverty reduction, women's rights, social protection, violence prevention, education and gender in addition to health.

Forecast of Future Aviation Fuels. Part 1: Scenarios

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

English, J. M.; Liu, C. Y.; Smith, J. L.; Yin, A. K. K.; Pan, G. A.; Ayati, M. B.; Gyamfi, M.; Arabzadah, M. R.

1978-01-01

A preliminary set of scenarios is described for depicting the air transport industry as it grows and changes, up to the year 2025. This provides the background for predicting the needs for future aviation fuels to meet the requirements of the industry as new basic sources, such as oil shale and coal, which are utilized to supplement petroleum. Five scenarios are written to encompass a range of futures from a serious resource-constrained economy to a continuous and optimistic economic growth. A unique feature is the choice of one immediate range scenario which is based on a serious interruption of economic growth occasioned by an energy shortfall. This is presumed to occur due to lags in starting a synfuels program.

MIROS: A Hybrid Real-Time Energy-Efficient Operating System for the Resource-Constrained Wireless Sensor Nodes

PubMed Central

Liu, Xing; Hou, Kun Mean; de Vaulx, Christophe; Shi, Hongling; Gholami, Khalid El

2014-01-01

Operating system (OS) technology is significant for the proliferation of the wireless sensor network (WSN). With an outstanding OS; the constrained WSN resources (processor; memory and energy) can be utilized efficiently. Moreover; the user application development can be served soundly. In this article; a new hybrid; real-time; memory-efficient; energy-efficient; user-friendly and fault-tolerant WSN OS MIROS is designed and implemented. MIROS implements the hybrid scheduler and the dynamic memory allocator. Real-time scheduling can thus be achieved with low memory consumption. In addition; it implements a mid-layer software EMIDE (Efficient Mid-layer Software for User-Friendly Application Development Environment) to decouple the WSN application from the low-level system. The application programming process can consequently be simplified and the application reprogramming performance improved. Moreover; it combines both the software and the multi-core hardware techniques to conserve the energy resources; improve the node reliability; as well as achieve a new debugging method. To evaluate the performance of MIROS; it is compared with the other WSN OSes (TinyOS; Contiki; SOS; openWSN and mantisOS) from different OS concerns. The final evaluation results prove that MIROS is suitable to be used even on the tight resource-constrained WSN nodes. It can support the real-time WSN applications. Furthermore; it is energy efficient; user friendly and fault tolerant. PMID:25248069

'One health' and development priorities in resource-constrained countries: policy lessons from avian and pandemic influenza preparedness in Zambia.

PubMed

Mwacalimba, Kennedy Kapala; Green, Judith

2015-03-01

'One World, One Health' has become a key rallying theme for the integration of public health and animal health priorities, particularly in the governance of pandemic-scale zoonotic infectious disease threats. However, the policy challenges of integrating public health and animal health priorities in the context of trade and development issues remain relatively unexamined, and few studies to date have explored the implications of global disease governance for resource-constrained countries outside the main centres of zoonotic outbreaks. This article draws on a policy study of national level avian and pandemic influenza preparedness between 2005 and 2009 across the sectors of trade, health and agriculture in Zambia. We highlight the challenges of integrating disease control interventions amidst trade and developmental realities in resource-poor environments. One Health prioritizes disease risk mitigation, sidelining those trade and development narratives which speak to broader public health concerns. We show how locally important trade and development imperatives were marginalized in Zambia, limiting the effectiveness of pandemic preparedness. Our findings are likely to be generalizable to other resource-constrained countries, and suggest that effective disease governance requires alignment with trade and development sectors, as well as integration of veterinary and public health sectors. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2014; all rights reserved.

Regionalization as an approach to regulatory systems strengthening: a case study in CARICOM member states.

PubMed

Preston, Charles; Chahal, Harinder S; Porrás, Analia; Cargill, Lucette; Hinds, Maryam; Olowokure, Babatunde; Cummings, Rudolph; Hospedales, James

2016-05-01

Improving basic capacities for regulation of medicines and health technologies through regulatory systems strengthening is particularly challenging in resource-constrained settings. "Regionalization"-an approach in which countries with common histories, cultural values, languages, and economic conditions work together to establish more efficient systems-may be one answer. This report describes the Caribbean Regulatory System (CRS), a regionalization initiative being implemented in the mostly small countries of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM). This initiative is an innovative effort to strengthen regulatory systems in the Caribbean, where capacity is limited compared to other subregions of the Americas. The initiative's concept and design includes a number of features and steps intended to enhance sustainability in resource-constrained contexts. The latter include 1) leveraging existing platforms for centralized cooperation, governance, and infrastructure; 2) strengthening regulatory capacities with the largest potential public health impact; 3) incorporating policies that promote reliance on reference authorities; 4) changing the system to encourage industry to market their products in CARICOM (e.g., using a centralized portal of entry to reduce regulatory burdens); and 5) building human resource capacity. If implemented properly, the CRS will be self-sustaining through user fees. The experience and lessons learned thus far in implementing this initiative, described in this report, can serve as a case study for the development of similar regulatory strengthening initiatives in resource-constrained environments.

MIROS: a hybrid real-time energy-efficient operating system for the resource-constrained wireless sensor nodes.

PubMed

Liu, Xing; Hou, Kun Mean; de Vaulx, Christophe; Shi, Hongling; El Gholami, Khalid

2014-09-22

Operating system (OS) technology is significant for the proliferation of the wireless sensor network (WSN). With an outstanding OS; the constrained WSN resources (processor; memory and energy) can be utilized efficiently. Moreover; the user application development can be served soundly. In this article; a new hybrid; real-time; memory-efficient; energy-efficient; user-friendly and fault-tolerant WSN OS MIROS is designed and implemented. MIROS implements the hybrid scheduler and the dynamic memory allocator. Real-time scheduling can thus be achieved with low memory consumption. In addition; it implements a mid-layer software EMIDE (Efficient Mid-layer Software for User-Friendly Application Development Environment) to decouple the WSN application from the low-level system. The application programming process can consequently be simplified and the application reprogramming performance improved. Moreover; it combines both the software and the multi-core hardware techniques to conserve the energy resources; improve the node reliability; as well as achieve a new debugging method. To evaluate the performance of MIROS; it is compared with the other WSN OSes (TinyOS; Contiki; SOS; openWSN and mantisOS) from different OS concerns. The final evaluation results prove that MIROS is suitable to be used even on the tight resource-constrained WSN nodes. It can support the real-time WSN applications. Furthermore; it is energy efficient; user friendly and fault tolerant.

Low-Cost Virtual Laboratory Workbench for Electronic Engineering

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Achumba, Ifeyinwa E.; Azzi, Djamel; Stocker, James

2010-01-01

The laboratory component of undergraduate engineering education poses challenges in resource constrained engineering faculties. The cost, time, space and physical presence requirements of the traditional (real) laboratory approach are the contributory factors. These resource constraints may mitigate the acquisition of meaningful laboratory…

A Multiuser Manufacturing Resource Service Composition Method Based on the Bees Algorithm

PubMed Central

Xie, Yongquan; Zhou, Zude; Pham, Duc Truong; Xu, Wenjun; Ji, Chunqian

2015-01-01

In order to realize an optimal resource service allocation in current open and service-oriented manufacturing model, multiuser resource service composition (RSC) is modeled as a combinational and constrained multiobjective problem. The model takes into account both subjective and objective quality of service (QoS) properties as representatives to evaluate a solution. The QoS properties aggregation and evaluation techniques are based on existing researches. The basic Bees Algorithm is tailored for finding a near optimal solution to the model, since the basic version is only proposed to find a desired solution in continuous domain and thus not suitable for solving the problem modeled in our study. Particular rules are designed for handling the constraints and finding Pareto optimality. In addition, the established model introduces a trusted service set to each user so that the algorithm could start by searching in the neighbor of more reliable service chains (known as seeds) than those randomly generated. The advantages of these techniques are validated by experiments in terms of success rate, searching speed, ability of avoiding ingenuity, and so forth. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in handling multiuser RSC problems. PMID:26339232

Reviving the carbohydrate economy via multi-product lignocellulose biorefineries.

PubMed

Zhang, Y-H Percival

2008-05-01

Before the industrial revolution, the global economy was largely based on living carbon from plants. Now the economy is mainly dependent on fossil fuels (dead carbon). Biomass is the only sustainable bioresource that can provide sufficient transportation fuels and renewable materials at the same time. Cellulosic ethanol production from less costly and most abundant lignocellulose is confronted with three main obstacles: (1) high processing costs (dollars /gallon of ethanol), (2) huge capital investment (dollars approximately 4-10/gallon of annual ethanol production capacity), and (3) a narrow margin between feedstock and product prices. Both lignocellulose fractionation technology and effective co-utilization of acetic acid, lignin and hemicellulose will be vital to the realization of profitable lignocellulose biorefineries, since co-product revenues would increase the margin up to 6.2-fold, where all purified lignocellulose co-components have higher selling prices (> approximately 1.0/kg) than ethanol ( approximately 0.5/kg of ethanol). Isolation of large amounts of lignocellulose components through lignocellulose fractionation would stimulate R&D in lignin and hemicellulose applications, as well as promote new markets for lignin- and hemicellulose-derivative products. Lignocellulose resource would be sufficient to replace significant fractionations (e.g., 30%) of transportation fuels through liquid biofuels, internal combustion engines in the short term, and would provide 100% transportation fuels by sugar-hydrogen-fuel cell systems in the long term.

Robust media processing on programmable power-constrained systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McVeigh, Jeff

2005-03-01

To achieve consumer-level quality, media systems must process continuous streams of audio and video data while maintaining exacting tolerances on sampling rate, jitter, synchronization, and latency. While it is relatively straightforward to design fixed-function hardware implementations to satisfy worst-case conditions, there is a growing trend to utilize programmable multi-tasking solutions for media applications. The flexibility of these systems enables support for multiple current and future media formats, which can reduce design costs and time-to-market. This paper provides practical engineering solutions to achieve robust media processing on such systems, with specific attention given to power-constrained platforms. The techniques covered in this article utilize the fundamental concepts of algorithm and software optimization, software/hardware partitioning, stream buffering, hierarchical prioritization, and system resource and power management. A novel enhancement to dynamically adjust processor voltage and frequency based on buffer fullness to reduce system power consumption is examined in detail. The application of these techniques is provided in a case study of a portable video player implementation based on a general-purpose processor running a non real-time operating system that achieves robust playback of synchronized H.264 video and MP3 audio from local storage and streaming over 802.11.

Barriers and facilitators to Electronic Medical Record (EMR) use in an urban slum.

PubMed

Jawhari, Badeia; Keenan, Louanne; Zakus, David; Ludwick, Dave; Isaac, Abraam; Saleh, Abdullah; Hayward, Robert

2016-10-01

Rapid urbanization has led to the growth of urban slums and increased healthcare burdens for vulnerable populations. Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) have the potential to improve continuity of care for slum residents, but their implementation is complicated by technical and non-technical limitations. This study sought practical insights about facilitators and barriers to EMR implementation in urban slum environments. Descriptive qualitative method was used to explore staff perceptions about a recent open-source EMR deployment in two primary care clinics in Kibera, Nairobi. Participants were interviewed using open-ended, semi-structured questions. Content analysis was used when exploring transcribed data. Three major themes - systems, software, and social considerations - emerged from content analysis, with sustainability concerns prevailing. Although participants reported many systems (e.g., power, network, Internet, hardware, interoperability) and software (e.g., data integrity, confidentiality, function) challenges, social factors (e.g., identity management, training, use incentives) appeared the most important impediments to sustainability. These findings are consistent with what others have reported, especially the importance of practical barriers to EMR deployments in resource-constrained settings. Other findings contribute unique insights about social determinants of EMR impact in slum settings, including the challenge of multiple-identity management and development of meaningful incentives to staff compliance. This study exposes front-line experiences with opportunities and shortcomings of EMR implementations in urban slum primary care clinics. Although the promise is great, there are a number of unique system, software and social challenges that EMR advocates should address before expecting sustainable EMR use in resource-constrained settings. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Service-oriented workflow to efficiently and automatically fulfill products in a highly individualized web and mobile environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiao, Mu

2015-03-01

Service Oriented Architecture1 (SOA) is widely used in building flexible and scalable web sites and services. In most of the web or mobile photo book and gifting business space, the products ordered are highly variable without a standard template that one can substitute texts or images from similar to that of commercial variable data printing. In this paper, the author describes a SOA workflow in a multi-sites, multi-product lines fulfillment system where three major challenges are addressed: utilization of hardware and equipment, highly automation with fault recovery, and highly scalable and flexible with order volume fluctuation.

Economic incentives to capture ecosystem services through increased temporal intensification of crop production

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Land resources are becoming progressively more constrained with increasing demands for food, feed, fiber, and now fuel production. Developing strategies to intensify crop production without increasing the negative impacts on water, soil, and air resources are critical. Much of the best agricultural ...

Multiple R&D projects scheduling optimization with improved particle swarm algorithm.

PubMed

Liu, Mengqi; Shan, Miyuan; Wu, Juan

2014-01-01

For most enterprises, in order to win the initiative in the fierce competition of market, a key step is to improve their R&D ability to meet the various demands of customers more timely and less costly. This paper discusses the features of multiple R&D environments in large make-to-order enterprises under constrained human resource and budget, and puts forward a multi-project scheduling model during a certain period. Furthermore, we make some improvements to existed particle swarm algorithm and apply the one developed here to the resource-constrained multi-project scheduling model for a simulation experiment. Simultaneously, the feasibility of model and the validity of algorithm are proved in the experiment.

Dynamic Resource Management for Parallel Tasks in an Oversubscribed Energy-Constrained Heterogeneous Environment

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

Imam, Neena; Koenig, Gregory A; Machovec, Dylan

2016-01-01

Abstract: The worth of completing parallel tasks is modeled using utility functions, which monotonically-decrease with time and represent the importance and urgency of a task. These functions define the utility earned by a task at the time of its completion. The performance of such a system is measured as the total utility earned by all completed tasks over some interval of time (e.g., 24 hours). To maximize system performance when scheduling dynamically arriving parallel tasks onto a high performance computing (HPC) system that is oversubscribed and energy-constrained, we have designed, analyzed, and compared different heuristic techniques. Four utility-aware heuristics (i.e.,more » Max Utility, Max Utility-per-Time, Max Utility-per-Resource, and Max Utility-per-Energy), three FCFS-based heuristics (Conservative Backfilling, EASY Backfilling, and FCFS with Multiple Queues), and a Random heuristic were examined in this study. A technique that is often used with the FCFS-based heuristics is the concept of a permanent reservation. We compare the performance of permanent reservations with temporary place-holders to demonstrate the advantages that place-holders can provide. We also present a novel energy filtering technique that constrains the maximum energy-per-resource used by each task. We conducted a simulation study to evaluate the performance of these heuristics and techniques in an energy-constrained oversubscribed HPC environment. With place-holders, energy filtering, and dropping tasks with low potential utility, our utility-aware heuristics are able to significantly outperform the existing FCFS-based techniques.« less

East Meet West? U.S. and China: Strategies for Global Leadership

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

construct to serve as a broader framework for this research project to describe instruments of national power in a constantly changing, resource...construct to serve as a broader framework for this research project to describe instruments of national power in a constantly changing, resource...for this research project to describe instruments of national power in a constantly changing, resource-constrained, geopolitical environment. This

On the Allocation of Resources for Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haelermans, Carla; De Witte, Kristof; Blank, Jos L. T.

2012-01-01

This paper studies the optimal allocation of resources--in terms of school management, teachers, supporting employees and materials--in secondary schools. We use a flexible budget constrained output distance function model to estimate both technical and allocative efficiency scores for 448 Dutch secondary schools between 2002 and 2007. The results…

Assessment of the Effectiveness of an Online Learning System in Improving Student Test Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buttner, E. Holly; Black, Aprille Noe

2014-01-01

Colleges and universities, particularly public institutions, are facing higher enrollments and declining resources from state and federal governments. In this resource-constrained environment, faculty are seeking more efficient and effective teaching strategies to improve student learning and test performance. The authors assessed an online…

Academic Entrepreneurship and Traditional Academic Duties: Synergy or Rivalry?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Silva, Muthu

2016-01-01

This study investigates the influence of academic entrepreneurship on traditional academic duties carried out in a resource-constrained environment, particularly focusing on whether there is synergy or rivalry between these two activities. Using qualitative evidence, we discover that there are funding, resource, knowledge and skill and networking…

Dark clouds in co-creation, and their silver linings practical challenges we faced in a participatory project in a resource-constrained community in India, and how we overcame (some of) them.

PubMed

Sushama, Preeti; Ghergu, Cristian; Meershoek, Agnes; de Witte, Luc P; van Schayck, Onno C P; Krumeich, Anja

2018-01-01

While any type of field-based research is challenging, building action-oriented, participatory research in resource-constrained settings can be even more so. In this article, we aim to examine and provide insights into some of the practical challenges that were faced during the course of a participatory project based in two non-notified slums in Bangalore, India, aiming to build solutions to indoor air pollution from cooking on traditional cook stoves. The article draws upon experiences of the authors as field researchers engaged in a community-based project that adopted an exploratory, iterative design to its planning and implementation, which involved community visits, semi-structured interviews, prioritization workshops, community forums, photo voice activities, chulha-building sessions and cooking trials. The main obstacles to field work were linked to fostering open, continued dialogue with the community, aimed at bridging the gap between the 'scientific' and the 'local' worlds. Language and cultural barriers led to a reliance on interpreters, which affected both the quality of the interaction as well as the relationship between the researchers and the community that was built out of that interaction. The transience in housing and location of members of the community also led to difficulties in following up on incomplete information. Furthermore, facilitating meaningful participation from the people within the context of restricted resources, differing priorities, and socio-cultural diversity was particularly challenging. These were further compounded by the constraints of time and finances brought on by the embeddedness of the project within institutional frameworks and conventional research requirements of a fixed, pre-planned and externally determined focus, timeline, activities and benchmarks for the project. This article calls for revisiting of scientific conventions and funding prerequisites, in order to create spaces that support flexible, emergent and adaptive field-based research projects which can respond effectively to the needs and priorities of the community.

An Optimization Framework for Dynamic, Distributed Real-Time Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eckert, Klaus; Juedes, David; Welch, Lonnie; Chelberg, David; Bruggerman, Carl; Drews, Frank; Fleeman, David; Parrott, David; Pfarr, Barbara

2003-01-01

Abstract. This paper presents a model that is useful for developing resource allocation algorithms for distributed real-time systems .that operate in dynamic environments. Interesting aspects of the model include dynamic environments, utility and service levels, which provide a means for graceful degradation in resource-constrained situations and support optimization of the allocation of resources. The paper also provides an allocation algorithm that illustrates how to use the model for producing feasible, optimal resource allocations.

Pump-dump iterative squeezing of vibrational wave packets.

PubMed

Chang, Bo Y; Sola, Ignacio R

2005-12-22

The free motion of a nonstationary vibrational wave packet in an electronic potential is a source of interesting quantum properties. In this work we propose an iterative scheme that allows continuous stretching and squeezing of a wave packet in the ground or in an excited electronic state, by switching the wave function between both potentials with pi pulses at certain times. Using a simple model of displaced harmonic oscillators and delta pulses, we derive the analytical solution and the conditions for its possible implementation and optimization in different molecules and electronic states. We show that the main constraining parameter is the pulse bandwidth. Although in principle the degree of squeezing (or stretching) is not bounded, the physical resources increase quadratically with the number of iterations, while the achieved squeezing only increases linearly.

Strength training in community settings: impact of lay leaders on program access and sustainability for rural older adults.

PubMed

Washburn, Lisa T; Cornell, Carol E; Phillips, Martha; Felix, Holly; Traywick, LaVona

2014-09-01

The effect of volunteer lay leaders on availability and sustainability of strength-training programs for older adults has not been well explored. We describe implementation of the StrongWomen strength training program by the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, and report on the relationship between delivery approach (agent-led, lay-led, or combination of agent- and lay-led) and program access and sustainability. All state Extension agents (n = 66) were surveyed on program implementation, continuance, and use of lay leaders. Program records were used to identify the number of trained lay leaders. Regression models were used to examine the relationship between delivery approach and group availability. Counties using lay leaders had twice as many groups as counties using only agents. There was a significant, positive relationship between the number of lay leaders and the number of groups. Counties using lay leaders were 8.3 times more likely to have continuing groups compared with counties not using lay leaders. Program continuance was significantly and positively associated with lay leader use. Lay delivery expanded access to strength training programs and increased the likelihood that programs would continue. This approach can be used to increase access to and sustainability of strength training programs, particularly in resource-constrained areas.

Geologic Mapping of the Lunar South Pole, Quadrangle LQ-30: Volcanic History and Stratigraphy of Schroedinger Basin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mest, S. C.; Berman, D. C.; Petro, N. E.

2009-01-01

In this study we use recent images and topographic data to map the geology and geomorphology of the lunar South Pole quadrangle (LQ-30) at 1:2.5M scale [1-4] in accordance with the Lunar Geologic Mapping Program. Mapping of LQ-30 began during Mest's postdoctoral appointment and has continued under the PG&G Program, from which funding became available in February 2009. Preliminary map-ping and analyses have been done using base materials compiled by Mest, but properly mosaicked and spatially registered base materials are being compiled by the USGS and should be received by the end of June 2009. The overall objective of this research is to constrain the geologic evolution of the lunar South Pole (LQ-30: 60deg -90deg S, 0deg - +/-180deg ) with specific emphasis on evaluation of a) the regional effects of basin formation on the structure and composition of the crust and b) the spatial distribution of ejecta, in particular resulting from formation of the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin and other large basins. Key scientific objectives include: 1) Constraining the geologic history of the lunar South Pole and examining the spatial and temporal variability of geologic processes within the map area. 2) Constraining the vertical and lateral structure of the lunar regolith and crust, assessing the distribution of impact-generated materials, and determining the timing and effects of major basin-forming impacts on crustal structure and stratigraphy in the map area. And 3) assessing the distribution of resources (e.g., H, Fe, Th) and their relationships with surface materials.

Mission and Implementation of an Affordable Lunar Return

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spudis, Paul; Lavoie, Anthony

2010-01-01

We present an architecture that establishes the infrastructure for routine space travel by taking advantage of the Moon's resources, proximity and accessibility. We use robotic assets on the Moon that are teleoperated from Earth to prospect, test, demonstrate and produce water from lunar resources before human arrival. This plan is affordable, flexible and not tied to any specific launch vehicle solution. Individual surface pieces are small, permitting them to be deployed separately on small launchers or combined together on single large launchers. Schedule is our free variable; even under highly constrained budgets, the architecture permits this program to be continuously pursued using small, incremental, cumulative steps. The end stage is a fully functional, human-tended lunar outpost capable of producing 150 metric tonnes of water per year enough to export water from the Moon and create a transportation system that allows routine access to all of cislunar space. This cost-effective lunar architecture advances technology and builds a sustainable transportation infrastructure. By eliminating the need to launch everything from the surface of the Earth, we fundamentally change the paradigm of spaceflight.

Remote gaming on resource-constrained devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reza, Waazim; Kalva, Hari; Kaufman, Richard

2010-08-01

Games have become important applications on mobile devices. A mobile gaming approach known as remote gaming is being developed to support games on low cost mobile devices. In the remote gaming approach, the responsibility of rendering a game and advancing the game play is put on remote servers instead of the resource constrained mobile devices. The games rendered on the servers are encoded as video and streamed to mobile devices. Mobile devices gather user input and stream the commands back to the servers to advance game play. With this solution, mobile devices with video playback and network connectivity can become game consoles. In this paper we present the design and development of such a system and evaluate the performance and design considerations to maximize the end user gaming experience.

Knowledge-based design of generate-and-patch problem solvers that solve global resource assignment problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Voigt, Kerstin

1992-01-01

We present MENDER, a knowledge based system that implements software design techniques that are specialized to automatically compile generate-and-patch problem solvers that satisfy global resource assignments problems. We provide empirical evidence of the superior performance of generate-and-patch over generate-and-test: even with constrained generation, for a global constraint in the domain of '2D-floorplanning'. For a second constraint in '2D-floorplanning' we show that even when it is possible to incorporate the constraint into a constrained generator, a generate-and-patch problem solver may satisfy the constraint more rapidly. We also briefly summarize how an extended version of our system applies to a constraint in the domain of 'multiprocessor scheduling'.

MOOCs Feasibility Study: Demand among Teachers in Rural Ghana

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnston, Jamie

2016-01-01

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are a relatively new, low-cost resource that hold potential for improving learning in developing nations where resources are constrained and teacher expertise can be limited. However, little information currently exists about the effectiveness of leveraging MOOCs as a vehicle for teacher training. The aim of…

A chance constraint estimation approach to optimizing resource management under uncertainty

Treesearch

Michael Bevers

2007-01-01

Chance-constrained optimization is an important method for managing risk arising from random variations in natural resource systems, but the probabilistic formulations often pose mathematical programming problems that cannot be solved with exact methods. A heuristic estimation method for these problems is presented that combines a formulation for order statistic...

Macronutrient supplementation for malnourished HIV-infected adults: a review of the evidence in resource-adequate and resource-constrained settings.

PubMed

Koethe, John R; Chi, Benjamin H; Megazzini, Karen M; Heimburger, Douglas C; Stringer, Jeffrey S A

2009-09-01

Access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has expanded rapidly throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but malnutrition and food insecurity have emerged as major barriers to the success of ART programs. Protein-calorie malnutrition (a common form of malnutrition in the region) hastens HIV disease progression, and food insecurity is a barrier to medication adherence. Analyses of patient outcomes have identified a low body mass index after the start of ART as an independent predictor of early mortality, but the causes of a low body mass index are multifactorial (eg, normal anthropometric variation, chronic inadequate food intake, and/or wasting associated with HIV infection and other infectious diseases). Although there is much information on population-level humanitarian food assistance, few data exist to measure the effectiveness of macronutrient supplementation or to identify individuals most likely to benefit. In this report, we review the current evidence supporting macronutrient supplementation for HIV-infected adults, we report on clinical trials in resource-adequate and resource-constrained settings, and we highlight priority areas for future research.

A Novel Optimal Joint Resource Allocation Method in Cooperative Multicarrier Networks: Theory and Practice

PubMed Central

Gao, Yuan; Zhou, Weigui; Ao, Hong; Chu, Jian; Zhou, Quan; Zhou, Bo; Wang, Kang; Li, Yi; Xue, Peng

2016-01-01

With the increasing demands for better transmission speed and robust quality of service (QoS), the capacity constrained backhaul gradually becomes a bottleneck in cooperative wireless networks, e.g., in the Internet of Things (IoT) scenario in joint processing mode of LTE-Advanced Pro. This paper focuses on resource allocation within capacity constrained backhaul in uplink cooperative wireless networks, where two base stations (BSs) equipped with single antennae serve multiple single-antennae users via multi-carrier transmission mode. In this work, we propose a novel cooperative transmission scheme based on compress-and-forward with user pairing to solve the joint mixed integer programming problem. To maximize the system capacity under the limited backhaul, we formulate the joint optimization problem of user sorting, subcarrier mapping and backhaul resource sharing among different pairs (subcarriers for users). A novel robust and efficient centralized algorithm based on alternating optimization strategy and perfect mapping is proposed. Simulations show that our novel method can improve the system capacity significantly under the constraint of the backhaul resource compared with the blind alternatives. PMID:27077865

Modeling and Simulation of the Gonghe geothermal field (Qinghai, China) Constrained by Geophysical

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Z.; Wang, K.; Zhao, X.; Huai, N.; He, R.

2017-12-01

The Gonghe geothermal field in Qinghai is important because of its variety of geothermal resource types. Now, the Gonghe geothermal field has been a demonstration area of geothermal development and utilization in China. It has been the topic of numerous geophysical investigations conducted to determine the depth to and the nature of the heat source, and to image the channel of heat flow. This work focuses on the causes of geothermal fields used numerical simulation method constrained by geophysical data. At first, by analyzing and inverting an magnetotelluric (MT) measurements profile across this area we obtain the deep resistivity distribution. Using the gravity anomaly inversion constrained by the resistivity profile, the density of the basins and the underlying rocks can be calculated. Combined with the measured parameters of rock thermal conductivity, the 2D geothermal conceptual model of Gonghe area is constructed. Then, the unstructured finite element method is used to simulate the heat conduction equation and the geothermal field. Results of this model were calibrated with temperature data for the observation well. A good match was achieved between the measured values and the model's predicted values. At last, geothermal gradient and heat flow distribution of this model are calculated(fig.1.). According to the results of geophysical exploration, there is a low resistance and low density region (d5) below the geothermal field. We recognize that this anomaly is generated by tectonic motion, and this tectonic movement creates a mantle-derived heat upstream channel. So that the anomalous basement heat flow values are higher than in other regions. The model's predicted values simulated using that boundary condition has a good match with the measured values. The simulated heat flow values show that the mantle-derived heat flow migrates through the boundary of the low-resistance low-density anomaly area to the Gonghe geothermal field, with only a small fraction moving to other regions. Therefore, the mantle-derived heat flow across the tectonic channel to the cohesive continuous supply heat for Gonghe geothermal field, is the main the main causes of abundant geothermal resources.

21 CFR 888.3660 - Shoulder joint metal/polymer semi-constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3660... device are: (1) FDA's: (i) “Use of International Standard ISO 10993 ‘Biological Evaluation of Medical... metal/polymer semi-constrained cemented prosthesis is a device intended to be implanted to replace a...

21 CFR 888.3650 - Shoulder joint metal/polymer non-constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3650... are: (1) FDA's: (i) “Use of International Standard ISO 10993 ‘Biological Evaluation of Medical Devices... metal/polymer non-constrained cemented prosthesis is a device intended to be implanted to replace a...

21 CFR 888.3790 - Wrist joint metal constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Wrist joint metal constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3790 Section 888.3790 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3790 Wrist joint metal...

21 CFR 888.3480 - Knee joint femorotibial metallic constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Knee joint femorotibial metallic constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3480 Section 888.3480 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3480...

21 CFR 888.3480 - Knee joint femorotibial metallic constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Knee joint femorotibial metallic constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3480 Section 888.3480 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3480...

21 CFR 888.3490 - Knee joint femorotibial metal/composite non-constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Knee joint femorotibial metal/composite non-constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3490 Section 888.3490 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices...

21 CFR 888.3500 - Knee joint femorotibial metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Knee joint femorotibial metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3500 Section 888.3500 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices...

21 CFR 888.3500 - Knee joint femorotibial metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Knee joint femorotibial metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3500 Section 888.3500 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices...

21 CFR 888.3490 - Knee joint femorotibial metal/composite non-constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Knee joint femorotibial metal/composite non-constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3490 Section 888.3490 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices...

21 CFR 888.3490 - Knee joint femorotibial metal/composite non-constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Knee joint femorotibial metal/composite non-constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3490 Section 888.3490 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices...

21 CFR 888.3480 - Knee joint femorotibial metallic constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Knee joint femorotibial metallic constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3480 Section 888.3480 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3480...

21 CFR 888.3500 - Knee joint femorotibial metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Knee joint femorotibial metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3500 Section 888.3500 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices...

21 CFR 888.3480 - Knee joint femorotibial metallic constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Knee joint femorotibial metallic constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3480 Section 888.3480 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3480...

21 CFR 888.3790 - Wrist joint metal constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Wrist joint metal constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3790 Section 888.3790 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3790 Wrist joint metal...

21 CFR 888.3790 - Wrist joint metal constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Wrist joint metal constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3790 Section 888.3790 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3790 Wrist joint metal...

Robust model predictive control for constrained continuous-time nonlinear systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Tairen; Pan, Yongping; Zhang, Jun; Yu, Haoyong

2018-02-01

In this paper, a robust model predictive control (MPC) is designed for a class of constrained continuous-time nonlinear systems with bounded additive disturbances. The robust MPC consists of a nonlinear feedback control and a continuous-time model-based dual-mode MPC. The nonlinear feedback control guarantees the actual trajectory being contained in a tube centred at the nominal trajectory. The dual-mode MPC is designed to ensure asymptotic convergence of the nominal trajectory to zero. This paper extends current results on discrete-time model-based tube MPC and linear system model-based tube MPC to continuous-time nonlinear model-based tube MPC. The feasibility and robustness of the proposed robust MPC have been demonstrated by theoretical analysis and applications to a cart-damper springer system and a one-link robot manipulator.

N-point functions in rolling tachyon background

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

Jokela, Niko; Keski-Vakkuri, Esko; Department of Physics, P.O. Box 64, FIN-00014, University of Helsinki

2009-04-15

We study n-point boundary correlation functions in timelike boundary Liouville theory, relevant for open string multiproduction by a decaying unstable D brane. We give an exact result for the one-point function of the tachyon vertex operator and show that it is consistent with a previously proposed relation to a conserved charge in string theory. We also discuss when the one-point amplitude vanishes. Using a straightforward perturbative expansion, we find an explicit expression for a tachyon n-point amplitude for all n, however the result is still a toy model. The calculation uses a new asymptotic approximation for Toeplitz determinants, derived bymore » relating the system to a Dyson gas at finite temperature.« less

Application of queuing theory in inventory systems with substitution flexibility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seyedhoseini, S. M.; Rashid, Reza; Kamalpour, Iman; Zangeneh, Erfan

2015-03-01

Considering the competition in today's business environment, tactical planning of a supply chain becomes more complex than before. In many multi-product inventory systems, substitution flexibility can improve profits. This paper aims to prepare a comprehensive substitution inventory model, where an inventory system with two substitute products with ignorable lead time has been considered, and effects of simultaneous ordering have been examined. In this paper, demands of customers for both of the products have been regarded as stochastic parameters, and queuing theory has been used to construct a mathematical model. The model has been coded by C++, and it has been analyzed due to a real example, where the results indicate efficiency of proposed model.

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

Dufour, F., E-mail: dufour@math.u-bordeaux1.fr; Prieto-Rumeau, T., E-mail: tprieto@ccia.uned.es

We consider a discrete-time constrained discounted Markov decision process (MDP) with Borel state and action spaces, compact action sets, and lower semi-continuous cost functions. We introduce a set of hypotheses related to a positive weight function which allow us to consider cost functions that might not be bounded below by a constant, and which imply the solvability of the linear programming formulation of the constrained MDP. In particular, we establish the existence of a constrained optimal stationary policy. Our results are illustrated with an application to a fishery management problem.

Orchestrating care: nursing practice with hospitalised older adults.

PubMed

Dahlke, Sherry Ann; Phinney, Alison; Hall, Wendy Ann; Rodney, Patricia; Baumbusch, Jennifer

2015-12-01

The increased incidence of health challenges with aging means that nurses are increasingly caring for older adults, often in hospital settings. Research about the complexity of nursing practice with this population remains limited. To seek an explanation of nursing practice with hospitalised older adults. Design. A grounded theory study guided by symbolic interactionism was used to explore nursing practice with hospitalised older adults from a nursing perspective. Glaserian grounded theory methods were used to develop a mid-range theory after analysis of 375 hours of participant observation, 35 interviews with 24 participants and review of selected documents. The theory of orchestrating care was developed to explain how nurses are continuously trying to manage their work environments by understanding the status of the patients, their unit, mobilising the assistance of others and stretching available resources to resolve their problem of providing their older patients with what they perceived as 'good care' while sustaining themselves as 'good' nurses. They described their practice environments as hard and under-resourced. Orchestrating care is comprised of two subprocesses: building synergy and minimising strain. These two processes both facilitated and constrained each other and nurses' abilities to orchestrate care. Although system issues presented serious constraints to nursing practice, the ways in which nurses were making meaning of their work environment both aided them in managing their challenges and constrained their agency. Nurses need to be encouraged to share their important perspective about older adult care. Administrators have a role to play in giving nurses voice in workplace committees and in forums. Further research is needed to better understand how multidisciplinary teams influence care of hospitalized older adults. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Competitiveness and the Process of Co-adaptation in Team Sport Performance.

PubMed

Passos, Pedro; Araújo, Duarte; Davids, Keith

2016-01-01

An evolutionary psycho-biological perspective on competitiveness dynamics is presented, focusing on continuous behavioral co-adaptations to constraints that arise in performance environments. We suggest that an athlete's behavioral dynamics are constrained by circumstances of competing for the availability of resources, which once obtained offer possibilities for performance success. This defines the influence of the athlete-environment relationship on competitiveness. Constraining factors in performance include proximity to target areas in team sports and the number of other competitors in a location. By pushing the athlete beyond existing limits, competitiveness enhances opportunities for co-adaptation, innovation and creativity, which can lead individuals toward different performance solutions to achieve the same performance goal. Underpinned by an ecological dynamics framework we examine whether competitiveness is a crucial feature to succeed in team sports. Our focus is on intra-team competitiveness, concerning the capacity of individuals within a team to become perceptually attuned to affordances in a given performance context which can increase their likelihood of success. This conceptualization implies a re-consideration of the concept of competitiveness, not as an inherited trait or entity to be acquired, but rather theorizing it as a functional performer-environment relationship that needs to be explored, developed, enhanced and maintained in team games training programs.

Competitiveness and the Process of Co-adaptation in Team Sport Performance

PubMed Central

Passos, Pedro; Araújo, Duarte; Davids, Keith

2016-01-01

An evolutionary psycho-biological perspective on competitiveness dynamics is presented, focusing on continuous behavioral co-adaptations to constraints that arise in performance environments. We suggest that an athlete’s behavioral dynamics are constrained by circumstances of competing for the availability of resources, which once obtained offer possibilities for performance success. This defines the influence of the athlete-environment relationship on competitiveness. Constraining factors in performance include proximity to target areas in team sports and the number of other competitors in a location. By pushing the athlete beyond existing limits, competitiveness enhances opportunities for co-adaptation, innovation and creativity, which can lead individuals toward different performance solutions to achieve the same performance goal. Underpinned by an ecological dynamics framework we examine whether competitiveness is a crucial feature to succeed in team sports. Our focus is on intra-team competitiveness, concerning the capacity of individuals within a team to become perceptually attuned to affordances in a given performance context which can increase their likelihood of success. This conceptualization implies a re-consideration of the concept of competitiveness, not as an inherited trait or entity to be acquired, but rather theorizing it as a functional performer-environment relationship that needs to be explored, developed, enhanced and maintained in team games training programs. PMID:27777565

Improved One-Way Hash Chain and Revocation Polynomial-Based Self-Healing Group Key Distribution Schemes in Resource-Constrained Wireless Networks

PubMed Central

Chen, Huifang; Xie, Lei

2014-01-01

Self-healing group key distribution (SGKD) aims to deal with the key distribution problem over an unreliable wireless network. In this paper, we investigate the SGKD issue in resource-constrained wireless networks. We propose two improved SGKD schemes using the one-way hash chain (OHC) and the revocation polynomial (RP), the OHC&RP-SGKD schemes. In the proposed OHC&RP-SGKD schemes, by introducing the unique session identifier and binding the joining time with the capability of recovering previous session keys, the problem of the collusion attack between revoked users and new joined users in existing hash chain-based SGKD schemes is resolved. Moreover, novel methods for utilizing the one-way hash chain and constructing the personal secret, the revocation polynomial and the key updating broadcast packet are presented. Hence, the proposed OHC&RP-SGKD schemes eliminate the limitation of the maximum allowed number of revoked users on the maximum allowed number of sessions, increase the maximum allowed number of revoked/colluding users, and reduce the redundancy in the key updating broadcast packet. Performance analysis and simulation results show that the proposed OHC&RP-SGKD schemes are practical for resource-constrained wireless networks in bad environments, where a strong collusion attack resistance is required and many users could be revoked. PMID:25529204

Utility of quantitative sensory testing and screening tools in identifying HIV-associated peripheral neuropathy in Western Kenya: pilot testing.

PubMed

Cettomai, Deanna; Kwasa, Judith; Kendi, Caroline; Birbeck, Gretchen L; Price, Richard W; Bukusi, Elizabeth A; Cohen, Craig R; Meyer, Ana-Claire

2010-12-08

Neuropathy is the most common neurologic complication of HIV but is widely under-diagnosed in resource-constrained settings. We aimed to identify tools that accurately distinguish individuals with moderate/severe peripheral neuropathy and can be administered by non-physician healthcare workers (HCW) in resource-constrained settings. We enrolled a convenience sample of 30 HIV-infected outpatients from a Kenyan HIV-care clinic. A HCW administered the Neuropathy Severity Score (NSS), Single Question Neuropathy Screen (Single-QNS), Subjective Peripheral Neuropathy Screen (Subjective-PNS), and Brief Peripheral Neuropathy Screen (Brief-PNS). Monofilament, graduated tuning fork, and two-point discrimination examinations were performed. Tools were validated against a neurologist's clinical assessment of moderate/severe neuropathy. The sample was 57% male, mean age 38.6 years, and mean CD4 count 324 cells/µL. Neurologist's assessment identified 20% (6/30) with moderate/severe neuropathy. Diagnostic utilities for moderate/severe neuropathy were: Single-QNS--83% sensitivity, 71% specificity; Subjective-PNS-total--83% sensitivity, 83% specificity; Subjective-PNS-max and NSS--67% sensitivity, 92% specificity; Brief-PNS--0% sensitivity, 92% specificity; monofilament--100% sensitivity, 88% specificity; graduated tuning fork--83% sensitivity, 88% specificity; two-point discrimination--75% sensitivity, 58% specificity. Pilot testing suggests Single-QNS, Subjective-PNS, and monofilament examination accurately identify HIV-infected patients with moderate/severe neuropathy and may be useful diagnostic tools in resource-constrained settings.

21 CFR 888.3210 - Finger joint metal/metal constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Finger joint metal/metal constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3210 Section 888.3210 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3210 Finger joint...

21 CFR 888.3340 - Hip joint metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Hip joint metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3340 Section 888.3340 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3340...

21 CFR 888.3210 - Finger joint metal/metal constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Finger joint metal/metal constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3210 Section 888.3210 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3210 Finger joint...

21 CFR 888.3100 - Ankle joint metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Ankle joint metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3100 Section 888.3100 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3100...

21 CFR 888.3340 - Hip joint metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Hip joint metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3340 Section 888.3340 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3340...

21 CFR 888.3340 - Hip joint metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Hip joint metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3340 Section 888.3340 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3340...

21 CFR 888.3200 - Finger joint metal/metal constrained uncemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Finger joint metal/metal constrained uncemented prosthesis. 888.3200 Section 888.3200 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3200 Finger joint...

21 CFR 888.3210 - Finger joint metal/metal constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Finger joint metal/metal constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3210 Section 888.3210 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3210 Finger joint...

21 CFR 888.3300 - Hip joint metal constrained cemented or uncemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Hip joint metal constrained cemented or uncemented prosthesis. 888.3300 Section 888.3300 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3300 Hip joint...

21 CFR 888.3300 - Hip joint metal constrained cemented or uncemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Hip joint metal constrained cemented or uncemented prosthesis. 888.3300 Section 888.3300 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3300 Hip joint...

21 CFR 888.3100 - Ankle joint metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Ankle joint metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3100 Section 888.3100 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3100...

21 CFR 888.3100 - Ankle joint metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Ankle joint metal/composite semi-constrained cemented prosthesis. 888.3100 Section 888.3100 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3100...

21 CFR 888.3300 - Hip joint metal constrained cemented or uncemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Hip joint metal constrained cemented or uncemented prosthesis. 888.3300 Section 888.3300 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3300 Hip joint...

21 CFR 888.3200 - Finger joint metal/metal constrained uncemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Finger joint metal/metal constrained uncemented prosthesis. 888.3200 Section 888.3200 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3200 Finger joint...

21 CFR 888.3200 - Finger joint metal/metal constrained uncemented prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Finger joint metal/metal constrained uncemented prosthesis. 888.3200 Section 888.3200 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic Devices § 888.3200 Finger joint...

CLON: Overlay Networks and Gossip Protocols for Cloud Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matos, Miguel; Sousa, António; Pereira, José; Oliveira, Rui; Deliot, Eric; Murray, Paul

Although epidemic or gossip-based multicast is a robust and scalable approach to reliable data dissemination, its inherent redundancy results in high resource consumption on both links and nodes. This problem is aggravated in settings that have costlier or resource constrained links as happens in Cloud Computing infrastructures composed by several interconnected data centers across the globe.

Social Class, Solipsism, and Contextualism: How the Rich Are Different from the Poor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kraus, Michael W.; Piff, Paul K.; Mendoza-Denton, Rodolfo; Rheinschmidt, Michelle L.; Keltner, Dacher

2012-01-01

Social class is shaped by an individual's material resources as well as perceptions of rank vis-a-vis others in society, and in this article, we examine how class influences behavior. Diminished resources and lower rank create contexts that constrain social outcomes for lower-class individuals and enhance contextualist tendencies--that is, a focus…

Developing Inventory and Monitoring Programs Based on Multiple Objectives

Treesearch

Daniel L. Schmoldt; David L. Peterson; David G. Silsbee

1995-01-01

Resource inventory and monitoring (I&M) programs in national parks combine multiple objectives in order to create a plan of action over a finite time horizon. Because all program activities are constrained by time and money, it is critical to plan I&M activities that make the best use of available agency resources. However, multiple objectives complicate a...

Constrained Optimization Problems in Cost and Managerial Accounting--Spreadsheet Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amlie, Thomas T.

2009-01-01

A common problem addressed in Managerial and Cost Accounting classes is that of selecting an optimal production mix given scarce resources. That is, if a firm produces a number of different products, and is faced with scarce resources (e.g., limitations on labor, materials, or machine time), what combination of products yields the greatest profit…

A generalized network flow model for the multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling problem with discounted cash flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Miawjane; Yan, Shangyao; Wang, Sin-Siang; Liu, Chiu-Lan

2015-02-01

An effective project schedule is essential for enterprises to increase their efficiency of project execution, to maximize profit, and to minimize wastage of resources. Heuristic algorithms have been developed to efficiently solve the complicated multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling problem with discounted cash flows (MRCPSPDCF) that characterize real problems. However, the solutions obtained in past studies have been approximate and are difficult to evaluate in terms of optimality. In this study, a generalized network flow model, embedded in a time-precedence network, is proposed to formulate the MRCPSPDCF with the payment at activity completion times. Mathematically, the model is formulated as an integer network flow problem with side constraints, which can be efficiently solved for optimality, using existing mathematical programming software. To evaluate the model performance, numerical tests are performed. The test results indicate that the model could be a useful planning tool for project scheduling in the real world.

Intelligent Sampling of Hazardous Particle Populations in Resource-Constrained Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCollough, J. P.; Quinn, J. M.; Starks, M. J.; Johnston, W. R.

2017-10-01

Sampling of anomaly-causing space environment drivers is necessary for both real-time operations and satellite design efforts, and optimizing measurement sampling helps minimize resource demands. Relating these measurements to spacecraft anomalies requires the ability to resolve spatial and temporal variability in the energetic charged particle hazard of interest. Here we describe a method for sampling particle fluxes informed by magnetospheric phenomenology so that, along a given trajectory, the variations from both temporal dynamics and spatial structure are adequately captured while minimizing oversampling. We describe the coordinates, sampling method, and specific regions and parameters employed. We compare resulting sampling cadences with data from spacecraft spanning the regions of interest during a geomagnetically active period, showing that the algorithm retains the gross features necessary to characterize environmental impacts on space systems in diverse orbital regimes while greatly reducing the amount of sampling required. This enables sufficient environmental specification within a resource-constrained context, such as limited telemetry bandwidth, processing requirements, and timeliness.

Joint Resource Optimization for Cognitive Sensor Networks with SWIPT-Enabled Relay.

PubMed

Lu, Weidang; Lin, Yuanrong; Peng, Hong; Nan, Tian; Liu, Xin

2017-09-13

Energy-constrained wireless networks, such as wireless sensor networks (WSNs), are usually powered by fixed energy supplies (e.g., batteries), which limits the operation time of networks. Simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) is a promising technique to prolong the lifetime of energy-constrained wireless networks. This paper investigates the performance of an underlay cognitive sensor network (CSN) with SWIPT-enabled relay node. In the CSN, the amplify-and-forward (AF) relay sensor node harvests energy from the ambient radio-frequency (RF) signals using power splitting-based relaying (PSR) protocol. Then, it helps forward the signal of source sensor node (SSN) to the destination sensor node (DSN) by using the harvested energy. We study the joint resource optimization including the transmit power and power splitting ratio to maximize CSN's achievable rate with the constraint that the interference caused by the CSN to the primary users (PUs) is within the permissible threshold. Simulation results show that the performance of our proposed joint resource optimization can be significantly improved.

Improving Service Delivery in a County Health Department WIC Clinic: An Application of Statistical Process Control Techniques

PubMed Central

Boe, Debra Thingstad; Parsons, Helen

2009-01-01

Local public health agencies are challenged to continually improve service delivery, yet they frequently operate with constrained resources. Quality improvement methods and techniques such as statistical process control are commonly used in other industries, and they have recently been proposed as a means of improving service delivery and performance in public health settings. We analyzed a quality improvement project undertaken at a local Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinic to reduce waiting times and improve client satisfaction with a walk-in nutrition education service. We used statistical process control techniques to evaluate initial process performance, implement an intervention, and assess process improvements. We found that implementation of these techniques significantly reduced waiting time and improved clients' satisfaction with the WIC service. PMID:19608964

SME2EM: Smart mobile end-to-end monitoring architecture for life-long diseases.

PubMed

Serhani, Mohamed Adel; Menshawy, Mohamed El; Benharref, Abdelghani

2016-01-01

Monitoring life-long diseases requires continuous measurements and recording of physical vital signs. Most of these diseases are manifested through unexpected and non-uniform occurrences and behaviors. It is impractical to keep patients in hospitals, health-care institutions, or even at home for long periods of time. Monitoring solutions based on smartphones combined with mobile sensors and wireless communication technologies are a potential candidate to support complete mobility-freedom, not only for patients, but also for physicians. However, existing monitoring architectures based on smartphones and modern communication technologies are not suitable to address some challenging issues, such as intensive and big data, resource constraints, data integration, and context awareness in an integrated framework. This manuscript provides a novel mobile-based end-to-end architecture for live monitoring and visualization of life-long diseases. The proposed architecture provides smartness features to cope with continuous monitoring, data explosion, dynamic adaptation, unlimited mobility, and constrained devices resources. The integration of the architecture׳s components provides information about diseases׳ recurrences as soon as they occur to expedite taking necessary actions, and thus prevent severe consequences. Our architecture system is formally model-checked to automatically verify its correctness against designers׳ desirable properties at design time. Its components are fully implemented as Web services with respect to the SOA architecture to be easy to deploy and integrate, and supported by Cloud infrastructure and services to allow high scalability, availability of processes and data being stored and exchanged. The architecture׳s applicability is evaluated through concrete experimental scenarios on monitoring and visualizing states of epileptic diseases. The obtained theoretical and experimental results are very promising and efficiently satisfy the proposed architecture׳s objectives, including resource awareness, smart data integration and visualization, cost reduction, and performance guarantee. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

India calling: harnessing the promise of mobile phones for HIV healthcare.

PubMed

Shet, Anita; de Costa, Ayesha

2011-02-01

The technology that has been able to straddle the digital divide most effectively in resource-constrained settings has been the mobile phone. The tremendous growth seen in Africa and Asia in mobile phone use over the last half decade has spurred plans to integrate mobile phones with healthcare delivery globally. A major challenge in HIV healthcare is sustaining good adherence to antiretroviral treatment. This report focuses on specific applications of mobile phones in the area of HIV healthcare delivery. It highlights the widespread use of mobile phones in developing areas of the world, those which have a heavy burden of HIV and infectious diseases. There is scope for exploiting existing mobile phone technology and infrastructure for healthcare enhancement in resource-constrained settings. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

ASSERT FY16 Analysis of Feedstock Companion Markets

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

Lamers, Patrick; Hansen, Jason; Jacobson, Jacob J.

2016-09-01

Meeting Co-Optima biofuel production targets will require large quantities of mobilized biomass feedstock. Mobilization is of key importance as there is an abundance of biomass resources, yet little is available for purchase, let alone at desired quantity and quality levels needed for a continuous operation, e.g., a biorefinery. Therefore Co-Optima research includes outlining a path towards feedstock production at scale by understanding routes to mobilizing large quantities of biomass feedstock. Continuing along the vertically-integrated path that pioneer cellulosic biorefineries have taken will constrain the bioenergy industry to high biomass yield areas, limiting its ability to reach biofuel production at scale.more » To advance the cellulosic biofuels industry, a separation between feedstock supply and conversion is necessary. Thus, in contrast to the vertically integrated supply chain, two industries are required: a feedstock industry and a conversion industry. The split is beneficial for growers and feedstock processers as they are able to sell into multiple markets. That is, depots that produce value-add feedstock intermediates that are fully fungible in both the biofuels refining and other, so-called companion markets. As the biofuel industry is currently too small to leverage significant investment in up-stream infrastructure build-up, it requires an established (companion) market to secure demand, which de-risks potential investments and makes a build-up of processing and other logistics infrastructure more likely. A common concern to this theory however is that more demand by other markets could present a disadvantage for biofuels production as resource competition may increase prices leading to reduced availability of low-cost feedstock for biorefineries. To analyze the dynamics across multiple markets vying for the same resources, particularly the potential effects on resource price and distribution, the Companion Market Model (CMM) has been developed in this task by experts in feedstock supply chain analysis, market economics, and System Dynamics from the Idaho National Laboratory and MindsEye Computing.« less

Robot-Beacon Distributed Range-Only SLAM for Resource-Constrained Operation

PubMed Central

Torres-González, Arturo; Martínez-de Dios, Jose Ramiro; Ollero, Anibal

2017-01-01

This work deals with robot-sensor network cooperation where sensor nodes (beacons) are used as landmarks for Range-Only (RO) Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). Most existing RO-SLAM techniques consider beacons as passive devices disregarding the sensing, computational and communication capabilities with which they are actually endowed. SLAM is a resource-demanding task. Besides the technological constraints of the robot and beacons, many applications impose further resource consumption limitations. This paper presents a scalable distributed RO-SLAM scheme for resource-constrained operation. It is capable of exploiting robot-beacon cooperation in order to improve SLAM accuracy while meeting a given resource consumption bound expressed as the maximum number of measurements that are integrated in SLAM per iteration. The proposed scheme combines a Sparse Extended Information Filter (SEIF) SLAM method, in which each beacon gathers and integrates robot-beacon and inter-beacon measurements, and a distributed information-driven measurement allocation tool that dynamically selects the measurements that are integrated in SLAM, balancing uncertainty improvement and resource consumption. The scheme adopts a robot-beacon distributed approach in which each beacon participates in the selection, gathering and integration in SLAM of robot-beacon and inter-beacon measurements, resulting in significant estimation accuracies, resource-consumption efficiency and scalability. It has been integrated in an octorotor Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) and evaluated in 3D SLAM outdoor experiments. The experimental results obtained show its performance and robustness and evidence its advantages over existing methods. PMID:28425946

Dual job holding by public sector health professionals in highly resource-constrained settings: problem or solution?

PubMed Central

Jan, Stephen; Bian, Ying; Jumpa, Manuel; Meng, Qingyue; Nyazema, Norman; Prakongsai, Phusit; Mills, Anne

2005-01-01

This paper examines the policy options for the regulation of dual job holding by medical professionals in highly resource-constrained settings. Such activity is generally driven by a lack of resources in the public sector and low pay, and has been associated with the unauthorized use of public resources and corruption. It is also typically poorly regulated; regulations are either lacking, or when they exist, are vague or poorly implemented because of low regulatory capacity. This paper draws on the limited evidence available on this topic to assess a number of regulatory options in relation to the objectives of quality of care and access to services, as well as some of the policy constraints that can undermine implementation in resource-poor settings. The approach taken in highlighting these broader social objectives seeks to avoid the value judgements regarding dual working and some of its associated forms of behaviour that have tended to characterize previous analyses. Dual practice is viewed as a possible system solution to issues such as limited public sector resources (and incomes), low regulatory capacity and the interplay between market forces and human resources. This paper therefore offers some support for policies that allow for the official recognition of such activity and embrace a degree of professional self-regulation. In providing clearer policy guidance, future research in this area needs to adopt a more evaluative approach than that which has been used to date. PMID:16283054

Robot-Beacon Distributed Range-Only SLAM for Resource-Constrained Operation.

PubMed

Torres-González, Arturo; Martínez-de Dios, Jose Ramiro; Ollero, Anibal

2017-04-20

This work deals with robot-sensor network cooperation where sensor nodes (beacons) are used as landmarks for Range-Only (RO) Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). Most existing RO-SLAM techniques consider beacons as passive devices disregarding the sensing, computational and communication capabilities with which they are actually endowed. SLAM is a resource-demanding task. Besides the technological constraints of the robot and beacons, many applications impose further resource consumption limitations. This paper presents a scalable distributed RO-SLAM scheme for resource-constrained operation. It is capable of exploiting robot-beacon cooperation in order to improve SLAM accuracy while meeting a given resource consumption bound expressed as the maximum number of measurements that are integrated in SLAM per iteration. The proposed scheme combines a Sparse Extended Information Filter (SEIF) SLAM method, in which each beacon gathers and integrates robot-beacon and inter-beacon measurements, and a distributed information-driven measurement allocation tool that dynamically selects the measurements that are integrated in SLAM, balancing uncertainty improvement and resource consumption. The scheme adopts a robot-beacon distributed approach in which each beacon participates in the selection, gathering and integration in SLAM of robot-beacon and inter-beacon measurements, resulting in significant estimation accuracies, resource-consumption efficiency and scalability. It has been integrated in an octorotor Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) and evaluated in 3D SLAM outdoor experiments. The experimental results obtained show its performance and robustness and evidence its advantages over existing methods.

Challenges in getting workforce research in nursing used for decision-making in policy and practice: a Canadian perspective.

PubMed

O'Brien-Pallas, Linda; Hayes, Laureen

2008-12-01

This paper draws upon empirical research and other published sources to discuss nursing workforce issues, the challenges of using health human resource research in policy decisions and the importance of evidence-based policies and practices for nursing care and outcomes. Increasing evidence points to the critical relationship between registered nurse care and improved patient outcomes. The negative impact that insufficient nurse staffing has on patient, nursing and system outcomes has influenced health human resource researchers to further examine nurses' work environments to determine factors that are amenable to policy change. Survey of literature was conducted. Electronic databases were searched using keywords. Sustained health human resource planning efforts by policy makers are difficult given changing governments and political agendas. The health human resource conceptual framework provides researchers and planners with a guide to decision-making that considers current circumstances as well as those factors that need to be accounted for in predicting future requirements. However, effective use of research depends on communication of findings between researchers and policymakers. Health care managers and other decision-makers in health care organisations often lack an understanding of the research process and do not always have easy access to current evidence. Also, managerial decisions are often constrained by organisational requirements such as resource availability and policies and procedures. Unless nursing workplace issues are addressed, the physiological and psychological stress in the work environments of nurses will continue. Effective health human resource policy and planning (at the macro level) and management strategies (at the micro level) would stabilise the nursing workforce and reduce job stress. Furthermore, the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the health system could be enhanced through improved health outcomes of care providers and health care clients.

21 CFR 888.3320 - Hip joint metal/metal semi-constrained, with a cemented acetabular component, prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Hip joint metal/metal semi-constrained, with a cemented acetabular component, prosthesis. 888.3320 Section 888.3320 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic...

21 CFR 888.3320 - Hip joint metal/metal semi-constrained, with a cemented acetabular component, prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Hip joint metal/metal semi-constrained, with a cemented acetabular component, prosthesis. 888.3320 Section 888.3320 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic...

21 CFR 888.3320 - Hip joint metal/metal semi-constrained, with a cemented acetabular component, prosthesis.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Hip joint metal/metal semi-constrained, with a cemented acetabular component, prosthesis. 888.3320 Section 888.3320 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES Prosthetic...

Barriers and facilitators of care for diverse patients: Nurse leader perspectives and nurse manager implications.

PubMed

Ogbolu, Yolanda; Scrandis, Debra A; Fitzpatrick, Grace

2018-01-01

To examine chief nurse executives' perspectives on: (1) the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate services in hospitals and (2) to identify barriers and facilitators associated with the implementation of culturally and linguistically appropriate services. Hospitals continue to face challenges providing care to diverse patients. The uptake of standards related to culturally and linguistically appropriate services into clinical practice is sluggish, despite potential benefits, including reducing health disparities, patient errors, readmissions and improving patient experiences. A qualitative study with chief nurse executives from one eastern United States (US). Data were analysed using content analysis. Seven themes emerged: (1) lack of awareness of resources for health care organisations; (2) constrained cultural competency training; (3) suboptimal resources (cost and time); (4) mutual understanding; (5) limited workplace diversity; (6) community outreach programmes; and (7) the management of unvoiced patient expectations. As the American population diversifies, providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services remains a priority for nurse leaders. Being aware and utilizing the resources, policies and best practices available for the implementation of culturally and linguistically appropriate services can assist nursing managers in reaching their goals of providing high quality care to diverse populations. Nurse managers are key in aligning the unit's resources with organisational goals related to the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate services by providing the operational leadership to eliminate barriers and to enhance the uptake of best practices related to culturally and linguistically appropriate services. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Study participants incentives, compensation and reimbursement in resource-constrained settings.

PubMed

Mduluza, Takafira; Midzi, Nicholas; Duruza, Donold; Ndebele, Paul

2013-01-01

Controversies still exists within the research fraternity on the form and level of incentives, compensation and reimbursement to study participants in resource-constrained settings. While most research activities contribute significantly to advancement of mankind, little has been considered in rewarding directly the research participants from resource-constrained areas. A study was conducted in Zimbabwe to investigate views and expectations of various stakeholders on study participation incentives, compensation and reimbursement issues. Data was collected using various methods including a survey of about 1,008 parents/guardians of school children participating in various immunological cohort studies and parasitology surveys. Community advisory boards (CABs) at 9 of the sites were also consulted. Further, information was gathered during discussions held at a basic research ethics training workshop. The workshop had 45 participants that including 40 seasoned Zimbabwean researchers and 5 international research collaborators. About 90% (907) of the study participants and guardians expected compensation of reasonable value, in view of the researchers' value and comparison to other sites regardless of economic status of the community. During discussion with researchers at a basic ethics training workshop, about 80% (32) believed that decisions on level of compensation should be determined by the local research ethics committees. While, the few international research collaborators were of the opinion that compensation should be in accordance with local guidelines, and incentives should be in line with funding. Both the CAB members and study participants expressed that there should be a clear distinction between study incentive and compensation accorded to individual and community expectations on benefits from studies. However, CABs expressed that their suggestions on incentives and compensation are often moderated by the regulatory authorities who cite fear of unknown concerns. Overall, both personal and community benefits need to be considered collectively in future studies to be conducted in resource-constrained communities. There is projected fear that recruitment in future may be a challenge, now that almost every community, has somehow been reached and participated in some form of studies. A major concern on reimbursement, compensation or incentives should be internationally pegged regardless of different economic status of the individuals or communities where the study is to be conducted.

Higher Educational Cost-Sharing, Dual-Track Tuition Fees, and Higher Educational Access: The East African Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marcucci, Pamela; Johnstone, D. Bruce; Ngolovoi, Mary

2008-01-01

Three universal demands characterize higher education globally: the demand for higher quality, for increased access, and for greater equity. In East Africa, where resources are highly constrained, no nation has been able to meet these demands on the basis of public expenditures alone. Instead countries have had to increase resources from nonpublic…

Dynamic Generation of Reduced Ontologies to Support Resource Constraints of Mobile Devices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schrimpsher, Dan

2011-01-01

As Web Services and the Semantic Web become more important, enabling technologies such as web service ontologies will grow larger. At the same time, use of mobile devices to access web services has doubled in the last year. The ability of these resource constrained devices to download and reason across these ontologies to support service discovery…

Flexible Job-Shop Scheduling with Dual-Resource Constraints to Minimize Tardiness Using Genetic Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paksi, A. B. N.; Ma'ruf, A.

2016-02-01

In general, both machines and human resources are needed for processing a job on production floor. However, most classical scheduling problems have ignored the possible constraint caused by availability of workers and have considered only machines as a limited resource. In addition, along with production technology development, routing flexibility appears as a consequence of high product variety and medium demand for each product. Routing flexibility is caused by capability of machines that offers more than one machining process. This paper presents a method to address scheduling problem constrained by both machines and workers, considering routing flexibility. Scheduling in a Dual-Resource Constrained shop is categorized as NP-hard problem that needs long computational time. Meta-heuristic approach, based on Genetic Algorithm, is used due to its practical implementation in industry. Developed Genetic Algorithm uses indirect chromosome representative and procedure to transform chromosome into Gantt chart. Genetic operators, namely selection, elitism, crossover, and mutation are developed to search the best fitness value until steady state condition is achieved. A case study in a manufacturing SME is used to minimize tardiness as objective function. The algorithm has shown 25.6% reduction of tardiness, equal to 43.5 hours.

Resource-poor settings: infrastructure and capacity building: care of the critically ill and injured during pandemics and disasters: CHEST consensus statement.

PubMed

Geiling, James; Burkle, Frederick M; Amundson, Dennis; Dominguez-Cherit, Guillermo; Gomersall, Charles D; Lim, Matthew L; Luyckx, Valerie; Sarani, Babak; Uyeki, Timothy M; West, T Eoin; Christian, Michael D; Devereaux, Asha V; Dichter, Jeffrey R; Kissoon, Niranjan

2014-10-01

Planning for mass critical care (MCC) in resource-poor or constrained settings has been largely ignored, despite their large populations that are prone to suffer disproportionately from natural disasters. Addressing MCC in these settings has the potential to help vast numbers of people and also to inform planning for better-resourced areas. The Resource-Poor Settings panel developed five key question domains; defining the term resource poor and using the traditional phases of disaster (mitigation/preparedness/response/recovery), literature searches were conducted to identify evidence on which to answer the key questions in these areas. Given a lack of data upon which to develop evidence-based recommendations, expert-opinion suggestions were developed, and consensus was achieved using a modified Delphi process. The five key questions were then separated as follows: definition, infrastructure and capacity building, resources, response, and reconstitution/recovery of host nation critical care capabilities and research. Addressing these questions led the panel to offer 33 suggestions. Because of the large number of suggestions, the results have been separated into two sections: part 1, Infrastructure/Capacity in this article, and part 2, Response/Recovery/Research in the accompanying article. Lack of, or presence of, rudimentary ICU resources and limited capacity to enhance services further challenge resource-poor and constrained settings. Hence, capacity building entails preventative strategies and strengthening of primary health services. Assistance from other countries and organizations is needed to mount a surge response. Moreover, planning should include when to disengage and how the host nation can provide capacity beyond the mass casualty care event.

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration Project final report: Monitoring for evaluation of recovery and restoration of injured nearshore resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ballachey, Brenda E.; Bodkin, James L.; Kloecker, Kimberly A.; Dean, Tom; Colettie, Heather A

2015-01-01

In 2012, we completed three consecutive years of full field sampling in WPWS for EVOS Restoration Project 10100750. Nearshore monitoring was conducted in collaboration with the NPS SWAN I&M program and, beginning in 2012, as part of the EVOSTC GWA program. Data collection was done in accordance with standard operating procedures set forth to monitor marine water chemistry and quality, marine intertidal invertebrates, kelps and seagrasses, marine birds, black oystercatchers, and sea otters. Summer sampling in 2012 represented the fourth year of sampling in WPWS (an initial year of sampling was done in WPWS in 2007; EVOS Restoration Project 070750). Based on our monitoring of nearshore species in WPWS, and comparisons of data from WPWS and other areas within the Gulf of Alaska, we have no evidence of continued injury to biological resources at the spatial scales we are monitoring. A key finding is that recovery of the sea otter population is no longer constrained by exposure to lingering oil; this is consistent with related EVOSTC studies on harlequin ducks (Restoration Project 12120114-Q). We anticipate continued annual nearshore monitoring in WPWS and at KATM and KEFJ under GWA, with data summaries and analyses including all three areas to provide a larger spatial and temporal context to the understanding of processes and patterns in nearshore ecosystems of the GOA which were impacted by the EVOS of 1989.

Comparative techno-economic assessment and LCA of selected integrated sugarcane-based biorefineries.

PubMed

Gnansounou, Edgard; Vaskan, Pavel; Pachón, Elia Ruiz

2015-11-01

This work addresses the economic and environmental performance of integrated biorefineries based on sugarcane juice and residues. Four multiproduct scenarios were considered; two from sugar mills and the others from ethanol distilleries. They are integrated biorefineries producing first (1G) and second (2G) generation ethanol, sugar, molasses (for animal feed) and electricity in the context of Brazil. The scenarios were analysed and compared using techno-economic value-based approach and LCA methodology. The results show that the best economic configuration is provided by a scenario with largest ethanol production while the best environmental performance is presented by a scenario with full integration sugar - 1G2G ethanol production. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Hybrid Scheme for Fine-Grained Search and Access Authorization in Fog Computing Environment

PubMed Central

Xiao, Min; Zhou, Jing; Liu, Xuejiao; Jiang, Mingda

2017-01-01

In the fog computing environment, the encrypted sensitive data may be transferred to multiple fog nodes on the edge of a network for low latency; thus, fog nodes need to implement a search over encrypted data as a cloud server. Since the fog nodes tend to provide service for IoT applications often running on resource-constrained end devices, it is necessary to design lightweight solutions. At present, there is little research on this issue. In this paper, we propose a fine-grained owner-forced data search and access authorization scheme spanning user-fog-cloud for resource constrained end users. Compared to existing schemes only supporting either index encryption with search ability or data encryption with fine-grained access control ability, the proposed hybrid scheme supports both abilities simultaneously, and index ciphertext and data ciphertext are constructed based on a single ciphertext-policy attribute based encryption (CP-ABE) primitive and share the same key pair, thus the data access efficiency is significantly improved and the cost of key management is greatly reduced. Moreover, in the proposed scheme, the resource constrained end devices are allowed to rapidly assemble ciphertexts online and securely outsource most of decryption task to fog nodes, and mediated encryption mechanism is also adopted to achieve instantaneous user revocation instead of re-encrypting ciphertexts with many copies in many fog nodes. The security and the performance analysis show that our scheme is suitable for a fog computing environment. PMID:28629131

A Hybrid Scheme for Fine-Grained Search and Access Authorization in Fog Computing Environment.

PubMed

Xiao, Min; Zhou, Jing; Liu, Xuejiao; Jiang, Mingda

2017-06-17

In the fog computing environment, the encrypted sensitive data may be transferred to multiple fog nodes on the edge of a network for low latency; thus, fog nodes need to implement a search over encrypted data as a cloud server. Since the fog nodes tend to provide service for IoT applications often running on resource-constrained end devices, it is necessary to design lightweight solutions. At present, there is little research on this issue. In this paper, we propose a fine-grained owner-forced data search and access authorization scheme spanning user-fog-cloud for resource constrained end users. Compared to existing schemes only supporting either index encryption with search ability or data encryption with fine-grained access control ability, the proposed hybrid scheme supports both abilities simultaneously, and index ciphertext and data ciphertext are constructed based on a single ciphertext-policy attribute based encryption (CP-ABE) primitive and share the same key pair, thus the data access efficiency is significantly improved and the cost of key management is greatly reduced. Moreover, in the proposed scheme, the resource constrained end devices are allowed to rapidly assemble ciphertexts online and securely outsource most of decryption task to fog nodes, and mediated encryption mechanism is also adopted to achieve instantaneous user revocation instead of re-encrypting ciphertexts with many copies in many fog nodes. The security and the performance analysis show that our scheme is suitable for a fog computing environment.

Scheduling Operational Operational-Level Courses of Action

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-10-01

Process modelling and analysis – process synchronisation techniques Information and knowledge management – Collaborative planning systems – Workflow...logistics – Some tasks may consume resources The military user may wish to impose synchronisation constraints among tasks A military end state can be...effects, – constrained with resource and synchronisation considerations, and – lead to the achievement of conditions set in the end state. The COA is

Selection and Storage of Perceptual Groups Is Constrained by a Discrete Resource in Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, David E.; Vogel, Edward K.; Awh, Edward

2013-01-01

Perceptual grouping can lead observers to perceive a multielement scene as a smaller number of hierarchical units. Past work has shown that grouping enables more elements to be stored in visual working memory (WM). Although this may appear to contradict so-called discrete resource models that argue for fixed item limits in WM storage, it is also…

Control of Carbon Assimilation and Partitioning by Jasmonate: An Accounting of Growth-Defense Tradeoffs.

PubMed

Havko, Nathan E; Major, Ian T; Jewell, Jeremy B; Attaran, Elham; Browse, John; Howe, Gregg A

2016-01-15

Plant growth is often constrained by the limited availability of resources in the microenvironment. Despite the continuous threat of attack from insect herbivores and pathogens, investment in defense represents a lost opportunity to expand photosynthetic capacity in leaves and absorption of nutrients and water by roots. To mitigate the metabolic expenditure on defense, plants have evolved inducible defense strategies. The plant hormone jasmonate (JA) is a key regulator of many inducible defenses. Synthesis of JA in response to perceived danger leads to the deployment of a variety of defensive structures and compounds, along with a potent inhibition of growth. Genetic studies have established an important role for JA in mediating tradeoffs between growth and defense. However, several gaps remain in understanding of how JA signaling inhibits growth, either through direct transcriptional control of JA-response genes or crosstalk with other signaling pathways. Here, we highlight recent progress in uncovering the role of JA in controlling growth-defense balance and its relationship to resource acquisition and allocation. We also discuss tradeoffs in the context of the ability of JA to promote increased leaf mass per area (LMA), which is a key indicator of leaf construction costs and leaf life span.

Control of Carbon Assimilation and Partitioning by Jasmonate: An Accounting of Growth–Defense Tradeoffs

PubMed Central

Havko, Nathan E.; Major, Ian T.; Jewell, Jeremy B.; Attaran, Elham; Browse, John; Howe, Gregg A.

2016-01-01

Plant growth is often constrained by the limited availability of resources in the microenvironment. Despite the continuous threat of attack from insect herbivores and pathogens, investment in defense represents a lost opportunity to expand photosynthetic capacity in leaves and absorption of nutrients and water by roots. To mitigate the metabolic expenditure on defense, plants have evolved inducible defense strategies. The plant hormone jasmonate (JA) is a key regulator of many inducible defenses. Synthesis of JA in response to perceived danger leads to the deployment of a variety of defensive structures and compounds, along with a potent inhibition of growth. Genetic studies have established an important role for JA in mediating tradeoffs between growth and defense. However, several gaps remain in understanding of how JA signaling inhibits growth, either through direct transcriptional control of JA-response genes or crosstalk with other signaling pathways. Here, we highlight recent progress in uncovering the role of JA in controlling growth-defense balance and its relationship to resource acquisition and allocation. We also discuss tradeoffs in the context of the ability of JA to promote increased leaf mass per area (LMA), which is a key indicator of leaf construction costs and leaf life span. PMID:27135227

The potential water buffering capacity of urban green infrastructure in an arid environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Z.; Yang, J.

2017-12-01

Urban green infrastructure offers arid cities an attractive means of mitigation/adaptation to environmental challenges of elevated thermal stress, but imposes the requirement of outdoor irrigation that aggravates the stress of water resource management. Future development of cities is inevitably constrained by the limited availability of water resources, under challenges of emergent climate change and continuous population growth. This study used the Weather Research and Forecasting model with urban dynamics to assess the potential water buffering capacity of urban green infrastructure in arid environments and its implications for sustainable urban planning. The Phoenix metropolitan area, Arizona, United States, is adopted as a testbed with two hypothetical cases, viz. the water-saving and the fully-greening scenarios investigated. Modifications of the existing green infrastructure and irrigation practices are found to significantly influence the thermal environment of Phoenix. In addition, water saving by xeriscaping (0.77 ± 0.05 × 10^8 m^3) allows the region to support 19.8% of the annual water consumption by the projected 2.62 million population growth by 2050, at a cost of an increase in urban ambient temperature of about 1 o^C.

Health information systems: a survey of frameworks for developing countries.

PubMed

Marcelo, A B

2010-01-01

The objective of this paper is to perform a survey of excellent research on health information systems (HIS) analysis and design, and their underlying theoretical frameworks. It classifies these frameworks along major themes, and analyzes the different approaches to HIS development that are practical in resource-constrained environments. Literature review based on PubMed citations and conference proceedings, as well as Internet searches on information systems in general, and health information systems in particular. The field of health information systems development has been studied extensively. Despite this, failed implementations are still common. Theoretical frameworks for HIS development are available that can guide implementers. As awareness, acceptance, and demand for health information systems increase globally, the variety of approaches and strategies will also follow. For developing countries with scarce resources, a trial-and-error approach can be very costly. Lessons from the successes and failures of initial HIS implementations have been abstracted into theoretical frameworks. These frameworks organize complex HIS concepts into methodologies that standardize techniques in implementation. As globalization continues to impact healthcare in the developing world, demand for more responsive health systems will become urgent. More comprehensive frameworks and practical tools to guide HIS implementers will be imperative.

Survey of synfuel technology for lignite

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

Sondreal, E.A.

1982-01-01

The most important market for lignite will continue to be the electric utility industry, where it is used to fuel large pc-fired boilers serving major regional power grids. However, the growth of this market and thechnology is being challenged by new and more stringent environmental control requirements, including the international concern over acid rain. Environmental and economic issues could either encourage or limit the development of a synfuels market for lignite depending on the cost effectiveness of the technological solutions that are developed. Clearly the United States needs to develop its coal resources to reduce dependence on imported oil. However,more » demand for coal derived substitute petroleum will be constrained by cost for the forseeable future. Government policy initiatives and new technology will be the keys to removing these constraints in the decades ahead. A crossover point with respect to petroleum and natural gas will be reached at some point in the future, which will allow synthetic fuels to penetrate the markets now served by oil and gas. Those of us who are today concerned with the development of lignite resources can look forward to participating in the major synfuels market that will emerge when those economic conditions are realized.« less

Using Bayesian methods to predict climate impacts on groundwater availability and agricultural production in Punjab, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russo, T. A.; Devineni, N.; Lall, U.

2015-12-01

Lasting success of the Green Revolution in Punjab, India relies on continued availability of local water resources. Supplying primarily rice and wheat for the rest of India, Punjab supports crop irrigation with a canal system and groundwater, which is vastly over-exploited. The detailed data required to physically model future impacts on water supplies agricultural production is not readily available for this region, therefore we use Bayesian methods to estimate hydrologic properties and irrigation requirements for an under-constrained mass balance model. Using measured values of historical precipitation, total canal water delivery, crop yield, and water table elevation, we present a method using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm to solve for a distribution of values for each unknown parameter in a conceptual mass balance model. Due to heterogeneity across the state, and the resolution of input data, we estimate model parameters at the district-scale using spatial pooling. The resulting model is used to predict the impact of precipitation change scenarios on groundwater availability under multiple cropping options. Predicted groundwater declines vary across the state, suggesting that crop selection and water management strategies should be determined at a local scale. This computational method can be applied in data-scarce regions across the world, where water resource management is required to resolve competition between food security and available resources in a changing climate.

Dark clouds in co-creation, and their silver linings practical challenges we faced in a participatory project in a resource-constrained community in India, and how we overcame (some of) them

PubMed Central

Sushama, Preeti; Ghergu, Cristian; Meershoek, Agnes; de Witte, Luc P.; van Schayck, Onno C. P.; Krumeich, Anja

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: While any type of field-based research is challenging, building action-oriented, participatory research in resource-constrained settings can be even more so. Objective: In this article, we aim to examine and provide insights into some of the practical challenges that were faced during the course of a participatory project based in two non-notified slums in Bangalore, India, aiming to build solutions to indoor air pollution from cooking on traditional cook stoves. Methods: The article draws upon experiences of the authors as field researchers engaged in a community-based project that adopted an exploratory, iterative design to its planning and implementation, which involved community visits, semi-structured interviews, prioritization workshops, community forums, photo voice activities, chulha-building sessions and cooking trials. Results: The main obstacles to field work were linked to fostering open, continued dialogue with the community, aimed at bridging the gap between the ‘scientific’ and the ‘local’ worlds. Language and cultural barriers led to a reliance on interpreters, which affected both the quality of the interaction as well as the relationship between the researchers and the community that was built out of that interaction. The transience in housing and location of members of the community also led to difficulties in following up on incomplete information. Furthermore, facilitating meaningful participation from the people within the context of restricted resources, differing priorities, and socio-cultural diversity was particularly challenging. These were further compounded by the constraints of time and finances brought on by the embeddedness of the project within institutional frameworks and conventional research requirements of a fixed, pre-planned and externally determined focus, timeline, activities and benchmarks for the project. Conclusions: This article calls for revisiting of scientific conventions and funding prerequisites, in order to create spaces that support flexible, emergent and adaptive field-based research projects which can respond effectively to the needs and priorities of the community. PMID:29353542

Optimizing learning in healthcare: how Island Health is evolving to learn at the speed of change.

PubMed

Gottfredson, Conrad; Stroud, Carol; Jackson, Mary; Stevenson, R Lynn; Archer, Jana

2014-01-01

Healthcare organizations are challenged with constrained resources and increasing service demands by an aging population with complex care needs. Exponential growth in competency requirements also challenges staff's ability to provide quality patient care. How can a healthcare organization support its staff to learn "at or above the speed of change" while continuing to provide the quality patient care? Island Health is addressing this challenge by transforming its traditional education model into an innovative, evidence-based learning and performance support approach. Implementation of the methodology is yielding several lessons learned, both for the internal Learning and Performance Support team, and for what it takes to bring a new way of doing business into an organization. A key result is that this approach is enabling the organization to be more responsive in helping staff gain and maintain competencies.

Integration of real-time mapping technology in disaster relief distribution.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-02-01

Vehicle routing for disaster relief distribution involves many challenges that distinguish this problem from those in commercial settings, given the time sensitive and resource constrained nature of relief activities. While operations research approa...

Asset management as a strategic decision-making tool in DelDOT.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-10-01

Asset management has been receiving greater attention at both the state and national : levels. Escalating demands by the public for increased accountability, aging : infrastructure, increasingly constrained resources, new funding challenges, and incr...

Quantifying Elements of a Lunar Economy Based on Resource Needs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greenblatt, J. B.

2017-10-01

We model a simplified lunar economy from human life support, Earth materials consumption, and energy and propulsion requirement estimates, constrained by lunar elemental abundances; estimate likely imports/exports and "gross interplanetary product."

Geographically structured host specificity is caused by the range expansions and host shifts of a symbiotic fungus.

PubMed

Wolfe, Benjamin E; Pringle, Anne

2012-04-01

The inability to associate with local species may constrain the spread of mutualists arriving to new habitats, but the fates of introduced, microbial mutualists are largely unknown. The deadly poisonous ectomycorrhizal fungus Amanita phalloides (the death cap) is native to Europe and introduced to the East and West Coasts of North America. By cataloging host associations across the two continents, we record dramatic changes in specificity among the three ranges. On the East Coast, where the fungus is restricted in its distribution, it associates almost exclusively with pines, which are rarely hosts of A. phalloides in its native range. In California, where the fungus is widespread and locally abundant, it associates almost exclusively with oaks, mirroring the host associations observed in Europe. The most common host of the death cap in California is the endemic coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), and the current distribution of A. phalloides appears constrained within the distribution of Q. agrifolia. In California, host shifts to native plants are also associated with a near doubling in the resources allocated to sexual reproduction and a prolonged fruiting period; mushrooms are twice as large as they are elsewhere and mushrooms are found throughout the year. Host and niche shifts are likely to shape the continuing range expansion of A. phalloides and other ectomycorrhizal fungi introduced across the world.

Geographically structured host specificity is caused by the range expansions and host shifts of a symbiotic fungus

PubMed Central

Wolfe, Benjamin E; Pringle, Anne

2012-01-01

The inability to associate with local species may constrain the spread of mutualists arriving to new habitats, but the fates of introduced, microbial mutualists are largely unknown. The deadly poisonous ectomycorrhizal fungus Amanita phalloides (the death cap) is native to Europe and introduced to the East and West Coasts of North America. By cataloging host associations across the two continents, we record dramatic changes in specificity among the three ranges. On the East Coast, where the fungus is restricted in its distribution, it associates almost exclusively with pines, which are rarely hosts of A. phalloides in its native range. In California, where the fungus is widespread and locally abundant, it associates almost exclusively with oaks, mirroring the host associations observed in Europe. The most common host of the death cap in California is the endemic coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), and the current distribution of A. phalloides appears constrained within the distribution of Q. agrifolia. In California, host shifts to native plants are also associated with a near doubling in the resources allocated to sexual reproduction and a prolonged fruiting period; mushrooms are twice as large as they are elsewhere and mushrooms are found throughout the year. Host and niche shifts are likely to shape the continuing range expansion of A. phalloides and other ectomycorrhizal fungi introduced across the world. PMID:22134645

Light-weight cyptography for resource constrained environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baier, Patrick; Szu, Harold

2006-04-01

We give a survey of "light-weight" encryption algorithms designed to maximise security within tight resource constraints (limited memory, power consumption, processor speed, chip area, etc.) The target applications of such algorithms are RFIDs, smart cards, mobile phones, etc., which may store, process and transmit sensitive data, but at the same time do not always support conventional strong algorithms. A survey of existing algorithms is given and new proposal is introduced.

Securing resource constraints embedded devices using elliptic curve cryptography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tam, Tony; Alfasi, Mohamed; Mozumdar, Mohammad

2014-06-01

The use of smart embedded device has been growing rapidly in recent time because of miniaturization of sensors and platforms. Securing data from these embedded devices is now become one of the core challenges both in industry and research community. Being embedded, these devices have tight constraints on resources such as power, computation, memory, etc. Hence it is very difficult to implement traditional Public Key Cryptography (PKC) into these resource constrained embedded devices. Moreover, most of the public key security protocols requires both public and private key to be generated together. In contrast with this, Identity Based Encryption (IBE), a public key cryptography protocol, allows a public key to be generated from an arbitrary string and the corresponding private key to be generated later on demand. While IBE has been actively studied and widely applied in cryptography research, conventional IBE primitives are also computationally demanding and cannot be efficiently implemented on embedded system. Simplified version of the identity based encryption has proven its competence in being robust and also satisfies tight budget of the embedded platform. In this paper, we describe the choice of several parameters for implementing lightweight IBE in resource constrained embedded sensor nodes. Our implementation of IBE is built using elliptic curve cryptography (ECC).

New Inversion and Interpretation of Public-Domain Electromagnetic Survey Data from Selected Areas in Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, B. D.; Kass, A.; Saltus, R. W.; Minsley, B. J.; Deszcz-Pan, M.; Bloss, B. R.; Burns, L. E.

2013-12-01

Public-domain airborne geophysical surveys (combined electromagnetics and magnetics), mostly collected for and released by the State of Alaska, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS), are a unique and valuable resource for both geologic interpretation and geophysical methods development. A new joint effort by the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the DGGS aims to add value to these data through the application of novel advanced inversion methods and through innovative and intuitive display of data: maps, profiles, voxel-based models, and displays of estimated inversion quality and confidence. Our goal is to make these data even more valuable for interpretation of geologic frameworks, geotechnical studies, and cryosphere studies, by producing robust estimates of subsurface resistivity that can be used by non-geophysicists. The available datasets, which are available in the public domain, include 39 frequency-domain electromagnetic datasets collected since 1993, and continue to grow with 5 more data releases pending in 2013. The majority of these datasets were flown for mineral resource purposes, with one survey designed for infrastructure analysis. In addition, several USGS datasets are included in this study. The USGS has recently developed new inversion methodologies for airborne EM data and have begun to apply these and other new techniques to the available datasets. These include a trans-dimensional Markov Chain Monte Carlo technique, laterally-constrained regularized inversions, and deterministic inversions which include calibration factors as a free parameter. Incorporation of the magnetic data as an additional constraining dataset has also improved the inversion results. Processing has been completed in several areas, including Fortymile and the Alaska Highway surveys, and continues in others such as the Styx River and Nome surveys. Utilizing these new techniques, we provide models beyond the apparent resistivity maps supplied by the original contractors, allowing us to produce a variety of products, such as maps of resistivity as a function of depth or elevation, cross section maps, and 3D voxel models, which have been treated consistently both in terms of processing and error analysis throughout the state. These products facilitate a more fruitful exchange between geologists and geophysicists and a better understanding of uncertainty, and the process results in iterative development and improvement of geologic models, both on small and large scales.

Employing Simulation to Evaluate Designs: The APEX Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freed, Michael A.; Shafto, Michael G.; Remington, Roger W.; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

The key innovations of APEX are its integrated approaches to task analysis, procedure definition, and intelligent, resource-constrained multi-tasking. This paper presents a step-by-step description of how APEX is used, from scenario development through trace analysis.

A generalized fuzzy credibility-constrained linear fractional programming approach for optimal irrigation water allocation under uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chenglong; Guo, Ping

2017-10-01

The vague and fuzzy parametric information is a challenging issue in irrigation water management problems. In response to this problem, a generalized fuzzy credibility-constrained linear fractional programming (GFCCFP) model is developed for optimal irrigation water allocation under uncertainty. The model can be derived from integrating generalized fuzzy credibility-constrained programming (GFCCP) into a linear fractional programming (LFP) optimization framework. Therefore, it can solve ratio optimization problems associated with fuzzy parameters, and examine the variation of results under different credibility levels and weight coefficients of possibility and necessary. It has advantages in: (1) balancing the economic and resources objectives directly; (2) analyzing system efficiency; (3) generating more flexible decision solutions by giving different credibility levels and weight coefficients of possibility and (4) supporting in-depth analysis of the interrelationships among system efficiency, credibility level and weight coefficient. The model is applied to a case study of irrigation water allocation in the middle reaches of Heihe River Basin, northwest China. Therefore, optimal irrigation water allocation solutions from the GFCCFP model can be obtained. Moreover, factorial analysis on the two parameters (i.e. λ and γ) indicates that the weight coefficient is a main factor compared with credibility level for system efficiency. These results can be effective for support reasonable irrigation water resources management and agricultural production.

Capturing the Range of Learning: Implications for Disaster Health in a Resource Constrained Future

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-12-01

article suggests the value of Coombs and Ahmed’s three interrelated “modes of education” (formal, nonformal, and informal) in considering disaster health...learning by health professionals, amidst an environment of resource constraint, is challenging. This article suggests the value of Coombs and...TABLES Table 1. Coombs and Ahmed’s three interelated "modes of education" (formal, nonformal, and informal)a,b with disaster health examples

Resource-poor settings: response, recovery, and research: care of the critically ill and injured during pandemics and disasters: CHEST consensus statement.

PubMed

Geiling, James; Burkle, Frederick M; West, T Eoin; Uyeki, Timothy M; Amundson, Dennis; Dominguez-Cherit, Guillermo; Gomersall, Charles D; Lim, Matthew L; Luyckx, Valerie; Sarani, Babak; Christian, Michael D; Devereaux, Asha V; Dichter, Jeffrey R; Kissoon, Niranjan

2014-10-01

Planning for mass critical care in resource-poor and constrained settings has been largely ignored, despite large, densely crowded populations who are prone to suffer disproportionately from natural disasters. As a result, disaster response has been suboptimal and in many instances hampered by lack of planning, education and training, information, and communication. The Resource-Poor Settings panel developed five key question domains; defining the term resource poor and using the traditional phases of the disaster cycle (mitigation/preparedness/response/recovery). Literature searches were conducted to identify evidence to answer the key questions in these areas. Given a lack of data on which to develop evidence-based recommendations, expert-opinion suggestions were developed, and consensus was achieved using a modified Delphi process. The five key questions were as follows: definition, capacity building and mitigation, what resources can we bring to bear to assist/surge, response, and reconstitution and recovery of host nation critical care capabilities. Addressing these led the panel to offer 33 suggestions. Because of the large number of suggestions, the results have been separated into two sections: part I, Infrastructure/Capacity in the accompanying article, and part II, Response/Recovery/Research in this article. A lack of rudimentary ICU resources and capacity to enhance services plagues resource-poor or constrained settings. Capacity building therefore entails preventative strategies and strengthening of primary health services. Assistance from other countries and organizations is often needed to mount a surge response. Moreover, the disengagement of these responding groups and host country recovery require active planning. Future improvements in all phases require active research activities.

Estimating Poromechanical and Hydraulic Properties of Fractured Media Aquifers Using a Model of the Aquifer at Ploemeur France: Broad Applications and Future Uses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, M. W.; Burbey, T. J.

2017-12-01

Aquifers in fractured crystalline bedrock are located over half of the earth's surface and are vital civil and economic resources particularly in places where ample, safe surface water is not available. With fractured media aquifers providing large percentages of water for municipal, industrial, and agricultural use in many regions of the world. Distinguishing sustainable quantities of extraction is of paramount importance to the continuing viability of these important resources and the communities they serve. The fractured and faulted crystalline-rock aquifer system supporting the community of Ploemeur France has been providing one million cubic meters of water annually, resulting in a modest long-term drawdown of about 15m. To understand the sources and mechanisms of recharge that support this aquifer system, a three-dimensional ABAQUS model was developed using known geologic, water-level and geodetic (tiltmeters and GPS) data to simulate the natural aquifer system that is dominated by a permeable sub-vertical fault and an intersecting semi-horizontal contact zone. The model is used to constrain the poromechanical properties of the fault and contact zones relative to the host crystalline rocks and overlying saprolite by taking advantage of the tilt and seasonal GPS responses caused by municipal pumping along with water-level data for the area. A chief goal in this modeling effort is to assess the sources of recharge to this aquifer system that is atypically productive for a crystalline-rock setting. Preliminary results suggest that the source of water supplying this community is a combination of rapid localized recharge through the saprolite and fault zone and recharge along the contact zone, both from the north (older water) and where it is exposed to the south (younger water). The modeling effort also shows the importance of combining GPS and surface tiltmeter data with water-level measurements for constraining the properties of this complex aquifer system and providing a realistic framework of the recharge and flow characteristics.

Partial differential equations constrained combinatorial optimization on an adiabatic quantum computer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandra, Rishabh

Partial differential equation-constrained combinatorial optimization (PDECCO) problems are a mixture of continuous and discrete optimization problems. PDECCO problems have discrete controls, but since the partial differential equations (PDE) are continuous, the optimization space is continuous as well. Such problems have several applications, such as gas/water network optimization, traffic optimization, micro-chip cooling optimization, etc. Currently, no efficient classical algorithm which guarantees a global minimum for PDECCO problems exists. A new mapping has been developed that transforms PDECCO problem, which only have linear PDEs as constraints, into quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problems that can be solved using an adiabatic quantum optimizer (AQO). The mapping is efficient, it scales polynomially with the size of the PDECCO problem, requires only one PDE solve to form the QUBO problem, and if the QUBO problem is solved correctly and efficiently on an AQO, guarantees a global optimal solution for the original PDECCO problem.

Pediatric surgical capacity building - a pathway to improving access to pediatric surgical care in Haiti.

PubMed

Kaseje, Neema; Jenny, Hillary; Jeudy, Andre Patrick; MacLee, Jean Louis; Meara, John G; Ford, Henri R

2018-02-01

Lack of human resources is a major barrier to accessing pediatric surgical care globally. Our aim was to establish a model for pediatric surgical training of general surgery residents in a resource constrained region. A pediatric surgical program with a pediatric surgical rotation for general surgery residents in a tertiary hospital in Haiti in 2015 was established. We conducted twice daily patient rounds, ran an outpatient clinic, and provided emergent and elective pediatric surgical care, with tasks progressively given to residents until they could run clinic and perform the most common elective and emergent procedures. We conducted baseline and post-intervention knowledge exams and dedicated 1 day a week to teaching and research activities. We measured the following outcomes: number of residents that completed the rotation, mean pre and post intervention test scores, patient volume in clinic and operating room, postoperative outcomes, resident ability to perform most common elective and emergent procedures, and resident participation in research. Nine out of 9 residents completed the rotation; 987 patients were seen in outpatient clinic, and 564 procedures were performed in children <15years old. There was a 50% increase in volume of pediatric cases and a 100% increase in procedures performed in children <4years old. Postoperative outcomes were: 0% mortality for elective cases and 18% mortality for emergent cases, 3% complication rate for elective cases and 6% complication rate for emergent cases. Outcomes did not change with increased responsibility given to residents. All senior residents (n=4) could perform the most common elective and emergent procedures without changes in mortality and complication rates. Increases in mean pre and post intervention test scores were 12% (PGY1), 24% (PGY2), and 10% (PGY3). 75% of senior residents participated in research activities as first or second authors. Establishing a program in pediatric surgery with capacity building of general surgery residents for pediatric surgical care provision is feasible in a resource constrained setting without negative effects on patient outcomes. This model can be applied in other resource constrained settings to increase human resources for global pediatric surgical care provision. III. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Paper-based analytical devices for clinical diagnosis: recent advances in the fabrication techniques and sensing mechanisms

PubMed Central

Sher, Mazhar; Zhuang, Rachel; Demirci, Utkan; Asghar, Waseem

2017-01-01

Introduction There is a significant interest in developing inexpensive portable biosensing platforms for various applications including disease diagnostics, environmental monitoring, food safety, and water testing at the point-of-care (POC) settings. Current diagnostic assays available in the developed world require sophisticated laboratory infrastructure and expensive reagents. Hence, they are not suitable for resource-constrained settings with limited financial resources, basic health infrastructure, and few trained technicians. Cellulose and flexible transparency paper-based analytical devices have demonstrated enormous potential for developing robust, inexpensive and portable devices for disease diagnostics. These devices offer promising solutions to disease management in resource-constrained settings where the vast majority of the population cannot afford expensive and highly sophisticated treatment options. Areas covered In this review, the authors describe currently developed cellulose and flexible transparency paper-based microfluidic devices, device fabrication techniques, and sensing technologies that are integrated with these devices. The authors also discuss the limitations and challenges associated with these devices and their potential in clinical settings. Expert commentary In recent years, cellulose and flexible transparency paper-based microfluidic devices have demonstrated the potential to become future healthcare options despite a few limitations such as low sensitivity and reproducibility. PMID:28103450

Multiobjective Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling with a Time-Varying Number of Tasks

PubMed Central

Abello, Manuel Blanco

2014-01-01

In resource-constrained project scheduling (RCPS) problems, ongoing tasks are restricted to utilizing a fixed number of resources. This paper investigates a dynamic version of the RCPS problem where the number of tasks varies in time. Our previous work investigated a technique called mapping of task IDs for centroid-based approach with random immigrants (McBAR) that was used to solve the dynamic problem. However, the solution-searching ability of McBAR was investigated over only a few instances of the dynamic problem. As a consequence, only a small number of characteristics of McBAR, under the dynamics of the RCPS problem, were found. Further, only a few techniques were compared to McBAR with respect to its solution-searching ability for solving the dynamic problem. In this paper, (a) the significance of the subalgorithms of McBAR is investigated by comparing McBAR to several other techniques; and (b) the scope of investigation in the previous work is extended. In particular, McBAR is compared to a technique called, Estimation Distribution Algorithm (EDA). As with McBAR, EDA is applied to solve the dynamic problem, an application that is unique in the literature. PMID:24883398

Paper-based analytical devices for clinical diagnosis: recent advances in the fabrication techniques and sensing mechanisms.

PubMed

Sher, Mazhar; Zhuang, Rachel; Demirci, Utkan; Asghar, Waseem

2017-04-01

There is a significant interest in developing inexpensive portable biosensing platforms for various applications including disease diagnostics, environmental monitoring, food safety, and water testing at the point-of-care (POC) settings. Current diagnostic assays available in the developed world require sophisticated laboratory infrastructure and expensive reagents. Hence, they are not suitable for resource-constrained settings with limited financial resources, basic health infrastructure, and few trained technicians. Cellulose and flexible transparency paper-based analytical devices have demonstrated enormous potential for developing robust, inexpensive and portable devices for disease diagnostics. These devices offer promising solutions to disease management in resource-constrained settings where the vast majority of the population cannot afford expensive and highly sophisticated treatment options. Areas covered: In this review, the authors describe currently developed cellulose and flexible transparency paper-based microfluidic devices, device fabrication techniques, and sensing technologies that are integrated with these devices. The authors also discuss the limitations and challenges associated with these devices and their potential in clinical settings. Expert commentary: In recent years, cellulose and flexible transparency paper-based microfluidic devices have demonstrated the potential to become future healthcare options despite a few limitations such as low sensitivity and reproducibility.

Reanalysis of Water, Land Use, and Production Data for Assessing China's Agricultural Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, T.; Pan, J.; McLaughlin, D.

2016-12-01

Quantitative data about water availability, crop evapotranspiration (ET), agricultural land use, and production are needed at high temporal and spatial resolutions to develop sustainable water and agricultural plan and policies. However, large-scale high-resolution measured data can be susceptible to errors, physically inconsistent, or incomplete. Reanalysis provides a way to develop improved physically consistent estimates of both measured and hidden variables. The reanalysis approach described here uses a least-squares technique constrained by water balances and crop water requirements to assimilate many possibly redundant data sources to yield estimates of water, land use, and food production variables that are physically consistent while minimizing differences from measured data. As an example, this methodology is applied in China, where food demand is expected to increase but land and water resources could constrain further increases in food production. Hydrologic fluxes, crop ET, agricultural land use, yields, and food production are characterized at 0.5o by 0.5o resolution for a nominal year around the year 2000 for 22 different crop groups. The reanalysis approach provides useful information for resource management and policy, both in China and around the world.

Critical determinants of the epilepsy treatment gap: a cross-national analysis in resource-limited settings

PubMed Central

Meyer, Ana-Claire L.; Dua, Tarun; Boscardin, John; Escarce, José J.; Saxena, Shekhar; Birbeck, Gretchen L.

2013-01-01

Purpose Epilepsy is one of the most common serious neurological disorders worldwide. Our objective was to determine which economic, healthcare, neurology and epilepsy specific resources were associated with untreated epilepsy in resource-constrained settings. Methods A systematic review of the literature identified community-based studies in resource-constrained settings that calculated the epilepsy treatment gap, the proportion with untreated epilepsy, from prevalent active epilepsy cases. Economic, healthcare, neurology and epilepsy specific resources were taken from existing datasets. Poisson regression models with jackknifed standard errors were used to create bivariate and multivariate models comparing the association between treatment status and economic and health resource indicators. Relative risks were reported. Key Findings Forty-seven studies of 8285 individuals from 24 countries met inclusion criteria. Bivariate analysis demonstrated that individuals residing in rural locations had significantly higher risks of untreated epilepsy [Relative Risk(RR)=1.63; 95% confidence interval(CI):1.26,2.11]. Significantly lower risks of untreated epilepsy were observed for higher physician density [RR=0.65, 95% CI:0.55,0.78], presence of a lay [RR=0.74, 95%CI:0.60,0.91] or professional association for epilepsy [RR=0.73, 95%CI:0.59,0.91], or post-graduate neurology training program [RR=0.67, 95%CI:0.55, 0.82]. In multivariate models, higher physician density maintained significant effects [RR=0.67; 95%CI:0.52,0.88]. Significance Even among resource-limited regions, people with epilepsy in countries with fewer economic, healthcare, neurology and epilepsy specific resources are more likely to have untreated epilepsy. Community-based epilepsy care programs have improved access to treatment but in order to decrease the epilepsy treatment gap, poverty and inequalities of healthcare, neurological and epilepsy resources must be dealt with at the local, national, and global levels. PMID:23106784

The New World of Materials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abelson, Philip H.; Hammond, Allen L.

1976-01-01

Economic growth will be constrained by supplies of energy and raw materials. Natural resource ownership is shifting toward nationalization rather than foreign ownership. Energy prices and environmental awareness are forcing reevaluation of extracting and processing techniques. These developments will affect the industrial and social character of…

Optimal surveillance strategy for invasive species management when surveys stop after detection.

PubMed

Guillera-Arroita, Gurutzeta; Hauser, Cindy E; McCarthy, Michael A

2014-05-01

Invasive species are a cause for concern in natural and economic systems and require both monitoring and management. There is a trade-off between the amount of resources spent on surveying for the species and conducting early management of occupied sites, and the resources that are ultimately spent in delayed management at sites where the species was present but undetected. Previous work addressed this optimal resource allocation problem assuming that surveys continue despite detection until the initially planned survey effort is consumed. However, a more realistic scenario is often that surveys stop after detection (i.e., follow a "removal" sampling design) and then management begins. Such an approach will indicate a different optimal survey design and can be expected to be more efficient. We analyze this case and compare the expected efficiency of invasive species management programs under both survey methods. We also evaluate the impact of mis-specifying the type of sampling approach during the program design phase. We derive analytical expressions that optimize resource allocation between monitoring and management in surveillance programs when surveys stop after detection. We do this under a scenario of unconstrained resources and scenarios where survey budget is constrained. The efficiency of surveillance programs is greater if a "removal survey" design is used, with larger gains obtained when savings from early detection are high, occupancy is high, and survey costs are not much lower than early management costs at a site. Designing a surveillance program disregarding that surveys stop after detection can result in an efficiency loss. Our results help guide the design of future surveillance programs for invasive species. Addressing program design within a decision-theoretic framework can lead to a better use of available resources. We show how species prevalence, its detectability, and the benefits derived from early detection can be considered.

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

Geng, Guangchao; Abhyankar, Shrirang; Wang, Xiaoyu

Transient stability-constrained optimal power flow is an important emerging problem with power systems pushed to the limits for economic benefits, dense and larger interconnected systems, and reduced inertia due to expected proliferation of renewable energy resources. In this study, two more approaches: single machine equivalent and computational intelligence are presented. Also discussed are various application areas, and future directions in this research area. In conclusion, a comprehensive resource for the available literature, publicly available test systems, and relevant numerical libraries is also provided.

A method for fitting regression splines with varying polynomial order in the linear mixed model.

PubMed

Edwards, Lloyd J; Stewart, Paul W; MacDougall, James E; Helms, Ronald W

2006-02-15

The linear mixed model has become a widely used tool for longitudinal analysis of continuous variables. The use of regression splines in these models offers the analyst additional flexibility in the formulation of descriptive analyses, exploratory analyses and hypothesis-driven confirmatory analyses. We propose a method for fitting piecewise polynomial regression splines with varying polynomial order in the fixed effects and/or random effects of the linear mixed model. The polynomial segments are explicitly constrained by side conditions for continuity and some smoothness at the points where they join. By using a reparameterization of this explicitly constrained linear mixed model, an implicitly constrained linear mixed model is constructed that simplifies implementation of fixed-knot regression splines. The proposed approach is relatively simple, handles splines in one variable or multiple variables, and can be easily programmed using existing commercial software such as SAS or S-plus. The method is illustrated using two examples: an analysis of longitudinal viral load data from a study of subjects with acute HIV-1 infection and an analysis of 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure profiles.

Management of cryotherapy-ineligible women in a “screen-and-treat” cervical cancer prevention program targeting HIV-infected women in Zambia: Lessons from the field

PubMed Central

Pfaendler, Krista S.; Mwanahamuntu, Mulindi H.; Sahasrabuddhe, Vikrant V.; Mudenda, Victor; Stringer, Jeffrey S.A.; Parham, Groesbeck P.

2009-01-01

Objective We demonstrate the feasibility of implementing a referral and management system for cryotherapy-ineligible women in a “screen-and-treat” cervical cancer prevention program targeting HIV-infected women in Zambia. Methods We established criteria for patient referral, developed a training program for loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) providers, and adapted LEEP to a resource-constrained setting. Results We successfully trained 15 nurses to perform visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) followed by immediate cryotherapy. Women with positive tests but ineligible for cryotherapy were referred for further evaluation. We trained four Zambian physicians to evaluate referrals, perform punch biopsy, LEEP, and manage intra-operative and post-operative complications. From January 2006 through October 2007, a total of 8823 women (41.5% HIV seropositive) were evaluated by nurses in outlying prevention clinics; of these, 1477 (16.7%) were referred for physician evaluation based on established criteria. Of the 875 (59.2% of 1147 referred) that presented for evaluation, 748 (8.4% of total screened) underwent histologic evaluation in the form of punch biopsy or LEEP. Complications associated with LEEP included anesthesia reaction (n=2) which spontaneously resolved, intra-operative (n=12) and post-operative (n=2) bleeding managed by local measures, and post-operative infection (n=12) managed with antibiotics. Conclusion With adaptations for a resource-constrained environment, we have demonstrated that performing LEEP is feasible and safe, with low rates of complications that can be managed locally. It is important to establish referral and management systems using LEEP-based excisional evaluation for women with cryotherapy-ineligible lesions in VIA-based “screen-and-treat” protocols nested within HIV-care programs in resource-constrained settings. PMID:18556050

Management of cryotherapy-ineligible women in a "screen-and-treat" cervical cancer prevention program targeting HIV-infected women in Zambia: lessons from the field.

PubMed

Pfaendler, Krista S; Mwanahamuntu, Mulindi H; Sahasrabuddhe, Vikrant V; Mudenda, Victor; Stringer, Jeffrey S A; Parham, Groesbeck P

2008-09-01

We demonstrate the feasibility of implementing a referral and management system for cryotherapy-ineligible women in a "screen-and-treat" cervical cancer prevention program targeting HIV-infected women in Zambia. We established criteria for patient referral, developed a training program for loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) providers, and adapted LEEP to a resource-constrained setting. We successfully trained 15 nurses to perform visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) followed by immediate cryotherapy. Women with positive tests but ineligible for cryotherapy were referred for further evaluation. We trained four Zambian physicians to evaluate referrals, perform punch biopsy, LEEP, and manage intra-operative and post-operative complications. From January 2006 through October 2007, a total of 8823 women (41.5% HIV seropositive) were evaluated by nurses in outlying prevention clinics; of these, 1477 (16.7%) were referred for physician evaluation based on established criteria. Of the 875 (59.2% of 1147 referred) that presented for evaluation, 748 (8.4% of total screened) underwent histologic evaluation in the form of punch biopsy or LEEP. Complications associated with LEEP included anesthesia reaction (n=2) which spontaneously resolved, intra-operative (n=12) and post-operative (n=2) bleeding managed by local measures, and post-operative infection (n=12) managed with antibiotics. With adaptations for a resource-constrained environment, we have demonstrated that performing LEEP is feasible and safe, with low rates of complications that can be managed locally. It is important to establish referral and management systems using LEEP-based excisional evaluation for women with cryotherapy-ineligible lesions in VIA-based "screen-and-treat" protocols nested within HIV-care programs in resource-constrained settings.

Tuber size variation and organ preformation constrain growth responses of a spring geophyte.

PubMed

Werger, Marinus J A; Huber, Heidrun

2006-03-01

Functional responses to environmental variation do not only depend on the genetic potential of a species to express different trait values, but can also be limited by characteristics, such as the timing of organ (pre-) formation, aboveground longevity or the presence of a storage organ. In this experiment we tested to what degree variation in tuber size and organ preformation constrain the responsiveness to environmental quality and whether responsiveness is modified by the availability of stored resources by exposing the spring geophyte Bunium bulbocastanum to different light and nutrient regimes. Growth and biomass partitioning were affected by initial tuber size and resource availability. On average, tuber weight amounted to 60%, but never less than 30% of the total plant biomass. Initial tuber size, considered an estimate of the total carbon pool available at the onset of treatments, affected plant growth and reproduction throughout the experiment but had little effect on the responsiveness of plants to the treatments. The responsiveness was partly constrained by organ preformation: in the second year variation of leaf number was considerably larger than in the first year of the treatments. The results indicate that a spring geophyte with organ preformation has only limited possibilities to respond to short-term fluctuations of the environment, as all leaves and the inflorescence are preformed in the previous growing season and resources stored in tubers are predominantly used for survival during dormancy and are not invested into plastic adjustments to environmental quality. Such spring geophytes have only limited possibilities to buffer environmental variation. This explains their restriction to habitats characterized by predictable changes of the environmental conditions.

Successive equimarginal approach for optimal design of a pump and treat system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Xiaoniu; Zhang, Chuan-Mian; Borthwick, John C.

2007-08-01

An economic concept-based optimization method is developed for groundwater remediation design. Design of a pump and treat (P&T) system is viewed as a resource allocation problem constrained by specified cleanup criteria. An optimal allocation of resources requires that the equimarginal principle, a fundamental economic principle, must hold. The proposed method is named successive equimarginal approach (SEA), which continuously shifts a pumping rate from a less effective well to a more effective one until equal marginal productivity for all units is reached. Through the successive process, the solution evenly approaches the multiple inequality constraints that represent the specified cleanup criteria in space and in time. The goal is to design an equal protection system so that the distributed contaminant plumes can be equally contained without bypass and overprotection is minimized. SEA is a hybrid of the gradient-based method and the deterministic heuristics-based method, which allows flexibility in dealing with multiple inequality constraints without using a penalty function and in balancing computational efficiency with robustness. This method was applied to design a large-scale P&T system for containment of multiple plumes at the former Blaine Naval Ammunition Depot (NAD) site, near Hastings, Nebraska. To evaluate this method, the SEA results were also compared with those using genetic algorithms.

Stable isotope series from elephant ivory reveal lifetime histories of a true dietary generalist

PubMed Central

Codron, Jacqueline; Codron, Daryl; Sponheimer, Matt; Kirkman, Kevin; Duffy, Kevin J.; Raubenheimer, Erich J.; Mélice, Jean-Luc; Grant, Rina; Clauss, Marcus; Lee-Thorp, Julia A.

2012-01-01

Longitudinal studies have revealed how variation in resource use within consumer populations can impact their dynamics and functional significance in communities. Here, we investigate multi-decadal diet variations within individuals of a keystone megaherbivore species, the African elephant (Loxodonta africana), using serial stable isotope analysis of tusks from the Kruger National Park, South Africa. These records, representing the longest continuous diet histories documented for any extant species, reveal extensive seasonal and annual variations in isotopic—and hence dietary—niches of individuals, but little variation between them. Lack of niche distinction across individuals contrasts several recent studies, which found relatively high levels of individual niche specialization in various taxa. Our result is consistent with theory that individual mammal herbivores are nutritionally constrained to maintain broad diet niches. Individual diet specialization would also be a costly strategy for large-bodied taxa foraging over wide areas in spatio-temporally heterogeneous environments. High levels of within-individual diet variability occurred within and across seasons, and persisted despite an overall increase in inferred C4 grass consumption through the twentieth century. We suggest that switching between C3 browsing and C4 grazing over extended time scales facilitates elephant survival through environmental change, and could even allow recovery of overused resources. PMID:22337695

Stable isotope series from elephant ivory reveal lifetime histories of a true dietary generalist.

PubMed

Codron, Jacqueline; Codron, Daryl; Sponheimer, Matt; Kirkman, Kevin; Duffy, Kevin J; Raubenheimer, Erich J; Mélice, Jean-Luc; Grant, Rina; Clauss, Marcus; Lee-Thorp, Julia A

2012-06-22

Longitudinal studies have revealed how variation in resource use within consumer populations can impact their dynamics and functional significance in communities. Here, we investigate multi-decadal diet variations within individuals of a keystone megaherbivore species, the African elephant (Loxodonta africana), using serial stable isotope analysis of tusks from the Kruger National Park, South Africa. These records, representing the longest continuous diet histories documented for any extant species, reveal extensive seasonal and annual variations in isotopic--and hence dietary--niches of individuals, but little variation between them. Lack of niche distinction across individuals contrasts several recent studies, which found relatively high levels of individual niche specialization in various taxa. Our result is consistent with theory that individual mammal herbivores are nutritionally constrained to maintain broad diet niches. Individual diet specialization would also be a costly strategy for large-bodied taxa foraging over wide areas in spatio-temporally heterogeneous environments. High levels of within-individual diet variability occurred within and across seasons, and persisted despite an overall increase in inferred C(4) grass consumption through the twentieth century. We suggest that switching between C(3) browsing and C(4) grazing over extended time scales facilitates elephant survival through environmental change, and could even allow recovery of overused resources.

Laboratory experiments to investigate sublimation rates of water ice in nighttime lunar regolith

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piquette, Marcus; Horányi, Mihály; Stern, S. Alan

2017-09-01

The existence of water ice on the lunar surface has been a long-standing topic with implications for both lunar science and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). Cold traps on the lunar surface may have conditions necessary to retain water ice, but no laboratory experiments have been conducted to verify modeling results. We present an experiment testing the ability to thermally control bulk samples of lunar regolith simulant mixed with water ice under vacuum in an effort to constrain sublimation rates. The simulant used was JSC-1A lunar regolith simulant developed by NASA's Johnson Space Center. Samples with varying ratios of water ice and JSC-1A regolith simulant, totally about 1 kg, were placed under vacuum and cooled to 100 K to simulate conditions in lunar cold traps. The resulting sublimation of water ice over an approximately five-day period was measured by comparing the mass of the samples before and after the experimental run. Our results indicate that water ice in lunar cold traps is stable on timescales comparable to the lunar night, and should continue to be studied as possible resources for future utilization. This experiment also gauges the efficacy of the synthetic lunar atmosphere mission (SLAM) as a low-cost water resupply mission to lunar outposts.

Incorporating land-use requirements and environmental constraints in low-carbon electricity planning for California.

PubMed

Wu, Grace C; Torn, Margaret S; Williams, James H

2015-02-17

The land-use implications of deep decarbonization of the electricity sector (e.g., 80% below 1990 emissions) have not been well-characterized quantitatively or spatially. We assessed the operational-phase land-use requirements of different low-carbon scenarios for California in 2050 and found that most scenarios have comparable direct land footprints. While the per MWh footprint of renewable energy (RE) generation is initially higher, that of fossil and nuclear generation increases over time with continued fuel use. We built a spatially explicit model to understand the interactions between resource quality and environmental constraints in a high RE scenario (>70% of total generation). We found that there is sufficient land within California to meet the solar and geothermal targets, but areas with the highest quality wind and solar resources also tend to be those with high conservation value. Development of some land with lower conservation value results in lower average capacity factors, but also provides opportunity for colocation of different generation technologies, which could significantly improve land-use efficiency and reduce permitting, leasing, and transmission infrastructure costs. Basing siting decisions on environmentally-constrained long-term RE build-out requirements produces significantly different results, including better conservation outcomes, than implied by the current piecemeal approach to planning.

Groundwater availability as constrained by hydrogeology and environmental flows

USGS Publications Warehouse

Watson, Katelyn A.; Mayer, Alex S.; Reeves, Howard W.

2014-01-01

Groundwater pumping from aquifers in hydraulic connection with nearby streams has the potential to cause adverse impacts by decreasing flows to levels below those necessary to maintain aquatic ecosystems. The recent passage of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact has brought attention to this issue in the Great Lakes region. In particular, the legislation requires the Great Lakes states to enact measures for limiting water withdrawals that can cause adverse ecosystem impacts. This study explores how both hydrogeologic and environmental flow limitations may constrain groundwater availability in the Great Lakes Basin. A methodology for calculating maximum allowable pumping rates is presented. Groundwater availability across the basin may be constrained by a combination of hydrogeologic yield and environmental flow limitations varying over both local and regional scales. The results are sensitive to factors such as pumping time, regional and local hydrogeology, streambed conductance, and streamflow depletion limits. Understanding how these restrictions constrain groundwater usage and which hydrogeologic characteristics and spatial variables have the most influence on potential streamflow depletions has important water resources policy and management implications.

McMAC: Towards a MAC Protocol with Multi-Constrained QoS Provisioning for Diverse Traffic in Wireless Body Area Networks

PubMed Central

Monowar, Muhammad Mostafa; Hassan, Mohammad Mehedi; Bajaber, Fuad; Al-Hussein, Musaed; Alamri, Atif

2012-01-01

The emergence of heterogeneous applications with diverse requirements for resource-constrained Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) poses significant challenges for provisioning Quality of Service (QoS) with multi-constraints (delay and reliability) while preserving energy efficiency. To address such challenges, this paper proposes McMAC, a MAC protocol with multi-constrained QoS provisioning for diverse traffic classes in WBANs. McMAC classifies traffic based on their multi-constrained QoS demands and introduces a novel superframe structure based on the “transmit-whenever-appropriate” principle, which allows diverse periods for diverse traffic classes according to their respective QoS requirements. Furthermore, a novel emergency packet handling mechanism is proposed to ensure packet delivery with the least possible delay and the highest reliability. McMAC is also modeled analytically, and extensive simulations were performed to evaluate its performance. The results reveal that McMAC achieves the desired delay and reliability guarantee according to the requirements of a particular traffic class while achieving energy efficiency. PMID:23202224

Computer-aided resource planning and scheduling for radiological services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, Hong-Mei C.; Yun, David Y.; Ge, Yiqun; Khan, Javed I.

1996-05-01

There exists tremendous opportunity in hospital-wide resource optimization based on system integration. This paper defines the resource planning and scheduling requirements integral to PACS, RIS and HIS integration. An multi-site case study is conducted to define the requirements. A well-tested planning and scheduling methodology, called Constrained Resource Planning model, has been applied to the chosen problem of radiological service optimization. This investigation focuses on resource optimization issues for minimizing the turnaround time to increase clinical efficiency and customer satisfaction, particularly in cases where the scheduling of multiple exams are required for a patient. How best to combine the information system efficiency and human intelligence in improving radiological services is described. Finally, an architecture for interfacing a computer-aided resource planning and scheduling tool with the existing PACS, HIS and RIS implementation is presented.

The future of managed care organization.

PubMed

Robinson, J C

1999-01-01

This paper analyzes the transformation of the central organization in the managed care system: the multiproduct, multimarket health plan. It examines vertical disintegration, the shift from ownership to contractual linkages between plans and provider organizations, and horizontal integration--the consolidation of erstwhile indemnity carriers, Blue Cross plans, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and specialty networks. Health care consumers differ widely in their preferences and willingness to pay for particular products and network characteristics, while providers differ widely in their willingness to adopt particular organization and financing structures. This heterogeneity creates an enduring role for health plans that are diversified into multiple networks, benefit products, distribution channels, and geographic regions. Diversification now is driving health plans toward being national, full-service corporations and away from being local, single-product organizations linked to particular providers and selling to particular consumer niches.

Where Gibrat meets Zipf: Scale and scope of French firms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bee, Marco; Riccaboni, Massimo; Schiavo, Stefano

2017-09-01

The proper characterization of the size distribution and growth of firms represents an important issue in economics and business. We use the Maximum Entropy approach to assess the plausibility of the assumption that firm size follows Lognormal or Pareto distributions, which underlies most recent works on the subject. A comprehensive dataset covering the universe of French firms allows us to draw two major conclusions. First, the Pareto hypothesis for the whole distribution should be rejected. Second, by discriminating across firms based on the number of products sold and markets served, we find that, within the class of multi-product companies active in multiple markets, the distribution converges to a Zipf's law. Conversely, Lognormal distribution is a good benchmark for small single-product firms. The size distribution of firms largely depends on firms' diversification patterns.

Multiple-Vehicle Resource-Constrained Navigation in the Deep Ocean

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

Kalman filtering is often used in practice with intermit - tent observations, which uses the simple intuitive result that the optimal method for...trajectory? This level is concerned with fast vehicle dynamics, which are highly dependent on the particular vehicle design and hydrodynamics. Some

Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Under Uncertainty: Models, Algorithms and Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-10

Make-to-Order (MTO) Production Planning using Bayesian Updating, International Journal of Production Economics (04 2014) Norman Keith Womer, Haitao...2013) Made-to-Order Production Scheduling using Bayesian Updating, Working Paper, under second-round review in International Journal of Production Economics . VI

Globalisation, Consumption and the Learning Business.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Field, John

1995-01-01

Distance open learning represents both an outcome of and a primary factor in globalization. Despite investment in infrastructure, software, and human resources, demand for distance open learning in the European market remains constrained. The European Union's policies conceptualize a "European economic space" that ignores the real…

Utilizing Partnerships to Maximize Resources in College Counseling Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, Allison; Moffat, Meridith; Travers, Heather; Cummins, Douglas

2015-01-01

Research indicates an increasing number of college students are experiencing severe psychological problems that are impacting their academic performance. However, many colleges and universities operate with constrained budgets that limit their ability to provide adequate counseling services for their student population. Moreover, accessing…

Education Reform in China: Toward Classroom Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tan, Charlene; Hairon, Salleh

2016-01-01

Focusing on China's current education reform, this article critically discusses how contextual factors, specifically sociocultural factors and resources, assist and constrain Chinese educators in their attempt to develop dynamic and inviting classroom communities. Three main findings are highlighted in this article, the first being that the…

Trade-Offs Between Plant Growth and Defense Against Insect Herbivory: An Emerging Mechanistic Synthesis.

PubMed

Züst, Tobias; Agrawal, Anurag A

2017-04-28

Costs of defense are central to our understanding of interactions between organisms and their environment, and defensive phenotypes of plants have long been considered to be constrained by trade-offs that reflect the allocation of limiting resources. Recent advances in uncovering signal transduction networks have revealed that defense trade-offs are often the result of regulatory "decisions" by the plant, enabling it to fine-tune its phenotype in response to diverse environmental challenges. We place these results in the context of classic studies in ecology and evolutionary biology, and propose a unifying framework for growth-defense trade-offs as a means to study the plant's allocation of limiting resources. Pervasive physiological costs constrain the upper limit to growth and defense traits, but the diversity of selective pressures on plants often favors negative correlations at intermediate trait levels. Despite the ubiquity of underlying costs of defense, the current challenge is using physiological and molecular approaches to predict the conditions where they manifest as detectable trade-offs.

Multimode resource-constrained multiple project scheduling problem under fuzzy random environment and its application to a large scale hydropower construction project.

PubMed

Xu, Jiuping; Feng, Cuiying

2014-01-01

This paper presents an extension of the multimode resource-constrained project scheduling problem for a large scale construction project where multiple parallel projects and a fuzzy random environment are considered. By taking into account the most typical goals in project management, a cost/weighted makespan/quality trade-off optimization model is constructed. To deal with the uncertainties, a hybrid crisp approach is used to transform the fuzzy random parameters into fuzzy variables that are subsequently defuzzified using an expected value operator with an optimistic-pessimistic index. Then a combinatorial-priority-based hybrid particle swarm optimization algorithm is developed to solve the proposed model, where the combinatorial particle swarm optimization and priority-based particle swarm optimization are designed to assign modes to activities and to schedule activities, respectively. Finally, the results and analysis of a practical example at a large scale hydropower construction project are presented to demonstrate the practicality and efficiency of the proposed model and optimization method.

Post-approval monitoring and oversight of U.S.-initiated human subjects research in resource-constrained countries.

PubMed

Brown, Brandon; Kinsler, Janni; Folayan, Morenike O; Allen, Karen; Cáceres, Carlos F

2014-06-01

The history of human subjects research and controversial procedures in relation to it has helped form the field of bioethics. Ethically questionable elements may be identified during research design, research implementation, management at the study site, or actions by a study's investigator or other staff. Post-approval monitoring (PAM) may prevent violations from occurring or enable their identification at an early stage. In U.S.-initiated human subjects research taking place in resource-constrained countries with limited development of research regulatory structures, arranging a site visit from a U.S. research ethics committee (REC) becomes difficult, thus creating a potential barrier to regulatory oversight by the parent REC. However, this barrier may be overcome through the use of digital technologies, since much of the world has at least remote access to the Internet. Empirical research is needed to pilot test the use of these technologies for research oversight to ensure the protection of human subjects taking part in research worldwide.

Application of service oriented architecture for sensors and actuators in district heating substations.

PubMed

Gustafsson, Jonas; Kyusakov, Rumen; Mäkitaavola, Henrik; Delsing, Jerker

2014-08-21

Hardwired sensor installations using proprietary protocols found in today's district heating substations limit the potential usability of the sensors in and around the substations. If sensor resources can be shared and re-used in a variety of applications, the cost of sensors and installation can be reduced, and their functionality and operability can be increased. In this paper, we present a new concept of district heating substation control and monitoring, where a service oriented architecture (SOA) is deployed in a wireless sensor network (WSN), which is integrated with the substation. IP-networking is exclusively used from sensor to server; hence, no middleware is needed for Internet integration. Further, by enabling thousands of sensors with SOA capabilities, a System of Systems approach can be applied. The results of this paper show that it is possible to utilize SOA solutions with heavily resource-constrained embedded devices in contexts where the real-time constrains are limited, such as in a district heating substation.

Application of Service Oriented Architecture for Sensors and Actuators in District Heating Substations

PubMed Central

Gustafsson, Jonas; Kyusakov, Rumen; Mäkitaavola, Henrik; Delsing, Jerker

2014-01-01

Hardwired sensor installations using proprietary protocols found in today's district heating substations limit the potential usability of the sensors in and around the substations. If sensor resources can be shared and re-used in a variety of applications, the cost of sensors and installation can be reduced, and their functionality and operability can be increased. In this paper, we present a new concept of district heating substation control and monitoring, where a service oriented architecture (SOA) is deployed in a wireless sensor network (WSN), which is integrated with the substation. IP-networking is exclusively used from sensor to server; hence, no middleware is needed for Internet integration. Further, by enabling thousands of sensors with SOA capabilities, a System of Systems approach can be applied. The results of this paper show that it is possible to utilize SOA solutions with heavily resource-constrained embedded devices in contexts where the real-time constrains are limited, such as in a district heating substation. PMID:25196165

Hydrothermal Alteration of Open Fractures in Prospective Geothermal Drill Cores, Akutan Island, Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kent, T.

2011-12-01

The goal of this study is to constrain the most recent thermal alteration of two drill cores (HSB2/HSB4) from the Island of Akutan in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. These cores are characterized by identifying mineralogy using x-ray diffraction spectra, energy dispersive spectroscopy with a scanning electron microscope and optical mineralogy. This is then compared with the coincident thermal data gathered on site in order to help constrain the most recent thermal activity of this dynamic resource. Using multiple temperature diagnostic minerals and their paragenesis, a relative thermal history is produced of expansive propylitic alteration. When combined with the wireline temperature gradients of the cores a model of downward migration emerges. Shallow occurrences of high temperature minerals that lie above the boiling point to depth curve indicate higher hydrostatic pressures in the past which can be attributed to a combination of glacial effects, including a significant amount of glacial erosion that is recognized due to a lack of significant clay cap to the geothermal resource.

Multimode Resource-Constrained Multiple Project Scheduling Problem under Fuzzy Random Environment and Its Application to a Large Scale Hydropower Construction Project

PubMed Central

Xu, Jiuping

2014-01-01

This paper presents an extension of the multimode resource-constrained project scheduling problem for a large scale construction project where multiple parallel projects and a fuzzy random environment are considered. By taking into account the most typical goals in project management, a cost/weighted makespan/quality trade-off optimization model is constructed. To deal with the uncertainties, a hybrid crisp approach is used to transform the fuzzy random parameters into fuzzy variables that are subsequently defuzzified using an expected value operator with an optimistic-pessimistic index. Then a combinatorial-priority-based hybrid particle swarm optimization algorithm is developed to solve the proposed model, where the combinatorial particle swarm optimization and priority-based particle swarm optimization are designed to assign modes to activities and to schedule activities, respectively. Finally, the results and analysis of a practical example at a large scale hydropower construction project are presented to demonstrate the practicality and efficiency of the proposed model and optimization method. PMID:24550708

Constraint-Based Local Search for Constrained Optimum Paths Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pham, Quang Dung; Deville, Yves; van Hentenryck, Pascal

Constrained Optimum Path (COP) problems arise in many real-life applications and are ubiquitous in communication networks. They have been traditionally approached by dedicated algorithms, which are often hard to extend with side constraints and to apply widely. This paper proposes a constraint-based local search (CBLS) framework for COP applications, bringing the compositionality, reuse, and extensibility at the core of CBLS and CP systems. The modeling contribution is the ability to express compositional models for various COP applications at a high level of abstraction, while cleanly separating the model and the search procedure. The main technical contribution is a connected neighborhood based on rooted spanning trees to find high-quality solutions to COP problems. The framework, implemented in COMET, is applied to Resource Constrained Shortest Path (RCSP) problems (with and without side constraints) and to the edge-disjoint paths problem (EDP). Computational results show the potential significance of the approach.

Constrained Low-Interference Relay Node Deployment for Underwater Acoustic Wireless Sensor Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Deying; Li, Zheng; Ma, Wenkai; Chen, Wenping

An Underwater Acoustic Wireless Sensor Network (UA-WSN) consists of many resource-constrained Underwater Sensor Nodes (USNs), which are deployed to perform collaborative monitoring tasks over a given region. One way to preserve network connectivity while guaranteing other network QoS is to deploy some Relay Nodes (RNs) in the networks, in which RNs' function is more powerful than USNs and their cost is more expensive. This paper addresses Constrained Low-interference Relay Node Deployment (C-LRND) problem for 3-D UA-WSNs in which the RNs are placed at a subset of candidate locations to ensure connectivity between the USNs, under both the number of RNs deployed and the value of total incremental interference constraints. We first prove that it is NP-hard, then present a general approximation algorithm framework and get two polynomial time O(1)-approximation algorithms.

Automated, low-power chamber system for measuring nitrous oxide emissions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Continuous measurement of soil emissions is needed to constrain estimates of N2O loss to the atmosphere. Here, we describe the performance of a low-power, automated chamber system that can continuously measure N2O soil emissions, powered by wind and solar power. Laboratory testing of the Teledyne N2...

Interconnection-wide hour-ahead scheduling in the presence of intermittent renewables and demand response: A surplus maximizing approach

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

Behboodi, Sahand; Chassin, David P.; Djilali, Ned

This study describes a new approach for solving the multi-area electricity resource allocation problem when considering both intermittent renewables and demand response. The method determines the hourly inter-area export/import set that maximizes the interconnection (global) surplus satisfying transmission, generation and load constraints. The optimal inter-area transfer set effectively makes the electricity price uniform over the interconnection apart from constrained areas, which overall increases the consumer surplus more than it decreases the producer surplus. The method is computationally efficient and suitable for use in simulations that depend on optimal scheduling models. The method is demonstrated on a system that represents Northmore » America Western Interconnection for the planning year of 2024. Simulation results indicate that effective use of interties reduces the system operation cost substantially. Excluding demand response, both the unconstrained and the constrained scheduling solutions decrease the global production cost (and equivalently increase the global economic surplus) by 12.30B and 10.67B per year, respectively, when compared to the standalone case in which each control area relies only on its local supply resources. This cost saving is equal to 25% and 22% of the annual production cost. Including 5% demand response, the constrained solution decreases the annual production cost by 10.70B, while increases the annual surplus by 9.32B in comparison to the standalone case.« less

Interconnection-wide hour-ahead scheduling in the presence of intermittent renewables and demand response: A surplus maximizing approach

DOE PAGES

Behboodi, Sahand; Chassin, David P.; Djilali, Ned; ...

2016-12-23

This study describes a new approach for solving the multi-area electricity resource allocation problem when considering both intermittent renewables and demand response. The method determines the hourly inter-area export/import set that maximizes the interconnection (global) surplus satisfying transmission, generation and load constraints. The optimal inter-area transfer set effectively makes the electricity price uniform over the interconnection apart from constrained areas, which overall increases the consumer surplus more than it decreases the producer surplus. The method is computationally efficient and suitable for use in simulations that depend on optimal scheduling models. The method is demonstrated on a system that represents Northmore » America Western Interconnection for the planning year of 2024. Simulation results indicate that effective use of interties reduces the system operation cost substantially. Excluding demand response, both the unconstrained and the constrained scheduling solutions decrease the global production cost (and equivalently increase the global economic surplus) by 12.30B and 10.67B per year, respectively, when compared to the standalone case in which each control area relies only on its local supply resources. This cost saving is equal to 25% and 22% of the annual production cost. Including 5% demand response, the constrained solution decreases the annual production cost by 10.70B, while increases the annual surplus by 9.32B in comparison to the standalone case.« less

Mobile technology in clinical teaching.

PubMed

Mackay, B J; Anderson, J; Harding, T

2017-01-01

Technology is having a profound effect on education in the 21st century and nurse educators are being challenged to integrate technological innovation to assist students in their learning. This paper reports a study on the introduction of smart mobile technology to support student learning in the clinical environment. In a climate of collaborative inquiry, clinical lecturers and two researchers from the same department carried out a project in three phases: formation, implementation and analysis. Following the formation phase, six clinical lecturers adopted iPads to support their clinical teaching (implementation phase). At this time they also kept reflective journals. In the analysis phase a thematic analysis of the data from the journals and from a focus group found both enabling and constraining factors influenced the use of iPads by clinical lecturers. The themes categorised as enablers were: resources and technology; and, management and technology support. Those identified as barriers or constraining factors were: clinical staff engagement; and lecturer experience with technology. Student engagement and learning, and connectivity were both enabling and constraining factors. This paper concludes that the use of a mobile device such as an iPad can enhance teaching in clinical settings but that in order for such devices to be successfully integrated into clinical teaching consideration needs to be given to professional development needs, adequate resourcing and technology support. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reducing usage of the computational resources by event driven approach to model predictive control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Misik, Stefan; Bradac, Zdenek; Cela, Arben

2017-08-01

This paper deals with a real-time and optimal control of dynamic systems while also considers the constraints which these systems might be subject to. Main objective of this work is to propose a simple modification of the existing Model Predictive Control approach to better suit needs of computational resource-constrained real-time systems. An example using model of a mechanical system is presented and the performance of the proposed method is evaluated in a simulated environment.

Planning applications in image analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boddy, Mark; White, Jim; Goldman, Robert; Short, Nick, Jr.

1994-01-01

We describe two interim results from an ongoing effort to automate the acquisition, analysis, archiving, and distribution of satellite earth science data. Both results are applications of Artificial Intelligence planning research to the automatic generation of processing steps for image analysis tasks. First, we have constructed a linear conditional planner (CPed), used to generate conditional processing plans. Second, we have extended an existing hierarchical planning system to make use of durations, resources, and deadlines, thus supporting the automatic generation of processing steps in time and resource-constrained environments.

Carrier Enabled Power Projection: Delivering for Britain or Papering over the Cracks? Exerting Influence in an Age of Austerity

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-04-13

direction for apportionment of resources to deliver this national capability. The last time the UK introduced new aircraft carriers was at the height of...carefully in all but the most existential threats to a nation . Mahan believed that the blockade was the Navy’s greatest tactic in winning great wars. He...carriers at the heart of a comprehensive air, sea, and land capability to meet the national aims. But, in a severely resource constrained

Application of a New Resource-Constrained Triage Method to Military-Age Victims

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-01

evidence based, does not consider resources, and has been shown to be scientifically and opera- tionally flawed.’ General P . K. Carlton, former USAF Surgeon...metric that can be used to predict sur- vival probability) P ^ (t) = the survival probability of victims with original SCORE s treated in time period t. n...function coefficients were derived on the design set, and validated on the test set. The logistic function has the form: P ^ - 1/(1 + e"), where P ^ is

Population-level resource selection by sympatric brown and American black bears in Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Belant, Jerrold L.; Griffith, Brad; Zhang, Yingte; Follmann, Erich H.; Adams, Layne G.

2010-01-01

Distribution theory predicts that for two species living in sympatry, the subordinate species would be constrained from using the most suitable resources (e.g., habitat), resulting in its use of less suitable habitat and spatial segregation between species. We used negative binomial generalized linear mixed models with fixed effects to estimate seasonal population-level resource selection at two spatial resolutions for female brown bears (Ursus arctos) and female American black bears (U. americanus) in southcentral Alaska during May–September 2000. Black bears selected areas occupied by brown bears during spring which may be related to spatially restricted (i.e., restricted to low elevations) but dispersed or patchy availability of food. In contrast, black bears avoided areas occupied by brown bears during summer. Brown bears selected areas near salmon streams during summer, presumably to access spawning salmon. Use of areas with high berry production by black bears during summer appeared in response to avoidance of areas containing brown bears. Berries likely provided black bears a less nutritious, but adequate food source. We suggest that during summer, black bears were displaced by brown bears, which supports distribution theory in that black bears appeared to be partially constrained from areas containing salmon, resulting in their use of areas containing less nutritious forage. Spatial segregation of brown and American black bears apparently occurs when high-quality resources are spatially restricted and alternate resources are available to the subordinate species. This and previous work suggest that individual interactions between species can result in seasonal population-level responses.

Assessing Landscape Constraints on Species Abundance: Does the Neighborhood Limit Species Response to Local Habitat Conservation Programs?

PubMed Central

Jorgensen, Christopher F.; Powell, Larkin A.; Lusk, Jeffery J.; Bishop, Andrew A.; Fontaine, Joseph J.

2014-01-01

Landscapes in agricultural systems continue to undergo significant change, and the loss of biodiversity is an ever-increasing threat. Although habitat restoration is beneficial, management actions do not always result in the desired outcome. Managers must understand why management actions fail; yet, past studies have focused on assessing habitat attributes at a single spatial scale, and often fail to consider the importance of ecological mechanisms that act across spatial scales. We located survey sites across southern Nebraska, USA and conducted point counts to estimate Ring-necked Pheasant abundance, an economically important species to the region, while simultaneously quantifying landscape effects using a geographic information system. To identify suitable areas for allocating limited management resources, we assessed land cover relationships to our counts using a Bayesian binomial-Poisson hierarchical model to construct predictive Species Distribution Models of relative abundance. Our results indicated that landscape scale land cover variables severely constrained or, alternatively, facilitated the positive effects of local land management for Ring-necked Pheasants. PMID:24918779

Marketing human organs: the autonomy paradox.

PubMed

Marshall, P A; Thomasma, D C; Daar, A S

1996-03-01

The severe shortage of organs for transplantation and the continual reluctance of the public to voluntarily donate has prompted consideration of alternative strategies for organ procurement. This paper explores the development of market approaches for procuring human organs for transplantation and considers the social and moral implications of organ donation as both a "gift of life" and a "commodity exchange." The problematic and paradoxical articulation of individual autonomy in relation to property rights and marketing human body parts is addressed. We argue that beliefs about proprietorship over human body parts and the capacity to provide consent for organ donation are culturally constructed. We contend that the political and economic framework of biomedicine, in western and non-western nations, influences access to transplantation technology and shapes the form and development of specific market approaches. Finally, we suggest that marketing approaches for organ procurement are and will be negotiated within cultural parameters constrained by several factors: beliefs about the physical body and personhood, religious traditions, economic conditions, and the availability of technological resources.

Control System Architectures, Technologies and Concepts for Near Term and Future Human Exploration of Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boulanger, Richard; Overland, David

2004-01-01

Technologies that facilitate the design and control of complex, hybrid, and resource-constrained systems are examined. This paper focuses on design methodologies, and system architectures, not on specific control methods that may be applied to life support subsystems. Honeywell and Boeing have estimated that 60-80Y0 of the effort in developing complex control systems is software development, and only 20-40% is control system development. It has also been shown that large software projects have failure rates of as high as 50-65%. Concepts discussed include the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and design patterns with the goal of creating a self-improving, self-documenting system design process. Successful architectures for control must not only facilitate hardware to software integration, but must also reconcile continuously changing software with much less frequently changing hardware. These architectures rely on software modules or components to facilitate change. Architecting such systems for change leverages the interfaces between these modules or components.

Nutrition education practices of primary school teachers in a resource-constrained community in Gauteng, South Africa.

PubMed

Kupolati, Mojisola D; Gericke, Gerda J; MacIntyre, Una E; Ferreira, Ronel; Fraser, William; Du Toit, Peet

2016-01-01

We investigated the nutrition education (NE) practices of teachers of grade 4‒7 learners in 11 primary schools (85% of total number) of the Bronkhorstspruit district (Gauteng Province) to identify opportunities for improving NE in these schools. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out among a convenient sample of the teachers (N = 73) using a structured nutrition education practice questionnaire. Descriptive data analysis was done. Results showed that the majority of the teachers taught nutrition in about 10% to 20% of their teaching time. Thirty percent had no training to teach nutrition, and most teachers (86%) would like to receive training in nutrition. Teachers mostly taught nutrition as part of the curriculum (67%) and very few (18%) integrated nutrition into other subjects. Needing improvement were adequate classroom time for nutrition education delivery, continuing training in nutrition for teachers, and provision of up-to-date instructional materials for teaching nutrition.

Using mobile phones as acoustic sensors for high-throughput mosquito surveillance

PubMed Central

Mukundarajan, Haripriya; Hol, Felix Jan Hein; Castillo, Erica Araceli; Newby, Cooper

2017-01-01

The direct monitoring of mosquito populations in field settings is a crucial input for shaping appropriate and timely control measures for mosquito-borne diseases. Here, we demonstrate that commercially available mobile phones are a powerful tool for acoustically mapping mosquito species distributions worldwide. We show that even low-cost mobile phones with very basic functionality are capable of sensitively acquiring acoustic data on species-specific mosquito wingbeat sounds, while simultaneously recording the time and location of the human-mosquito encounter. We survey a wide range of medically important mosquito species, to quantitatively demonstrate how acoustic recordings supported by spatio-temporal metadata enable rapid, non-invasive species identification. As proof-of-concept, we carry out field demonstrations where minimally-trained users map local mosquitoes using their personal phones. Thus, we establish a new paradigm for mosquito surveillance that takes advantage of the existing global mobile network infrastructure, to enable continuous and large-scale data acquisition in resource-constrained areas. PMID:29087296

Role of quality of service metrics in visual target acquisition and tracking in resource constrained environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, Monica; David, Phillip

2007-04-01

Implementation of an intelligent, automated target acquisition and tracking systems alleviates the need for operators to monitor video continuously. This system could identify situations that fatigued operators could easily miss. If an automated acquisition and tracking system plans motions to maximize a coverage metric, how does the performance of that system change when the user intervenes and manually moves the camera? How can the operator give input to the system about what is important and understand how that relates to the overall task balance between surveillance and coverage? In this paper, we address these issues by introducing a new formulation of the average linear uncovered length (ALUL) metric, specially designed for use in surveilling urban environments. This metric coordinates the often competing goals of acquiring new targets and tracking existing targets. In addition, it provides current system performance feedback to system users in terms of the system's theoretical maximum and minimum performance. We show the successful integration of the algorithm via simulation.

Assessing landscape constraints on species abundance: Does the neighborhood limit species response to local habitat conservation programs?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jorgensen, Christopher F.; Powell, Larkin A.; Lusk, Jeffrey J.; Bishop, Andrew A.; Fontaine, Joseph J.

2014-01-01

Landscapes in agricultural systems continue to undergo significant change, and the loss of biodiversity is an ever-increasing threat. Although habitat restoration is beneficial, management actions do not always result in the desired outcome. Managers must understand why management actions fail; yet, past studies have focused on assessing habitat attributes at a single spatial scale, and often fail to consider the importance of ecological mechanisms that act across spatial scales. We located survey sites across southern Nebraska, USA and conducted point counts to estimate Ring-necked Pheasant abundance, an economically important species to the region, while simultaneously quantifying landscape effects using a geographic information system. To identify suitable areas for allocating limited management resources, we assessed land cover relationships to our counts using a Bayesian binomial-Poisson hierarchical model to construct predictive Species Distribution Models of relative abundance. Our results indicated that landscape scale land cover variables severely constrained or, alternatively, facilitated the positive effects of local land management for Ring-necked Pheasants.

Using mobile phones as acoustic sensors for high-throughput mosquito surveillance.

PubMed

Mukundarajan, Haripriya; Hol, Felix Jan Hein; Castillo, Erica Araceli; Newby, Cooper; Prakash, Manu

2017-10-31

The direct monitoring of mosquito populations in field settings is a crucial input for shaping appropriate and timely control measures for mosquito-borne diseases. Here, we demonstrate that commercially available mobile phones are a powerful tool for acoustically mapping mosquito species distributions worldwide. We show that even low-cost mobile phones with very basic functionality are capable of sensitively acquiring acoustic data on species-specific mosquito wingbeat sounds, while simultaneously recording the time and location of the human-mosquito encounter. We survey a wide range of medically important mosquito species, to quantitatively demonstrate how acoustic recordings supported by spatio-temporal metadata enable rapid, non-invasive species identification. As proof-of-concept, we carry out field demonstrations where minimally-trained users map local mosquitoes using their personal phones. Thus, we establish a new paradigm for mosquito surveillance that takes advantage of the existing global mobile network infrastructure, to enable continuous and large-scale data acquisition in resource-constrained areas.

Professional Development for Aspiring CIOs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hogue, William F.; Dodd, David W.

2006-01-01

Leading a campus through rapid IT change is a challenge, particularly from the perspectives of planning and leadership. At the same time, many observers would concede that today's highly competitive, resource-constrained, global environment offers the greatest opportunities for fundamental change in higher education since the emergence of Clark…

"Sustaining the Shrinking City: Concepts, Dynamics and Management" (A special issue of Sustainability) (ISSN 2071-1050).

EPA Science Inventory

Sustainability can be broadly defined as the resilient outcome of the interaction among social equity, economic stability, and environmental quality factors. For example, the utilization of natural resource capitals are constrained by economic forces, and further modulated by soc...

International HRD Perspectives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

1999

The first of the four papers in this symposium, "Towards a Meaningful HRD [Human Resource Development] Function in the Post-Command Economies of Central and Eastern Europe" (Devi Jankowicz), examines the existing knowledge-base among managers who are to be trained as HRD practitioners and suggests that efforts may be constrained by…

Rural Women and Their Work: Dependence and Alternatives for Change.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmad, Zubeida

1984-01-01

Rural women engage in a wide range of income-generating activities, but their participation in the labor market is constrained by lack of access to land and other resources, lack of control over labor and income, and lack of physical and occupational mobility. (SK)

Complete to Compete: Common College Completion Metrics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reyna, Ryan

2010-01-01

Governors face unprecedented demands across state government to deliver vital services in an environment of constrained resources. Higher education is no exception. States must increase the number of high-quality college graduates within available funding to meet workforce needs and compete globally. To meet this goal, policymakers--including…

A population-based analysis of incentive payments to primary care physicians for the care of patients with complex disease

PubMed Central

Lavergne, M. Ruth; Law, Michael R.; Peterson, Sandra; Garrison, Scott; Hurley, Jeremiah; Cheng, Lucy; McGrail, Kimberlyn

2016-01-01

Background: In 2007, the province of British Columbia implemented incentive payments to primary care physicians for the provision of comprehensive, continuous, guideline-informed care for patients with 2 or more chronic conditions. We examined the impact of this program on primary care access and continuity, rates of hospital admission and costs. Methods: We analyzed all BC patients who qualified for the incentive based on their diagnostic profile. We tracked primary care contacts and continuity, hospital admissions (total, via the emergency department and for targeted conditions), and cost of physician services, hospital care and pharmaceuticals, for 24 months before and 24 months after the intervention. Results: Of 155 754 eligible patients, 63.7% had at least 1 incentive payment billed. Incentive payments had no impact on primary care contacts (change in contacts per patient per month: 0.016, 95% confidence interval [CI] −0.047 to 0.078) or continuity of care (mean monthly change: 0.012, 95% CI −0.001 to 0.024) and were associated with increased total rates of hospital admission (change in hospital admissions per 1000 patients per month: 1.46, 95% CI 0.04 to 2.89), relative to preintervention trends. Annual costs per patient did not decline (mean change: $455.81, 95% CI −$2.44 to $914.08). Interpretation: British Columbia’s $240-million investment in this program improved compensation for physicians doing the important work of caring for complex patients, but did not appear to improve primary care access or continuity, or constrain resource use elsewhere in the health care system. Policymakers should consider other strategies to improve care for this patient population. PMID:27527484

Aperiodic Robust Model Predictive Control for Constrained Continuous-Time Nonlinear Systems: An Event-Triggered Approach.

PubMed

Liu, Changxin; Gao, Jian; Li, Huiping; Xu, Demin

2018-05-01

The event-triggered control is a promising solution to cyber-physical systems, such as networked control systems, multiagent systems, and large-scale intelligent systems. In this paper, we propose an event-triggered model predictive control (MPC) scheme for constrained continuous-time nonlinear systems with bounded disturbances. First, a time-varying tightened state constraint is computed to achieve robust constraint satisfaction, and an event-triggered scheduling strategy is designed in the framework of dual-mode MPC. Second, the sufficient conditions for ensuring feasibility and closed-loop robust stability are developed, respectively. We show that robust stability can be ensured and communication load can be reduced with the proposed MPC algorithm. Finally, numerical simulations and comparison studies are performed to verify the theoretical results.

Global gamesmanship.

PubMed

MacMillan, Ian C; van Putten, Alexander B; McGrath, Rita Gunther

2003-05-01

Competition among multinationals these days is likely to be a three-dimensional game of global chess: The moves an organization makes in one market are designed to achieve goals in another in ways that aren't immediately apparent to its rivals. The authors--all management professors-call this approach "competing under strategic interdependence," or CSI. And where this interdependence exists, the complexity of the situation can quickly overwhelm ordinary analysis. Indeed, most business strategists are terrible at anticipating the consequences of interdependent choices, and they're even worse at using interdependency to their advantage. In this article, the authors offer a process for mapping the competitive landscape and anticipating how your company's moves in one market can influence its competitive interactions in others. They outline the six types of CSI campaigns--onslaughts, contests, guerrilla campaigns, feints, gambits, and harvesting--available to any multiproduct or multimarket corporation that wants to compete skillfully. They cite real-world examples such as the U.S. pricing battle Philip Morris waged with R.J. Reynolds--not to gain market share in the domestic cigarette market but to divert R.J. Reynolds's resources and attention from the opportunities Philip Morris was pursuing in Eastern Europe. And, using data they collected from their studies of consumer-products companies Procter & Gamble and Unilever, the authors describe how to create CSI tables and bubble charts that present a graphical look at the competitive landscape and that may uncover previously hidden opportunities. The CSI mapping process isn't just for global corporations, the authors explain. Smaller organizations that compete with a portfolio of products in just one national or regional market may find it just as useful for planning their next business moves.

Multi-product biorefineries from lignocelluloses: a pathway to revitalisation of the sugar industry?

PubMed

Farzad, Somayeh; Mandegari, Mohsen Ali; Guo, Miao; Haigh, Kathleen F; Shah, Nilay; Görgens, Johann F

2017-01-01

Driven by a range of sustainability challenges, e.g. climate change, resource depletion and expanding populations, a circular bioeconomy is emerging and expected to evolve progressively in the coming decades. South Africa along with other BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) represents the emerging bioeconomy and contributes significantly to global sugar market. In our research, South Africa is used as a case study to demonstrate the sustainable design for the future biorefineries annexed to existing sugar industry. Detailed techno-economic evaluation and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) were applied to model alternative routes for converting sugarcane residues (bagasse and trash) to selected biofuel and/or biochemicals (ethanol, ethanol and lactic acid, ethanol and furfural, butanol, methanol and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, with co-production of surplus electricity) in an energy self-sufficient biorefinery system. Economic assessment indicated that methanol synthesis with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 16.7% and ethanol-lactic acid co-production (20.5%) met the minimum investment criteria of 15%, while the latter had the lowest sensitivity to market price amongst all the scenarios. LCA results demonstrated that sugarcane cultivation was the most significant contributor to environmental impacts in all of the scenarios, other than the furfural production scenario in which a key step, a biphasic process with tetrahydrofuran solvent, had the most significant contribution. Overall, the thermochemical routes presented environmental advantages over biochemical pathways on most of the impact categories, except for acidification and eutrophication. Of the investigated scenarios, furfural production delivered the inferior environmental performance, while methanol production performed best due to its low reagent consumption. The combined techno-economic and environmental assessments identified the performance-limiting steps in the 2G biorefinery design for sugarcane industry and highlighted the technology development opportunities under circular bioeconomy context.

An openstack-based flexible video transcoding framework in live

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Qisen; Song, Jianxin

2017-08-01

With the rapid development of mobile live business, transcoding HD video is often a challenge for mobile devices due to their limited processing capability and bandwidth-constrained network connection. For live service providers, it's wasteful for resources to delay lots of transcoding server because some of them are free to work sometimes. To deal with this issue, this paper proposed an Openstack-based flexible transcoding framework to achieve real-time video adaption for mobile device and make computing resources used efficiently. To this end, we introduced a special method of video stream splitting and VMs resource scheduling based on access pressure prediction,which is forecasted by an AR model.

An Optimization Model for Scheduling Problems with Two-Dimensional Spatial Resource Constraint

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garcia, Christopher; Rabadi, Ghaith

2010-01-01

Traditional scheduling problems involve determining temporal assignments for a set of jobs in order to optimize some objective. Some scheduling problems also require the use of limited resources, which adds another dimension of complexity. In this paper we introduce a spatial resource-constrained scheduling problem that can arise in assembly, warehousing, cross-docking, inventory management, and other areas of logistics and supply chain management. This scheduling problem involves a twodimensional rectangular area as a limited resource. Each job, in addition to having temporal requirements, has a width and a height and utilizes a certain amount of space inside the area. We propose an optimization model for scheduling the jobs while respecting all temporal and spatial constraints.

Women's Short-Term Employment Trajectories Following Birth: Patterns, Determinants, and Variations by Race/Ethnicity and Nativity.

PubMed

Lu, Yao; Wang, Julia Shu-Huah; Han, Wen-Jui

2017-02-01

Despite a large literature documenting the impact of childbearing on women's wages, less understanding exists of the actual employment trajectories that mothers take and the circumstances surrounding different paths. We use sequence analysis to chart the entire employment trajectory for a diverse sample of U.S. women by race/ethnicity and nativity in the first year following childbirth. Using data from the 1996-2008 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation and sample selection models, we find that women employed before childbirth show a high degree of labor market continuity. However, a notable share of them (24 %) took less stable paths by dropping out or scaling back work. In addition, mothers' attachment to the labor force is simultaneously supported by personal endowments and family resources yet constrained by economic hardship and job characteristics. Moreover, mothers' employment patterns differ by race/ethnicity and nativity. Nonwhite women (blacks, Hispanics, and Asians) who were employed before childbirth exhibited greater labor market continuation than white women. For immigrant women, those with a shorter length of residence were more likely to curtail employment than native-born women, but those with longer duration of residence show greater labor force attachment. We discuss the implications of these findings for income inequality and public policy.

Pooled nucleic acid testing to identify antiretroviral treatment failure during HIV infection.

PubMed

May, Susanne; Gamst, Anthony; Haubrich, Richard; Benson, Constance; Smith, Davey M

2010-02-01

Pooling strategies have been used to reduce the costs of polymerase chain reaction-based screening for acute HIV infection in populations in which the prevalence of acute infection is low (less than 1%). Only limited research has been done for conditions in which the prevalence of screening positivity is higher (greater than 1%). We present data on a variety of pooling strategies that incorporate the use of polymerase chain reaction-based quantitative measures to monitor for virologic failure among HIV-infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy. For a prevalence of virologic failure between 1% and 25%, we demonstrate relative efficiency and accuracy of various strategies. These results could be used to choose the best strategy based on the requirements of individual laboratory and clinical settings such as required turnaround time of results and availability of resources. Virologic monitoring during antiretroviral therapy is not currently being performed in many resource-constrained settings largely because of costs. The presented pooling strategies may be used to significantly reduce the cost compared with individual testing, make such monitoring feasible, and limit the development and transmission of HIV drug resistance in resource-constrained settings. They may also be used to design efficient pooling strategies for other settings with quantitative screening measures.

Are endemics functionally distinct? Leaf traits of native and exotic woody species in a New Zealand forest.

PubMed

Heberling, J Mason; Mason, Norman W H

2018-01-01

Recent studies have concluded that native and invasive species share a common set of trait relationships. However, native species in isolated regions might be functionally constrained by their unique evolutionary histories such that they follow different carbon capture strategies than introduced species. We compared leaf traits relating to resource investment, carbon return, and resource-use efficiency in 16 native (endemic) and three non-native (invasive) species in a temperate forest in Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand. Trait differences were more closely associated with leaf habit than nativity. Deciduous species (including invaders) exhibited greater maximum photosynthetic rates at similar resource costs, which resulted in greater nitrogen- and energy-use efficiencies than evergreen natives. Leaf area was the only trait that differed significantly by nativity (over two-fold larger in invaders). Invaders and deciduous natives both occupied the 'fast return' end of the leaf economics spectrum in contrast to the native evergreens which had comparatively slow return on investment. Dominant woody invaders in this forest are physiologically distinct from many New Zealand endemic species, which are overwhelmingly evergreen. It remains unclear whether these trait differences translate to an ecological divergence in plant strategy, but these results suggest that ecophysiological tradeoffs are likely constrained by biogeography.

Using integrated noble gas and hydrocarbon geochemistry to constrain the source of hydrocarbon gases in shallow aquifers in the northern Appalachian Basin

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Rising demands for domestic energy sources, mandates for cleaner burning fuels for electricity generation, and the approach of peak global hydrocarbon production are driving the transformation from coal to natural gas from unconventional energy resources.

A Promising Approach to Addressing America's Biggest Challenges. Needle-Moving Community Collaboratives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jolin, Michele; Schmitz, Paul; Seldon, Willa

2012-01-01

Communities face powerful challenges--a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy--that require powerful solutions. In a climate of increasingly constrained resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative--an approach that aspires to significant,…

Extending the Aircraft Availability Model to a Constrained Depot Environment Using Activity-Based Costing and the Theory of Constraints

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-06-01

Overselling Activity-Based Concepts,” Management Accounting , September 1992:26-35. Kaplan, Robert S . and Robin Cooper. Cost & Effect. Using... Accounting .............................................14 Increasing Need for Cost Information...15 Implications for Costs Accounting Systems ....................................................17 Section 2 – Costs and Resources

Augmented Reflective Learning and Knowledge Retention Perceived among Students in Classrooms Involving Virtual Laboratories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Achuthan, Krishnashree; Francis, Saneesh P.; Diwakar, Shyam

2017-01-01

Learning theories converge on the principles of reflective learning processes and perceive them as fundamental to effective learning. Traditional laboratory education in science and engineering often happens in highly resource-constrained environments that compromise some of the learning objectives. This paper focuses on characterizing three…

Evaluation of satellite-based, modeled-derived daily solar radiation data for the continental U.S.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Many applications of simulation models and related decision support tools for agriculture and natural resource management require daily meteorological data as inputs. Availability and quality of such data, however, often constrain research and decision support activities that require use of these to...

Teaching IP Networking Fundamentals in Resource Constrained Educational Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Armitage, Grenville; Harrop, Warren

2005-01-01

Many educational institutions suffer from a lack of funding to keep telecommunications laboratory classes up to date and flexible. This paper describes our Remote Unix Lab Environment (RULE), a solution for exposing students to the latest Internet based telecommunications software tools in a Unix like environment. RULE leverages existing PC…

Implementing a Help Desk at a Small Liberal Arts College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Actis, Bev

1993-01-01

Planning for a computer use "help desk" at Kenyon College (Ohio) was constrained by very limited resources. However, careful and thorough planning resulted in a low-budget, homegrown, but highly effective facility. Staffing, training, staff communication, and marketing the service were essential elements in its success. (MSE)

Where to Start when Previous Facilities Data are Questionable

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watt, Catherine E.; Higerd, Thomas B.; Valcik, Nicolas A.

2007-01-01

Academic leaders and governing boards are increasingly aware of the importance and difficulty in managing physical plants as finite resources. In addition, the finances needed to renovate or build facilities have become severely constrained. The National Science Foundation (2000), in its survey of research facilities, suggests that research space…

Achieving an Effective National Security Posture in an Age of Austerity

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-14

then the packages move through 300 miles of conveyor sorting- belts  Wal-Mart and Dell distinguish themselves based on their “sense and respond...Require “cost” as a design /military “requirement” (because cost, in a resource-constrained environment, is numbers; and, per Lanchester, numbers are

Bringing the Budget Back into Academic Work Allocation Models: A Management Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robertson, Michael; Germov, John

2015-01-01

Issues surrounding increasingly constrained resources and reducing levels of sector-based funding require consideration of a different Academic Work Allocation Model (AWAM) approach. Evidence from the literature indicates that an effective work allocation model is founded on the principles of equity and transparency in the distribution and…

Prediction of cheatgrass field germination potential using wet thermal accumulation

Treesearch

Bruce A. Roundy; Stuart P. Hardegree; Jeane C. Chambers; Alison Whittaker

2007-01-01

Invasion and dominance of weedy species is facilitated or constrained by environmental and ecological factors that affect resource availability during critical life stages. We compared the relative effects of season, annual weather, site, and disturbance on potential cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) germination in big sagebrush (Artemisia...

Expanding Expectations for Narrative Styles in the Context of Dementia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guendouzi, Jackie; Davis, Boyd H.; Maclagan, Margaret

2015-01-01

This article uses discourse analyses to examine the narrative styles produced by 2 women with a diagnosis of dementia. Because of constrained cognitive resources, people with dementia (PWD) often use alternative strategies to weave their stories into conversations. People with dementia have difficulty in initiating and maintaining a canonical…

Conservation priorities for tree crop wild relatives in the United States

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Our native crop wild relatives have proved useful as genetic resources in breeding more productive, nutritious, and resilient crops. Their utilization is expected only to increase with better information on the species and improving breeding tools, but may well be constrained by their limited repres...

Putting time into proof outlines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schneider, Fred B.; Bloom, Bard; Marzullo, Keith

1991-01-01

A logic for reasoning about timing of concurrent programs is presented. The logic is based on proof outlines and can handle maximal parallelism as well as resource-constrained execution environments. The correctness proof for a mutual exclusion protocol that uses execution timings in a subtle way illustrates the logic in action.

Outcomes of antiretroviral therapy in a northern Indian urban clinic.

PubMed

Sharma, Surendra K; Dhooria, Sahajal; Prasad, K T; George, Ninoo; Ranjan, Sanjay; Gupta, Deepak; Sreenivas, Vishnubhatla; Kadhiravan, Tamilarasu; Miglani, Sunita; Sinha, Sanjeev; Wig, Naveet; Biswas, Ashutosh; Vajpayee, Madhu

2010-03-01

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) programmes have been successful in several countries. However, whether they would succeed as part of a national programme in a resource-constrained setting such as India is not clear. The outcomes and specific problems encountered in such a setting have not been adequately studied. We assessed the efficacy and functioning of India's national ART programme in a tertiary care centre in northern India. All ART-naive patients started on ART between May 2005 and October 2006 were included in the study and were followed until 31 April 2008. Periodic clinical and laboratory evaluations were carried out in accordance with national guidelines. Changes in CD4+ lymphocyte count, body weight and body mass index were assessed at follow-up, and the operational problems analysed. The setting was a tertiary care centre in northern India with a mixed population of patients, mostly of low socioeconomic status. The centre is reasonably well resourced but faces constraints in health-care delivery, such as lack of adequate human resources and a high patient load. The response to ART in the cohort studied was comparable to that reported from other countries. However, the programme had a high attrition rate, possibly due to patient-related factors and operational constraints. A high rate of attrition can affect the overall efficacy and functioning of an ART programme. Addressing the issues causing attrition might improve patient outcomes in India and in other resource-constrained countries.

Outcomes of antiretroviral therapy in a northern Indian urban clinic

PubMed Central

Dhooria, Sahajal; Prasad, KT; George, Ninoo; Ranjan, Sanjay; Gupta, Deepak; Sreenivas, Vishnubhatla; Kadhiravan, Tamilarasu; Miglani, Sunita; Sinha, Sanjeev; Wig, Naveet; Biswas, Ashutosh; Vajpayee, Madhu

2010-01-01

Abstract Problem Antiretroviral therapy (ART) programmes have been successful in several countries. However, whether they would succeed as part of a national programme in a resource-constrained setting such as India is not clear. The outcomes and specific problems encountered in such a setting have not been adequately studied. Approach We assessed the efficacy and functioning of India’s national ART programme in a tertiary care centre in northern India. All ART-naive patients started on ART between May 2005 and October 2006 were included in the study and were followed until 31 April 2008. Periodic clinical and laboratory evaluations were carried out in accordance with national guidelines. Changes in CD4+ lymphocyte count, body weight and body mass index were assessed at follow-up, and the operational problems analysed. Local setting The setting was a tertiary care centre in northern India with a mixed population of patients, mostly of low socioeconomic status. The centre is reasonably well resourced but faces constraints in health-care delivery, such as lack of adequate human resources and a high patient load. Relevant changes The response to ART in the cohort studied was comparable to that reported from other countries. However, the programme had a high attrition rate, possibly due to patient-related factors and operational constraints. Lessons learnt A high rate of attrition can affect the overall efficacy and functioning of an ART programme. Addressing the issues causing attrition might improve patient outcomes in India and in other resource-constrained countries. PMID:20428391

Infertility in resource-constrained settings: moving towards amelioration.

PubMed

Hammarberg, Karin; Kirkman, Maggie

2013-02-01

It is often presumed that infertility is not a problem in resource-poor areas where fertility rates are high. This is challenged by consistent evidence that the consequences of childlessness are very severe in low-income countries, particularly for women. In these settings, childless women are frequently stigmatized, isolated, ostracized, disinherited and neglected by the family and local community. This may result in physical and psychological abuse, polygamy and even suicide. Attitudes among people in high-income countries towards provision of infertility care in low-income countries have mostly been either dismissive or indifferent as it is argued that scarce healthcare resources should be directed towards reducing fertility and restricting population growth. However, recognition of the plight of infertile couples in low-income settings is growing. One of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals was for universal access to reproductive health care by 2015, and WHO has recommended that infertility be considered a global health problem and stated the need for adaptation of assisted reproductive technology in low-resource countries. This paper challenges the construct that infertility is not a serious problem in resource-constrained settings and argues that there is a need for infertility care, including affordable assisted reproduction treatment, in these settings. It is often presumed that infertility is not a problem in densely populated, resource-poor areas where fertility rates are high. This presumption is challenged by consistent evidence that the consequences of childlessness are very severe in low-income countries, particularly for women. In these settings, childless women are frequently stigmatized, isolated, ostracized, disinherited and neglected by the family and local community. This may result in physical and psychological abuse, polygamy and even suicide. Because many families in low-income countries depend on children for economic survival, childlessness and having fewer children than the number identified as appropriate are social and public health matters, not only medical problems. Attitudes among people in high-income countries towards provision of infertility care in low-income countries have mostly been either dismissive or indifferent as it is argued that scarce healthcare resources and family planning activities should be directed towards reducing fertility and restricting population growth. However, recognition of the plight of infertile couples in low-income settings is growing. One of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals was for universal access to reproductive health care by 2015, and WHO has recommended that infertility be considered a global health problem and stated the need for adaptation of assisted reproduction technology in low-resource countries. In this paper, we challenge the construct that infertility is not a serious problem in resource-constrained settings and argue that there is a need for infertility care, including affordable assisted reproduction treatment, in these settings. Copyright © 2012 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Two-Phase Model of Resource Allocation in Visual Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ye, Chaoxiong; Hu, Zhonghua; Li, Hong; Ristaniemi, Tapani; Liu, Qiang; Liu, Taosheng

2017-01-01

Two broad theories of visual working memory (VWM) storage have emerged from current research, a discrete slot-based theory and a continuous resource theory. However, neither the discrete slot-based theory or continuous resource theory clearly stipulates how the mental commodity for VWM (discrete slot or continuous resource) is allocated.…

Splines and polynomial tools for flatness-based constrained motion planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suryawan, Fajar; De Doná, José; Seron, María

2012-08-01

This article addresses the problem of trajectory planning for flat systems with constraints. Flat systems have the useful property that the input and the state can be completely characterised by the so-called flat output. We propose a spline parametrisation for the flat output, the performance output, the states and the inputs. Using this parametrisation the problem of constrained trajectory planning can be cast into a simple quadratic programming problem. An important result is that the B-spline parametrisation used gives exact results for constrained linear continuous-time system. The result is exact in the sense that the constrained signal can be made arbitrarily close to the boundary without having intersampling issues (as one would have in sampled-data systems). Simulation examples are presented, involving the generation of rest-to-rest trajectories. In addition, an experimental result of the method is also presented, where two methods to generate trajectories for a magnetic-levitation (maglev) system in the presence of constraints are compared and each method's performance is discussed. The first method uses the nonlinear model of the plant, which turns out to belong to the class of flat systems. The second method uses a linearised version of the plant model around an operating point. In every case, a continuous-time description is used. The experimental results on a real maglev system reported here show that, in most scenarios, the nonlinear and linearised models produce almost similar, indistinguishable trajectories.

Using High Resolution Simulations with WRF/SSiB Regional Climate Model Constrained by In Situ Observations to Assess the Impacts of Dust in Snow in the Upper Colorado River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oaida, C. M.; Skiles, M.; Painter, T. H.; Xue, Y.

2015-12-01

The mountain snowpack is an essential resource for both the environment as well as society. Observational and energy balance modeling work have shown that dust on snow (DOS) in western U.S. (WUS) is a major contributor to snow processes, including snowmelt timing and runoff amount in regions like the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB). In order to accurately estimate the impact of DOS to the hydrologic cycle and water resources, now and under a changing climate, we need to be able to (1) adequately simulate the snowpack (accumulation), and (2) realistically represent DOS processes in models. Energy balance models do not capture the impact on a broader local or regional scale, nor the land-atmosphere feedbacks, while GCM studies cannot resolve orographic-related precipitation processes, and therefore snowpack accumulation, owing to coarse spatial resolution and smoother terrain. All this implies the impacts of dust on snow on the mountain snowpack and other hydrologic processes are likely not well captured in current modeling studies. Recent increase in computing power allows for RCMs to be used at higher spatial resolutions, while recent in situ observations of dust in snow properties can help constrain modeling simulations. Therefore, in the work presented here, we take advantage of these latest resources to address the some of the challenges outlined above. We employ the newly enhanced WRF/SSiB regional climate model at 4 km horizontal resolution. This scale has been shown by others to be adequate in capturing orographic processes over WUS. We also constrain the magnitude of dust deposition provided by a global chemistry and transport model, with in situ measurements taken at sites in the UCRB. Furthermore, we adjust the dust absorptive properties based on observed values at these sites, as opposed to generic global ones. This study aims to improve simulation of the impact of dust in snow on the hydrologic cycle and related water resources.

Exceptionally high levels of lead pollution in the Balkans from the Early Bronze Age to the Industrial Revolution.

PubMed

Longman, Jack; Veres, Daniel; Finsinger, Walter; Ersek, Vasile

2018-05-29

The Balkans are considered the birthplace of mineral resource exploitation and metalworking in Europe. However, since knowledge of the timing and extent of metallurgy in southeastern Europe is largely constrained by discontinuous archaeological findings, the long-term environmental impact of past mineral resource exploitation is not fully understood. Here, we present a high-resolution and continuous geochemical record from a peat bog in western Serbia, providing a clear indication of the extent and magnitude of environmental pollution in this region, and a context in which to place archaeological findings. We observe initial evidence of anthropogenic lead (Pb) pollution during the earliest part of the Bronze Age [∼3,600 years before Common Era (BCE)], the earliest such evidence documented in European environmental records. A steady, almost linear increase in Pb concentration after 600 BCE, until ∼1,600 CE is observed, documenting the development in both sophistication and extent of southeastern European metallurgical activity throughout Antiquity and the medieval period. This provides an alternative view on the history of mineral exploitation in Europe, with metal-related pollution not ceasing at the fall of the western Roman Empire, as was the case in western Europe. Further comparison with other Pb pollution records indicates the amount of Pb deposited in the Balkans during the medieval period was, if not greater, at least similar to records located close to western European mining regions, suggestive of the key role the Balkans have played in mineral resource exploitation in Europe over the last 5,600 years. Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

'Constrained collaboration': Patient empowerment discourse as resource for countervailing power.

PubMed

Vinson, Alexandra H

2016-11-01

Countervailing powers constrain the authority and autonomy of the medical profession. One countervailing power is patient consumerism, a movement with roots in health social movements. Patient empowerment discourses that emerge from health social movements suggest that active patienthood is a normative good, and that patients should inform themselves, claim their expertise, and participate in their care. Yet, little is known about how patient empowerment is understood by physicians. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in an American medical school, this article examines how physicians teach medical students to carry out patient encounters while adhering to American cultural expectations of a collaborative physician-patient relationship. Overt medical paternalism is characterised by professors as 'here's the orders' paternalism, and shown to be counterproductive to 'closing the deal' - achieving patient agreement to a course of treatment. To explain how physicians accomplish their therapeutic goals without violating cultural mandates of patient empowerment I develop the concept of 'constrained collaboration'. This analysis of constrained collaboration contrasts with structural-level narratives of diminishing professional authority and contributes to a theory of the micro-level reproduction of medical authority as a set of interactional practices. © 2016 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.

Advancing environmental risk assessment for transgenic biofeedstock crops

PubMed Central

Wolt, Jeffrey D

2009-01-01

Transgenic modification of plants is a key enabling technology for developing sustainable biofeedstocks for biofuels production. Regulatory decisions and the wider acceptance and development of transgenic biofeedstock crops are considered from the context of science-based risk assessment. The risk assessment paradigm for transgenic biofeedstock crops is fundamentally no different from that of current generation transgenic crops, except that the focus of the assessment must consider the unique attributes of a given biofeedstock crop and its environmental release. For currently envisioned biofeedstock crops, particular emphasis in risk assessment will be given to characterization of altered metabolic profiles and their implications relative to non-target environmental effects and food safety; weediness and invasiveness when plants are modified for abiotic stress tolerance or are domesticated; and aggregate risk when plants are platforms for multi-product production. Robust risk assessments for transgenic biofeedstock crops are case-specific, initiated through problem formulation, and use tiered approaches for risk characterization. PMID:19883509

Companions and competitors: Joint metal-supply relationships in gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc mines

DOE PAGES

Jordan, Brett Watson

2017-06-03

Firms that extract and produce multiple metals are an important component of mineral supply. The reaction of such firms to changes in their relevant output prices is tested econometrically for five metals using a panel representing more than 100 mines across the time period 1991-2005. Here, the estimation strategy is drawn from joint production theory, namely a flexible form, dual revenue approach with seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR) estimation. The results indicate that multi-product mines respond (in the short run) to higher prices of a particular metal by reducing output of that metal (indicative of low-grading behavior) and increasing and/or decreasingmore » output of joint metal products (indicative of substitutes and complements in supply). As a result, the price responses are not readily explained by a metal's classification as a by-product or main product based on revenue.« less

Integrated forward and reverse supply chain: A tire case study.

PubMed

Pedram, Ali; Yusoff, Nukman Bin; Udoncy, Olugu Ezutah; Mahat, Abu Bakar; Pedram, Payam; Babalola, Ayo

2017-02-01

This paper attempts to integrate both a forward and reverse supply chain to design a closed-loop supply chain network (CLSC). The problem in the design of a CLSC network is uncertainty in demand, return products and the quality of return products. Scenario analyses are generated to overcome this uncertainty. In contrast to the existing supply chain network design models, a new application of a CLSC network was studied in this paper to reduce waste. A multi-product, multi-tier mixed integer linear model is developed for a CLSC network design. The main objective is to maximize profit and provide waste management decision support in order to minimize pollution. The result shows applicability of the model in the tire industry. The model determines the number and the locations of facilities and the material flows between these facilities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analytic hierarchy process-based approach for selecting a Pareto-optimal solution of a multi-objective, multi-site supply-chain planning problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayadi, Omar; Felfel, Houssem; Masmoudi, Faouzi

2017-07-01

The current manufacturing environment has changed from traditional single-plant to multi-site supply chain where multiple plants are serving customer demands. In this article, a tactical multi-objective, multi-period, multi-product, multi-site supply-chain planning problem is proposed. A corresponding optimization model aiming to simultaneously minimize the total cost, maximize product quality and maximize the customer satisfaction demand level is developed. The proposed solution approach yields to a front of Pareto-optimal solutions that represents the trade-offs among the different objectives. Subsequently, the analytic hierarchy process method is applied to select the best Pareto-optimal solution according to the preferences of the decision maker. The robustness of the solutions and the proposed approach are discussed based on a sensitivity analysis and an application to a real case from the textile and apparel industry.

Companions and competitors: Joint metal-supply relationships in gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc mines

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

Jordan, Brett Watson

Firms that extract and produce multiple metals are an important component of mineral supply. The reaction of such firms to changes in their relevant output prices is tested econometrically for five metals using a panel representing more than 100 mines across the time period 1991-2005. Here, the estimation strategy is drawn from joint production theory, namely a flexible form, dual revenue approach with seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR) estimation. The results indicate that multi-product mines respond (in the short run) to higher prices of a particular metal by reducing output of that metal (indicative of low-grading behavior) and increasing and/or decreasingmore » output of joint metal products (indicative of substitutes and complements in supply). As a result, the price responses are not readily explained by a metal's classification as a by-product or main product based on revenue.« less

[Not Available].

PubMed

Mokeddem, Diab; Khellaf, Abdelhafid

2009-01-01

Optimal design problem are widely known by their multiple performance measures that are often competing with each other. In this paper, an optimal multiproduct batch chemical plant design is presented. The design is firstly formulated as a multiobjective optimization problem, to be solved using the well suited non dominating sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II). The NSGA-II have capability to achieve fine tuning of variables in determining a set of non dominating solutions distributed along the Pareto front in a single run of the algorithm. The NSGA-II ability to identify a set of optimal solutions provides the decision-maker DM with a complete picture of the optimal solution space to gain better and appropriate choices. Then an outranking with PROMETHEE II helps the decision-maker to finalize the selection of a best compromise. The effectiveness of NSGA-II method with multiojective optimization problem is illustrated through two carefully referenced examples.

Intraclass reliability for assessing how well Taiwan constrained hospital-provided medical services using statistical process control chart techniques

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Few studies discuss the indicators used to assess the effect on cost containment in healthcare across hospitals in a single-payer national healthcare system with constrained medical resources. We present the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to assess how well Taiwan constrained hospital-provided medical services in such a system. Methods A custom Excel-VBA routine to record the distances of standard deviations (SDs) from the central line (the mean over the previous 12 months) of a control chart was used to construct and scale annual medical expenditures sequentially from 2000 to 2009 for 421 hospitals in Taiwan to generate the ICC. The ICC was then used to evaluate Taiwan’s year-based convergent power to remain unchanged in hospital-provided constrained medical services. A bubble chart of SDs for a specific month was generated to present the effects of using control charts in a national healthcare system. Results ICCs were generated for Taiwan’s year-based convergent power to constrain its medical services from 2000 to 2009. All hospital groups showed a gradually well-controlled supply of services that decreased from 0.772 to 0.415. The bubble chart identified outlier hospitals that required investigation of possible excessive reimbursements in a specific time period. Conclusion We recommend using the ICC to annually assess a nation’s year-based convergent power to constrain medical services across hospitals. Using sequential control charts to regularly monitor hospital reimbursements is required to achieve financial control in a single-payer nationwide healthcare system. PMID:22587736

Intraclass reliability for assessing how well Taiwan constrained hospital-provided medical services using statistical process control chart techniques.

PubMed

Chien, Tsair-Wei; Chou, Ming-Ting; Wang, Wen-Chung; Tsai, Li-Shu; Lin, Weir-Sen

2012-05-15

Few studies discuss the indicators used to assess the effect on cost containment in healthcare across hospitals in a single-payer national healthcare system with constrained medical resources. We present the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to assess how well Taiwan constrained hospital-provided medical services in such a system. A custom Excel-VBA routine to record the distances of standard deviations (SDs) from the central line (the mean over the previous 12 months) of a control chart was used to construct and scale annual medical expenditures sequentially from 2000 to 2009 for 421 hospitals in Taiwan to generate the ICC. The ICC was then used to evaluate Taiwan's year-based convergent power to remain unchanged in hospital-provided constrained medical services. A bubble chart of SDs for a specific month was generated to present the effects of using control charts in a national healthcare system. ICCs were generated for Taiwan's year-based convergent power to constrain its medical services from 2000 to 2009. All hospital groups showed a gradually well-controlled supply of services that decreased from 0.772 to 0.415. The bubble chart identified outlier hospitals that required investigation of possible excessive reimbursements in a specific time period. We recommend using the ICC to annually assess a nation's year-based convergent power to constrain medical services across hospitals. Using sequential control charts to regularly monitor hospital reimbursements is required to achieve financial control in a single-payer nationwide healthcare system.

On the constrained minimization of smooth Kurdyka—Łojasiewicz functions with the scaled gradient projection method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prato, Marco; Bonettini, Silvia; Loris, Ignace; Porta, Federica; Rebegoldi, Simone

2016-10-01

The scaled gradient projection (SGP) method is a first-order optimization method applicable to the constrained minimization of smooth functions and exploiting a scaling matrix multiplying the gradient and a variable steplength parameter to improve the convergence of the scheme. For a general nonconvex function, the limit points of the sequence generated by SGP have been proved to be stationary, while in the convex case and with some restrictions on the choice of the scaling matrix the sequence itself converges to a constrained minimum point. In this paper we extend these convergence results by showing that the SGP sequence converges to a limit point provided that the objective function satisfies the Kurdyka-Łojasiewicz property at each point of its domain and its gradient is Lipschitz continuous.

Maximum-entropy probability distributions under Lp-norm constraints

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dolinar, S.

1991-01-01

Continuous probability density functions and discrete probability mass functions are tabulated which maximize the differential entropy or absolute entropy, respectively, among all probability distributions with a given L sub p norm (i.e., a given pth absolute moment when p is a finite integer) and unconstrained or constrained value set. Expressions for the maximum entropy are evaluated as functions of the L sub p norm. The most interesting results are obtained and plotted for unconstrained (real valued) continuous random variables and for integer valued discrete random variables. The maximum entropy expressions are obtained in closed form for unconstrained continuous random variables, and in this case there is a simple straight line relationship between the maximum differential entropy and the logarithm of the L sub p norm. Corresponding expressions for arbitrary discrete and constrained continuous random variables are given parametrically; closed form expressions are available only for special cases. However, simpler alternative bounds on the maximum entropy of integer valued discrete random variables are obtained by applying the differential entropy results to continuous random variables which approximate the integer valued random variables in a natural manner. All the results are presented in an integrated framework that includes continuous and discrete random variables, constraints on the permissible value set, and all possible values of p. Understanding such as this is useful in evaluating the performance of data compression schemes.

Dynamic Extension of a Virtualized Cluster by using Cloud Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oberst, Oliver; Hauth, Thomas; Kernert, David; Riedel, Stephan; Quast, Günter

2012-12-01

The specific requirements concerning the software environment within the HEP community constrain the choice of resource providers for the outsourcing of computing infrastructure. The use of virtualization in HPC clusters and in the context of cloud resources is therefore a subject of recent developments in scientific computing. The dynamic virtualization of worker nodes in common batch systems provided by ViBatch serves each user with a dynamically virtualized subset of worker nodes on a local cluster. Now it can be transparently extended by the use of common open source cloud interfaces like OpenNebula or Eucalyptus, launching a subset of the virtual worker nodes within the cloud. This paper demonstrates how a dynamically virtualized computing cluster is combined with cloud resources by attaching remotely started virtual worker nodes to the local batch system.

Development of a Dynamic Model to Evaluate the Effect of Natural Resource Policies on Recovery Following Nuclear Attack. Volume 1. Description and Simulations

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-09-01

and constrain the output of major energy- consuming sectors. Government stockpiles are most effectively used in a " pump -priming" role. They have to...11 - stockpile for " pump priming" are fuels and basic metals such as iron, steel, copper, and aluminum. The esoteric metals are of secondary...are released, the more impact they have in aiding recovery. Particularly if resource imports are interrupted, post-attack " pump priming" is the best

Phytozome Comparative Plant Genomics Portal

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

Goodstein, David; Batra, Sajeev; Carlson, Joseph

2014-09-09

The Dept. of Energy Joint Genome Institute is a genomics user facility supporting DOE mission science in the areas of Bioenergy, Carbon Cycling, and Biogeochemistry. The Plant Program at the JGI applies genomic, analytical, computational and informatics platforms and methods to: 1. Understand and accelerate the improvement (domestication) of bioenergy crops 2. Characterize and moderate plant response to climate change 3. Use comparative genomics to identify constrained elements and infer gene function 4. Build high quality genomic resource platforms of JGI Plant Flagship genomes for functional and experimental work 5. Expand functional genomic resources for Plant Flagship genomes

Biomedical databases: protecting privacy and promoting research.

PubMed

Wylie, Jean E; Mineau, Geraldine P

2003-03-01

When combined with medical information, large electronic databases of information that identify individuals provide superlative resources for genetic, epidemiology and other biomedical research. Such research resources increasingly need to balance the protection of privacy and confidentiality with the promotion of research. Models that do not allow the use of such individual-identifying information constrain research; models that involve commercial interests raise concerns about what type of access is acceptable. Researchers, individuals representing the public interest and those developing regulatory guidelines must be involved in an ongoing dialogue to identify practical models.

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

Graf, Peter; Dykes, Katherine; Scott, George

The layout of turbines in a wind farm is already a challenging nonlinear, nonconvex, nonlinearly constrained continuous global optimization problem. Here we begin to address the next generation of wind farm optimization problems by adding the complexity that there is more than one turbine type to choose from. The optimization becomes a nonlinear constrained mixed integer problem, which is a very difficult class of problems to solve. Furthermore, this document briefly summarizes the algorithm and code we have developed, the code validation steps we have performed, and the initial results for multi-turbine type and placement optimization (TTP_OPT) we have run.

Methodology for assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources for the 2008 Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal

USGS Publications Warehouse

Charpentier, Ronald R.; Moore, Thomas E.; Gautier, D.L.

2017-11-15

The methodological procedures used in the geologic assessments of the 2008 Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal (CARA) were based largely on the methodology developed for the 2000 U.S. Geological Survey World Petroleum Assessment. The main variables were probability distributions for numbers and sizes of undiscovered accumulations with an associated risk of occurrence. The CARA methodology expanded on the previous methodology in providing additional tools and procedures more applicable to the many Arctic basins that have little or no exploration history. Most importantly, geologic analogs from a database constructed for this study were used in many of the assessments to constrain numbers and sizes of undiscovered oil and gas accumulations.

QoS-Oriented High Dynamic Resource Allocation in Vehicular Communication Networks

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are emerging as new research area and attracting an increasing attention from both industry and research communities. In this context, a dynamic resource allocation policy that maximizes the use of available resources and meets the quality of service (QoS) requirement of constraining applications is proposed. It is a combination of a fair packet scheduling policy and a new adaptive QoS oriented call admission control (CAC) scheme based on the vehicle density variation. This scheme decides whether the connection request is to be admitted into the system, while providing fair access and guaranteeing the desired throughput. The proposed algorithm showed good performance in testing in real world environment. PMID:24616639

Strengthening healthcare delivery in Haiti through nursing continuing education.

PubMed

Clark, M; Julmisse, M; Marcelin, N; Merry, L; Tuck, J; Gagnon, A J

2015-03-01

The aim of this paper was to (1) highlight nursing continuing education as a key initiative for strengthening healthcare delivery in low-resource settings, and (2) provide an example of a nursing continuing education programme in Haiti. Haiti and other low-resource settings face extreme challenges including severe shortages of healthcare workers, high rates of nurse out-migration and variations in nurse competency at entry-to-practice. Nursing continuing education has the potential to address these challenges and improve healthcare delivery through enhanced nurse performance and retention; however, it is underutilized in low-resource settings. A case study is presented from the Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais in Mirebalais, Haiti of a new nursing continuing education programme called the Beyond Expert Program. The case study highlights eight key dimensions of nursing continuing education in low-resource settings: (1) involving local stakeholders in planning process, (2) targeting programme to nurse participant level and area of care, (3) basing course content on local context, (4) including diverse range of nursing topics, (5) using participatory teaching methods, (6) addressing resource constraints in time and scheduling, (7) evaluating and monitoring outcomes, and (8) establishing partnerships. The case study provides guidance for others wishing to develop programmes in similar settings. Creating a nursing continuing education programme in a low-resource setting is possible when there is commitment and engagement for nursing continuing education at all levels of the organization. Our report suggests a need for policy-makers in resource-limited settings to make greater investments in nursing continuing education as a focus of human resources for health, as it is an important strategy for promoting nurse retention, building the knowledge and skill of the existing nursing workforce, and raising the image of nursing in low-resource settings. © 2015 International Council of Nurses.

Early classification of pathological heartbeats on wireless body sensor nodes.

PubMed

Braojos, Rubén; Beretta, Ivan; Ansaloni, Giovanni; Atienza, David

2014-11-27

Smart Wireless Body Sensor Nodes (WBSNs) are a novel class of unobtrusive, battery-powered devices allowing the continuous monitoring and real-time interpretation of a subject's bio-signals, such as the electrocardiogram (ECG). These low-power platforms, while able to perform advanced signal processing to extract information on heart conditions, are usually constrained in terms of computational power and transmission bandwidth. It is therefore essential to identify in the early stages which parts of an ECG are critical for the diagnosis and, only in these cases, activate on demand more detailed and computationally intensive analysis algorithms. In this work, we present a comprehensive framework for real-time automatic classification of normal and abnormal heartbeats, targeting embedded and resource-constrained WBSNs. In particular, we provide a comparative analysis of different strategies to reduce the heartbeat representation dimensionality, and therefore the required computational effort. We then combine these techniques with a neuro-fuzzy classification strategy, which effectively discerns normal and pathological heartbeats with a minimal run time and memory overhead. We prove that, by performing a detailed analysis only on the heartbeats that our classifier identifies as abnormal, a WBSN system can drastically reduce its overall energy consumption. Finally, we assess the choice of neuro-fuzzy classification by comparing its performance and workload with respect to other state-of-the-art strategies. Experimental results using the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia database show energy savings of as much as 60% in the signal processing stage, and 63% in the subsequent wireless transmission, when a neuro-fuzzy classification structure is employed, coupled with a dimensionality reduction technique based on random projections.

Early Classification of Pathological Heartbeats on Wireless Body Sensor Nodes

PubMed Central

Braojos, Rubén; Beretta, Ivan; Ansaloni, Giovanni; Atienza, David

2014-01-01

Smart Wireless Body Sensor Nodes (WBSNs) are a novel class of unobtrusive, battery-powered devices allowing the continuous monitoring and real-time interpretation of a subject's bio-signals, such as the electrocardiogram (ECG). These low-power platforms, while able to perform advanced signal processing to extract information on heart conditions, are usually constrained in terms of computational power and transmission bandwidth. It is therefore essential to identify in the early stages which parts of an ECG are critical for the diagnosis and, only in these cases, activate on demand more detailed and computationally intensive analysis algorithms. In this work, we present a comprehensive framework for real-time automatic classification of normal and abnormal heartbeats, targeting embedded and resource-constrained WBSNs. In particular, we provide a comparative analysis of different strategies to reduce the heartbeat representation dimensionality, and therefore the required computational effort. We then combine these techniques with a neuro-fuzzy classification strategy, which effectively discerns normal and pathological heartbeats with a minimal run time and memory overhead. We prove that, by performing a detailed analysis only on the heartbeats that our classifier identifies as abnormal, a WBSN system can drastically reduce its overall energy consumption. Finally, we assess the choice of neuro-fuzzy classification by comparing its performance and workload with respect to other state-of-the-art strategies. Experimental results using the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia database show energy savings of as much as 60% in the signal processing stage, and 63% in the subsequent wireless transmission, when a neuro-fuzzy classification structure is employed, coupled with a dimensionality reduction technique based on random projections. PMID:25436654

Plant characteristics and growth parameters of vegetable pigeon pea cultivars

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Pigeon pea is an important crop in dry land and semi-arid regions and is a supplementary source of dietary protein for the resource-constrained farmers. The aim of this research was to evaluate growth parameters of twelve vegetable pigeon pea genotypes at two locations in Eastern Kenya. The number o...

Prevalence and multidrug resistance of Escherichia coli from community acquired infections in Lagos, Nigeria

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Escherichia coli is one of the most frequent causes of bacterial infections among humans. The emergence of multi-drug resistance (MDR; resistance to >2 more antimicrobials) in E. coli is of great concern due to the complications encountered in its treatment in a resource constrained economy. In th...

Remembering to Laugh and Explore: Improvisational Activities for Literacy Teaching in Urban Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Katy; McKnight, Katherine S.

2009-01-01

In an effort to push back against contextual factors that have constrained arts instruction and integration while recognizing that schools have limited resources, The Second City Training Center in Chicago has developed several educational programs that bring the art of improvisation to teachers and students. This article specifically focuses on…

The Salience of Alcohol-Related Issues across the Adult Lifespan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pettigrew, Simone; Pescud, Melanie

2016-01-01

Objective: The growing costs to the community of excessive alcohol consumption have resulted in pressure for governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to develop strategies to address this problem, but they do so in a highly constrained resource environment. To provide evidence of health education approaches that may be effective…

Silviculture for restoration of degraded temperate and boreal forests

Treesearch

John A. Stanturf; Palle Madsen; Emile S. Gardiner

2004-01-01

Throughout the temperate and boreal zones, human intervention has influenced landscapes and forests for millennia. The degree of human disturbance has only been constrained by the technology and resources available to different cultures and by time since initial habitation. Humans have influenced forests by regulating populations of browsers, clearing for agriculture,...

Marking and Moderation in the UK: False Assumptions and Wasted Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bloxham, Sue

2009-01-01

This article challenges a number of assumptions underlying marking of student work in British universities. It argues that, in developing rigorous moderation procedures, we have created a huge burden for markers which adds little to accuracy and reliability but creates additional work for staff, constrains assessment choices and slows down…

Considering a Cost Analysis Project? A Planned Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parish, Mina; Teetor, Travis

2006-01-01

As resources become more constrained in the library community, many organizations are finding that they need to have a better understanding of their costs. To this end, this article will present one approach to conducting a cost analysis (including questions to ask yourself, project team makeup, organizational support, and data organization). We…

An Ecological Perspective on U.S. Latinos' Health Communication Behaviors, Access, and Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Katz, Vikki S.; Ang, Alfonso; Suro, Roberto

2012-01-01

U.S. Latinos experience constrained access to formal health care resources, contributing to higher incidence of preventable diseases and chronic health conditions than the general population. The authors explore whether a rich set of informal health communication connections--to friends, family, radio, television, Internet, newspapers, magazines,…

Faculty Agency: Departmental Contexts That Matter in Faculty Careers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Corbin M.; O'Meara, KerryAnn

2014-01-01

In a modern context of constrained resources and high demands, faculty exert agency to strategically navigate their careers (Baez 2000a; Neumann et al. 2006). Guided by the O'Meara et al. (2011) framework on agency in faculty professional lives, this study used Structural Equation Modeling to investigate which departmental factors…

"On Course" for Supporting Expanded Participation and Improving Scientific Reasoning in Undergraduate Thesis Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dowd, Jason E.; Roy, Christopher P.; Thompson, Robert J., Jr.; Reynolds, Julie A.

2015-01-01

The Department of Chemistry at Duke University has endeavored to expand participation in undergraduate honors thesis research while maintaining the quality of the learning experience. Accomplishing this goal has been constrained by limited departmental resources (including faculty time) and increased diversity in students' preparation to engage in…

Awaking the Public Sector with Strategic Corporate Philanthropy: Revitalizing the Public Servant's Organizational Knowledge, Innovative Capability, and Commitment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Janese Marie

2011-01-01

Given the perils of today's dynamic and resource-constrained environment, intellectual capital has become a source of competitive advantage for public sector organizations. Composed of three elements--organizational knowledge, innovative capability, and organizational commitment--intellectual capital is an asset that cannot simply be bought or…

Challenges and Opportunities for Teacher Professional Development in Interactive Use of Technology in African Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hennessy, Sara; Haßler, Bjoern; Hofmann, Riikka

2015-01-01

This article examines the supporting and constraining factors influencing professional learning about interactive teaching and mobile digital technology use in low-resourced basic schools in sub-Saharan Africa. It draws on a case study of iterative development and refinement of a school-based, peer-facilitated professional learning programme…

A Resource-Constrained Approach to Implementing Analytics in an Institution of Higher Education: An Experience Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buerck, John P.; Mudigonda, Srikanth P.

2014-01-01

Academic analytics and learning analytics have been increasingly adopted by academic institutions of higher learning for improving student performance and retention. While several studies have reported the implementation details and the successes of specific analytics initiatives, relatively fewer studies exist in literature that describe the…

Mental Capacity and Working Memory in Chemistry: Algorithmic "versus" Open-Ended Problem Solving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

St Clair-Thompson, Helen; Overton, Tina; Bugler, Myfanwy

2012-01-01

Previous research has revealed that problem solving and attainment in chemistry are constrained by mental capacity and working memory. However, the terms mental capacity and working memory come from different theories of cognitive resources, and are assessed using different tasks. The current study examined the relationships between mental…

From 35,000 FT: Getting Air Force Squadron Commanders to Altitude Amid a Resource Constrained Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

Force Inspection System, the Inspector General Complaints Resolution Program, and the Total Force Climate Survey, this paper sought to understand what...by means of the Air Force Inspection System. This research determined that the data collected by the Inspector General and the Total Force Climate

Speed Kills, Speed Thrills: Constraining and Enabling Accelerations in Academic Work-Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vostal, Filip

2015-01-01

Intensification, speed of change and faster pace of life have recently emerged as significant issues in studies analysing the current academic climate. This article takes up the "social acceleration thesis" as a conceptual resource for capturing the relationship between the individual experience of time and the changing structure and…

A malicious pattern detection engine for embedded security systems in the Internet of Things.

PubMed

Oh, Doohwan; Kim, Deokho; Ro, Won Woo

2014-12-16

With the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), a large number of physical objects in daily life have been aggressively connected to the Internet. As the number of objects connected to networks increases, the security systems face a critical challenge due to the global connectivity and accessibility of the IoT. However, it is difficult to adapt traditional security systems to the objects in the IoT, because of their limited computing power and memory size. In light of this, we present a lightweight security system that uses a novel malicious pattern-matching engine. We limit the memory usage of the proposed system in order to make it work on resource-constrained devices. To mitigate performance degradation due to limitations of computation power and memory, we propose two novel techniques, auxiliary shifting and early decision. Through both techniques, we can efficiently reduce the number of matching operations on resource-constrained systems. Experiments and performance analyses show that our proposed system achieves a maximum speedup of 2.14 with an IoT object and provides scalable performance for a large number of patterns.

"Talkin' about a revolution": How electronic health records can facilitate the scale-up of HIV care and treatment and catalyze primary care in resource-constrained settings.

PubMed

Braitstein, Paula; Einterz, Robert M; Sidle, John E; Kimaiyo, Sylvester; Tierney, William

2009-11-01

Health care for patients with HIV infection in developing countries has increased substantially in response to major international funding. Scaling up treatment programs requires timely data on the type, quantity, and quality of care being provided. Increasingly, such programs are turning to electronic health records (EHRs) to provide these data. We describe how a medical school in the United States and another in Kenya collaborated to develop and implement an EHR in a large HIV/AIDS care program in western Kenya. These data were used to manage patients, providers, and the program itself as it grew to encompass 18 sites serving more than 90,000 patients. Lessons learned have been applicable beyond HIV/AIDS to include primary care, chronic disease management, and community-based health screening and disease prevention programs. EHRs will be key to providing the highest possible quality of care for the funds developing countries can commit to health care. Public, private, and academic partnerships can facilitate the development and implementation of EHRs in resource-constrained settings.

Efficient Hardware Implementation of the Lightweight Block Encryption Algorithm LEA

PubMed Central

Lee, Donggeon; Kim, Dong-Chan; Kwon, Daesung; Kim, Howon

2014-01-01

Recently, due to the advent of resource-constrained trends, such as smartphones and smart devices, the computing environment is changing. Because our daily life is deeply intertwined with ubiquitous networks, the importance of security is growing. A lightweight encryption algorithm is essential for secure communication between these kinds of resource-constrained devices, and many researchers have been investigating this field. Recently, a lightweight block cipher called LEA was proposed. LEA was originally targeted for efficient implementation on microprocessors, as it is fast when implemented in software and furthermore, it has a small memory footprint. To reflect on recent technology, all required calculations utilize 32-bit wide operations. In addition, the algorithm is comprised of not complex S-Box-like structures but simple Addition, Rotation, and XOR operations. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first report on a comprehensive hardware implementation of LEA. We present various hardware structures and their implementation results according to key sizes. Even though LEA was originally targeted at software efficiency, it also shows high efficiency when implemented as hardware. PMID:24406859

Effect of resource constraints on intersimilar coupled networks.

PubMed

Shai, S; Dobson, S

2012-12-01

Most real-world networks do not live in isolation but are often coupled together within a larger system. Recent studies have shown that intersimilarity between coupled networks increases the connectivity of the overall system. However, unlike connected nodes in a single network, coupled nodes often share resources, like time, energy, and memory, which can impede flow processes through contention when intersimilarly coupled. We study a model of a constrained susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) process on a system consisting of two random networks sharing the same set of nodes, where nodes are limited to interact with (and therefore infect) a maximum number of neighbors at each epidemic time step. We obtain that, in agreement with previous studies, when no limit exists (regular SIR model), positively correlated (intersimilar) coupling results in a lower epidemic threshold than negatively correlated (interdissimilar) coupling. However, in the case of the constrained SIR model, the obtained epidemic threshold is lower with negatively correlated coupling. The latter finding differentiates our work from previous studies and provides another step towards revealing the qualitative differences between single and coupled networks.

An Energy Efficient Mutual Authentication and Key Agreement Scheme Preserving Anonymity for Wireless Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Lu, Yanrong; Li, Lixiang; Peng, Haipeng; Yang, Yixian

2016-06-08

WSNs (Wireless sensor networks) are nowadays viewed as a vital portion of the IoTs (Internet of Things). Security is a significant issue in WSNs, especially in resource-constrained environments. AKA (Authentication and key agreement) enhances the security of WSNs against adversaries attempting to get sensitive sensor data. Various AKA schemes have been developed for verifying the legitimate users of a WSN. Firstly, we scrutinize Amin-Biswas's currently scheme and demonstrate the major security loopholes in their works. Next, we propose a lightweight AKA scheme, using symmetric key cryptography based on smart card, which is resilient against all well known security attacks. Furthermore, we prove the scheme accomplishes mutual handshake and session key agreement property securely between the participates involved under BAN (Burrows, Abadi and Needham) logic. Moreover, formal security analysis and simulations are also conducted using AVISPA(Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications) to show that our scheme is secure against active and passive attacks. Additionally, performance analysis shows that our proposed scheme is secure and efficient to apply for resource-constrained WSNs.

An Energy Efficient Mutual Authentication and Key Agreement Scheme Preserving Anonymity for Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Lu, Yanrong; Li, Lixiang; Peng, Haipeng; Yang, Yixian

2016-01-01

WSNs (Wireless sensor networks) are nowadays viewed as a vital portion of the IoTs (Internet of Things). Security is a significant issue in WSNs, especially in resource-constrained environments. AKA (Authentication and key agreement) enhances the security of WSNs against adversaries attempting to get sensitive sensor data. Various AKA schemes have been developed for verifying the legitimate users of a WSN. Firstly, we scrutinize Amin-Biswas’s currently scheme and demonstrate the major security loopholes in their works. Next, we propose a lightweight AKA scheme, using symmetric key cryptography based on smart card, which is resilient against all well known security attacks. Furthermore, we prove the scheme accomplishes mutual handshake and session key agreement property securely between the participates involved under BAN (Burrows, Abadi and Needham) logic. Moreover, formal security analysis and simulations are also conducted using AVISPA(Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications) to show that our scheme is secure against active and passive attacks. Additionally, performance analysis shows that our proposed scheme is secure and efficient to apply for resource-constrained WSNs. PMID:27338382

Effect of resource constraints on intersimilar coupled networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shai, S.; Dobson, S.

2012-12-01

Most real-world networks do not live in isolation but are often coupled together within a larger system. Recent studies have shown that intersimilarity between coupled networks increases the connectivity of the overall system. However, unlike connected nodes in a single network, coupled nodes often share resources, like time, energy, and memory, which can impede flow processes through contention when intersimilarly coupled. We study a model of a constrained susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) process on a system consisting of two random networks sharing the same set of nodes, where nodes are limited to interact with (and therefore infect) a maximum number of neighbors at each epidemic time step. We obtain that, in agreement with previous studies, when no limit exists (regular SIR model), positively correlated (intersimilar) coupling results in a lower epidemic threshold than negatively correlated (interdissimilar) coupling. However, in the case of the constrained SIR model, the obtained epidemic threshold is lower with negatively correlated coupling. The latter finding differentiates our work from previous studies and provides another step towards revealing the qualitative differences between single and coupled networks.

SUMO: operation and maintenance management web tool for astronomical observatories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mujica-Alvarez, Emma; Pérez-Calpena, Ana; García-Vargas, María. Luisa

2014-08-01

SUMO is an Operation and Maintenance Management web tool, which allows managing the operation and maintenance activities and resources required for the exploitation of a complex facility. SUMO main capabilities are: information repository, assets and stock control, tasks scheduler, executed tasks archive, configuration and anomalies control and notification and users management. The information needed to operate and maintain the system must be initially stored at the tool database. SUMO shall automatically schedule the periodical tasks and facilitates the searching and programming of the non-periodical tasks. Tasks planning can be visualized in different formats and dynamically edited to be adjusted to the available resources, anomalies, dates and other constrains that can arise during daily operation. SUMO shall provide warnings to the users notifying potential conflicts related to the required personal availability or the spare stock for the scheduled tasks. To conclude, SUMO has been designed as a tool to help during the operation management of a scientific facility, and in particular an astronomical observatory. This is done by controlling all operating parameters: personal, assets, spare and supply stocks, tasks and time constrains.

Emerging research in micro and nano systems: opportunities and challenges for societal impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gianchandani, Yogesh B.

2010-02-01

In just a few decades, micro and nano technologies have changed the way that we live - how we work and communicate; the food and medicine that we consume; the clothing that we use; and the entertainment that we seek. While these technologies are being actively investigated in several research communities, the potential for continued societal impact is constrained by resources available for system-level research. Given the long time-lines and levels of investment that are typically necessary to develop functional systems, strategic prioritization of research directions from the perspective of societal needs can be helpful. This paper outlines the findings of an NSF-sponsored road-mapping workshop that was held in 2009, with the intention of initiating a conversation about the opportunities and challenges for micro and nano systems. Four areas of need were discussed: environmental sensing; health care; infrastructure monitoring; and energy alternatives. Possible research trajectories were identified by envisioning technological goals for the year 2040, and linking these to horizons for 2015 and 2025. This paper also provides few examples of current research in each of the four application domains. It is noted that a systems perspective can help to keep the research focused, accelerating and amplifying the societal gain with available resources. Practical and affordable solutions at the system level will require partnerships between specialists, and also between academia and industry.

Prediction-Correction Algorithms for Time-Varying Constrained Optimization

DOE PAGES

Simonetto, Andrea; Dall'Anese, Emiliano

2017-07-26

This article develops online algorithms to track solutions of time-varying constrained optimization problems. Particularly, resembling workhorse Kalman filtering-based approaches for dynamical systems, the proposed methods involve prediction-correction steps to provably track the trajectory of the optimal solutions of time-varying convex problems. The merits of existing prediction-correction methods have been shown for unconstrained problems and for setups where computing the inverse of the Hessian of the cost function is computationally affordable. This paper addresses the limitations of existing methods by tackling constrained problems and by designing first-order prediction steps that rely on the Hessian of the cost function (and do notmore » require the computation of its inverse). In addition, the proposed methods are shown to improve the convergence speed of existing prediction-correction methods when applied to unconstrained problems. Numerical simulations corroborate the analytical results and showcase performance and benefits of the proposed algorithms. A realistic application of the proposed method to real-time control of energy resources is presented.« less

Using a constrained formulation based on probability summation to fit receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swensson, Richard G.; King, Jill L.; Good, Walter F.; Gur, David

2000-04-01

A constrained ROC formulation from probability summation is proposed for measuring observer performance in detecting abnormal findings on medical images. This assumes the observer's detection or rating decision on each image is determined by a latent variable that characterizes the specific finding (type and location) considered most likely to be a target abnormality. For positive cases, this 'maximum- suspicion' variable is assumed to be either the value for the actual target or for the most suspicious non-target finding, whichever is the greater (more suspicious). Unlike the usual ROC formulation, this constrained formulation guarantees a 'well-behaved' ROC curve that always equals or exceeds chance- level decisions and cannot exhibit an upward 'hook.' Its estimated parameters specify the accuracy for separating positive from negative cases, and they also predict accuracy in locating or identifying the actual abnormal findings. The present maximum-likelihood procedure (runs on PC with Windows 95 or NT) fits this constrained formulation to rating-ROC data using normal distributions with two free parameters. Fits of the conventional and constrained ROC formulations are compared for continuous and discrete-scale ratings of chest films in a variety of detection problems, both for localized lesions (nodules, rib fractures) and for diffuse abnormalities (interstitial disease, infiltrates or pnumothorax). The two fitted ROC curves are nearly identical unless the conventional ROC has an ill behaved 'hook,' below the constrained ROC.

Yeast 5 – an expanded reconstruction of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae metabolic network

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Efforts to improve the computational reconstruction of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae biochemical reaction network and to refine the stoichiometrically constrained metabolic models that can be derived from such a reconstruction have continued since the first stoichiometrically constrained yeast genome scale metabolic model was published in 2003. Continuing this ongoing process, we have constructed an update to the Yeast Consensus Reconstruction, Yeast 5. The Yeast Consensus Reconstruction is a product of efforts to forge a community-based reconstruction emphasizing standards compliance and biochemical accuracy via evidence-based selection of reactions. It draws upon models published by a variety of independent research groups as well as information obtained from biochemical databases and primary literature. Results Yeast 5 refines the biochemical reactions included in the reconstruction, particularly reactions involved in sphingolipid metabolism; updates gene-reaction annotations; and emphasizes the distinction between reconstruction and stoichiometrically constrained model. Although it was not a primary goal, this update also improves the accuracy of model prediction of viability and auxotrophy phenotypes and increases the number of epistatic interactions. This update maintains an emphasis on standards compliance, unambiguous metabolite naming, and computer-readable annotations available through a structured document format. Additionally, we have developed MATLAB scripts to evaluate the model’s predictive accuracy and to demonstrate basic model applications such as simulating aerobic and anaerobic growth. These scripts, which provide an independent tool for evaluating the performance of various stoichiometrically constrained yeast metabolic models using flux balance analysis, are included as Additional files 1, 2 and 3. Conclusions Yeast 5 expands and refines the computational reconstruction of yeast metabolism and improves the predictive accuracy of a stoichiometrically constrained yeast metabolic model. It differs from previous reconstructions and models by emphasizing the distinction between the yeast metabolic reconstruction and the stoichiometrically constrained model, and makes both available as Additional file 4 and Additional file 5 and at http://yeast.sf.net/ as separate systems biology markup language (SBML) files. Through this separation, we intend to make the modeling process more accessible, explicit, transparent, and reproducible. PMID:22663945

A Global Health Diagnostic for Personalized Medicine in Resource-Constrained World Settings: A Simple PCR-RFLP Method for Genotyping CYP2B6 g.15582C>T and Science and Policy Relevance for Optimal Use of Antiretroviral Drug Efavirenz

PubMed Central

Evans, Jonathan; Swart, Marelize; Soko, Nyarai; Wonkam, Ambroise; Huzair, Farah

2015-01-01

Abstract The use of pharmacogenomics (PGx) knowledge in treatment of individual patients is becoming a common phenomenon in the developed world. However, poorly resourced countries have thus far been constrained for three main reasons. First, the cost of whole genome sequencing is still considerably high in comparison to other (non-genomics) diagnostics in the developing world where both science and social dynamics create a dynamic and fragile healthcare ecosystem. Second, studies correlating genomic differences with drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics have not been consistent, and more importantly, often not indexed to impact on societal end-points, beyond clinical practice. Third, ethics regulatory frames over PGx testing require improvements based on nested accountability systems and in ways that address the user community needs. Thus, CYP2B6 is a crucial enzyme in the metabolism of antiretroviral drugs, efavirenz and nevirapine. More than 40 genetic variants have been reported, but only a few contribute to differences in plasma EFV and NVP concentrations. The most widely reported CYP2B6 variants affecting plasma drug levels include c.516G>T, c.983T>C, and to a lesser extent, g.15582C>T, which should be considered in future PGx tests. While the first two variants are easily characterized, the g.15582C>T detection has been performed primarily by sequencing, which is costly, labor intensive, and requires access to barely available expertise in the developing world. We report here on a simple, practical PCR-RFLP method with vast potentials for use in resource-constrained world regions to detect the g.15582C>T variation among South African and Cameroonian persons. The effects of CYP2B6 g.15582C>T on plasma EFV concentration were further evaluated among HIV/AIDS patients. We report no differences in the frequency of the g.15582T variant between the South African (0.08) and Cameroonian (0.06) groups, which are significantly lower than reported in Asians (0.39) and Caucasians (0.31). The g.15582C/T and T/T genotypes were associated with significantly reduced EFV levels (p=0.006). This article additionally presents the policy relevance of the PGX global health diagnostics and therefore, collectively makes an original interdisciplinary contribution to the field of integrative biology and personalized medicine in developing world. Such studies are, in fact, broadly important because resource-constrained regions exist not only in developing world but also in major geographical parts of the G20 nations and the developed countries. PMID:26415139

Establishing and Delivering Quality Radiation Therapy in Resource-Constrained Settings: The Story of Botswana.

PubMed

Efstathiou, Jason A; Heunis, Magda; Karumekayi, Talkmore; Makufa, Remigio; Bvochora-Nsingo, Memory; Gierga, David P; Suneja, Gita; Grover, Surbhi; Kasese, Joseph; Mmalane, Mompati; Moffat, Howard; von Paleske, Alexander; Makhema, Joseph; Dryden-Peterson, Scott

2016-01-01

There is a global cancer crisis, and it is disproportionately affecting resource-constrained settings, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Radiotherapy is a critical and cost-effective component of a comprehensive cancer control plan that offers the potential for cure, control, and palliation of disease in greater than 50% of patients with cancer. Globally, LMICs do not have adequate access to quality radiation therapy and this gap is particularly pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa. Although there are numerous challenges in implementing a radiation therapy program in a low-resource setting, providing more equitable global access to radiotherapy is a responsibility and investment worth prioritizing. We outline a systems approach and a series of key questions to direct strategy toward establishing quality radiation services in LMICs, and highlight the story of private-public investment in Botswana from the late 1990s to the present. After assessing the need and defining the value of radiation, we explore core investments required, barriers that need to be overcome, and assets that can be leveraged to establish a radiation program. Considerations addressed include infrastructure; machine choice; quality assurance and patient safety; acquisition, development, and retention of human capital; governmental engagement; public-private partnerships; international collaborations; and the need to critically evaluate the program to foster further growth and sustainability. © 2015 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Improving the Performance of Highly Constrained Water Resource Systems using Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithms and RiverWare

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, R.; Kasprzyk, J. R.; Zagona, E. A.

2015-12-01

Instead of building new infrastructure to increase their supply reliability, water resource managers are often tasked with better management of current systems. The managers often have existing simulation models that aid their planning, and lack methods for efficiently generating and evaluating planning alternatives. This presentation discusses how multiobjective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) decision support can be used with the sophisticated water infrastructure model, RiverWare, in highly constrained water planning environments. We first discuss a study that performed a many-objective tradeoff analysis of water supply in the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) in Texas. RiverWare is combined with the Borg MOEA to solve a seven objective problem that includes systemwide performance objectives and individual reservoir storage reliability. Decisions within the formulation balance supply in multiple reservoirs and control pumping between the eastern and western parts of the system. The RiverWare simulation model is forced by two stochastic hydrology scenarios to inform how management changes in wet versus dry conditions. The second part of the presentation suggests how a broader set of RiverWare-MOEA studies can inform tradeoffs in other systems, especially in political situations where multiple actors are in conflict over finite water resources. By incorporating quantitative representations of diverse parties' objectives during the search for solutions, MOEAs may provide support for negotiations and lead to more widely beneficial water management outcomes.

No Evidence of Trade-Off between Farm Efficiency and Resilience: Dependence of Resource-Use Efficiency on Land-Use Diversity

PubMed Central

Kahiluoto, Helena; Kaseva, Janne

2016-01-01

Efficiency in the use of resources stream-lined for expected conditions could lead to reduced system diversity and consequently endanger resilience. We tested the hypothesis of a trade-off between farm resource-use efficiency and land-use diversity. We applied stochastic frontier production models to assess the dependence of resource-use-efficiency on land-use diversity as illustrated by the Shannon-Weaver index. Total revenue in relation to use of capital, land and labour on the farms in Southern Finland with a size exceeding 30 ha was studied. The data were extracted from the Finnish Profitability Bookkeeping data. Our results indicate that there is either no trade-off or a negligible trade-off of no economic importance. The small dependence of resource-use efficiency on land-use diversity can be positive as well as negative. We conclude that diversification as a strategy to enhance farm resilience does not necessarily constrain resource-use efficiency. PMID:27662475

Evaluating competing forces constraining glacial grounding-line stability (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Powell, R. D.

2013-12-01

Stability of grounding lines of marine-terminating glaciers and ice sheets is of concern due to their importance in governing rates of ice mass loss and consequent sea level rise during global warming. Although processes are similar at tidewater and floating grounding zones their relative magnitudes in terms of their influence on grounding-line stability vary between these two end members. Processes considered Important for this discussion are ice dynamics, ice surface melting and crevassing, ocean dynamics, subglacial sediment and water dynamics, and subglacial bed geometries. Models have continued to improve in their representation of these complex interactions but reliable field measurements and data continue to be hard earned and too few to properly constrain the range of boundary conditions in this complicated system. Some data will be presented covering a range of regimes from Alaska, Svalbard and Antarctica. Certainly more data are required on subglacial sediment/water dynamics and fluxes to fully represent the spectrum of glacial regimes and to assess the significance of grounding-zone sediment systems in counteracting the other processes to force grounding-line stability. Especially important here is constraining the duration of the stability that could be maintained by sediment flux - present data appear to show that it is likely to be a limited period.

Fedosov Deformation Quantization as a BRST Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grigoriev, M. A.; Lyakhovich, S. L.

The relationship is established between the Fedosov deformation quantization of a general symplectic manifold and the BFV-BRST quantization of constrained dynamical systems. The original symplectic manifold M is presented as a second class constrained surface in the fibre bundle ?*ρM which is a certain modification of a usual cotangent bundle equipped with a natural symplectic structure. The second class system is converted into the first class one by continuation of the constraints into the extended manifold, being a direct sum of ?*ρM and the tangent bundle TM. This extended manifold is equipped with a nontrivial Poisson bracket which naturally involves two basic ingredients of Fedosov geometry: the symplectic structure and the symplectic connection. The constructed first class constrained theory, being equivalent to the original symplectic manifold, is quantized through the BFV-BRST procedure. The existence theorem is proven for the quantum BRST charge and the quantum BRST invariant observables. The adjoint action of the quantum BRST charge is identified with the Abelian Fedosov connection while any observable, being proven to be a unique BRST invariant continuation for the values defined in the original symplectic manifold, is identified with the Fedosov flat section of the Weyl bundle. The Fedosov fibrewise star multiplication is thus recognized as a conventional product of the quantum BRST invariant observables.

Quadratic constrained mixed discrete optimization with an adiabatic quantum optimizer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandra, Rishabh; Jacobson, N. Tobias; Moussa, Jonathan E.; Frankel, Steven H.; Kais, Sabre

2014-07-01

We extend the family of problems that may be implemented on an adiabatic quantum optimizer (AQO). When a quadratic optimization problem has at least one set of discrete controls and the constraints are linear, we call this a quadratic constrained mixed discrete optimization (QCMDO) problem. QCMDO problems are NP-hard, and no efficient classical algorithm for their solution is known. Included in the class of QCMDO problems are combinatorial optimization problems constrained by a linear partial differential equation (PDE) or system of linear PDEs. An essential complication commonly encountered in solving this type of problem is that the linear constraint may introduce many intermediate continuous variables into the optimization while the computational cost grows exponentially with problem size. We resolve this difficulty by developing a constructive mapping from QCMDO to quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) such that the size of the QUBO problem depends only on the number of discrete control variables. With a suitable embedding, taking into account the physical constraints of the realizable coupling graph, the resulting QUBO problem can be implemented on an existing AQO. The mapping itself is efficient, scaling cubically with the number of continuous variables in the general case and linearly in the PDE case if an efficient preconditioner is available.

Teaching for Better Learning: A Blended Learning Pilot Project with First-Year Geography Undergraduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Niamh; Gilmartin, Mary

2010-01-01

Internationally, recognition is growing that the transition between post-primary and higher education is raising a number of challenges for both students and educators. Simultaneously with growing class sizes, resources have become more constrained and there is a new set of expectations from the "net generation" (Mohanna, 2007, p. 211…

Ethical Considerations in the Practical Application of the Unisa Socio-Critical Model of Student Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fynn, Angelo

2016-01-01

The prediction and classification of student performance has always been a central concern within higher education institutions. It is therefore natural for higher education institutions to harvest and analyse student data to inform decisions on education provision in resource constrained South African environments. One of the drivers for the use…

Evaluation of the Applicability of HTML5 for Mobile Applications in Resource-Constrained Edge Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-07-01

iOS, Blackberry , Windows Phone) and installed directly onto the device itself. CMU/SEI-2014-TN-002 | 2 2 Background 2.1 Edge Applications We...since this research started and adoption of HTML5 is growing . There are entire operating systems currently being developed in HTML5, such as Firefox

Standards as a Tool for Teaching and Assessing Cross-Curricular Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evensen, Lars Sigfred; Berge, Kjell Lars; Thygesen, Ragnar; Matre, Synnove; Solheim, Randi

2016-01-01

The Berge et al. article in this volume presents the functional construct of writing that underlies summative and formative assessment of writing as a key competency in Norway. A functional construct implies that specific acts of writing and their purposes constrain what is a relevant selection among the semiotic resources that writing generally…

An attribute-based approach to contingent valuation of forest protection programs

Treesearch

Christopher C. Moore; Thomas P. Holmes; Kathleen P. Bell

2011-01-01

The hemlock woolly adelgid is an invasive insect that is damaging hemlock forests in the eastern United States. Several control methods are available but forest managers are constrained by cost, availability, and environmental concerns. As a result forest managers must decide how to allocate limited conservation resources over heterogeneous landscapes. We develop an...

Technical Assistance as a Prevention Capacity-Building Tool: A Demonstration Using the Getting to Outcomes[R] Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunter, Sarah B.; Chinman, Matthew; Ebener, Patricia; Imm, Pam; Wandersman, Abraham; Ryan, Gery W.

2009-01-01

Demands on community-based prevention programs for performance accountability and positive outcomes are ever increasing in the face of constrained resources. Relatively little is known about how technical assistance (TA) should be structured to benefit community-based organizations and to lead to better outcomes. In this study, data from multiple…

Dimensions of Open Research: Critical Reflections on Openness in the ROER4D Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, Thomas; Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl; Willmers, Michelle; Walji, Sukaina

2016-01-01

Open Research has the potential to advance the scientific process by improving the transparency, rigour, scope and reach of research, but choosing to experiment with Open Research carries with it a set of ideological, legal, technical and operational considerations. Researchers, especially those in resource-constrained situations, may not be aware…

Canopy leaf area constrains [CO2]-induced enhancement of productivity and partitioning among aboveground carbon pools.

Treesearch

Heather R. McCarthy; Ram Oren; Adrien C. Finzi; Kurt H. Johnsen

2006-01-01

Net primary productivity (NPP) is enhanced under future atmospheric [CO2] in temperate forests representing a broad range of productivity. Yet questions remain in regard to how elevated [CO2]-induced NPP enhancement may be affected by climatic variations and limiting nutrient resources, as well as how this additional...

A multi-disciplinary approach to fire management strategy, suppression costs, community interaction, and organizational performance

Treesearch

Anne E. Black; Krista Gebert; Sarah McCaffrey; Toddi Steelman; Janie Canton-Thompson

2009-01-01

Wildland fire management must balance the multiple objectives of protecting life, property, and resources; reducing hazardous fuels; and restoring ecosystems. These Federal policy imperatives, varied yet connected, must be met under an increasingly constrained budget. A key to management success is effectively exercising the full range of management flexibility in...

Conservation priorities for tree crop wild relatives in the United States

Treesearch

Colin K. Khoury; Stephanie L. Greene; Karen A. Williams; Chrystian C. Sosa; Chris Richards

2017-01-01

Crop wild relatives native to the United States have proved useful as genetic resources in breeding more productive, nutritious, and resilient crops. Their utilization is expected to increase with better information about the species and improving breeding tools. But this utilization may be constrained by their limited representation in genebanks and the ongoing loss...

Developing new scenarios for water allocation negotiations: a case study of the Euphrates River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jarkeh, Mohammad Reza; Mianabadi, Ameneh; Mianabadi, Hojjat

2016-10-01

Mismanagement and uneven distribution of water may lead to or increase conflict among countries. Allocation of water among trans-boundary river neighbours is a key issue in utilization of shared water resources. The bankruptcy theory is a cooperative Game Theory method which is used when the amount of demand of riparian states is larger than total available water. In this study, we survey the application of seven methods of Classical Bankruptcy Rules (CBRs) including Proportional (CBR-PRO), Adjusted Proportional (CBR-AP), Constrained Equal Awards (CBR-CEA), Constrained Equal Losses (CBR-CEL), Piniles (CBR-Piniles), Minimal Overlap (CBR-MO), Talmud (CBR-Talmud) and four Sequential Sharing Rules (SSRs) including Proportional (SSR-PRO), Constrained Equal Awards (SSR-CEA), Constrained Equal Losses (SSR-CEL) and Talmud (SSR-Talmud) methods in allocation of the Euphrates River among three riparian countries: Turkey, Syria and Iraq. However, there is not a certain documented method to find more equitable allocation rule. Therefore, in this paper, a new method is established for choosing the most appropriate allocating rule which seems to be more equitable than other allocation rules to satisfy the stakeholders. The results reveal that, based on the new propose model, the CBR-AP seems to be more equitable to allocate the Euphrates River water among Turkey, Syria and Iraq.

Upper Extremity Muscle Activity During In-Phase and Anti-Phase Continuous Pushing Tasks.

PubMed

Gruevski, Kristina M; Hodder, Joanne N; Keir, Peter J

2017-11-01

To determine the effect of anti-phase, in-phase bimanual and unimanual simulated industrial pushing tasks and frequency on upper extremity muscle activity. Research investigating symmetrical (in-phase) and asymmetrical (anti-phase) pushing exertions is limited despite a high prevalence in industry. Fifteen female participants completed five pushing tasks using a dual handle apparatus at three frequencies: 15 cycles per minute (cpm), 30 cpm, and self-selected. Tasks included two bimanual symmetrical pushes (constrained and unconstrained), two bimanual asymmetrical pushes (reciprocating and continuous), and one right unimanual push. Surface electromyography (EMG) from the right anterior, middle, and posterior deltoid (AD, MD, and PD); right and left trapezius (RT and LT); right pectoralis major (PM); and right and left external obliques (REO and LEO) was collected and normalized to maximum voluntary effort. There was a task by frequency interaction in the AD, MD, PD, and RT ( p < .005), where activity in AD, MD, and PD was highest in the continuous task at 15 cpm, but activity was similar across task in 30 cpm and self-selected. Muscle activity coefficient of variation was lowest during continuous task across all frequencies. Continuous, anti-phase pushes and constrained, in-phase pushes had the highest muscle activity demands and the least amount of variability in muscle activity and therefore may present the greatest risk of injury. Anti-phase pushing is known to have a greater cognitive demand, and this study demonstrated that it also has a greater physical demand when performed continuously.

Wind Farm Turbine Type and Placement Optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graf, Peter; Dykes, Katherine; Scott, George; Fields, Jason; Lunacek, Monte; Quick, Julian; Rethore, Pierre-Elouan

2016-09-01

The layout of turbines in a wind farm is already a challenging nonlinear, nonconvex, nonlinearly constrained continuous global optimization problem. Here we begin to address the next generation of wind farm optimization problems by adding the complexity that there is more than one turbine type to choose from. The optimization becomes a nonlinear constrained mixed integer problem, which is a very difficult class of problems to solve. This document briefly summarizes the algorithm and code we have developed, the code validation steps we have performed, and the initial results for multi-turbine type and placement optimization (TTP_OPT) we have run.

Wind farm turbine type and placement optimization

DOE PAGES

Graf, Peter; Dykes, Katherine; Scott, George; ...

2016-10-03

The layout of turbines in a wind farm is already a challenging nonlinear, nonconvex, nonlinearly constrained continuous global optimization problem. Here we begin to address the next generation of wind farm optimization problems by adding the complexity that there is more than one turbine type to choose from. The optimization becomes a nonlinear constrained mixed integer problem, which is a very difficult class of problems to solve. Furthermore, this document briefly summarizes the algorithm and code we have developed, the code validation steps we have performed, and the initial results for multi-turbine type and placement optimization (TTP_OPT) we have run.

Semismooth Newton method for gradient constrained minimization problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anyyeva, Serbiniyaz; Kunisch, Karl

2012-08-01

In this paper we treat a gradient constrained minimization problem, particular case of which is the elasto-plastic torsion problem. In order to get the numerical approximation to the solution we have developed an algorithm in an infinite dimensional space framework using the concept of the generalized (Newton) differentiation. Regularization was done in order to approximate the problem with the unconstrained minimization problem and to make the pointwise maximum function Newton differentiable. Using semismooth Newton method, continuation method was developed in function space. For the numerical implementation the variational equations at Newton steps are discretized using finite elements method.

Implementing antiretroviral therapy programs in resource-constrained settings: lessons from Monze, Zambia.

PubMed

Adedimeji, Adebola; Malokota, Oliver; Manafa, Ogenna

2011-05-01

We describe the impact of an antiretroviral therapy program on human resource utilization and service delivery in a rural hospital in Monze, Zambia, using qualitative data. We assess project impact on staff capacity utilization, service delivery, and community perception of care. Increased workload resulted in fatigue, low staff morale, and exacerbated critical manpower shortages, but also an increase in users of antiretroviral therapy, improvement in hospital infrastructure and funding, and an overall community satisfaction with service delivery. Integrating HAART programs within existing hospital units and services may be a good alternative to increase overall efficiency.

Outstanding Research Issues in Systematic Technology Prioritization for New Space Missions: Workshop Proceedings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weisbin, C. R. (Editor)

2004-01-01

A workshop entitled, "Outstanding Research Issues in Systematic Technology Prioritization for New Space Missions," was convened on April 21-22, 2004 in San Diego, California to review the status of methods for objective resource allocation, to discuss the research barriers remaining, and to formulate recommendations for future development and application. The workshop explored the state-of-the-art in decision analysis in the context of being able to objectively allocate constrained technical resources to enable future space missions and optimize science return. This article summarizes the highlights of the meeting results.

Visuo-spatialWorking Memory as a Limited Resource of Cognitive Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zimmer, Hubert D.; Münzer, Stefan; Umla-Runge, Katja

Working memory is considered a cognitive component that mainly serves two functions. It temporarily maintains information that was either perceived but is no longer present in the environment, or that was internally generated, and it supplies a work space for transforming and manipulating elements of perception and thinking. Both functions are relevant for a successful interaction with the environment and it is therefore not surprising that WM is a central topic of research in the field of general psychology. This interest is further increased by the fact that WM is seen as a limited resource that constrains cognitive performances.

Enhancing the competitiveness of skilled construction workers through collaborative education and training

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dardiri, Ahmad; Sutrisno, Kuncoro, Tri; Ichwanto, Muhamad Aris; Suparji

2017-09-01

Professionalism of construction workers is one of the keys to the success of infrastructure development projects. The professionalism of the workforce is demonstrated through the possession of expertise competence certificate (SKA) and/or certificates of skills (SKT) issued formally through competency tests by the National Construction Cervices Development Agency (LPJKN). The magnitude of the national skilled manpower needs has not been able to meet the availability of professional workforce. Strategies to develop the quality of resources require sufficient information on the characteristics of the resources themselves, facilities, constraints, stakeholder support, regulations, and socioeconomic as well as cultural conditions. The problems faced by Indonesia in improving the competitiveness of skilled construction workers are (1) how the level of professionalism of skill workers in construction field, (2) what the constrains on improving the quality of skilled construction workers,and(3) how the appropriate model of education and training skillfull construction work. The study was designed with quantitative and qualitative approaches. Quantitative methods were used to describe the profile of sklill constructions worker. Qualitative methods were used toidentify constraintsin improving the qualityof skilled labor, as well as formulate a viable collaborative education and training model for improving the quality of skill labor. Data were collected by documentation, observation, and interview. The result of the study indicate theat (1) the professionalism knowledge of skilled constructions worker are in still low condition, (2) the constrain faced in developing the quality of skilled construction labor cover economic and structural constrains, and (3) collaborative eduction and training model can improve the quality ods skilld labor contructions.

Memory and Energy Optimization Strategies for Multithreaded Operating System on the Resource-Constrained Wireless Sensor Node

PubMed Central

Liu, Xing; Hou, Kun Mean; de Vaulx, Christophe; Xu, Jun; Yang, Jianfeng; Zhou, Haiying; Shi, Hongling; Zhou, Peng

2015-01-01

Memory and energy optimization strategies are essential for the resource-constrained wireless sensor network (WSN) nodes. In this article, a new memory-optimized and energy-optimized multithreaded WSN operating system (OS) LiveOS is designed and implemented. Memory cost of LiveOS is optimized by using the stack-shifting hybrid scheduling approach. Different from the traditional multithreaded OS in which thread stacks are allocated statically by the pre-reservation, thread stacks in LiveOS are allocated dynamically by using the stack-shifting technique. As a result, memory waste problems caused by the static pre-reservation can be avoided. In addition to the stack-shifting dynamic allocation approach, the hybrid scheduling mechanism which can decrease both the thread scheduling overhead and the thread stack number is also implemented in LiveOS. With these mechanisms, the stack memory cost of LiveOS can be reduced more than 50% if compared to that of a traditional multithreaded OS. Not is memory cost optimized, but also the energy cost is optimized in LiveOS, and this is achieved by using the multi-core “context aware” and multi-core “power-off/wakeup” energy conservation approaches. By using these approaches, energy cost of LiveOS can be reduced more than 30% when compared to the single-core WSN system. Memory and energy optimization strategies in LiveOS not only prolong the lifetime of WSN nodes, but also make the multithreaded OS feasible to run on the memory-constrained WSN nodes. PMID:25545264

Analysis of the economic and ideological factors involved in the development of rights to water in the West, focusing on Colorado

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

Penn, D.A.

1984-01-01

This study represents a limited step towards addressing the problems of the continuous development of property rights in natural resources. First a model of the evolution of water rights in the West is developed. In the model, the specification of property rights in water is treated as a continuous variable, ranging from completely nonexclusive to completely exclusive. The particular position on the continuum depends on the benefits of increasing the level of exclusivity relative to the costs. As the net benefits of increasing water right exclusivity increase, the model predicts greater property rights defining and enforcing activity. The second portionmore » of the study provides a historical context of the development of property rights in the West, focusing on the experience in Colorado. The evolution of property rights is analyzed, given the actual economic and ideological constraints and motivations existing at the time. The last portion of the study offers an empirical test of the hypotheses generated by the model. Ordinary least-squares equations are estimated, using the number of water-rights cases as an indicator of defining and enforcing activity. The quantitative and historical evidence suggests that water rights exhibit a tendency to develop efficiently, but that this tendency is constrained by the costs of defining exclusive rights to water and by ideology.« less

Organisational innovation and control practices: the case of public-private mix in tuberculosis control in India.

PubMed

Engel, Nora; van Lente, Harro

2014-07-01

Partnerships between public and private healthcare providers are often seen as an important way to improve health care in resource-constrained settings. Despite the reconfirmed policy support for including private providers into public tuberculosis control in India, the public-private mix (PPM) activities continue to face apprehension at local implementation sites. This article investigates the causes for those difficulties by examining PPM initiatives as cases of organisational innovation. It examines findings from semi-structured interviews, observations and document analyses in India around three different PPM models and the attempts of innovating and scaling up. The results reveal that in PPM initiatives underlying problem definitions and different control practices, including supervision, standardisation and culture, continue to clash and ultimately hinder the scaling up of PPM. Successful PPM initiatives require organisational control practices which are rooted in different professions to be bridged. This entails difficult balancing acts between innovation and control. The innovators handle those differently, based on their own ideas of the problem that PPM should address and their own control practices. We offer new perspectives on why collaboration is so difficult and show a possible way to mitigate the established apprehensions between professions in order to make organisational innovations, such as PPM, sustainable and scalable. © 2013 The Authors Sociology of Health & Illness © 2013 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The impact of the International Monetary Fund's macroeconomic policies on the AIDS pandemic.

PubMed

Baker, Brook K

2010-01-01

Expansion of funding for HIV/AIDS, especially treatment, is under attack over concerns about cost effectiveness and financial constraints. The International Monetary Fund is deeply implicated in the history of the AIDS pandemic, the underlying weakness of health systems, and the ideology of constrained resources that underlies most attacks on AIDS funding. The IMF imposed structural violence on developing countries in the 1980s and 1990s through neoliberal and macroeconomic reforms that intensified individual and communal vulnerability to infection and dismantled already weak health systems. This same macroeconomic fundamentalism has recently been repackaged and renamed. IMF fundamentalist policies continue to prioritize low inflation, constricted government spending, robust foreign currency reserves, and prompt repayment of debt at the expense of investments in health and more expansionary, pro-growth and job-creation policies. Several recent surveys have concluded that the IMF reluctantly relaxed overly restrictive policy prescriptions in response to the global economic crisis, but this relaxation was temporary at best and only extended to countries previously acceding to IMF orthodoxy. AIDS activists are campaigning for billions of dollars to fulfill the promise of universal access. If IMF pressures persist, developing countries will continue to undermine the additionality of donor health financing by substituting donor for domestic financing, refusing to invest in recurrent costs for medicines and health workers, and neglecting needed investments in health infrastructure and health system strengthening.

A discrete model for geometrically nonlinear transverse free constrained vibrations of beams with various end conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahmouni, A.; Beidouri, Z.; Benamar, R.

2013-09-01

The purpose of the present paper was the development of a physically discrete model for geometrically nonlinear free transverse constrained vibrations of beams, which may replace, if sufficient degrees of freedom are used, the previously developed continuous nonlinear beam constrained vibration models. The discrete model proposed is an N-Degrees of Freedom (N-dof) system made of N masses placed at the ends of solid bars connected by torsional springs, presenting the beam flexural rigidity. The large transverse displacements of the bar ends induce a variation in their lengths giving rise to axial forces modelled by longitudinal springs. The calculations made allowed application of the semi-analytical model developed previously for nonlinear structural vibration involving three tensors, namely the mass tensor mij, the linear rigidity tensor kij and the nonlinearity tensor bijkl. By application of Hamilton's principle and spectral analysis, the nonlinear vibration problem is reduced to a nonlinear algebraic system, examined for increasing numbers of dof. The results obtained by the physically discrete model showed a good agreement and a quick convergence to the equivalent continuous beam model, for various fixed boundary conditions, for both the linear frequencies and the nonlinear backbone curves, and also for the corresponding mode shapes. The model, validated here for the simply supported and clamped ends, may be used in further works to present the flexural linear and nonlinear constrained vibrations of beams with various types of discontinuities in the mass or in the elasticity distributions. The development of an adequate discrete model including the effect of the axial strains induced by large displacement amplitudes, which is predominant in geometrically nonlinear transverse constrained vibrations of beams [1]. The investigation of the results such a discrete model may lead to in the case of nonlinear free vibrations. The development of the analogy between the previously developed models of geometrically nonlinear vibrations of Euler-Bernoulli continuous beams, and multidof system models made of N masses placed at the end of elastic bars connected by linear spiral springs, presenting the beam flexural rigidity. The validation of the new model via the analysis of the convergence conditions of the nonlinear frequencies obtained by the N-dof system, when N increases, and those obtained in previous works using a continuous description of the beam. In addition to the above points, the models developed in the present work, may constitute, in our opinion, a good illustration, from the didactic point of view, of the origin of the geometrical nonlinearity induced by large transverse vibration amplitudes of constrained continuous beams, which may appear as a Pythagorean Theorem effect. The first step of the work presented here was the formulation of the problem of nonlinear vibrations of the discrete system shown in Fig. 1 in terms of the semi-analytical method, denoted as SAA, developed in the early 90's by Benamar and coauthors [3], and discussed for example in [6,7]. This method has been applied successfully to various types of geometrically nonlinear problems of structural dynamics [1-3,6-8,10-12] and the objective here was to use it in order to develop a flexible discrete nonlinear model which may be useful for presenting in further works geometrically nonlinear vibrations of real beams with discontinuities in the mass, the section, or the stiffness distributions. The purpose in the present work was restricted to developing and validating the model, via comparison of the obtained dependence of the resonance frequencies of such a system on the amplitude of vibration, with the results obtained previously by continuous beams nonlinear models. In the SAA method, the dynamic system under consideration is described by the mass matrix [M], the rigidity matrix [K], and the nonlinear rigidity matrix [B], which depends on the amplitude of vibration, and involves a fourth-order nonlinearity tensor bijkl. Details are given below, corresponding to the definition of the tensors mentioned above. The analogy between the classical continuous Euler-Bernoulli model of beams and the present discrete model is developed, leading to the expressions for the equivalent spiral and axial stiffness, in terms of the continuous beam geometrical and mechanical characteristics. Some numerical results are also given, showing the amplitude dependence of the frequencies on the amplitude of vibration, and compared to the backbone curves obtained previously by the continuous nonlinear classical beam theory, presented for example in [3,5,8,15-22]. A convergence study is performed by increasing the number of masses and bars, showing a good convergence to the theoretical values of continuous beams.

(abstract) Science-Project Interaction in the Low-Cost Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wall, Stephen D.

1994-01-01

Large, complex, and highly optimized missions have performed most of the preliminary reconnaisance of the solar system. As a result we have now mapped significant fractions of its total surface (or surface-equivalent) area. Now, however, scientific exploration of the solar system is undergoing a major change in scale, and existing missions find it necessary to limit costs while fulfilling existing goals. In the future, NASA's Discovery program will continue the reconnaisance, exploration, and diagnostic phases of planetary research using lower cost missions, which will include lower cost mission operations systems (MOS). Historically, one of the more expensive functions of MOS has been its interaction with the science community. Traditional MOS elements that this interaction have embraced include mission planning, science (and engineering) event conflict resolution, sequence optimization and integration, data production (e.g., assembly, enhancement, quality assurance, documentation, archive), and other science support services. In the past, the payoff from these efforts has been that use of mission resources has been highly optimized, constraining resources have been generally completely consumed, and data products have been accurate and well documented. But because these functions are expensive we are now challenged to reduce their cost while preserving the benefits. In this paper, we will consider ways of revising the traditional MOS approach that might save project resources while retaining a high degree of service to the Projects' customers. Pre-launch, science interaction can be made simplier by limiting numbers of instruments and by providing greater redundancy in mission plans. Post launch, possibilities include prioritizing data collection into a few categories, easing requirements on real-time of quick-look data delivery, and closer integration of scientists into the mission operation.

A Distributed Computing Framework for Real-Time Detection of Stress and of Its Propagation in a Team.

PubMed

Pandey, Parul; Lee, Eun Kyung; Pompili, Dario

2016-11-01

Stress is one of the key factor that impacts the quality of our daily life: From the productivity and efficiency in the production processes to the ability of (civilian and military) individuals in making rational decisions. Also, stress can propagate from one individual to other working in a close proximity or toward a common goal, e.g., in a military operation or workforce. Real-time assessment of the stress of individuals alone is, however, not sufficient, as understanding its source and direction in which it propagates in a group of people is equally-if not more-important. A continuous near real-time in situ personal stress monitoring system to quantify level of stress of individuals and its direction of propagation in a team is envisioned. However, stress monitoring of an individual via his/her mobile device may not always be possible for extended periods of time due to limited battery capacity of these devices. To overcome this challenge a novel distributed mobile computing framework is proposed to organize the resources in the vicinity and form a mobile device cloud that enables offloading of computation tasks in stress detection algorithm from resource constrained devices (low residual battery, limited CPU cycles) to resource rich devices. Our framework also supports computing parallelization and workflows, defining how the data and tasks divided/assigned among the entities of the framework are designed. The direction of propagation and magnitude of influence of stress in a group of individuals are studied by applying real-time, in situ analysis of Granger Causality. Tangible benefits (in terms of energy expenditure and execution time) of the proposed framework in comparison to a centralized framework are presented via thorough simulations and real experiments.

Life-histories from Landsat: Algorithmic approaches to distilling Earth's recent ecological dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kennedy, R. E.; Yang, Z.; Braaten, J.; Cohen, W. B.; Ohmann, J.; Gregory, M.; Roberts, H.; Meigs, G. W.; Nelson, P.; Pfaff, E.

2012-12-01

As the longest running continuous satellite Earth-observation record, data from the Landsat family of sensors have the potential to uniquely reveal temporal dynamics critical to many terrestrial disciplines. The convergence of a free-data access policy in the late 2000s with a rapid rise in computing and storage capacity has highlighted an increasinagly common challenge: effective distillation of information from large digital datasets. Here, we describe how an algorithmic workflow informed by basic understanding of ecological processes is being used to convert multi-terabyte image time-series datasets into concise renditions of landscape dynamics. Using examples from our own work, we show how these are in turn applied to monitor vegetative disturbance and growth dynamics in national parks, to evaluate effectiveness of natural resource policy in national forests, to constrain and inform biogeochemical models, to measure carbon impacts of natural and anthropogenic stressors, to assess impacts of land use change on threatened species, to educate and inform students, and to better characterize complex links between changing climate, insect pathogens, and wildfire in forests.

Magnetotelluric survey to locate the Archean-Proterozoic suture zone in the northeastern Great Basin, Nevada, Utah, and Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sampson, Jay A.; Rodriguez, Brian D.

2013-01-01

North-central Nevada contains a large amount of gold in linear belts, the origin of which is not fully understood. During July 2008, September 2009, and August 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey, as part of the Assessment Techniques for Concealed Mineral Resources project, collected twenty-three magnetotelluric soundings along two profiles in Box Elder County, Utah; Elko County, Nevada; and Cassia, Minidoka, and Blaine Counties, Idaho. The main twenty-sounding north-south magnetotelluric profile begins south of Wendover, Nev., but north of the Deep Creek Range. It continues north of Wendover and crosses into Utah, with the north profile terminus in the Snake River Plain, Idaho. A short, three-sounding east-west segment crosses the main north-south profile near the northern terminus of the profile. The magnetotelluric data collected in this study will be used to better constrain the location and strike of the concealed suture zone between the Archean crust and the Paleoproterozoic Mojave province. This report releases the magnetotelluric sounding data that was collected. No interpretation of the data is included.

The quality of hospital-based antenatal care in Istanbul.

PubMed

Turan, Janet Molzan; Bulut, Ayşpen; Nalbant, Hacer; Ortayli, Nuriye; Akalin, A Arzu Koloğlu

2006-03-01

The aim of this study was to gather comprehensive data from three hospitals in Istanbul, Turkey, in order to gain in-depth understanding of the quality of antenatal care in this setting. The Bruce-Jain framework for quality of care was adapted for use in evaluating antenatal care. Methods included examination of hospital records, in-depth interviews, exit questionnaires, and structured observations. The study revealed deficiencies in the quality of antenatal care being delivered at the study hospitals in all six elements of the quality-of-care framework. The technical content of visits varied greatly among the hospitals, and an overuse of technology was accompanied by neglect of some essential components of antenatal care. Although at the private hospital some problems with the technical content of care were identified, client satisfaction was higher there, where the care included good interpersonal relations, information provision, and continuity. Providers at all three hospitals felt constrained by heavy patient loads and a lack of resources. Multifaceted approaches are needed to improve the quality of antenatal care in this setting.

On Efficient Deployment of Wireless Sensors for Coverage and Connectivity in Constrained 3D Space.

PubMed

Wu, Chase Q; Wang, Li

2017-10-10

Sensor networks have been used in a rapidly increasing number of applications in many fields. This work generalizes a sensor deployment problem to place a minimum set of wireless sensors at candidate locations in constrained 3D space to k -cover a given set of target objects. By exhausting the combinations of discreteness/continuousness constraints on either sensor locations or target objects, we formulate four classes of sensor deployment problems in 3D space: deploy sensors at Discrete/Continuous Locations (D/CL) to cover Discrete/Continuous Targets (D/CT). We begin with the design of an approximate algorithm for DLDT and then reduce DLCT, CLDT, and CLCT to DLDT by discretizing continuous sensor locations or target objects into a set of divisions without sacrificing sensing precision. Furthermore, we consider a connected version of each problem where the deployed sensors must form a connected network, and design an approximation algorithm to minimize the number of deployed sensors with connectivity guarantee. For performance comparison, we design and implement an optimal solution and a genetic algorithm (GA)-based approach. Extensive simulation results show that the proposed deployment algorithms consistently outperform the GA-based heuristic and achieve a close-to-optimal performance in small-scale problem instances and a significantly superior overall performance than the theoretical upper bound.

Reference Resources for Research and Continuing Education in Nursing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Nurses' Association, Kansas City, MO.

This booklet on reference resources for research and continuing education in nursing contains three papers that were presented at a program sponsored by the Interagency Council on Library Resources for Nursing held at the 1976 Convention of the American Nurses' Association. In "Awareness of Library Resources: A Characteristic of Professional…

Global physician budgets as common-property resources: some implications for physicians and medical associations.

PubMed Central

Hurley, J; Card, R

1996-01-01

Since 1990 payment for physician services in the fee-for-service sector has shifted from an open-ended system to fixed global budgets. This shift has created a new economic context for practising medicine in Canada. A global cap creates a conflict between physicians' individual economic self-interest and their collective interest in constraining total billings within the capped budget. These types of incentive problems occur in managing what are known in economics as "common-property resources." Analysts studying common-property resources have documented several management principles associated with successful, long-run use of such resources in the face of these conflicting incentives. These management principles include early defining the boundaries of the common-property resource, explicitly specifying rules for using the resource, developing collective decision-making arrangements and monitoring mechanisms, and creating low-cost conflict-resolution mechanisms. The authors argue that global physician budgets can usefully be viewed as common-property-resources. They describe some of the key management principles and note some implications for physicians and the provincial and territorial medical associations as they adapt to global budgets. PMID:8612251

30 CFR 1243.9 - Will ONRR continue to suspend my obligation to comply with an order if I seek judicial review in...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Resources OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE SUSPENSIONS PENDING APPEAL AND BONDING-OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE General Provisions § 1243.9 Will... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Will ONRR continue to suspend my obligation to...

30 CFR 1243.9 - Will ONRR continue to suspend my obligation to comply with an order if I seek judicial review in...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... Resources OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE SUSPENSIONS PENDING APPEAL AND BONDING-OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE General Provisions § 1243.9 Will... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Will ONRR continue to suspend my obligation to...

30 CFR 1243.9 - Will ONRR continue to suspend my obligation to comply with an order if I seek judicial review in...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... Resources OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE SUSPENSIONS PENDING APPEAL AND BONDING-OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE General Provisions § 1243.9 Will... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Will ONRR continue to suspend my obligation to...

Automated Design of Board and MCM Level Digital Systems.

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-10-01

Partitioning for Multicomponent Synthesis 159 Appendix K: Resource Constrained RTL Partitioning for Synthesis of Multi- FPGA Designs 169 Appendix L...digital signal processing) ar- chitectures. These target architectures, illustrated in Figure 1, can contain application-specific ASICS, FPGAs ...synthesis tools for ASIC, FPGA and MCM synthesis (Figure 8). Multicomponent Partitioning Engine The par- titioning engine is a hierarchical partitioning

Estimating and circumventing the effects of perturbing and swapping inventory plot locations

Treesearch

Ronald E. McRoberts; Geoffrey R. Holden; Mark D. Nelson; Greg C. Liknes; Warren K. Moser; Andrew J. Lister; Susan L. King; Elizabeth B. LaPoint; John W. Coulston; W. Brad Smith; Gregory A. Reams

2005-01-01

The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the USDA Forest Service reports data and information about the Nation's forest resources. Increasingly, users request that FIA data and information be reported and distributed in a geospatial context, and they request access to exact plot locations for their own analyses. However, the FIA program is constrained by...

Speech-Language Services in Public Schools: How Policy Ambiguity Regarding Eligibility Criteria Impacts Speech-Language Pathologists in a Litigious and Resource Constrained Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sylvan, Lesley

2014-01-01

Public school districts must determine which students are eligible to receive special education and related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This study, which involves 39 interviews with speech-language pathologists and school administrators, examines how eligibility recommendations are made for one widely…

Flexible Coordination in Resource-Constrained Domains

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-07-01

Experiments (TIEs) with planning technologies developed at both BBN (FMERG) and SRI ( SOCAP ). We have also exported scheduling support capabilities provided by...SRI’s SOCAP course of action (COA) plan generator. "* Development and demonstration of distributed, multi-level deployment scheduling - Through analysis...scheduler was adapted for integration with the SOCAP planning system to provide feedback on transportation feasibility during generation of the

Gentlemen We Are Out of Money...Now We Have to Think - Prioritization of Objectives in a Resource Constrained Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-02-15

Additionally I would like to thank Dr. Greg Parnell, Ph.D., MAJ Melanie Vinton, COL William Sorrells, COL Simon Goerger, Ph.D., COL Chris Hill, Ph.D., and... Klein , J. Orasanu, R. Calderwood, & C. E. Zsambok (Eds.), Decision Making in Action: Models and Methods (pp. 327-345). Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishers

Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process for Decision-Making in Ecosystem Management

Treesearch

Daniel L. Schmoldt; David L. Peterson

1997-01-01

Land management activities on public lands combine multiple objectives in order to create a plan of action over a finite time horizon. Because management activities are constrained by time and money, it is critical to make the best use of available agency resources. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) offers a structure for multi-objective decisionmaking so that...

The Impact of Primary Education on School-to-Work Transitions for Young People in Rural Bolivia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Punch, Samantha

2004-01-01

As in many parts of the majority world, primary education in rural Bolivia is constrained by a range of factors: poor teaching quality, lack of resources, limited infrastructure, inadequate teaching materials, and low wages for teachers. Furthermore, high rates of absenteeism, drop-out, repetition, and failure can be exacerbated by children's work…

Employment Policy for the Hard-to-Employ: The Path of Progress. A Statement by the Program Committee.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Committee for Economic Development, New York, NY.

At a time of high unemployment and increasingly constrained public resources, more and more attention is being focused on how to further the private sector's involvement in expanding opportunities for individuals, especially the hard-to-employ, to obtain long-term productive employment. Although at least 12 pieces of federal legislation that…

Effects of landscape composition and configuration on migrating songbirds: inference from and individual-based model

Treesearch

Emily Cohen; Scott Pearson; Frank Moore

2014-01-01

The behavior of long-distance migrants during stopover is constrained by the need to quickly and safely replenish energetic reserves. Replenishing fuel stores at stopover sites requires adjusting to unfamiliar landscapes with little to no information about the distribution of resources. Despite their critical importance to the success of songbird migration, the effects...

Modeling the Value of Micro Solutions in Air Force Financial Management

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-12-01

Study, NCCA, 1998 .........................................19 Table 2. IT/VBA Emphasis in Top Ten Business Schools (U.S...become increasingly resource constrained. VBA Course # of IT classes IT Concentration Top Ten Business Schools (Ranked by Forbes) Harvard 1...offering in this area; we evaluated the Information Technology emphasis of the MBA programs in the top ten business schools , as ranked by Forbes

Specifications of a Simulation Model for a Local Area Network Design in Support of a Stock Point Logistics Integrated Communication Environment (SPLICE).

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-06-01

constrained at each step. Use of dis- crete simulation can be a powerful tool in this process if its role is carefully planned. The gross behavior of the...by projecting: - the arrival of units of work at SPLICE processing facilities (workload analysis) . - the amount of processing resources comsumed in

Braking and Entering: A New CFO's Transition into A K-12 Urban School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trautenberg, David Herbert

2016-01-01

In this autoethnography, I examine the challenges I faced as a private-to-public-sector novice CFO entering a resource-constrained 41-thousand-student K-12 urban school district in Colorado. This study chronicles how I deliberately slowed down my interactions within a complex adaptive system (CAS) through ethnographic interviewing to identify the…

Bandwidth Management in Resource Constrained Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

Postgraduate School OSI Open Systems Interconnection QoS Quality of Service TCP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol TCP/IP Transmission...filtering. B. NORMAL TCP/IP COMMUNICATIONS The Internet is a “complex network WAN that connects LANs and clients around the globe” (Dean, 2009...of the Open Systems Interconnection ( OSI ) model allowing them to route traffic based on MAC address (Kurose & Ross, 2009). While switching

Public-Private Partnership. An Opportunity for Urban Communities. A Statement by the Research and Policy Committee of the Committee for Economic Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Committee for Economic Development, New York, NY. Research and Policy Committee.

In this era of constrained resources, the public and private sectors must join forces to revitalize their local urban communities. Public-private partnership means cooperation among individuals and organizations in the public and private sectors for mutual benefit. Such cooperation has two dimensions--the policy dimension and the operational…

Study abroad programs: Using alumni and graduate students as affiliate faculty.

PubMed

Palmer, Sheri; Wing, Debra; Miles, Leslie; Heaston, Sondra; de la Cruz, Karen

2013-01-01

To expand student appreciation of global health and diversity, many schools of nursing offer study abroad programs. However, this type of labor-intensive program can be difficult in light of faculty shortages and constrained resources. The authors discuss how these issues were addressed using alumni and graduate students as affiliate teachers in 3 clinical study abroad settings.

Lessons Learned from Implementing E-Learning for the Education of Health Professionals in Resource-Constrained Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gupta, Manu; Marsden, Sophie; Oluka, Tony; Sharma, Reetu; Lucas, Henry

2017-01-01

The growing global demand for tertiary education has led to the increased use of e-learning approaches around the world. Demand has increased most rapidly in low and middle income countries (LMICs), which account for half of the students currently enrolled in higher educational institutions (HEIs). But the implementation of e-learning programmes…

Interactive Effects of Working Memory Self-Regulatory Ability and Relevance Instructions on Text Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamilton, Nancy Jo

2012-01-01

Reading is a process that requires the enactment of many cognitive processes. Each of these processes uses a certain amount of working memory resources, which are severely constrained by biology. More efficiency in the function of working memory may mediate the biological limits of same. Reading relevancy instructions may be one such method to…

A Strategy for Developing Future Academic Leaders for South Africa in a Resource-Constrained Environment

PubMed Central

Lalloo, Umesh G.; Bobat, Raziya A.; Pillay, Sandy; Wassenaar, Douglas

2014-01-01

A key challenge in addressing the shortage of health care workers in resource-constrained environments is ensuring that there is optimal academic capacity for their training. South Africa’s University of KwaZulu-Natal has placed academic and research capacity building at the heart of its program with the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) in a program called ENhancing Training, REsearch Capacity, and Expertise (ENTREE). The program is premised on the basis that research capacity development will lead to an increase in teachers who will be essential to improving the quality and quantity of health care workers needed to meet South Africa’s health challenges. This is being achieved through four components of the program: (1) infusion of the undergraduate program with research modules; (2) attraction of academically talented students in the middle of their undergraduate program into a parallel track that has research capacity as its major thrust; (3) attraction of qualified health care personnel into a supported PhD program; and (4) providing strong research ethics training and mentorship. A significant proportion of the program is being executed in rural training sites, to increase the probability that trainees will return to the sites as mentors. PMID:25072580

A Malicious Pattern Detection Engine for Embedded Security Systems in the Internet of Things

PubMed Central

Oh, Doohwan; Kim, Deokho; Ro, Won Woo

2014-01-01

With the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), a large number of physical objects in daily life have been aggressively connected to the Internet. As the number of objects connected to networks increases, the security systems face a critical challenge due to the global connectivity and accessibility of the IoT. However, it is difficult to adapt traditional security systems to the objects in the IoT, because of their limited computing power and memory size. In light of this, we present a lightweight security system that uses a novel malicious pattern-matching engine. We limit the memory usage of the proposed system in order to make it work on resource-constrained devices. To mitigate performance degradation due to limitations of computation power and memory, we propose two novel techniques, auxiliary shifting and early decision. Through both techniques, we can efficiently reduce the number of matching operations on resource-constrained systems. Experiments and performance analyses show that our proposed system achieves a maximum speedup of 2.14 with an IoT object and provides scalable performance for a large number of patterns. PMID:25521382

The resource utilization group system: its effect on nursing home case mix and costs.

PubMed

Thorpe, K E; Gertler, P J; Goldman, P

1991-01-01

Using data from 1985 and 1986, we examine how New York state's prospective payment system affected nursing homes. The system, called Resource Utilization Group (RUG-II), aimed to limit nursing home cost growth and improve access to nursing homes by "heavy-care" patients. As in Medicare's prospective hospital reimbursement system, payments to nursing homes were based on a "price," rather than facility-specific rates. With respect to cost growth, we observed considerable diversity among homes. Specifically, those nursing homes most financially constrained by the RUG-II methodology exhibited the slowest rates of cost growth; we observed higher cost growth among the homes least constrained. This higher rate of cost growth raises a question about the desirability of using a pricing methodology to determine nursing home payment rates. In addition to moderating cost growth, we also observed a significant change in the mix of patients admitted to nursing homes. During the first year of the RUG-II program, nursing homes admitted more heavy-care patients and reduced days of care to lighter-care patients. Thus, through 1986, the RUG-II program appeared to satisfy at least one of its major policy objectives.

Mobile learning in resource-constrained environments: a case study of medical education.

PubMed

Pimmer, Christoph; Linxen, Sebastian; Gröhbiel, Urs; Jha, Anil Kumar; Burg, Günter

2013-05-01

The achievement of the millennium development goals may be facilitated by the use of information and communication technology in medical and health education. This study intended to explore the use and impact of educational technology in medical education in resource-constrained environments. A multiple case study was conducted in two Nepalese teaching hospitals. The data were analysed using activity theory as an analytical basis. There was little evidence for formal e-learning, but the findings indicate that students and residents adopted mobile technologies, such as mobile phones and small laptops, as cultural tools for surprisingly rich 'informal' learning in a very short time. These tools allowed learners to enhance (a) situated learning, by immediately connecting virtual information sources to their situated experiences; (b) cross-contextual learning by documenting situated experiences in the form of images and videos and re-using the material for later reflection and discussion and (c) engagement with educational content in social network communities. By placing the students and residents at the centre of the new learning activities, this development has begun to affect the overall educational system. Leveraging these tools is closely linked to the development of broad media literacy, including awareness of ethical and privacy issues.

Resource-constrained scheduling with hard due windows and rejection penalties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, Christopher

2016-09-01

This work studies a scheduling problem where each job must be either accepted and scheduled to complete within its specified due window, or rejected altogether. Each job has a certain processing time and contributes a certain profit if accepted or penalty cost if rejected. There is a set of renewable resources, and no resource limit can be exceeded at any time. Each job requires a certain amount of each resource when processed, and the objective is to maximize total profit. A mixed-integer programming formulation and three approximation algorithms are presented: a priority rule heuristic, an algorithm based on the metaheuristic for randomized priority search and an evolutionary algorithm. Computational experiments comparing these four solution methods were performed on a set of generated benchmark problems covering a wide range of problem characteristics. The evolutionary algorithm outperformed the other methods in most cases, often significantly, and never significantly underperformed any method.

SLA-based optimisation of virtualised resource for multi-tier web applications in cloud data centres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bi, Jing; Yuan, Haitao; Tie, Ming; Tan, Wei

2015-10-01

Dynamic virtualised resource allocation is the key to quality of service assurance for multi-tier web application services in cloud data centre. In this paper, we develop a self-management architecture of cloud data centres with virtualisation mechanism for multi-tier web application services. Based on this architecture, we establish a flexible hybrid queueing model to determine the amount of virtual machines for each tier of virtualised application service environments. Besides, we propose a non-linear constrained optimisation problem with restrictions defined in service level agreement. Furthermore, we develop a heuristic mixed optimisation algorithm to maximise the profit of cloud infrastructure providers, and to meet performance requirements from different clients as well. Finally, we compare the effectiveness of our dynamic allocation strategy with two other allocation strategies. The simulation results show that the proposed resource allocation method is efficient in improving the overall performance and reducing the resource energy cost.

Reservoirs operation and water resources utilization coordination in Hongshuihe basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Chonghao; Chi, Kaige; Pang, Bo; Tang, Hongbin

2018-06-01

In the recent decade, the demand for water resources has been increasing with the economic development. The reservoirs of cascade hydropower stations in Hongshuihe basin, which are constructed with a main purpose of power generation, are facing more integrated water resources utilization problem. The conflict between power generation of cascade reservoirs and flood control, shipping, environmental protection and water supply has become increasingly prominent. This paper introduces the general situation and integrated water demand of cascade reservoirs in Hongshuihe basin, and it analyses the impact of various types of integrated water demand on power generation and supply. It establishes mathematic models, constrained by various types of integrated water demand, to guide the operation and water resources utilization management of cascade reservoirs in Hongshuihe basin. Integrated water coordination mechanism of Hongshuihe basin is also introduced. It provides a technical and management guide and demonstration for cascade reservoirs operation and integrated water management at home and abroad.

Resource-aware taxon selection for maximizing phylogenetic diversity.

PubMed

Pardi, Fabio; Goldman, Nick

2007-06-01

Phylogenetic diversity (PD) is a useful metric for selecting taxa in a range of biological applications, for example, bioconservation and genomics, where the selection is usually constrained by the limited availability of resources. We formalize taxon selection as a conceptually simple optimization problem, aiming to maximize PD subject to resource constraints. This allows us to take into account the different amounts of resources required by the different taxa. Although this is a computationally difficult problem, we present a dynamic programming algorithm that solves it in pseudo-polynomial time. Our algorithm can also solve many instances of the Noah's Ark Problem, a more realistic formulation of taxon selection for biodiversity conservation that allows for taxon-specific extinction risks. These instances extend the set of problems for which solutions are available beyond previously known greedy-tractable cases. Finally, we discuss the relevance of our results to real-life scenarios.

The RISE Framework: Using Learning Analytics to Automatically Identify Open Educational Resources for Continuous Improvement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bodily, Robert; Nyland, Rob; Wiley, David

2017-01-01

The RISE (Resource Inspection, Selection, and Enhancement) Framework is a framework supporting the continuous improvement of open educational resources (OER). The framework is an automated process that identifies learning resources that should be evaluated and either eliminated or improved. This is particularly useful in OER contexts where the…

Emotion based attentional priority for storage in visual short-term memory.

PubMed

Simione, Luca; Calabrese, Lucia; Marucci, Francesco S; Belardinelli, Marta Olivetti; Raffone, Antonino; Maratos, Frances A

2014-01-01

A plethora of research demonstrates that the processing of emotional faces is prioritised over non-emotive stimuli when cognitive resources are limited (this is known as 'emotional superiority'). However, there is debate as to whether competition for processing resources results in emotional superiority per se, or more specifically, threat superiority. Therefore, to investigate prioritisation of emotional stimuli for storage in visual short-term memory (VSTM), we devised an original VSTM report procedure using schematic (angry, happy, neutral) faces in which processing competition was manipulated. In Experiment 1, display exposure time was manipulated to create competition between stimuli. Participants (n = 20) had to recall a probed stimulus from a set size of four under high (150 ms array exposure duration) and low (400 ms array exposure duration) perceptual processing competition. For the high competition condition (i.e. 150 ms exposure), results revealed an emotional superiority effect per se. In Experiment 2 (n = 20), we increased competition by manipulating set size (three versus five stimuli), whilst maintaining a constrained array exposure duration of 150 ms. Here, for the five-stimulus set size (i.e. maximal competition) only threat superiority emerged. These findings demonstrate attentional prioritisation for storage in VSTM for emotional faces. We argue that task demands modulated the availability of processing resources and consequently the relative magnitude of the emotional/threat superiority effect, with only threatening stimuli prioritised for storage in VSTM under more demanding processing conditions. Our results are discussed in light of models and theories of visual selection, and not only combine the two strands of research (i.e. visual selection and emotion), but highlight a critical factor in the processing of emotional stimuli is availability of processing resources, which is further constrained by task demands.

Experimental Evaluation of Unicast and Multicast CoAP Group Communication

PubMed Central

Ishaq, Isam; Hoebeke, Jeroen; Moerman, Ingrid; Demeester, Piet

2016-01-01

The Internet of Things (IoT) is expanding rapidly to new domains in which embedded devices play a key role and gradually outnumber traditionally-connected devices. These devices are often constrained in their resources and are thus unable to run standard Internet protocols. The Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) is a new alternative standard protocol that implements the same principals as the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), but is tailored towards constrained devices. In many IoT application domains, devices need to be addressed in groups in addition to being addressable individually. Two main approaches are currently being proposed in the IoT community for CoAP-based group communication. The main difference between the two approaches lies in the underlying communication type: multicast versus unicast. In this article, we experimentally evaluate those two approaches using two wireless sensor testbeds and under different test conditions. We highlight the pros and cons of each of them and propose combining these approaches in a hybrid solution to better suit certain use case requirements. Additionally, we provide a solution for multicast-based group membership management using CoAP. PMID:27455262

Constraining soil C cycling with strategic, adaptive action for data and model reporting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harden, J. W.; Swanston, C.; Hugelius, G.

2015-12-01

Regional to global carbon assessments include a variety of models, data sets, and conceptual structures. This includes strategies for representing the role and capacity of soils to sequester, release, and store carbon. Traditionally, many soil carbon data sets emerged from agricultural missions focused on mapping and classifying soils to enhance and protect production of food and fiber. More recently, soil carbon assessments have allowed for more strategic measurement to address the functional and spatially explicit role that soils play in land-atmosphere carbon exchange. While soil data sets are increasingly inter-comparable and increasingly sampled to accommodate global assessments, soils remain poorly constrained or understood with regard to their role in spatio-temporal variations in carbon exchange. A more deliberate approach to rapid improvement in our understanding involves a community-based activity than embraces both a nimble data repository and a dynamic structure for prioritization. Data input and output can be transparent and retrievable as data-derived products, while also being subjected to rigorous queries for merging and harmonization into a searchable, comprehensive, transparent database. Meanwhile, adaptive action groups can prioritize data and modeling needs that emerge through workshops, meta-data analyses or model testing. Our continual renewal of priorities should address soil processes, mechanisms, and feedbacks that significantly influence global C budgets and/or significantly impact the needs and services of regional soil resources that are impacted by C management. In order to refine the International Soil Carbon Network, we welcome suggestions for such groups to be led on topics such as but not limited to manipulation experiments, extreme climate events, post-disaster C management, past climate-soil interactions, or water-soil-carbon linkages. We also welcome ideas for a business model that can foster and promote idea and data sharing.

Dynamic magmatic processes at a continental rift caldera, observed using satellite geodesy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lloyd, Ryan; Biggs, Juliet; Birhanu, Yelebe; Wilks, Matt; Gottsmann, Jo; Kendall, Mike; Lewi, Elias

2016-04-01

Large silicic calderas are a key feature of developing continental rifts, such as the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), and are often observed to be deforming. Corbetti is one such example of a Holocene caldera in the MER that is undergoing deformation. However, the cause of the unrest, and the relationship to rift processes such as magma storage, transport and extension remain poorly understood. To investigate, we use InSAR (ascending and descending Cosmo-SkyMed data) and continuous GPS to observe the temporal and spatial evolution of sustained uplift at the Corbetti Caldera. Within the caldera, which was thought to have formed ~200 ka, there is evidence for numerous periods of resurgent volcanism in the form of plinian eruptions as well as effusive obsidian flows. How the sources of these varying styles of volcanism are reconciled at depth and in time is currently poorly constrained. Previous research has shown that pre-rift structures have a significant influence on the strain field, and hence on the magmatic and hydrothermal processes which drive it. The Cosmo-SkyMed data used in this study was specifically chosen such that each ascending image has a corresponding descending image acquired as contemporaneously as possible. This is necessary, given the rate of uplift, so as to reduce the number of assumptions when constructing time-series from multiple look directions, and when incorporating GPS data. We decompose the ascending and descending line-of-site deformation signals into vertical and east-west components and use finite source modeling to constrain the depth and geometry of the source of deformation. These results are then compared to available seismic, dynamic microgravity and magnetotelluric data to better understand this system, and how it is related to the volcanic hazard and local geothermal resources.

Short-term prey field lability constrains individual specialisation in resource selection and foraging site fidelity in a marine predator.

PubMed

Courbin, Nicolas; Besnard, Aurélien; Péron, Clara; Saraux, Claire; Fort, Jérôme; Perret, Samuel; Tornos, Jérémy; Grémillet, David

2018-04-16

Spatio-temporally stable prey distributions coupled with individual foraging site fidelity are predicted to favour individual resource specialisation. Conversely, predators coping with dynamic prey distributions should diversify their individual diet and/or shift foraging areas to increase net intake. We studied individual specialisation in Scopoli's shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea) from the highly dynamic Western Mediterranean, using daily prey distributions together with resource selection, site fidelity and trophic-level analyses. As hypothesised, we found dietary diversification, low foraging site fidelity and almost no individual specialisation in resource selection. Crucially, shearwaters switched daily foraging tactics, selecting areas with contrasting prey of varying trophic levels. Overall, information use and plastic resource selection of individuals with reduced short-term foraging site fidelity allow predators to overcome prey field lability. Our study is an essential step towards a better understanding of individual responses to enhanced environmental stochasticity driven by global changes, and of pathways favouring population persistence. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Experimental platform utilising melting curve technology for detection of mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates.

PubMed

Broda, Agnieszka; Nikolayevskyy, Vlad; Casali, Nicki; Khan, Huma; Bowker, Richard; Blackwell, Gemma; Patel, Bhakti; Hume, James; Hussain, Waqar; Drobniewski, Francis

2018-04-20

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most deadly infections with approximately a quarter of cases not being identified and/or treated mainly due to a lack of resources. Rapid detection of TB or drug-resistant TB enables timely adequate treatment and is a cornerstone of effective TB management. We evaluated the analytical performance of a single-tube assay for multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) on an experimental platform utilising RT-PCR and melting curve analysis that could potentially be operated as a point-of-care (PoC) test in resource-constrained settings with a high burden of TB. Firstly, we developed and evaluated the prototype MDR-TB assay using specimens extracted from well-characterised TB isolates with a variety of distinct rifampicin and isoniazid resistance conferring mutations and nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) strains. Secondly, we validated the experimental platform using 98 clinical sputum samples from pulmonary TB patients collected in high MDR-TB settings. The sensitivity of the platform for TB detection in clinical specimens was 75% for smear-negative and 92.6% for smear-positive sputum samples. The sensitivity of detection for rifampicin and isoniazid resistance was 88.9 and 96.0% and specificity was 87.5 and 100%, respectively. Observed limitations in sensitivity and specificity could be resolved by adjusting the sample preparation methodology and melting curve recognition algorithm. Overall technology could be considered a promising PoC methodology especially in resource-constrained settings based on its combined accuracy, convenience, simplicity, speed, and cost characteristics.

Can managers empower nurse-midwives to improve maternal health care? A comparison of two resource-poor hospitals in Tanzania.

PubMed

Tibandebage, Paula; Kida, Tausi; Mackintosh, Maureen; Ikingura, Joyce

2016-10-01

Maternal mortality is very high in Tanzania. Competent hospital care is key to improving maternal outcomes, but there is a crisis of availability and performance of health workers in maternal care. This article uses interviews with managers, nurse-midwives, and women who had given birth in two hospitals providing virtually all the emergency maternal care in one Tanzania city. It contrasts women's experience in the two hospitals, and analyses interconnections with nurse-midwives' and managers' experiences of working conditions. The conceptual literature on nurse empowerment identifies some key explanatory variables for these contrasts. Staff experienced less frustration and constraint in one of the hospitals; had more access to structurally empowering resources; and experienced greater congruence between job commitment and working culture, resulting in better work engagement. Conversely, nurse-midwives in the other hospital were constrained by supply shortages and recurrent lack of support. Contrasting management styles and their impacts demonstrate that even in severely resource-constrained environments, there is room for management to empower staff to improve maternal care. Empowering management practices include participatory management, supportive supervision, better incentives, and clear leadership concerning ward culture. Structural constraints beyond the capacity of health facility managers must however also be addressed. © 2015 The Authors. International Journal of Health Planning and Management published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2015 The Authors. International Journal of Health Planning and Management published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Measuring and moderating the water resource impact of biofuel production and trade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fingerman, Kevin Robert

Energy systems and water resources are inextricably linked, especially in the case of bioenergy, which can require up to three orders of magnitude more water than other energy carriers. Water scarcity already affects about 1 in 5 people globally, and stands to be exacerbated in many locales by current biofuel expansion plans. This dissertation engages with several of the analytical and governance challenges raised by this connection between bioenergy expansion and global water resources. My examination begins with an overview of important concepts in water resource analysis, followed by a review of current literature on the water impacts of most major energy pathways. I then report on a case study of ethanol fuel in California. This work employed a coupled agro-climatic and life cycle assessment (LCA) model to estimate the water resource impacts of several bioenergy expansion scenarios at a county-level resolution. It shows that ethanol production in California regularly consumes more than 1000 gallons of water per gallon of fuel produced, and that 99% of life-cycle water consumption occurs in the feedstock cultivation phase. This analysis then delves into the complexity of life cycle impact assessment for water resources. Despite improvements in water accounting methods, impact assessment must contend with the fact that different water sources are not necessarily commensurable, and that impacts depend on the state of the resource base that is drawn upon. I adapt water footprinting and LCA techniques to the bioenergy context, describing comprehensive inventory approaches and developing a process for characterizing (weighting) consumption values to enable comparison across resource bases. This process draws on metrics of water stress, accounting for environmental flow requirements, climatic variability, and non-linearity of water stress effects. My assessment framework was developed in hopes that it would be useful in managing the risks and impacts it describes. The primary actors in this governance effort are government regulators, whose policies and incentives continue to drive and to shape the expansion of the bioenergy industry. However, the ability of governments to manage the impacts of biofuels is severely constrained by their obligations under international trade law. This dissertation concludes, therefore, with a detailed investigation into relevant precedents under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). I use these precedents to identify the policy tools that governments would be able to bring to bear in moderating the water resource impacts and myriad other environmental and social concerns raised by bioenergy expansion.

Type-Separated Bytecode - Its Construction and Evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adler, Philipp; Amme, Wolfram

A lot of constrained systems still use interpreters to run mobile applications written in Java. These interpreters demand for only a few resources. On the other hand, it is difficult to apply optimizations during the runtime of the application. Annotations could be used to achieve a simpler and faster code analysis, which would allow optimizations even for interpreters on constrained devices. Unfortunately, there is no viable way of transporting annotations to and verifying them at the code consumer. In this paper we present type-separated bytecode as an intermediate representation which allows to safely transport annotations as type-extensions. We have implemented several versions of this system and show that it is possible to obtain a performance comparable to Java Bytecode, even though we use a type-separated system with annotations.

Stock management in hospital pharmacy using chance-constrained model predictive control.

PubMed

Jurado, I; Maestre, J M; Velarde, P; Ocampo-Martinez, C; Fernández, I; Tejera, B Isla; Prado, J R Del

2016-05-01

One of the most important problems in the pharmacy department of a hospital is stock management. The clinical need for drugs must be satisfied with limited work labor while minimizing the use of economic resources. The complexity of the problem resides in the random nature of the drug demand and the multiple constraints that must be taken into account in every decision. In this article, chance-constrained model predictive control is proposed to deal with this problem. The flexibility of model predictive control allows taking into account explicitly the different objectives and constraints involved in the problem while the use of chance constraints provides a trade-off between conservativeness and efficiency. The solution proposed is assessed to study its implementation in two Spanish hospitals. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Incorporating Resource Protection Constraints in an Analysis of Landscape Fuel-Treatment Effectiveness in the Northern Sierra Nevada, CA, USA.

PubMed

Dow, Christopher B; Collins, Brandon M; Stephens, Scott L

2016-03-01

Finding novel ways to plan and implement landscape-level forest treatments that protect sensitive wildlife and other key ecosystem components, while also reducing the risk of large-scale, high-severity fires, can prove to be difficult. We examined alternative approaches to landscape-scale fuel-treatment design for the same landscape. These approaches included two different treatment scenarios generated from an optimization algorithm that reduces modeled fire spread across the landscape, one with resource-protection constrains and one without the same. We also included a treatment scenario that was the actual fuel-treatment network implemented, as well as a no-treatment scenario. For all the four scenarios, we modeled hazardous fire potential based on conditional burn probabilities, and projected fire emissions. Results demonstrate that in all the three active treatment scenarios, hazardous fire potential, fire area, and emissions were reduced by approximately 50 % relative to the untreated condition. Results depict that incorporation of constraints is more effective at reducing modeled fire outputs, possibly due to the greater aggregation of treatments, creating greater continuity of fuel-treatment blocks across the landscape. The implementation of fuel-treatment networks using different planning techniques that incorporate real-world constraints can reduce the risk of large problematic fires, allow for landscape-level heterogeneity that can provide necessary ecosystem services, create mixed forest stand structures on a landscape, and promote resilience in the uncertain future of climate change.

[Distance learning in postgraduate training of professionals. Example of occupational medicine specialization].

PubMed

Marcinkiewicz, Andrzej; Cybart, Adam; Chromińska-Szosland, Dorota

2002-01-01

The rapid development of science, technology, economy and the society has one along with the wide recognition of lifelong education and learning society concepts. Scientific centres worldwide conduct research how the access to the information and multimedia technology could bring about positive changes in our lives including improvement in education and the learning environment. Mankind development in conformity with social progress and sustainable development faces a new educational concept of learning society and open education in the information age, supported with multimedia and data processing technology. Constrains in resources availability for broadening the access to education had led to search for alternative, more time and cost-effective systems of education. One of them is distance learning, applied with success in many countries. The benefits of distance learning are well proven and can be extended to occupational medicine. Major advantages include: the integration of studies with work experience, flexibility, allowing studies to be matched to work requirements, perceived work and leisure timing, continuity of career progression. Likewise is in Poland this form of education becomes more and more popular. The distance education systems have been seen as an investment in human resource development. The vast variety of courses and educational stages makes possible the modern method of knowledge to be easily accessible. Experience of the School of Public Health in Łódź in distance learning had shown remarkable benefits of the method with comparable quality of intramural and distance learning in respect of the knowledge and experience gained by students.

Calibrating Treasure Valley Groundwater Model using MODFLOW

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez, J.; Tan, K.

2016-12-01

In Idaho, groundwater plays an especially important role in the state. According to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, groundwater supplies 95% of the state's drinking water (2011). The USGS estimates that Idaho withdraws 117 million cubic meters (95,000 acre-feet) per year from groundwater sources for domestic usage which includes drinking water. The same report from the USGS also estimates that Idaho withdraws 5,140 million cubic meters (4,170,000 acre-feet) per year from groundwater sources for irrigation usage. Quantifying and managing that resource and estimating groundwater levels in the future is important for a variety of socio-economic reasons. As the population within the Treasure Valley continues to grow, the demand of clean usable groundwater increases. The objective of this study was to develop and calibrate a groundwater model with the purpose of understanding short- and long-term effects of existing and alternative land use scenarios on groundwater changes. Hydrologic simulations were done using the MODFLOW-2000 model. The model was calibrated for predevelopment period by reproducing and comparing groundwater levels of the years before 1925 using steady state boundary conditions representing no change in the land use. Depending on the reliability of the groundwater source, the economic growth of the area can be constrained or allowed to flourish. Mismanagement of the groundwater source can impact its sustainability, quality and could hamper development by increasing operation and maintenance costs. Proper water management is critical because groundwater is such a limited resource.

Outreach services to improve access to health care in South Africa: lessons from three community health worker programmes.

PubMed

Nxumalo, Nonhlanhla; Goudge, Jane; Thomas, Liz

2013-01-24

In South Africa, there are renewed efforts to strengthen primary health care and community health worker (CHW) programmes. This article examines three South African CHW programmes, a small local non-governmental organisation (NGO), a local satellite of a national NGO, and a government-initiated service, that provide a range of services from home-based care, childcare, and health promotion to assist clients in overcoming poverty-related barriers to health care. The comparative case studies, located in Eastern Cape and Gauteng, were investigated using qualitative methods. Thematic analysis was used to identify factors that constrain and enable outreach services to improve access to care. The local satellite (of a national NGO), successful in addressing multi-dimensional barriers to care, provided CHWs with continuous training focused on the social determinants of ill-health, regular context-related supervision, and resources such as travel and cell-phone allowances. These workers engaged with, and linked their clients to, agencies in a wide range of sectors. Relationships with participatory structures at community level stimulated coordinated responses from service providers. In contrast, an absence of these elements curtailed the ability of CHWs in the small NGO and government-initiated service to provide effective outreach services or to improve access to care. Significant investment in resources, training, and support can enable CHWs to address barriers to care by negotiating with poorly functioning government services and community participation structures.

Recidivism and Rehabilitation of Criminal Offenders: A Carrot and Stick Evolutionary Game

PubMed Central

Berenji, Bijan; Chou, Tom; D'Orsogna, Maria R.

2014-01-01

Motivated by recent efforts by the criminal justice system to treat and rehabilitate nonviolent offenders rather than focusing solely on their punishment, we introduce an evolutionary game theoretic model to study the effects of “carrot and stick” intervention programs on criminal recidivism. We use stochastic simulations to study the evolution of a population where individuals may commit crimes depending on their past history, surrounding environment and, in the case of recidivists, on any counseling, educational or training programs available to them after being punished for their previous crimes. These sociological factors are embodied by effective parameters that determine the decision making probabilities. Players may decide to permanently reform or continue engaging in criminal activity, eventually reaching a state where they are considered incorrigible. Depending on parameter choices, the outcome of the game is a society with a majority of virtuous, rehabilitated citizens or incorrigibles. Since total resources may be limited, we constrain the combined punishment and rehabilitation costs per crime to be fixed, so that increasing one effort will necessarily decrease the other. We find that the most successful strategy in reducing crime is to optimally allocate resources so that after being punished, criminals experience impactful intervention programs, especially during the first stages of their return to society. Excessively harsh or lenient punishments are less effective. We also develop a system of coupled ordinary differential equations with memory effects to give a qualitative description of our simulated societal dynamics. We discuss our findings and sociological implications. PMID:24454884