Finalizing the Consultant Effectiveness Scale: An Analysis and Validation of the Characteristics of Effective Consultants.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knoff, Howard M.; Hines, Constance V.; Kromrey, Jeffrey D.

1995-01-01

Proposes that as consultation becomes a larger part of the school psychologist's role and function, the need to empirically identify characteristics of effective consultants is increasingly important. Describes the Consultant Effectiveness Scale (CES) and reexamines it with a national sample of school psychologists. Evaluates discriminate validity…

An exploration of the structure of mentors' behavior in nursing education using exploratory factor analysis and Mokken scale analysis.

PubMed

Chen, Yanhua; Watson, Roger; Hilton, Andrea

2016-05-01

To understand nursing students' expectation from their mentors and assess mentors' performance, a scale of mentors' behavior was developed based on literature review and focus group in China. This study aims to explore the structure of mentors' behavior. A cross-sectional survey. Data were collected from nursing students in three hospitals in southwest China in 2014. A total of 669 pre-registered nursing students in their final year clinical learning participated in this study. Exploratory factor analysis and Mokken scale analysis was employed to explore the structure and hierarchical property of mentors' behavior. Three dimensions (professional development, facilitating learning and psychosocial support) were identified by factor analysis and confirmed by Mokken scaling analysis. The three sub-scales showed internal consistency reliability from 87% to 91%, and moderate to strong precision in ordering students' expectation about mentors' behavior and a small Mokken scale showing hierarchy was identified. Some insight into the structure of mentoring in nursing education has been obtained and a scale which could be used in the study of mentoring and in the preparation of mentors has been developed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design and analysis of tubular permanent magnet linear generator for small-scale wave energy converter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jeong-Man; Koo, Min-Mo; Jeong, Jae-Hoon; Hong, Keyyong; Cho, Il-Hyoung; Choi, Jang-Young

2017-05-01

This paper reports the design and analysis of a tubular permanent magnet linear generator (TPMLG) for a small-scale wave-energy converter. The analytical field computation is performed by applying a magnetic vector potential and a 2-D analytical model to determine design parameters. Based on analytical solutions, parametric analysis is performed to meet the design specifications of a wave-energy converter (WEC). Then, 2-D FEA is employed to validate the analytical method. Finally, the experimental result confirms the predictions of the analytical and finite element analysis (FEA) methods under regular and irregular wave conditions.

Analysis of Discrete-Source Damage Progression in a Tensile Stiffened Composite Panel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, John T.; Lotts, Christine G.; Sleight, David W.

1999-01-01

This paper demonstrates the progressive failure analysis capability in NASA Langley s COMET-AR finite element analysis code on a large-scale built-up composite structure. A large-scale five stringer composite panel with a 7-in. long discrete source damage was analyzed from initial loading to final failure including the geometric and material nonlinearities. Predictions using different mesh sizes, different saw cut modeling approaches, and different failure criteria were performed and assessed. All failure predictions have a reasonably good correlation with the test result.

The Functional Arm Scale for Throwers (FAST)-Part I: The Design and Development of an Upper Extremity Region-Specific and Population-Specific Patient-Reported Outcome Scale for Throwing Athletes.

PubMed

Sauers, Eric L; Bay, R Curtis; Snyder Valier, Alison R; Ellery, Traci; Huxel Bliven, Kellie C

2017-03-01

Upper extremity (UE) region-specific, patient-reported outcome (PRO) scales assess injuries to the UE but do not account for the demands of overhead throwing athletes or measure patient-oriented domains of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). To develop the Functional Arm Scale for Throwers (FAST), a UE region-specific and population-specific PRO scale that assesses multiple domains of disablement in throwing athletes with UE injuries. In stage I, a beta version of the scale was developed for subsequent factor identification, final item reduction, and construct validity analysis during stage II. Descriptive laboratory study. Three-stage scale development was utilized: Stage I (item generation and initial item reduction) and stage II (factor analysis, final item reduction, and construct validity) are reported herein, and stage III (establishment of measurement properties [reliability and validity]) will be reported in a companion paper. In stage I, a beta version was developed, incorporating National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research disablement domains and ensuring a blend of sport-related and non-sport-related items. An expert panel and focus group assessed importance and interpretability of each item. During stage II, the FAST was reduced, preserving variance characteristics and factor structure of the beta version and construct validity of the final FAST scale. During stage I, a 54-item beta version and a separate 9-item pitcher module were developed. During stage II, a 22-item FAST and 9-item pitcher module were finalized. The factor solution for FAST scale items included pain (n = 6), throwing (n = 10), activities of daily living (n = 5), psychological impact (n = 4), and advancement (n = 3). The 6-item pain subscale crossed factors. The remaining subscales and pitcher module are distinctive, correlated, and internally consistent and may be interpreted individually or combined. This article describes the development of the FAST, which assesses clinical outcomes and HRQOL of throwing athletes after UE injury. The FAST encompasses multiple domains of disability and demonstrates excellent construct validity. The FAST provides a single UE region-specific and population-specific PRO scale for high-demand throwers to facilitate measurement of impact of UE injuries on HRQOL and clinical outcomes while quantifying recovery for comparative effectiveness studies.

Development of a performance anxiety scale for music students.

PubMed

Çirakoğlu, Okan Cem; Şentürk, Gülce Çoskun

2013-12-01

In the present research, the Performance Anxiety Scale for Music Students (PASMS) was developed in three successive studies. In Study 1, the factor structure of PASMS was explored and three components were found: fear of stage (FES), avoidance (AVD) and symptoms (SMP). The internal consistency of the subscales of PASMS, which consisted of 27 items, varied between 0.89 and 0.91. The internal consistency for the whole scale was found to be 0.95. The correlations among PASMS and other anxiety-related measures were significant and in the expected direction, indicating that the scale has convergent validity. The construct validity of the scale was assessed in Study 2 by confirmatory factor analysis. After several revisions, the final tested model achieved acceptable fits. In Study 3, the 14-day test-retest reliability of the final 24-item version of PASMS was tested and found to be extremely high (0.95). In all three studies, the whole scale and subscale scores of females were significantly higher than for males.

Development and Psychometric Validation of the Dementia Attitudes Scale

PubMed Central

O'Connor, Melissa L.; McFadden, Susan H.

2010-01-01

This study employed qualitative construct mapping and factor analysis to construct a scale to measure attitudes toward dementia. Five family caregivers, five professionals, and five college students participated in structured interviews. Qualitative analysis of the interviews led to a 46-item scale, which was reduced to 20 items following principal axis factoring with two different samples: college students (N = 302) and certified nursing assistant students (N = 145). Confirmatory factor analysis was then conducted with another sample of college students (N = 157). The final scale, titled the Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS), essentially had a two-factor structure; the factors were labeled “dementia knowledge” and “social comfort.” Total-scale Cronbach's alphas ranged 0.83–0.85. Evidence for convergent validity was promising, as the DAS correlated significantly with scales that measured ageism and attitudes toward disabilities (range of correlations = 0.44–0.55; mean correlation = 0.50). These findings demonstrate the reliability and validity of the DAS, supporting its use as a research tool.

Comparative Analysis of the Relative Validity for Subjective Time Rating Scales. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carpenter, James B.; And Others

Since the accuracy and validity of occupational data may vary according to the rating scale format employed, the first phase of the research described in the report employed hypothetical job descriptions from which accurate criterion data could be generated. The second phase of the research required developing an occupational survey instrument…

Development and validation of a patient-reported outcome measure for stroke patients.

PubMed

Luo, Yanhong; Yang, Jie; Zhang, Yanbo

2015-05-08

Family support and patient satisfaction with treatment are crucial for aiding in the recovery from stroke. However, current validated stroke-specific questionnaires may not adequately capture the impact of these two variables on patients undergoing clinical trials of new drugs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a new stroke patient-reported outcome measure (Stroke-PROM) instrument for capturing more comprehensive effects of stroke on patients participating in clinical trials of new drugs. A conceptual framework and a pool of items for the preliminary Stroke-PROM were generated by consulting the relevant literature and other questionnaires created in China and other countries, and interviewing 20 patients and 4 experts to ensure that all germane parameters were included. During the first item-selection phase, classical test theory and item response theory were applied to an initial scale completed by 133 patients with stroke. During the item-revaluation phase, classical test theory and item response theory were used again, this time with 475 patients with stroke and 104 healthy participants. During the scale assessment phase, confirmatory factor analysis was applied to the final scale of the Stroke-PROM using the same study population as in the second item-selection phase. Reliability, validity, responsiveness and feasibility of the final scale were tested. The final scale of Stroke-PROM contained 46 items describing four domains (physiology, psychology, society and treatment). These four domains were subdivided into 10 subdomains. Cronbach's α coefficients for the four domains ranged from 0.861 to 0.908. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the validity of the final scale, and the model fit index satisfied the criterion. Differences in the Stroke-PROM mean scores were significant between patients with stroke and healthy participants in nine subdomains (P < 0.001), indicating that the scale showed good responsiveness. The Stroke-PROM is a patient-reported outcome multidimensional questionnaire developed especially for clinical trials of new drugs and is focused on issues of family support and patient satisfaction with treatment. Extensive data analyses supported the validity, reliability and responsiveness of the Stroke-PROM.

Development and validation of a socioculturally competent trust in physician scale for a developing country setting.

PubMed

Gopichandran, Vijayaprasad; Wouters, Edwin; Chetlapalli, Satish Kumar

2015-05-03

Trust in physicians is the unwritten covenant between the patient and the physician that the physician will do what is in the best interest of the patient. This forms the undercurrent of all healthcare relationships. Several scales exist for assessment of trust in physicians in developed healthcare settings, but to our knowledge none of these have been developed in a developing country context. To develop and validate a new trust in physician scale for a developing country setting. Dimensions of trust in physicians, which were identified in a previous qualitative study in the same setting, were used to develop a scale. This scale was administered among 616 adults selected from urban and rural areas of Tamil Nadu, south India, using a multistage sampling cross sectional survey method. The individual items were analysed using a classical test approach as well as item response theory. Cronbach's α was calculated and the item to total correlation of each item was assessed. After testing for unidimensionality and absence of local dependence, a 2 parameter logistic Semajima's graded response model was fit and item characteristics assessed. Competence, assurance of treatment, respect for the physician and loyalty to the physician were important dimensions of trust. A total of 31 items were developed using these dimensions. Of these, 22 were selected for final analysis. The Cronbach's α was 0.928. The item to total correlations were acceptable for all the 22 items. The item response analysis revealed good item characteristic curves and item information for all the items. Based on the item parameters and item information, a final 12 item scale was developed. The scale performs optimally in the low to moderate trust range. The final 12 item trust in physician scale has a good construct validity and internal consistency. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Development and validation of a socioculturally competent trust in physician scale for a developing country setting

PubMed Central

Gopichandran, Vijayaprasad; Wouters, Edwin; Chetlapalli, Satish Kumar

2015-01-01

Trust in physicians is the unwritten covenant between the patient and the physician that the physician will do what is in the best interest of the patient. This forms the undercurrent of all healthcare relationships. Several scales exist for assessment of trust in physicians in developed healthcare settings, but to our knowledge none of these have been developed in a developing country context. Objectives To develop and validate a new trust in physician scale for a developing country setting. Methods Dimensions of trust in physicians, which were identified in a previous qualitative study in the same setting, were used to develop a scale. This scale was administered among 616 adults selected from urban and rural areas of Tamil Nadu, south India, using a multistage sampling cross sectional survey method. The individual items were analysed using a classical test approach as well as item response theory. Cronbach's α was calculated and the item to total correlation of each item was assessed. After testing for unidimensionality and absence of local dependence, a 2 parameter logistic Semajima's graded response model was fit and item characteristics assessed. Results Competence, assurance of treatment, respect for the physician and loyalty to the physician were important dimensions of trust. A total of 31 items were developed using these dimensions. Of these, 22 were selected for final analysis. The Cronbach's α was 0.928. The item to total correlations were acceptable for all the 22 items. The item response analysis revealed good item characteristic curves and item information for all the items. Based on the item parameters and item information, a final 12 item scale was developed. The scale performs optimally in the low to moderate trust range. Conclusions The final 12 item trust in physician scale has a good construct validity and internal consistency. PMID:25941182

The Lottery Is a Mathematics Powerball

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lim, Vivian; Rubel, Laurie; Shookhoff, Lauren; Sullivan, Mathew; Williams, Sarah

2016-01-01

The lottery has rich potential for mathematical explorations. It serves as a real-world context to explore concepts of permutations, combinations, sample space, and probability in terms of making sense of the lottery games. The lottery offers additional possibilities in terms of scaling, data analysis, and spatial analysis. Finally, by readily…

[Development of a New Scale for Gauging Smartphone Dependence].

PubMed

Toda, Masahiro; Nishio, Nobuhiro; Takeshita, Tatsuya

2015-01-01

We designed a scale to gauge smartphone dependence and assessed its reliability and validity. A prototype self-rating smartphone-dependence scale was tested on 133 medical students who use smartphones more frequently than other devices to access web pages. Each response was scored on a Likert scale (0, 1, 2, 3), with higher scores indicating greater dependence. To select items for the final scale, exploratory factor analysis was conducted. On the basis of factor analysis results, we designed the Wakayama Smartphone-Dependence Scale (WSDS) comprising 21 items with 3 subscales: immersion in Internet communication; using a smartphone for extended periods of time and neglecting social obligations and other tasks; using a smartphone while doing something else and neglect of etiquette. Our analysis confirmed the validity of the different elements of the WSDS: the reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) values of all subscales and total WSDS were from 0.79 to 0.83 and 0.88, respectively. These findings suggest that the WSDS is a useful tool for rating smartphone dependence.

Monte Carlo capabilities of the SCALE code system

DOE PAGES

Rearden, Bradley T.; Petrie, Jr., Lester M.; Peplow, Douglas E.; ...

2014-09-12

SCALE is a broadly used suite of tools for nuclear systems modeling and simulation that provides comprehensive, verified and validated, user-friendly capabilities for criticality safety, reactor physics, radiation shielding, and sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. For more than 30 years, regulators, licensees, and research institutions around the world have used SCALE for nuclear safety analysis and design. SCALE provides a “plug-and-play” framework that includes three deterministic and three Monte Carlo radiation transport solvers that can be selected based on the desired solution, including hybrid deterministic/Monte Carlo simulations. SCALE includes the latest nuclear data libraries for continuous-energy and multigroup radiation transport asmore » well as activation, depletion, and decay calculations. SCALE’s graphical user interfaces assist with accurate system modeling, visualization, and convenient access to desired results. SCALE 6.2 will provide several new capabilities and significant improvements in many existing features, especially with expanded continuous-energy Monte Carlo capabilities for criticality safety, shielding, depletion, and sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. Finally, an overview of the Monte Carlo capabilities of SCALE is provided here, with emphasis on new features for SCALE 6.2.« less

Construction and Validation of a Women's Autonomy Measurement Scale with Reference to Utilization of Maternal Health Care Services in Nepal.

PubMed

Bhandari, T R; Dangal, G; Sarma, P S; Kutty, V R

2014-01-01

Women's autonomy is one of the predictors of maternal health care service utilization. This study aimed to construct and validate a scale for measuring women's autonomy with relevance to developing countries. We conducted a study for construction and validation of a scale in Rupandehi and further validated in Kapilvastu districts of Nepal. Initially, we administered a 24-item preliminary scale and finalized a 23-item scale using psychometric tests. After defining the construct of women's autonomy, we pooled 194 items and selected 24 items to develop a preliminary scale. The scale development process followed different steps i.e. definition of construct, generation of items pool, pretesting, analysis of psychometric test and further validation. The new scale was strongly supported by Cronbach's Alpha value (0.84), test-retest Pearson correlation (0.87), average content validity ratio (0.8) and overall agreement- Kappa value of the items (0.83) whereas all values were found satisfactory. From factor analysis, we selected 23 items for the final scale which show good convergent and discriminant validity. From preliminary draft, we removed one item; the remaining 23 items were loaded in five factors. All five factors had single loading items by suppressing absolute coefficient value less than 0.45 and average coefficient was more than 0.60 of each factor. Similarly, the factors and loaded items had good convergent and discriminant validity which further showed strong measurement capacity of the scale. The new scale is a reliable tool for assessing women's autonomy in developing countries. We recommend for further use and validation of the scale for ensuring the measurement capacity.

The drivers of wildfire enlargement do not exhibit scale thresholds in southeastern Australian forests.

PubMed

Price, Owen F; Penman, Trent; Bradstock, Ross; Borah, Rittick

2016-10-01

Wildfires are complex adaptive systems, and have been hypothesized to exhibit scale-dependent transitions in the drivers of fire spread. Among other things, this makes the prediction of final fire size from conditions at the ignition difficult. We test this hypothesis by conducting a multi-scale statistical modelling of the factors determining whether fires reached 10 ha, then 100 ha then 1000 ha and the final size of fires >1000 ha. At each stage, the predictors were measures of weather, fuels, topography and fire suppression. The objectives were to identify differences among the models indicative of scale transitions, assess the accuracy of the multi-step method for predicting fire size (compared to predicting final size from initial conditions) and to quantify the importance of the predictors. The data were 1116 fires that occurred in the eucalypt forests of New South Wales between 1985 and 2010. The models were similar at the different scales, though there were subtle differences. For example, the presence of roads affected whether fires reached 10 ha but not larger scales. Weather was the most important predictor overall, though fuel load, topography and ease of suppression all showed effects. Overall, there was no evidence that fires have scale-dependent transitions in behaviour. The models had a predictive accuracy of 73%, 66%, 72% and 53% accuracy at 10 ha, 100 ha, 1000 ha and final size scales. When these steps were combined, the overall accuracy for predicting the size of fires was 62%, while the accuracy of the one step model was only 20%. Thus, the multi-scale approach was an improvement on the single scale approach, even though the predictive accuracy was probably insufficient for use as an operational tool. The analysis has also provided further evidence of the important role of weather, compared to fuel, suppression and topography in driving fire behaviour. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Analysis and optimization of gyrokinetic toroidal simulations on homogenous and heterogenous platforms

DOE PAGES

Ibrahim, Khaled Z.; Madduri, Kamesh; Williams, Samuel; ...

2013-07-18

The Gyrokinetic Toroidal Code (GTC) uses the particle-in-cell method to efficiently simulate plasma microturbulence. This paper presents novel analysis and optimization techniques to enhance the performance of GTC on large-scale machines. We introduce cell access analysis to better manage locality vs. synchronization tradeoffs on CPU and GPU-based architectures. Finally, our optimized hybrid parallel implementation of GTC uses MPI, OpenMP, and NVIDIA CUDA, achieves up to a 2× speedup over the reference Fortran version on multiple parallel systems, and scales efficiently to tens of thousands of cores.

A scaling procedure for the response of an isolated system with high modal overlap factor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Rosa, S.; Franco, F.

2008-10-01

The paper deals with a numerical approach that reduces some physical sizes of the solution domain to compute the dynamic response of an isolated system: it has been named Asymptotical Scaled Modal Analysis (ASMA). The proposed numerical procedure alters the input data needed to obtain the classic modal responses to increase the frequency band of validity of the discrete or continuous coordinates model through the definition of a proper scaling coefficient. It is demonstrated that the computational cost remains acceptable while the frequency range of analysis increases. Moreover, with reference to the flexural vibrations of a rectangular plate, the paper discusses the ASMA vs. the statistical energy analysis and the energy distribution approach. Some insights are also given about the limits of the scaling coefficient. Finally it is shown that the linear dynamic response, predicted with the scaling procedure, has the same quality and characteristics of the statistical energy analysis, but it can be useful when the system cannot be solved appropriately by the standard Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA).

Project Evaluation: Validation of a Scale and Analysis of Its Predictive Capacity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernandes Malaquias, Rodrigo; de Oliveira Malaquias, Fernanda Francielle

2014-01-01

The objective of this study was to validate a scale for assessment of academic projects. As a complement, we examined its predictive ability by comparing the scores of advised/corrected projects based on the model and the final scores awarded to the work by an examining panel (approximately 10 months after the project design). Results of…

Decoding the Principles of Emergence and Resiliency in Biological Collective Systems - A Multi-Scale Approach: Final Report

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-02-15

models and approaches are also valid using other invasive and non - invasive technologies. Finally, we illustrate and experimentally evaluate this...2017 Project Outline q  Pattern formation diversity in wild microbial societies q  Experimental and mathematical analysis methodology q  Skeleton...chemotaxis, nutrient degradation, and the exchange of amino acids between cells. Using both quantitative experimental methods and several theoretical

Fundamental studies of stress distributions and stress relaxation in oxide scales on high temperature alloys. [Final progress report

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

Shores, D.A.; Stout, J.H.; Gerberich, W.W.

1993-06-01

This report summarizes a three-year study of stresses arising in the oxide scale and underlying metal during high temperature oxidation and of scale cracking. In-situ XRD was developed to measure strains during oxidation over 1000{degrees}C on pure metals. Acoustic emission was used to observe scale fracture during isothermal oxidation and cooling, and statistical analysis was used to infer mechanical aspects of cracking. A microscratch technique was used to measure the fracture toughness of scale/metal interface. A theoretical model was evaluated for the development and relaxation of stresses in scale and metal substrate during oxidation.

The Development of the strain in dementia care scale (SDCS).

PubMed

Edberg, Anna-Karin; Anderson, Katrina; Orrung Wallin, Anneli; Bird, Mike

2015-12-01

Though many staff gain satisfaction from working with people with dementia in residential facilities, they also experience significant stress. This is a serious issue because this in turn can affect the quality of care. There is, however, a lack of instruments to measure staff strain in the dementia-specific residential care environment, and the aim of this study, accordingly, was to develop the "Strain in Dementia Care Scale." The instrument was developed in three steps. In the first step, items were derived from six focus group discussions with 35 nurses in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Sweden concerning their experience of strain. In the second step, a preliminary 64-item scale was distributed to 927 dementia care staff in Australia and Sweden, which, based on exploratory factor analysis, resulted in a 29-item scale. In the final step, the 29-item scale was distributed to a new sample of 346 staff in Sweden, and the results were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis. The final scale comprised the following 27 items producing a five-factor solution: Frustrated empathy; difficulties understanding and interpreting; balancing competing needs; balancing emotional involvement; and lack of recognition. The scale can be used (a) as an outcome measurement in residential care intervention studies; (b) to help residential facilities identify interventions needed to improve staff well-being, and, by extension, those they care for; and (c) to generally make more salient the critical issue of staff strain and the importance of ameliorating it.

Medical image classification based on multi-scale non-negative sparse coding.

PubMed

Zhang, Ruijie; Shen, Jian; Wei, Fushan; Li, Xiong; Sangaiah, Arun Kumar

2017-11-01

With the rapid development of modern medical imaging technology, medical image classification has become more and more important in medical diagnosis and clinical practice. Conventional medical image classification algorithms usually neglect the semantic gap problem between low-level features and high-level image semantic, which will largely degrade the classification performance. To solve this problem, we propose a multi-scale non-negative sparse coding based medical image classification algorithm. Firstly, Medical images are decomposed into multiple scale layers, thus diverse visual details can be extracted from different scale layers. Secondly, for each scale layer, the non-negative sparse coding model with fisher discriminative analysis is constructed to obtain the discriminative sparse representation of medical images. Then, the obtained multi-scale non-negative sparse coding features are combined to form a multi-scale feature histogram as the final representation for a medical image. Finally, SVM classifier is combined to conduct medical image classification. The experimental results demonstrate that our proposed algorithm can effectively utilize multi-scale and contextual spatial information of medical images, reduce the semantic gap in a large degree and improve medical image classification performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The City MISS: development of a scale to measure stigma of perinatal mental illness.

PubMed

Moore, Donna; Ayers, Susan; Drey, Nicholas

2017-07-01

This study aimed to develop and validate a scale to measure perceived stigma for perinatal mental illness in women. Stigma is one of the most frequently cited barriers to seeking treatment and many women with perinatal mental illness fail to get the treatment they need. However, there is no psychometric scale that measures how women may experience the unique aspects of perinatal mental illness stigma. A draft scale of 30 items was developed from a literature review. Women with perinatal mental illness (n = 279) were recruited to complete the City Mental Illness Stigma Scale. Concurrent validity was measured using the Internalised Stigma of Mental Illness Scale. Factor analysis was used to create the final scale. The final 15-item City Mental Illness Stigma Scale has a three-factor structure: perceived external stigma, internal stigma and disclosure stigma. The scale accounted for 54% of the variance and had good internal reliability and concurrent validity. The City Mental Illness Stigma Scale appears to be a valid measure which provides a potentially useful tool for clinical practice and research in stigma and perinatal mental illness, including assessing the prevalence and characteristics of stigma. This research can be used to inform interventions to reduce or address the stigma experienced by some women with perinatal mental illness.

Evaluating the Latent Structure of the MMPI-2 F(p) Scale in a Forensic Sample: A Taxometric Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strong, David R.; Glassmire, David M.; Frederick, Richard I.; Greene, Roger L.

2006-01-01

P. A. Arbisi and Y. S. Ben-Porath (1995) originally proposed that the Infrequency Psychopathology scale, F(p), be used as the final step in an algorithm to determine the validity of a Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) protocol. The current study used taxometric procedures to determine the latent structure of F(p) among…

[Silhouette scales and body satisfaction in adolescents: a systematic literature review].

PubMed

Côrtes, Marcela Guimarães; Meireles, Adriana Lúcia; Friche, Amélia Augusta de Lima; Caiaffa, Waleska Teixeira; Xavier, César Coelho

2013-03-01

The purpose of this study was to summarize studies on adolescents' body satisfaction, focusing on the use of silhouette scales. A systematic review was carried out on MEDLINE, LILACS, SciELO, and in unpublished papers. The final analysis included 36 studies. The majority adopted the scale proposed by Stunkard et al., self-administered, presented in ascending order and on a single sheet of paper. Most studies compared characteristics on satisfaction and dissatisfaction, used the chi-square test, and did not test for confounding. Among 18 studies included in the meta-analysis, prevalence of body dissatisfaction ranged from 32.2% to 83%. The review showed wide heterogeneity between studies (p-value = 0.000; I(2) = 87.39) even after sub-group analysis and the absence of relevant information for proper comparison of studies. The article concludes by recommending greater rigor in application of the scales and presentation of study methods on body satisfaction assessed by silhouette scales, in addition to new methodological studies and those that elucidate factors related to body satisfaction.

Detrended Fluctuation Analysis: A Scale-Free View on Neuronal Oscillations

PubMed Central

Hardstone, Richard; Poil, Simon-Shlomo; Schiavone, Giuseppina; Jansen, Rick; Nikulin, Vadim V.; Mansvelder, Huibert D.; Linkenkaer-Hansen, Klaus

2012-01-01

Recent years of research have shown that the complex temporal structure of ongoing oscillations is scale-free and characterized by long-range temporal correlations. Detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) has proven particularly useful, revealing that genetic variation, normal development, or disease can lead to differences in the scale-free amplitude modulation of oscillations. Furthermore, amplitude dynamics is remarkably independent of the time-averaged oscillation power, indicating that the DFA provides unique insights into the functional organization of neuronal systems. To facilitate understanding and encourage wider use of scaling analysis of neuronal oscillations, we provide a pedagogical explanation of the DFA algorithm and its underlying theory. Practical advice on applying DFA to oscillations is supported by MATLAB scripts from the Neurophysiological Biomarker Toolbox (NBT) and links to the NBT tutorial website http://www.nbtwiki.net/. Finally, we provide a brief overview of insights derived from the application of DFA to ongoing oscillations in health and disease, and discuss the putative relevance of criticality for understanding the mechanism underlying scale-free modulation of oscillations. PMID:23226132

A new instrument to measure pre-service primary teachers' attitudes to teaching mathematics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nisbet, Steven

1991-06-01

This article outlines the development of an instrument to measure pre-service primary teachers' attitudes to teaching mathematics. A trial questionnaire was devised using the set of Fennema-Sherman scales on students' attitudes to the subject mathematics as a model. Analysis of the responses to the questionnaire by 155 student teachers was carried out to develop meaningful attitude scales and to refine the instrument. The end-product is a new instrument which can be used to monitor the attitudes of student teachers. The attitude scales identified in the analysis and built into the final form of the questionnaire are (i) anxiety, (ii) confidence and enjoyment, (iii) desire for recognition and (iv) pressure to conform.

Scaled boundary finite element simulation and modeling of the mechanical behavior of cracked nanographene sheets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Honarmand, M.; Moradi, M.

2018-06-01

In this paper, by using scaled boundary finite element method (SBFM), a perfect nanographene sheet or cracked ones were simulated for the first time. In this analysis, the atomic carbon bonds were modeled by simple bar elements with circular cross-sections. Despite of molecular dynamics (MD), the results obtained from SBFM analysis are quite acceptable for zero degree cracks. For all angles except zero, Griffith criterion can be applied for the relation between critical stress and crack length. Finally, despite the simplifications used in nanographene analysis, obtained results can simulate the mechanical behavior with high accuracy compared with experimental and MD ones.

Development and validation of a stock addiction inventory (SAI).

PubMed

Youn, HyunChul; Choi, Jung-Seok; Kim, Dai-Jin; Choi, Sam-Wook

2016-01-01

Investing in financial markets is promoted and protected by the government as an essential economic activity, but can turn into a gambling addiction problem. Until now, few scales have widely been used to identify gambling addicts in financial markets. This study aimed to develop a self-rating scale to distinguish them. In addition, the reliability and validity of the stock addiction inventory (SAI) were demonstrated. A set of questionnaires, including the SAI, south oaks gambling screen (SOGS), and DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, for gambling disorder was completed by 1005 participants. Factor analysis, internal consistency testing, t tests, analysis of variance, and partial correlation analysis were conducted to verify the reliability and validity of SAI. The factor analysis results showed the final SAI consisting of two factors and nine items. The internal consistency and concurrent validity of SAI were verified. The Cronbach's α for the total scale was 0.892, and the SAI and its factors were significantly correlated with SOGS. This study developed a specific scale for financial market investments or trading; this scale proved to be reliable and valid. Our scale expands the understanding of gambling addiction in financial markets and provides a diagnostic reference.

The Development and Validation of the Online Shopping Addiction Scale.

PubMed

Zhao, Haiyan; Tian, Wei; Xin, Tao

2017-01-01

We report the development and validation of a scale to measure online shopping addiction. Inspired by previous theories and research on behavioral addiction, the Griffiths's widely accepted six-factor component model was referred to and an 18-item scale was constructed, with each component measured by three items. The results of exploratory factor analysis, based on Sample 1 (999 college students) and confirmatory factor analysis, based on Sample 2 (854 college students) showed the Griffiths's substantive six-factor structure underlay the online shopping addiction scale. Cronbach's alpha suggested that the resulting scale was highly reliable. Concurrent validity, based on Sample 3 (328 college students), was also satisfactory as indicated by correlations between the scale and measures of similar constructs. Finally, self-perceived online shopping addiction can be predicted to a relatively high degree. The present 18-item scale is a solid theory-based instrument to empirically measure online shopping addiction and can be used for understanding the phenomena among young adults.

The Development and Validation of the Online Shopping Addiction Scale

PubMed Central

Zhao, Haiyan; Tian, Wei; Xin, Tao

2017-01-01

We report the development and validation of a scale to measure online shopping addiction. Inspired by previous theories and research on behavioral addiction, the Griffiths's widely accepted six-factor component model was referred to and an 18-item scale was constructed, with each component measured by three items. The results of exploratory factor analysis, based on Sample 1 (999 college students) and confirmatory factor analysis, based on Sample 2 (854 college students) showed the Griffiths's substantive six-factor structure underlay the online shopping addiction scale. Cronbach's alpha suggested that the resulting scale was highly reliable. Concurrent validity, based on Sample 3 (328 college students), was also satisfactory as indicated by correlations between the scale and measures of similar constructs. Finally, self-perceived online shopping addiction can be predicted to a relatively high degree. The present 18-item scale is a solid theory-based instrument to empirically measure online shopping addiction and can be used for understanding the phenomena among young adults. PMID:28559864

[Development and validation of the Korean patient safety culture scale for nursing homes].

PubMed

Yoon, Sook Hee; Kim, Byungsoo; Kim, Se Young

2013-06-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a tool to evaluate patient safety culture in nursing homes and to test its validity and reliability. A preliminary tool was developed through interviews with focus group, content validity tests, and a pilot study. A nationwide survey was conducted from February to April, 2011, using self-report questionnaires. Participants were 982 employees in nursing homes. Data were analyzed using Cronbach's alpha, item analysis, factor analysis, and multitrait/multi-Item analysis. From the results of the analysis, 27 final items were selected from 49 items on the preliminary tool. Items with low correlation with total scale were excluded. The 4 factors sorted by factor analysis contributed 63.4% of the variance in the total scale. The factors were labeled as leadership, organizational system, working attitude, management practice. Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency was .95 and the range for the 4 factors was from .86 to .93. The results of this study indicate that the Korean Patient Safety Culture Scale has reliability and validity and is suitable for evaluation of patient safety culture in Korean nursing homes.

Scale characters analysis for gully structure in the watersheds of loess landforms based on digital elevation models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Hongchun; Zhao, Yipeng; Liu, Haiying

2018-04-01

Scale is the basic attribute for expressing and describing spatial entity and phenomena. It offers theoretical significance in the study of gully structure information, variable characteristics of watershed morphology, and development evolution at different scales. This research selected five different areas in China's Loess Plateau as the experimental region and used DEM data at different scales as the experimental data. First, the change rule of the characteristic parameters of the data at different scales was analyzed. The watershed structure information did not change along with a change in the data scale. This condition was proven by selecting indices of gully bifurcation ratio and fractal dimension as characteristic parameters of watershed structure information. Then, the change rule of the characteristic parameters of gully structure with different analysis scales was analyzed by setting the scale sequence of analysis at the extraction gully. The gully structure of the watershed changed with variations in the analysis scale, and the change rule was obvious when the gully level changed. Finally, the change rule of the characteristic parameters of the gully structure at different areas was analyzed. The gully fractal dimension showed a significant numerical difference in different areas, whereas the variation of the gully branch ratio was small. The change rule indicated that the development degree of the gully obviously varied in different regions, but the morphological structure was basically similar.

Scale characters analysis for gully structure in the watersheds of loess landforms based on digital elevation models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Hongchun; Zhao, Yipeng; Liu, Haiying

2018-06-01

Scale is the basic attribute for expressing and describing spatial entity and phenomena. It offers theoretical significance in the study of gully structure information, variable characteristics of watershed morphology, and development evolution at different scales. This research selected five different areas in China's Loess Plateau as the experimental region and used DEM data at different scales as the experimental data. First, the change rule of the characteristic parameters of the data at different scales was analyzed. The watershed structure information did not change along with a change in the data scale. This condition was proven by selecting indices of gully bifurcation ratio and fractal dimension as characteristic parameters of watershed structure information. Then, the change rule of the characteristic parameters of gully structure with different analysis scales was analyzed by setting the scale sequence of analysis at the extraction gully. The gully structure of the watershed changed with variations in the analysis scale, and the change rule was obvious when the gully level changed. Finally, the change rule of the characteristic parameters of the gully structure at different areas was analyzed. The gully fractal dimension showed a significant numerical difference in different areas, whereas the variation of the gully branch ratio was small. The change rule indicated that the development degree of the gully obviously varied in different regions, but the morphological structure was basically similar.

[The effects of self-anger on rumination and on mental health].

PubMed

Katsumata, Yuina

2015-10-01

This study investigated the effects of self-anger on rumination and mental health (depression and anxiety). In study 1, a scale to measure self-anger was developed by the review of previous studies and survey interviews. Exploratory factor analysis identified one factor of self-anger. The reliability and validity of the scale were confirmed by internal consistency measures and correlations with other anger-related scales. In study 2, which used the self-anger scale developed in study 1, undergraduate and graduate students completed a set of scales to measure self-anger, rumination, depression, anxiety, and five-factor personality traits. The results of mediation analysis indicated that self-anger effects depression and anxiety directly or through mediating rumination excluding the effect of sex and neuroticism. Finally, the possibility that self-anger management leads to the reduction of rumination and improvement of mental health was discussed.

[Cross-cultural adaptation of the Pregnancy and Weight Gain Attitude Scale].

PubMed

Oliboni, Carolina Marques; Galletta, Marco Aurelio Knippel; Francisco, Rossana Pulcineli Vieira; Alvarenga, Marle dos Santos

2014-07-01

To present the cross-cultural adaptation to Brazilian Portuguese language of the Pregnancy and Weight Gain Attitude Scale. This scale was developed in order to verify whether attitude toward thinness affects weight gain during pregnancy and contains statements that express different attitudes of pregnant women regarding their own weight gain. The procedures were: translation, back translation, comprehension evaluation, preparation of a final version, application of the scale to 180 pregnant women (mean age=29.6, gestational age=25.7 weeks) and psychometric analysis. Satisfactory equivalence between the versions and satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.7) were detected. The exploratory factor analysis suggested four subscales with 51.4% total variance explained. The scale proved to be valid and can be used in studies with pregnant women in Brazil to assess attitudes toward weight gain and to detect and prevent dysfunctional behaviors during pregnancy.

Development and Validation of a Disease-Specific Instrument to Measure Diet-Targeted Quality of Life for Postoperative Patients with Esophagogastric Cancer.

PubMed

Honda, Michitaka; Wakita, Takafumi; Onishi, Yoshihiro; Nunobe, Souya; Miura, Akinori; Nishigori, Tatsuto; Kusanagi, Hiroshi; Yamamoto, Takatsugu; Boddy, Alexander; Fukuhara, Shunichi

2015-12-01

Patients who have undergone esophagectomy or gastrectomy have certain dietary limitations because of changes to the alimentary tract. This study attempted to develop a psychometric scale, named "Esophago-Gastric surgery and Quality of Dietary life (EGQ-D)," for assessment of impact of upper gastrointestinal surgery on diet-targeted quality of life. Using qualitative methods, the study team interviewed both patients and surgeons involved in esophagogastric cancer surgery, and we prepared an item pool and a draft scale. To evaluate the scale's psychometric reliability and validity, a survey involving a large number of patients was conducted. Items for the final scale were selected by factor analysis and item response theory. Cronbach's alpha was used for assessment of reliability, and correlations with the short form (SF)-12, esophagus and stomach surgery symptom scale (ES(4)), and nutritional indicators were analyzed to assess the criterion-related validity. Through multifaceted discussion and the pilot study, a draft questionnaire comprising 14 items was prepared, and a total of 316 patients were enrolled. On the basis of factor analysis and item response theory, six items were excluded, and the remaining eight items demonstrated strong unidimensionality for the final scale. Cronbach's alpha was 0.895. There were significant associations with all the subscale scores for SF-12, ES(4), and nutritional indicators. The EGQ-D scale has good contents and psychometric validity and can be used to evaluate disease-specific instrument to measure diet-targeted quality of life for postoperative patients with esophagogastric cancer.

[Development and Testing of the Taiwanese Hospital Nurses' Job Satisfaction Scale].

PubMed

Tzeng, Wen-Chii; Lin, Chiou-Fen; Lin, Lih-Ying; Lu, Meei-Shiow; Chiang, Li-Chi

2017-04-01

In the context of professional nursing, the concept of job satisfaction includes the degree to which a nurse is satisfied with the nursing profession, his/her personal adaptation to this profession, and his/her current working environment. No validated scale that addresses the job satisfaction of nurses working in hospitals currently exists in Taiwan. To develop a reliable and validated scale for measuring the job satisfaction of hospital nurses in Taiwan. A three-phase, cross-sectional study design was used. First, a literature review and expert focus group discussion were conducted to develop the initial scale items. Second, experts were invited to validate the content of the draft scale. Finally, convenience sampling was used to recruit 427 hospital nurses from 6 hospitals. These nurses completed the scale and the results were analyzed using item analysis, factor analysis, and internal consistency analysis. The 31-item Taiwanese hospital nurse job satisfaction scale developed in the present study addresses 5 factors, including supportive working environment, professional autonomy and growth, interpersonal interaction and collaboration, leadership style, and nursing workload. The overall Cronbach's α was .96. The results indicate that the developed scale provides good reliability and validity. This study confirms the validity and reliability of the developed scale. It may be used to measure the job satisfaction of nurses working in hospitals.

Long-Term High-Level Defense-Waste technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1982-07-01

In the residual liquid solidification effort, the primary alternative studied is the wiped film evaporator approach to solidifying salt well pumped liquids and returning the molten material to single shell tanks for microwave final stabilization to a hard dry product. Both systems analysis and experimental work are proceeding to evaluate this approach. The primary alternative for in situ stabilization of in-tank wastes is microwave drying of wet salt cake and unpumped sludges. Experimental work was successfully conducted on a 1/12 scale tank containing wet synthetic salt cake. Related systems analysis of a full scale system was initiated.

Multi-Scale Sizing of Lightweight Multifunctional Spacecraft Structural Components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bednarcyk, Brett A.

2005-01-01

This document is the final report for the project entitled, "Multi-Scale Sizing of Lightweight Multifunctional Spacecraft Structural Components," funded under the NRA entitled "Cross-Enterprise Technology Development Program" issued by the NASA Office of Space Science in 2000. The project was funded in 2001, and spanned a four year period from March, 2001 to February, 2005. Through enhancements to and synthesis of unique, state of the art structural mechanics and micromechanics analysis software, a new multi-scale tool has been developed that enables design, analysis, and sizing of advance lightweight composite and smart materials and structures from the full vehicle, to the stiffened structure, to the micro (fiber and matrix) scales. The new software tool has broad, cross-cutting value to current and future NASA missions that will rely on advanced composite and smart materials and structures.

Large-scale structural optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sobieszczanski-Sobieski, J.

1983-01-01

Problems encountered by aerospace designers in attempting to optimize whole aircraft are discussed, along with possible solutions. Large scale optimization, as opposed to component-by-component optimization, is hindered by computational costs, software inflexibility, concentration on a single, rather than trade-off, design methodology and the incompatibility of large-scale optimization with single program, single computer methods. The software problem can be approached by placing the full analysis outside of the optimization loop. Full analysis is then performed only periodically. Problem-dependent software can be removed from the generic code using a systems programming technique, and then embody the definitions of design variables, objective function and design constraints. Trade-off algorithms can be used at the design points to obtain quantitative answers. Finally, decomposing the large-scale problem into independent subproblems allows systematic optimization of the problems by an organization of people and machines.

Clarifying and Measuring Filial Concepts across Five Cultural Groups

PubMed Central

Jones, Patricia S.; Lee, Jerry W.; Zhang, Xinwei E.

2011-01-01

Literature on responsibility of adult children for aging parents reflects lack of conceptual clarity. We examined filial concepts across five cultural groups: African-, Asian-, Euro-, Latino-, and Native Americans. Data were randomly divided for scale development (n = 285) and cross-validation (n = 284). Exploratory factor analysis on 59 items identified three filial concepts: Responsibility, Respect, and Care. Confirmatory factor analysis on a 12-item final scale showed data fit the three-factor model better than the single factor solution despite substantial correlations between the factors (.82, .82 for Care with Responsibility and Respect, and .74 for Responsibility with Respect). The scale can be used in cross-cultural research to test hypotheses that predict associations among filial values, filial caregiving, and caregiver health outcomes. PMID:21618557

Structure identification methods for atomistic simulations of crystalline materials

DOE PAGES

Stukowski, Alexander

2012-05-28

Here, we discuss existing and new computational analysis techniques to classify local atomic arrangements in large-scale atomistic computer simulations of crystalline solids. This article includes a performance comparison of typical analysis algorithms such as common neighbor analysis (CNA), centrosymmetry analysis, bond angle analysis, bond order analysis and Voronoi analysis. In addition we propose a simple extension to the CNA method that makes it suitable for multi-phase systems. Finally, we introduce a new structure identification algorithm, the neighbor distance analysis, which is designed to identify atomic structure units in grain boundaries.

An item response theory analysis of Harter's Self-Perception Profile for children or why strong clinical scales should be distrusted.

PubMed

Egberink, Iris J L; Meijer, Rob R

2011-06-01

The authors investigated the psychometric properties of the subscales of the Self-Perception Profile for Children with item response theory (IRT) models using a sample of 611 children. Results from a nonparametric Mokken analysis and a parametric IRT approach for boys (n = 268) and girls (n = 343) were compared. The authors found that most scales formed weak scales and that measurement precision was relatively low and only present for latent trait values indicating low self-perception. The subscales Physical Appearance and Global Self-Worth formed one strong scale. Children seem to interpret Global Self-Worth items as if they measure Physical Appearance. Furthermore, the authors found that strong Mokken scales (such as Global Self-Worth) consisted mostly of items that repeat the same item content. They conclude that researchers should be very careful in interpreting the total scores on the different Self-Perception Profile for Children scales. Finally, implications for further research are discussed.

MULTISCALE ANALYSIS OF LANDSCAPE HETEROGENEITY: SCALE VARIANCE AND PATTERN METRICS. (R827676)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

An application of actuarial methods in psychiatric diagnosis.

PubMed

Overall, J E; Higgins, C W

1977-10-01

An actuarial program for psychiatric diagnosis is evaluated for agreement with final clinical diagnosis in a series of 288 patients. The acturial program provides a probability differential diagnosis based on an analysis of history and background data, symptom rating profiles, and MMPI clinical scale profiles. The observed agreement with final clinical diagnosis is approximately 50% higher than previously reported for psychological testing in this same setting. The results emphasize the importance for psychologists of clinical interview and observation skills.

The development of a Chinese-language instrument to measure social smoking motives among male Taiwanese smokers.

PubMed

Huang, Chih-Ling; Cheng, Chung-Ping; Huang, Hui-Wen

2013-10-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to measure the social smoking motives of adult male smokers using a Chinese social context. Three phases were conducted between February 2006 and May 2009. First, the initial instrument development was guided by a literature review, interviews with smokers, and item analysis. Second, the validity and reliability of the refined scale were tested. The factor structures of the Social Smoking Measures (SSM-12) scale were validated. The final scale consists of 12 items. Two factors that account for 49.2% of the variance emerged from the exploratory factor analysis. Cronbach's alpha was .88, and test-retest reliability was .82. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the SSM model was a two-correlated factor. Field testing revealed the SSM-12 to be a reliable and valid Chinese-language instrument to measure social smoking motives, which can be used to guide nursing interventions that support culturally and socially appropriate smoking cessation programs.

Singularity analysis based on wavelet transform of fractal measures for identifying geochemical anomaly in mineral exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Guoxiong; Cheng, Qiuming

2016-02-01

Multi-resolution and scale-invariance have been increasingly recognized as two closely related intrinsic properties endowed in geofields such as geochemical and geophysical anomalies, and they are commonly investigated by using multiscale- and scaling-analysis methods. In this paper, the wavelet-based multiscale decomposition (WMD) method was proposed to investigate the multiscale natures of geochemical pattern from large scale to small scale. In the light of the wavelet transformation of fractal measures, we demonstrated that the wavelet approximation operator provides a generalization of box-counting method for scaling analysis of geochemical patterns. Specifically, the approximation coefficient acts as the generalized density-value in density-area fractal modeling of singular geochemical distributions. Accordingly, we presented a novel local singularity analysis (LSA) using the WMD algorithm which extends the conventional moving averaging to a kernel-based operator for implementing LSA. Finally, the novel LSA was validated using a case study dealing with geochemical data (Fe2O3) in stream sediments for mineral exploration in Inner Mongolia, China. In comparison with the LSA implemented using the moving averaging method the novel LSA using WMD identified improved weak geochemical anomalies associated with mineralization in covered area.

Identification of varying time scales in sediment transport using the Hilbert-Huang Transform method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuai, Ken Z.; Tsai, Christina W.

2012-02-01

SummarySediment transport processes vary at a variety of time scales - from seconds, hours, days to months and years. Multiple time scales exist in the system of flow, sediment transport and bed elevation change processes. As such, identification and selection of appropriate time scales for flow and sediment processes can assist in formulating a system of flow and sediment governing equations representative of the dynamic interaction of flow and particles at the desired details. Recognizing the importance of different varying time scales in the fluvial processes of sediment transport, we introduce the Hilbert-Huang Transform method (HHT) to the field of sediment transport for the time scale analysis. The HHT uses the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) method to decompose a time series into a collection of the Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs), and uses the Hilbert Spectral Analysis (HSA) to obtain instantaneous frequency data. The EMD extracts the variability of data with different time scales, and improves the analysis of data series. The HSA can display the succession of time varying time scales, which cannot be captured by the often-used Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) method. This study is one of the earlier attempts to introduce the state-of-the-art technique for the multiple time sales analysis of sediment transport processes. Three practical applications of the HHT method for data analysis of both suspended sediment and bedload transport time series are presented. The analysis results show the strong impact of flood waves on the variations of flow and sediment time scales at a large sampling time scale, as well as the impact of flow turbulence on those time scales at a smaller sampling time scale. Our analysis reveals that the existence of multiple time scales in sediment transport processes may be attributed to the fractal nature in sediment transport. It can be demonstrated by the HHT analysis that the bedload motion time scale is better represented by the ratio of the water depth to the settling velocity, h/ w. In the final part, HHT results are compared with an available time scale formula in literature.

Role of nonoperative treatment in managing degenerative tears of the medial meniscus posterior root.

PubMed

Neogi, Devdatta Suhas; Kumar, Ashok; Rijal, Laxman; Yadav, Chandra Shekhar; Jaiman, Ashish; Nag, Hira Lal

2013-09-01

Tears of the medial meniscus posterior root can lead to progressive arthritis, and its management has no consensus. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of supervised exercise therapy on patients with medial meniscus posterior root tears. Between January 2005 and May 2007, 37 patients with this tear verified by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and osteoarthritis grade 1-2 by radiographic examination were treated by a short course of analgesics daily for up to 6 weeks and then as required during follow-up, as well as a 12-week supervised exercise program followed by a home exercise program. Final analysis was performed for 33 patients, average age 55.8 (range 50-62) years and average follow-up of 35 (range 26-49) months. Patients were followed up at 3, 6, and 12 months and yearly thereafter using the Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale, Tegner Activity Scale (TAS), and visual analog scale (VAS). The analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson's correlation coefficient to determine the relationship between Lysholm score and body mass index (BMI). Patients showed an improvement in Lysholm score, TAS, and VAS, which reached maximum in 6 months and later was accompanied by a decline. However, scores at the final follow-up were significantly better than the pretherapy scores. There was also a progression in arthritis as per Kellgren and Lawrence radiographic classification from median 1 preintervention to median 2 at the final follow-up. A correlation between BMI and Lysholm scores was seen (r = 0.47). Supervised physical therapy with a short course of analgesics followed by a home-based program results in symptomatic and functional improvement over a short-term follow-up; however, osteoarthritis progression continues and is related to BMI.

Measurement of self-evaluative motives: a shopping scenario.

PubMed

Wajda, Theresa A; Kolbe, Richard; Hu, Michael Y; Cui, Annie Peng

2008-08-01

To develop measures of consumers' self-evaluative motives of Self-verification, Self-enhancement, and Self-improvement within the context of a mall shopping environment, an initial set of 49 items was generated by conducting three focus-group sessions. These items were subsequently converted into shopping-dependent motive statements. 250 undergraduate college students responded on a 7-point scale to each statement as these related to the acquisition of recent personal shopping goods. An exploratory factor analysis yielded five factors, accounting for 57.7% of the variance, three of which corresponded to the Self-verification motive (five items), Self-enhancement motive (three items), and Self-improvement motive (six items). These 14 items, along with 9 reconstructed items, yielded 23 items retained and subjected to additional testing. In a final round of data collection, 169 college students provided data for exploratory factor analysis. 11 items were used in confirmatory factor analysis. Analysis indicated that the 11-item scale adequately captured measures of the three self-evaluative motives. However, further data reduction produced a 9-item scale with marked improvement in statistical fit over the 11-item scale.

Development and validation of a fatigue assessment scale for U.S. construction workers.

PubMed

Zhang, Mingzong; Sparer, Emily H; Murphy, Lauren A; Dennerlein, Jack T; Fang, Dongping; Katz, Jeffrey N; Caban-Martinez, Alberto J

2015-02-01

To develop a fatigue assessment scale and test its reliability and validity for commercial construction workers. Using a two-phased approach, we first identified items (first phase) for the development of a Fatigue Assessment Scale for Construction Workers (FASCW) through review of existing scales in the scientific literature, key informant interviews (n = 11) and focus groups (three groups with six workers each) with construction workers. The second phase included assessment for the reliability, validity, and sensitivity of the new scale using a repeated-measures study design with a convenience sample of construction workers (n = 144). Phase one resulted in a 16-item preliminary scale that after factor analysis yielded a final 10-item scale with two sub-scales ("Lethargy" and "Bodily Ailment"). During phase two, the FASCW and its subscales demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency (alpha coefficients were FASCW [0.91], Lethargy [0.86] and Bodily Ailment [0.84]) and acceptable test-retest reliability (Pearson Correlations Coefficients: 0.59-0.68; Intraclass Correlation Coefficients: 0.74-0.80). Correlation analysis substantiated concurrent and convergent validity. A discriminant analysis demonstrated that the FASCW differentiated between groups with arthritis status and different work hours. The 10-item FASCW with good reliability and validity is an effective tool for assessing the severity of fatigue among construction workers. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Scale development on consumer behavior toward counterfeit drugs in a developing country: a quantitative study exploiting the tools of an evolving paradigm.

PubMed

Alfadl, Abubakr A; Ibrahim, Mohamed Izham b Mohamed; Hassali, Mohamed Azmi Ahmad

2013-09-11

Although desperate need and drug counterfeiting are linked in developing countries, little research has been carried out to address this link, and there is a lack of proper tools and methodology. This study addresses the need for a new methodological approach by developing a scale to aid in understanding the demand side of drug counterfeiting in a developing country. The study presents a quantitative, non-representative survey conducted in Sudan. A face-to-face structured interview survey methodology was employed to collect the data from the general population (people in the street) in two phases: pilot (n = 100) and final survey (n = 1003). Data were analyzed by examining means, variances, squared multiple correlations, item-to-total correlations, and the results of an exploratory factor analysis and a confirmatory factor analysis. As an approach to scale purification, internal consistency was examined and improved. The scale was reduced from 44 to 41 items and Cronbach's alpha improved from 0.818 to 0.862. Finally, scale items were assessed. The result was an eleven-factor solution. Convergent and discriminant validity were demonstrated. The results of this study indicate that the "Consumer Behavior Toward Counterfeit Drugs Scale" is a valid, reliable measure with a solid theoretical base. Ultimately, the study offers public health policymakers a valid measurement tool and, consequently, a new methodological approach with which to build a better understanding of the demand side of counterfeit drugs and to develop more effective strategies to combat the problem.

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Brazilian version of the Beliefs about Emotions Scale.

PubMed

Mograbi, Daniel C; Indelli, Pamela; Lage, Caio A; Tebyriça, Vitória; Landeira-Fernandez, Jesus; Rimes, Katharine A

2018-03-01

Introduction Beliefs about the unacceptability of expression and experience of emotion are present in the general population but seem to be more prevalent in patients with a number of health conditions. Such beliefs, which may be viewed as a form of perfectionism about emotions, may have a deleterious effect on symptomatology as well as on treatment adherence and outcome. Nevertheless, few questionnaires have been developed to measure such beliefs about emotions, and no instrument has been validated in a developing country. The current study adapted and validated the Beliefs about Emotions Scale in a Brazilian sample. Methods The adaptation procedure included translation, back-translation and analysis of the content, with the final Brazilian Portuguese version of the scale being tested online in a sample of 645 participants. Internal consistency of the scale was very high and results of a principal axis factoring analysis indicated a two-factor solution. Results Respondents with high fatigue levels showed more perfectionist beliefs, and the scale correlated positively with questionnaires measuring anxiety, depression and fear of negative evaluation, confirming cross-cultural associations reported before. Finally, men, non-Caucasians and participants with lower educational achievement gave greater endorsement to such beliefs than women, Caucasian individuals and participants with higher educational level. Conclusions The study confirms previous clinical findings reported in the literature, but indicates novel associations with demographic variables. The latter may reflect cultural differences related to beliefs about emotions in Brazil.

Benzene Case Study Final Report - Second Prospective Report Study Science Advisory Board Review, July 2009

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA developed a methodology for estimating the health benefits of benzene reductions and has applied it in a metropolitan-scale case study of the benefits of CAA controls on benzene emissions to accompany the main 812 analysis.

Scaling characteristics of one-dimensional fractional diffusion processes in the presence of power-law distributed random noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nezhadhaghighi, Mohsen Ghasemi

2017-08-01

Here, we present results of numerical simulations and the scaling characteristics of one-dimensional random fluctuations with heavy-tailed probability distribution functions. Assuming that the distribution function of the random fluctuations obeys Lévy statistics with a power-law scaling exponent, we investigate the fractional diffusion equation in the presence of μ -stable Lévy noise. We study the scaling properties of the global width and two-point correlation functions and then compare the analytical and numerical results for the growth exponent β and the roughness exponent α . We also investigate the fractional Fokker-Planck equation for heavy-tailed random fluctuations. We show that the fractional diffusion processes in the presence of μ -stable Lévy noise display special scaling properties in the probability distribution function (PDF). Finally, we numerically study the scaling properties of the heavy-tailed random fluctuations by using the diffusion entropy analysis. This method is based on the evaluation of the Shannon entropy of the PDF generated by the random fluctuations, rather than on the measurement of the global width of the process. We apply the diffusion entropy analysis to extract the growth exponent β and to confirm the validity of our numerical analysis.

Scaling characteristics of one-dimensional fractional diffusion processes in the presence of power-law distributed random noise.

PubMed

Nezhadhaghighi, Mohsen Ghasemi

2017-08-01

Here, we present results of numerical simulations and the scaling characteristics of one-dimensional random fluctuations with heavy-tailed probability distribution functions. Assuming that the distribution function of the random fluctuations obeys Lévy statistics with a power-law scaling exponent, we investigate the fractional diffusion equation in the presence of μ-stable Lévy noise. We study the scaling properties of the global width and two-point correlation functions and then compare the analytical and numerical results for the growth exponent β and the roughness exponent α. We also investigate the fractional Fokker-Planck equation for heavy-tailed random fluctuations. We show that the fractional diffusion processes in the presence of μ-stable Lévy noise display special scaling properties in the probability distribution function (PDF). Finally, we numerically study the scaling properties of the heavy-tailed random fluctuations by using the diffusion entropy analysis. This method is based on the evaluation of the Shannon entropy of the PDF generated by the random fluctuations, rather than on the measurement of the global width of the process. We apply the diffusion entropy analysis to extract the growth exponent β and to confirm the validity of our numerical analysis.

Application of exergetic sustainability index to a nano-scale irreversible Brayton cycle operating with ideal Bose and Fermi gasses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Açıkkalp, Emin; Caner, Necmettin

2015-09-01

In this study, a nano-scale irreversible Brayton cycle operating with quantum gasses including Bose and Fermi gasses is researched. Developments in the nano-technology cause searching the nano-scale machines including thermal systems to be unavoidable. Thermodynamic analysis of a nano-scale irreversible Brayton cycle operating with Bose and Fermi gasses was performed (especially using exergetic sustainability index). In addition, thermodynamic analysis involving classical evaluation parameters such as work output, exergy output, entropy generation, energy and exergy efficiencies were conducted. Results are submitted numerically and finally some useful recommendations were conducted. Some important results are: entropy generation and exergetic sustainability index are affected mostly for Bose gas and power output and exergy output are affected mostly for the Fermi gas by x. At the high temperature conditions, work output and entropy generation have high values comparing with other degeneracy conditions.

Development and validation of the Alcohol Myopia Scale.

PubMed

Lac, Andrew; Berger, Dale E

2013-09-01

Alcohol myopia theory conceptualizes the ability of alcohol to narrow attention and how this demand on mental resources produces the impairments of self-inflation, relief, and excess. The current research was designed to develop and validate a scale based on this framework. People who were alcohol users rated items representing myopic experiences arising from drinking episodes in the past month. In Study 1 (N = 260), the preliminary 3-factor structure was supported by exploratory factor analysis. In Study 2 (N = 289), the 3-factor structure was substantiated with confirmatory factor analysis, and it was superior in fit to an empirically indefensible 1-factor structure. The final 14-item scale was evaluated with internal consistency reliability, discriminant validity, convergent validity, criterion validity, and incremental validity. The alcohol myopia scale (AMS) illuminates conceptual underpinnings of this theory and yields insights for understanding the tunnel vision that arises from intoxication.

Hybrid Parallelization of Adaptive MHD-Kinetic Module in Multi-Scale Fluid-Kinetic Simulation Suite

DOE PAGES

Borovikov, Sergey; Heerikhuisen, Jacob; Pogorelov, Nikolai

2013-04-01

The Multi-Scale Fluid-Kinetic Simulation Suite has a computational tool set for solving partially ionized flows. In this paper we focus on recent developments of the kinetic module which solves the Boltzmann equation using the Monte-Carlo method. The module has been recently redesigned to utilize intra-node hybrid parallelization. We describe in detail the redesign process, implementation issues, and modifications made to the code. Finally, we conduct a performance analysis.

Boundary layer energization by means of optimized vortex generators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barber, T. J.; Mounts, J. S.; Mccormick, D. C.

1993-01-01

A three-dimensional, multi-block, multi-zone, Euler analysis has been developed and applied to analyze the flow processes induced by a lateral array of low profile vortex generators (VG). These vortex generators have been shown to alleviate boundary layer separation through the generation of streamwise vorticity. The analysis has been applied to help develop improved VG configurations in an efficient manner. Special attention has been paid to determining the accuracy requirements of the solver for calculations in which vortical mechanisms are dominant. The analysis has been used to assess the effectiveness or boundary layer energization capacity of different VG's, including the effect of scale and shape variation. Finally, the analysis has been validated through comparisons with experimental data obtained in a large-scale low-speed wind tunnel.

A complexity science-based framework for global joint operations analysis to support force projection: LDRD Final Report

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

Lawton, Craig R.

2015-01-01

The military is undergoing a significant transformation as it modernizes for the information age and adapts to address an emerging asymmetric threat beyond traditional cold war era adversaries. Techniques such as traditional large-scale, joint services war gaming analysis are no longer adequate to support program evaluation activities and mission planning analysis at the enterprise level because the operating environment is evolving too quickly. New analytical capabilities are necessary to address modernization of the Department of Defense (DoD) enterprise. This presents significant opportunity to Sandia in supporting the nation at this transformational enterprise scale. Although Sandia has significant experience with engineeringmore » system of systems (SoS) and Complex Adaptive System of Systems (CASoS), significant fundamental research is required to develop modeling, simulation and analysis capabilities at the enterprise scale. This report documents an enterprise modeling framework which will enable senior level decision makers to better understand their enterprise and required future investments.« less

Multiscale analysis of the correlation of processing parameters on viscidity of composites fabricated by automated fiber placement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Zhenyu; Sun, Shouzheng; Fu, Yunzhong; Fu, Hongya

2017-10-01

Viscidity is an important physical indicator for assessing fluidity of resin that is beneficial to contact resin with the fibers effectively and reduce manufacturing defects during automated fiber placement (AFP) process. However, the effect of processing parameters on viscidity evolution is rarely studied during AFP process. In this paper, viscidities under different scales are analyzed based on multi-scale analysis method. Firstly, viscous dissipation energy (VDE) within meso-unit under different processing parameters is assessed by using finite element method (FEM). According to multi-scale energy transfer model, meso-unit energy is used as the boundary condition for microscopic analysis. Furthermore, molecular structure of micro-system is built by molecular dynamics (MD) method. And viscosity curves are then obtained by integrating stress autocorrelation function (SACF) with time. Finally, the correlation characteristics of processing parameters to viscosity are revealed by using gray relational analysis method (GRAM). A group of processing parameters is found out to achieve the stability of viscosity and better fluidity of resin.

Excerpts from selected LANDSAT 1 final reports in geology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Short, N. M.; Smith, A.; Baker, R.

1976-01-01

The standard formats for the summaries of selected LANDSAT geological data are presented as checklists. These include: (1) value of LANDSAT data to geology, (2) geologic benefits, (3) follow up studies, (4) cost benefits, (5) optimistic working scales, (6) statistical analysis, and (7) enhancement effects.

Development of Survey Scales for Measuring Exposure and Behavioral Responses to Disruptive Intraoperative Behavior.

PubMed

Villafranca, Alexander; Hamlin, Colin; Rodebaugh, Thomas L; Robinson, Sandra; Jacobsohn, Eric

2017-09-10

Disruptive intraoperative behavior has detrimental effects to clinicians, institutions, and patients. How clinicians respond to this behavior can either exacerbate or attenuate its effects. Previous investigations of disruptive behavior have used survey scales with significant limitations. The study objective was to develop appropriate scales to measure exposure and responses to disruptive behavior. We obtained ethics approval. The scales were developed in a sequence of steps. They were pretested using expert reviews, computational linguistic analysis, and cognitive interviews. The scales were then piloted on Canadian operating room clinicians. Factor analysis was applied to half of the data set for question reduction and grouping. Item response analysis and theoretical reviews ensured that important questions were not eliminated. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach α. Model fit was examined on the second half of the data set using confirmatory factor analysis. Content validity of the final scales was re-evaluated. Consistency between observed relationships and theoretical predictions was assessed. Temporal stability was evaluated on a subsample of 38 respondents. A total of 1433 and 746 clinicians completed the exposure and response scales, respectively. Content validity indices were excellent (exposure = 0.96, responses = 1.0). Internal consistency was good (exposure = 0.93, responses = 0.87). Correlations between the exposure scale and secondary measures were consistent with expectations based on theory. Temporal stability was acceptable (exposure = 0.77, responses = 0.73). We have developed scales measuring exposure and responses to disruptive behavior. They generate valid and reliable scores when surveying operating room clinicians, and they overcome the limitations of previous tools. These survey scales are freely available.

Attitudes towards same-sex marriage in Portugal: predictors and scale validation.

PubMed

de Oliveira, João Manuel; Lopes, Diniz; Cameira, Miguel; Nogueira, Conceição

2014-12-19

The goal of the present research was to validate a Portuguese version of Pearl and Galupo's (2007) Attitudes toward Same-Sex Marriage Scale (ATSM). Participants were 1,402 heterosexual men and women that completed an on-line questionnaire. The final 15-item scale formed a single factor showing high internal consistency (α = .95). This one factor structure was backed-up by a confirmatory factorial analysis. In a general way, the results indicate a clearly positive attitude toward same-sex marriage (overall mean was 63.79, SD = 12.66, above the scale mid-point, t(1401) = 55.55, p < .001). Furthermore, analysis of the scale's predictors demonstrates how a left-wing orientation (β = .22, p < .001) and the level of denial of deservingness for lesbian/gay discrimination (β = .30, p < .001) prove to be the best predictors of attitudes towards same-sex marriage. On the whole, these results indicate that the Portuguese ATSM version is a reliable instrument for carrying out scientific research and measuring and monitoring public opinion on this subject.

Cost analysis in laccase production.

PubMed

Osma, Johann F; Toca-Herrera, José L; Rodríguez-Couto, Susana

2011-11-01

In this paper the cost of producing the enzyme laccase by the white-rot fungus Trametes pubescens under both submerged (SmF) and solid-state fermentation (SSF) conditions was studied. The fungus was cultured using more than 45 culture medium compositions. The cost of production was estimated by analyzing the cost of the culture medium, the cost of equipment and the operating costs. The cost of the culture medium represented, in all cases, the highest contribution to the total cost, while, the cost of equipment was significantly low, representing less than 2% of the total costs. The cultivation under SSF conditions presented a final cost 50-fold lower than the one obtained when culturing under SmF conditions at flask scale. In addition, the laccase production under SSF conditions in tray bioreactors reduced the final cost 4-fold compared to the one obtained under SSF conditions at flask scale, obtaining a final price of 0.04 cent €/U. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Validation of vocational assessment tool for persons with substance use disorders.

PubMed

Sethuraman, Lakshmanan; Subodh, B N; Murthy, Pratima

2016-01-01

Work-related problems are a serious concern among persons with substance use but due to lack of a standardized tool to measure it; these problems are neither systematically assessed nor appropriately addressed. Most existing measures of work performance cater to the needs of the workplace rather than focusing on the workers' perception of the difficulties at work. To develop a standardized instrument to measure work-related problems in persons with substance use disorders. Qualitative data obtained from interviews with substance users were used to develop a scale. The refined list of the scale was circulated among an expert panel for content validation. The modified scale was administered to 150 cases, and 50 cases completed the scale twice at the interval of 2 weeks for test-retest reliability. Items with a test-retest reliability kappa coefficient of 0.4 or greater were retained and subjected to factor analysis. The final 45-item scale has a five-factor structure. The value of Cronbach's alpha of the final version of the scale was 0.91. This self-report questionnaire, which can be completed in 10 min, may help us in making a baseline assessment of the work-related impairment among persons with substance use and the impact of substance use on work.

Validation of vocational assessment tool for persons with substance use disorders

PubMed Central

Sethuraman, Lakshmanan; Subodh, B. N.; Murthy, Pratima

2016-01-01

Background: Work-related problems are a serious concern among persons with substance use but due to lack of a standardized tool to measure it; these problems are neither systematically assessed nor appropriately addressed. Most existing measures of work performance cater to the needs of the workplace rather than focusing on the workers' perception of the difficulties at work. Aim: To develop a standardized instrument to measure work-related problems in persons with substance use disorders. Methods: Qualitative data obtained from interviews with substance users were used to develop a scale. The refined list of the scale was circulated among an expert panel for content validation. The modified scale was administered to 150 cases, and 50 cases completed the scale twice at the interval of 2 weeks for test–retest reliability. Results: Items with a test–retest reliability kappa coefficient of 0.4 or greater were retained and subjected to factor analysis. The final 45-item scale has a five-factor structure. The value of Cronbach's alpha of the final version of the scale was 0.91. Conclusions: This self-report questionnaire, which can be completed in 10 min, may help us in making a baseline assessment of the work-related impairment among persons with substance use and the impact of substance use on work. PMID:28163409

The pregnancy-related anxiety scale: A validity examination using Rasch analysis.

PubMed

Brunton, Robyn J; Dryer, Rachel; Krägeloh, Chris; Saliba, Anthony; Kohlhoff, Jane; Medvedev, Oleg

2018-04-27

Pregnancy-related anxiety is increasingly recognised as a common condition that is associated with many deleterious outcomes for both the mother and infant (e.g., preterm birth, postnatal depression). Limitations in the psychometric properties and/or breadth of existing scales for pregnancy-related anxiety highlight the need for a psychometrically sound measure to facilitate effective screening and possible early interventions. The recently developed Pregnancy-related Anxiety Scale (PrAS) was evaluated using Rasch analysis to explore how the scale's psychometric properties could be fine-tuned. A sample of 497 pregnant women completed the PrAS. Data were subjected to Rasch analysis, and the resulting scale structure examined using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. After minor modifications, the Rasch model with 33-items and 8-factors demonstrated good fit, unidimensionality and excellent targeting and internal consistency. Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed the final structure, and Cronbach's alpha demonstrated excellent reliability. The use of the same sample for all analyses was a potential limitation due to the possibility of sample-specific influences. The Rasch analysis further supports the internal construct validity of the PrAS. Ordinal to interval score conversions provide added precision to the analysis of the PrAS scores. The Rasch results, together with previous validation evidence, point to the PrAS as a comprehensive and psychometrically sound screening scale for pregnancy-related anxiety. The PrAS offers clinicians the ability to screen for pregnancy-related anxiety. The subscales provide additional insights into a woman's pregnancy-related anxiety and her specific areas of concern, enabling more targeted interventions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Research on the F/A-18E/F Using a 22%-Dynamically-Scaled Drop Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Croom, M.; Kenney, H.; Murri, D.; Lawson, K.

2000-01-01

Research on the F/A-18E/F configuration was conducted using a 22%-dynamically-scaled drop model to study flight dynamics in the subsonic regime. Several topics were investigated including longitudinal response, departure/spin resistance, developed spins and recoveries, and the failing leaf mode. Comparisons to full-scale flight test results were made and show the drop model strongly correlates to the airplane even under very dynamic conditions. The capability to use the drop model to expand on the information gained from full-scale flight testing is also discussed. Finally, a preliminary analysis of an unusual inclined spinning motion, dubbed the "cartwheel", is presented here for the first time.

Small Scale Response and Modeling of Periodically Forced Turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bos, Wouter; Clark, Timothy T.; Rubinstein, Robert

2007-01-01

The response of the small scales of isotropic turbulence to periodic large scale forcing is studied using two-point closures. The frequency response of the turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation rate, and the phase shifts between production, energy and dissipation are determined as functions of Reynolds number. It is observed that the amplitude and phase of the dissipation exhibit nontrivial frequency and Reynolds number dependence that reveals a filtering effect of the energy cascade. Perturbation analysis is applied to understand this behavior which is shown to depend on distant interactions between widely separated scales of motion. Finally, the extent to which finite dimensional models (standard two-equation models and various generalizations) can reproduce the observed behavior is discussed.

ANALYSIS OF ECOSYSTEM STRESSORS ACROSS SCALES USING REMOTELY SENSED IMAGERY: REDUCING UNCERTAINTY IN MANAGING THE COLORADO PLATEAU ECOSYSTEM. (R825152)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

Decreasing Neuroscience Anxiety in an Introductory Neuroscience Course: An Analysis Using Data from a Modified Science Anxiety Scale

PubMed Central

Birkett, Melissa; Shelton, Kerisa

2011-01-01

To determine whether participation in a neuroscience course reduced neuroscience anxiety, a modified version of the Science Anxiety Scale was administered to students at the beginning and end of an introductory course. Neuroscience anxiety scores were significantly reduced at the end of the course and correlated with higher final grades. Reduced neuroscience anxiety did not correlate with reduced science anxiety, suggesting that neuroscience anxiety is a distinct subtype of anxiety. PMID:23626491

Mathematical analysis techniques for modeling the space network activities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foster, Lisa M.

1992-01-01

The objective of the present work was to explore and identify mathematical analysis techniques, and in particular, the use of linear programming. This topic was then applied to the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) in order to understand the space network better. Finally, a small scale version of the system was modeled, variables were identified, data was gathered, and comparisons were made between actual and theoretical data.

Crack surface roughness in three-dimensional random fuse networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nukala, Phani Kumar V. V.; Zapperi, Stefano; Šimunović, Srđan

2006-08-01

Using large system sizes with extensive statistical sampling, we analyze the scaling properties of crack roughness and damage profiles in the three-dimensional random fuse model. The analysis of damage profiles indicates that damage accumulates in a diffusive manner up to the peak load, and localization sets in abruptly at the peak load, starting from a uniform damage landscape. The global crack width scales as Wtilde L0.5 and is consistent with the scaling of localization length ξ˜L0.5 used in the data collapse of damage profiles in the postpeak regime. This consistency between the global crack roughness exponent and the postpeak damage profile localization length supports the idea that the postpeak damage profile is predominantly due to the localization produced by the catastrophic failure, which at the same time results in the formation of the final crack. Finally, the crack width distributions can be collapsed for different system sizes and follow a log-normal distribution.

Development and Validation of a Fatigue Assessment Scale for U.S. Construction Workers

PubMed Central

Zhang, Mingzong; Sparer, Emily H.; Murphy, Lauren A.; Dennerlein, Jack T.; Fang, Dongping; Katz, Jeffrey N.; Caban-Martinez, Alberto J.

2015-01-01

Objective To develop a fatigue assessment scale and test its reliability and validity for commercial construction workers. Methods Using a two-phased approach, we first identified items for the development of a Fatigue Assessment Scale for Construction Workers (FASCW) through review of existing scales in the scientific literature, key informant interviews (n=11) and focus groups (3 groups with 6 workers each) with construction workers. The second phase included assessment for the reliability, validity and sensitivity of the new scale using a repeated-measures study design with a convenience sample of construction workers (n=144). Results Phase one resulted in a 16-item preliminary scale that after factor analysis yielded a final 10-item scale with two sub-scales (“Lethargy” and “Bodily Ailment”).. During phase two, the FASCW and its subscales demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency (alpha coefficients were FASCW (0.91), Lethargy (0.86) and Bodily Ailment (0.84)) and acceptable test-retest reliability (Pearson Correlations Coefficients: 0.59–0.68; Intraclass Correlation Coefficients: 0.74–0.80). Correlation analysis substantiated concurrent and convergent validity. A discriminant analysis demonstrated that the FASCW differentiated between groups with arthritis status and different work hours. Conclusions The 10-item FASCW with good reliability and validity is an effective tool for assessing the severity of fatigue among construction workers. PMID:25603944

Evaluating Mediated Perception of Narrative Health Messages: The Perception of Narrative Performance Scale

PubMed Central

Lee, Jeong Kyu; Hecht, Michael L.; Miller-Day, Michelle; Elek, Elvira

2011-01-01

Narrative media health messages have proven effective in preventing adolescents’ substance use but as yet few measures exist to assess perceptions of them. Without such a measure it is difficult to evaluate the role these messages play in health promotion or to differentiate them from other message forms. In response to this need, a study was conducted to evaluate the Perception of Narrative Performance Scale that assesses perceptions of narrative health messages. A sample of 1185 fifth graders in public schools at Phoenix, Arizona completed a questionnaire rating of two videos presenting narrative substance use prevention messages. Confirmatory factor analyses were computed to identify the factor structure of the scale. Consistent with prior studies, results suggest a 3 factor structure for the Perception of Narrative Performance Scale: interest, realism, and identification (with characters). In addition, a path analysis was performed to test the predictive power of the scale. The analysis shows that the scale proves useful in predicting intent to use substances. Finally, practical implications and limitations are discussed. PMID:21822459

Large-scale retrieval for medical image analytics: A comprehensive review.

PubMed

Li, Zhongyu; Zhang, Xiaofan; Müller, Henning; Zhang, Shaoting

2018-01-01

Over the past decades, medical image analytics was greatly facilitated by the explosion of digital imaging techniques, where huge amounts of medical images were produced with ever-increasing quality and diversity. However, conventional methods for analyzing medical images have achieved limited success, as they are not capable to tackle the huge amount of image data. In this paper, we review state-of-the-art approaches for large-scale medical image analysis, which are mainly based on recent advances in computer vision, machine learning and information retrieval. Specifically, we first present the general pipeline of large-scale retrieval, summarize the challenges/opportunities of medical image analytics on a large-scale. Then, we provide a comprehensive review of algorithms and techniques relevant to major processes in the pipeline, including feature representation, feature indexing, searching, etc. On the basis of existing work, we introduce the evaluation protocols and multiple applications of large-scale medical image retrieval, with a variety of exploratory and diagnostic scenarios. Finally, we discuss future directions of large-scale retrieval, which can further improve the performance of medical image analysis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Psychometric Analysis of the Italian Version of the eHealth Literacy Scale Using Item Response and Classical Test Theory Methods

PubMed Central

Dima, Alexandra Lelia; Schulz, Peter Johannes

2017-01-01

Background The eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) is a tool to assess consumers’ comfort and skills in using information technologies for health. Although evidence exists of reliability and construct validity of the scale, less agreement exists on structural validity. Objective The aim of this study was to validate the Italian version of the eHealth Literacy Scale (I-eHEALS) in a community sample with a focus on its structural validity, by applying psychometric techniques that account for item difficulty. Methods Two Web-based surveys were conducted among a total of 296 people living in the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland (Ticino). After examining the latent variables underlying the observed variables of the Italian scale via principal component analysis (PCA), fit indices for two alternative models were calculated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The scale structure was examined via parametric and nonparametric item response theory (IRT) analyses accounting for differences between items regarding the proportion of answers indicating high ability. Convergent validity was assessed by correlations with theoretically related constructs. Results CFA showed a suboptimal model fit for both models. IRT analyses confirmed all items measure a single dimension as intended. Reliability and construct validity of the final scale were also confirmed. The contrasting results of factor analysis (FA) and IRT analyses highlight the importance of considering differences in item difficulty when examining health literacy scales. Conclusions The findings support the reliability and validity of the translated scale and its use for assessing Italian-speaking consumers’ eHealth literacy. PMID:28400356

Scale development on consumer behavior toward counterfeit drugs in a developing country: a quantitative study exploiting the tools of an evolving paradigm

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Although desperate need and drug counterfeiting are linked in developing countries, little research has been carried out to address this link, and there is a lack of proper tools and methodology. This study addresses the need for a new methodological approach by developing a scale to aid in understanding the demand side of drug counterfeiting in a developing country. Methods The study presents a quantitative, non-representative survey conducted in Sudan. A face-to-face structured interview survey methodology was employed to collect the data from the general population (people in the street) in two phases: pilot (n = 100) and final survey (n = 1003). Data were analyzed by examining means, variances, squared multiple correlations, item-to-total correlations, and the results of an exploratory factor analysis and a confirmatory factor analysis. Results As an approach to scale purification, internal consistency was examined and improved. The scale was reduced from 44 to 41 items and Cronbach’s alpha improved from 0.818 to 0.862. Finally, scale items were assessed. The result was an eleven-factor solution. Convergent and discriminant validity were demonstrated. Conclusion The results of this study indicate that the “Consumer Behavior Toward Counterfeit Drugs Scale” is a valid, reliable measure with a solid theoretical base. Ultimately, the study offers public health policymakers a valid measurement tool and, consequently, a new methodological approach with which to build a better understanding of the demand side of counterfeit drugs and to develop more effective strategies to combat the problem. PMID:24020730

The development and initial validation of the Decent Work Scale.

PubMed

Duffy, Ryan D; Allan, Blake A; England, Jessica W; Blustein, David L; Autin, Kelsey L; Douglass, Richard P; Ferreira, Joaquim; Santos, Eduardo J R

2017-03-01

Decent work is positioned as the centerpiece of the recently developed Psychology of Working Theory (PWT; Duffy, Blustein, Diemer, & Autin, 2016). However, to date, no instrument exists which assesses all 5 components of decent work from a psychological perspective. In the current study, we developed the Decent Work Scale (DWS) and demonstrated several aspects of validity with 2 samples of working adults. In Study 1 (N = 275), a large pool of items were developed and exploratory factor analysis was conducted resulting in a final 15-item scale with 5 factors/subscales corresponding to the 5 components of decent work: (a) physically and interpersonally safe working conditions, (b) access to health care, (c) adequate compensation, (d) hours that allow for free time and rest, and (e) organizational values that complement family and social values. In Study 2 (N = 589), confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that a 5-factor, bifactor model offered the strongest and most parsimonious fit to the data. Configural, metric, and scalar invariance models were tested demonstrating that the structure of the instrument did not differ across gender, income, social class, and majority/minority racial/ethnic groups. Finally, the overall scale score and 5 subscale scores correlated in the expected directions with similar constructs supporting convergent and discriminant evidence of validity, and subscale scores evidenced predictive validity in the prediction of job satisfaction, work meaning, and withdrawal intentions. The development of this scale provides a useful tool for researchers and practitioners seeking to assess the attainment of decent work among employed adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Observer-Pattern Modeling and Slow-Scale Bifurcation Analysis of Two-Stage Boost Inverters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Hao; Wan, Xiaojin; Li, Weijie; Ding, Honghui; Yi, Chuanzhi

2017-06-01

This paper deals with modeling and bifurcation analysis of two-stage Boost inverters. Since the effect of the nonlinear interactions between source-stage converter and load-stage inverter causes the “hidden” second-harmonic current at the input of the downstream H-bridge inverter, an observer-pattern modeling method is proposed by removing time variance originating from both fundamental frequency and hidden second harmonics in the derived averaged equations. Based on the proposed observer-pattern model, the underlying mechanism of slow-scale instability behavior is uncovered with the help of eigenvalue analysis method. Then eigenvalue sensitivity analysis is used to select some key system parameters of two-stage Boost inverter, and some behavior boundaries are given to provide some design-oriented information for optimizing the circuit. Finally, these theoretical results are verified by numerical simulations and circuit experiment.

Xylo-Oligosaccharide Process Development, Composition, and Techno-Economic Analysis. Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-12-483

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

Shekiro, Joe; Elander, Richard

2015-12-01

The purpose of this cooperative work agreement between General Mills Inc. (GMI) and NREL is to determine the feasibility of producing a valuable food ingredient (xylo-oligosaccharides or XOS), a highly soluble fiber material, from agricultural waste streams, at an advantaged cost level relative to similar existing ingredients. The scope of the project includes pilot-scale process development (Task 1), compositional analysis (Task 2), and techno-economic analysis (Task 3).

Reliability and validity of a scale to measure consumer attitudes regarding the private food safety certification of restaurants.

PubMed

Uggioni, Paula Lazzarin; Salay, Elisabete

2012-04-01

Validated and reliable instruments for measuring consumer attitudes regarding food quality certifications are lacking, but the measurement of consumer attitude could be an important tool for understanding consumer behavior. Thus the objective of this study was to develop an instrument for measuring consumer attitudes regarding private food safety certifications for commercial restaurants. To this end, the following steps were carried out: development of the interview items; complete pilot testing; item analyses (influence of social desirability and total-item correlation); reliability test (internal consistency and test-retest); and validity assessment (content and discriminative validity and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis). The subjects, all over the age of 18 and drawn from six non-probabilistic samples (n=7-350) in the city of Campinas, Brazil, were all subjected to an interview. The final scale included 24 items and had a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.79 and a content validation coefficient of 0.99, both within acceptable limits. The confirmatory factor analysis validated a model with five factors and the final instrument discriminated reasonably well between the groups and showed satisfactory reproducibility (r=0.955). Furthermore, the scale validity and reliability were satisfactory, suggesting it could also be applied to future studies. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multiresolution analysis of characteristic length scales with high-resolution topographic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sangireddy, Harish; Stark, Colin P.; Passalacqua, Paola

2017-07-01

Characteristic length scales (CLS) define landscape structure and delimit geomorphic processes. Here we use multiresolution analysis (MRA) to estimate such scales from high-resolution topographic data. MRA employs progressive terrain defocusing, via convolution of the terrain data with Gaussian kernels of increasing standard deviation, and calculation at each smoothing resolution of (i) the probability distributions of curvature and topographic index (defined as the ratio of slope to area in log scale) and (ii) characteristic spatial patterns of divergent and convergent topography identified by analyzing the curvature of the terrain. The MRA is first explored using synthetic 1-D and 2-D signals whose CLS are known. It is then validated against a set of MARSSIM (a landscape evolution model) steady state landscapes whose CLS were tuned by varying hillslope diffusivity and simulated noise amplitude. The known CLS match the scales at which the distributions of topographic index and curvature show scaling breaks, indicating that the MRA can identify CLS in landscapes based on the scaling behavior of topographic attributes. Finally, the MRA is deployed to measure the CLS of five natural landscapes using meter resolution digital terrain model data. CLS are inferred from the scaling breaks of the topographic index and curvature distributions and equated with (i) small-scale roughness features and (ii) the hillslope length scale.

Enrichment and separation techniques for large-scale proteomics analysis of the protein post-translational modifications.

PubMed

Huang, Junfeng; Wang, Fangjun; Ye, Mingliang; Zou, Hanfa

2014-11-06

Comprehensive analysis of the post-translational modifications (PTMs) on proteins at proteome level is crucial to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of various biological processes. In the past decades, thanks to the development of specific PTM enrichment techniques and efficient multidimensional liquid chromatography (LC) separation strategy, the identification of protein PTMs have made tremendous progress. A huge number of modification sites for some major protein PTMs have been identified by proteomics analysis. In this review, we first introduced the recent progresses of PTM enrichment methods for the analysis of several major PTMs including phosphorylation, glycosylation, ubiquitination, acetylation, methylation, and oxidation/reduction status. We then briefly summarized the challenges for PTM enrichment. Finally, we introduced the fractionation and separation techniques for efficient separation of PTM peptides in large-scale PTM analysis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Which kind of psychometrics is adequate for patient satisfaction questionnaires?

PubMed

Konerding, Uwe

2016-01-01

The construction and psychometric analysis of patient satisfaction questionnaires are discussed. The discussion is based upon the classification of multi-item questionnaires into scales or indices. Scales consist of items that describe the effects of the latent psychological variable to be measured, and indices consist of items that describe the causes of this variable. Whether patient satisfaction questionnaires should be constructed and analyzed as scales or as indices depends upon the purpose for which these questionnaires are required. If the final aim is improving care with regard to patients' preferences, then these questionnaires should be constructed and analyzed as indices. This implies two requirements: 1) items for patient satisfaction questionnaires should be selected in such a way that the universe of possible causes of patient satisfaction is covered optimally and 2) Cronbach's alpha, principal component analysis, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and analyses with models from item response theory, such as the Rasch Model, should not be applied for psychometric analyses. Instead, multivariate regression analyses with a direct rating of patient satisfaction as the dependent variable and the individual questionnaire items as independent variables should be performed. The coefficients produced by such an analysis can be applied for selecting the best items and for weighting the selected items when a sum score is determined. The lower boundaries of the validity of the unweighted and the weighted sum scores can be estimated by their correlations with the direct satisfaction rating. While the first requirement is fulfilled in the majority of the previous patient satisfaction questionnaires, the second one deviates from previous practice. Hence, if patient satisfaction is actually measured with the final aim of improving care with regard to patients' preferences, then future practice should be changed so that the second requirement is also fulfilled.

Investigation into Cause of High Temperature Failure of Boiler Superheater Tube

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, D.; Ray, S.; Roy, H.; Shukla, A. K.

2015-04-01

The failure of the boiler tubes occur due to various reasons like creep, fatigue, corrosion and erosion. This paper highlights a case study of typical premature failure of a final superheater tube of 210 MW thermal power plant boiler. Visual examination, dimensional measurement, chemical analysis, oxide scale thickness measurement, microstructural examination are conducted as part of the investigations. Apart from these investigations, sulfur print, Energy Dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X ray diffraction analysis (XRD) are also conducted to ascertain the probable cause of failure of final super heater tube. Finally it has been concluded that the premature failure of the super heater tube can be attributed to the combination of localized high tube metal temperature and loss of metal from the outer surface due to high temperature corrosion. The corrective actions have also been suggested to avoid this type of failure in near future.

The development of instruments to measure the work disability assessment behaviour of insurance physicians

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Variation in assessments is a universal given, and work disability assessments by insurance physicians are no exception. Little is known about the considerations and views of insurance physicians that may partly explain such variation. On the basis of the Attitude - Social norm - self Efficacy (ASE) model, we have developed measurement instruments for assessment behaviour and its determinants. Methods Based on theory and interviews with insurance physicians the questionnaire included blocks of items concerning background variables, intentions, attitudes, social norms, self-efficacy, knowledge, barriers and behaviour of the insurance physicians in relation to work disability assessment issues. The responses of 231 insurance physicians were suitable for further analysis. Factor analysis and reliability analysis were used to form scale variables and homogeneity analysis was used to form dimension variables. Thus, we included 169 of the 177 original items. Results Factor analysis and reliability analysis yielded 29 scales with sufficient reliability. Homogeneity analysis yielded 19 dimensions. Scales and dimensions fitted with the concepts of the ASE model. We slightly modified the ASE model by dividing behaviour into two blocks: behaviour that reflects the assessment process and behaviour that reflects assessment behaviour. The picture that emerged from the descriptive results was of a group of physicians who were motivated in their job and positive about the Dutch social security system in general. However, only half of them had a positive opinion about the Dutch Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act (WIA). They also reported serious barriers, the most common of which was work pressure. Finally, 73% of the insurance physicians described the majority of their cases as 'difficult'. Conclusions The scales and dimensions developed appear to be valid and offer a promising basis for future research. The results suggest that the underlying ASE model, in modified form, is suitable for describing the assessment behaviour of insurance physicians and the determinants of this behaviour. The next step in this line of research should be to validate the model using structural equation modelling. Finally, the predictive value should be tested in relation to outcome measurements of work disability assessments. PMID:21199570

Domains and facets: hierarchical personality assessment using the revised NEO personality inventory.

PubMed

Costa, P T; McCrae, R R

1995-02-01

Personality traits are organized hierarchically, with narrow, specific traits combining to define broad, global factors. The Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992c) assesses personality at both levels, with six specific facet scales in each of five broad domains. This article describes conceptual issues in specifying facets of a domain and reports evidence on the validity of NEO-PI-R facet scales. Facet analysis-the interpretation of a scale in terms of the specific facets with which it correlates-is illustrated using alternative measures of the five-factor model and occupational scales. Finally, the hierarchical interpretation of personality profiles is discussed. Interpretation on the domain level yields a rapid understanding of the individual interpretation of specific facet scales gives a more detailed assessment.

Developing the Scale for Quality of Life in Pediatric Oncology Patients Aged 13-18: Adolescent Form and Parent Form.

PubMed

Bektas, Murat; Akdeniz Kudubes, Aslı; Ugur, Ozlem; Vergin, Canan; Demirag, Bengü

2016-06-01

This study aimed to develop the Scale for Quality of Life in Pediatric Oncology Patients Aged 13-18: Adolescent Form and Parent Form. We used the child and parent information form, Visual Quality of Life Scale, and our own scale, the Scale for Quality of Life in Pediatric Oncology Patients Aged 13-18: Adolescent Form and Parent Form. We finalized the 35-item scale to determine the items, received opinions from 14 specialists on the scale, and pilot-tested the scale in 25 children and their parents. We used Pearson correlation analysis, Cronbach α coefficient, factor analysis and receiver operating characteristics analysis to analyze the data. The total Cronbach α of the parent form was .97, the total factor load was .60-.97 and the total variance was 80.4%. The cutoff point of the parent form was 85.50. The total Cronbach α of the adolescent form was .98, the total factor load was .62-.96, and the total variance explained was 83.4%. The cutoff point of the adolescent form was 75.50. As a result of the parent form factor analysis, we determined the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin coefficient as .83, the Barlett test χ(2) as 12,615.92; the factor coefficients of all items of the parent form ranged from .63 to .98. The factor coefficients of all items of the adolescent form ranged from .34 to .99. As a result of the adolescent form factor analysis, we determined the KMO as .79, and the Barlett test χ(2) as 13,970.62. Conclusively, we found that the adolescent form and the parent form were valid and reliable in assessing the children's quality of life. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Brazilian version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy: psychometric properties and factor analysis

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Empathy is a central characteristic of medical professionalism and has recently gained attention in medical education research. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy is the most commonly used measure of empathy worldwide, and to date it has been translated in 39 languages. This study aimed to adapt the Jefferson Scale of Empathy to the Brazilian culture and to test its reliability and validity among Brazilian medical students. Methods The Portuguese version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy was adapted to Brazil using back-translation techniques. This version was pretested among 39 fifth-year medical students in September 2010. During the final fifth- and sixth-year Objective Structured Clinical Examination (October 2011), 319 students were invited to respond to the scale anonymously. Cronbach’s alpha, exploratory factor analysis, item-total correlation, and gender comparisons were performed to check the reliability and validity of the scale. Results The student response rate was 93.7% (299 students). Cronbach’s coefficient for the scale was 0.84. A principal component analysis confirmed the construct validity of the scale for three main factors: Compassionate Care (first factor), Ability to Stand in the Patient’s Shoes (second factor), and Perspective Taking (third factor). Gender comparisons did not reveal differences in the scores between female and male students. Conclusions The adapted Brazilian version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy proved to be a valid, reliable instrument for use in national and cross-cultural studies in medical education. PMID:22873730

Development of the Holistic Nursing Competence Scale.

PubMed

Takase, Miyuki; Teraoka, Sachiko

2011-12-01

This study developed a scale to measure the nursing competence of Japanese registered nurses and to test its psychometric properties. Following the derivation of scale items and pilot testing, the final version of the scale was administered to 331 nurses to establish its internal consistency, as well as its construct and criterion-related validity. Using an exploratory and a confirmatory factor analysis, 36 items with a five-factor structure were retained to form the Holistic Nursing Competence Scale. These factors illustrate nurses' general aptitude and their competencies in staff education and management, ethical practice, the provision of nursing care, and professional development. The Scale has a positive correlation with the length of clinical experience. A Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.967. The Scale is a reliable and valid measure, helping both nurses and organizations to correctly evaluate nurses' competence and identify their needs for professional development. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

The pediatric daytime sleepiness scale (PDSS): sleep habits and school outcomes in middle-school children.

PubMed

Drake, Christopher; Nickel, Chelsea; Burduvali, Eleni; Roth, Thomas; Jefferson, Catherine; Pietro, Badia

2003-06-15

To develop a measure of daytime sleepiness suitable for middle-school children and examine the relationship between daytime sleepiness and school-related outcomes. Self-report questionnaire. Four hundred fifty, 11- to 15-year-old students, from grades 6, 7, and 8 of a public middle school in Dayton, Ohio. A pediatric daytime sleepiness questionnaire was developed using factor analysis of questions regarding sleep-related behaviors. Results of the sleepiness questionnaire were then compared across other variables, including daily sleep patterns, school achievement, mood, and extracurricular activities. Factor analysis on the 13 questions related to daytime sleepiness yielded 1 primary factor ("pediatric daytime sleepiness"; 32% of variance). Only items with factor loadings above .4 were included in the final sleepiness scale. Internal consistency (Chronbach's alpha) for the final 8-item scale was .80. Separate one-way analyses of variance and trend analyses were performed comparing pediatric daytime sleepiness scores at the 5 different levels of total sleep time and academic achievement. Participants who reported low school achievement, high rates of absenteeism, low school enjoyment, low total sleep time, and frequent illness reported significantly higher levels of daytime sleepiness compared to children with better school-related outcomes. The self-report scale developed in the present work is suitable for middle-school-age children and may be useful in future research given its ease of administration and robust psychometric properties. Daytime sleepiness is related to reduced educational achievement and other negative school-related outcomes.

The combined use of dynamic factor analysis and wavelet analysis to evaluate latent factors controlling complex groundwater level fluctuations in a riverside alluvial aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Yun-Yeong; Yun, Seong-Taek; Yu, Soonyoung; Hamm, Se-Yeong

2017-12-01

To identify and quantitatively evaluate complex latent factors controlling groundwater level (GWL) fluctuations in a riverside alluvial aquifer influenced by barrage construction, we developed the combined use of dynamic factor analysis (DFA) and wavelet analysis (WA). Time series data of GWL, river water level and precipitation were collected for 3 years (July 2012 to June 2015) from an alluvial aquifer underneath an agricultural area of the Nakdong river basin, South Korea. Based on the wavelet coefficients of the final approximation, the GWL data was clustered into three groups (WCG1 to WCG3). Two dynamic factors (DFs) were then extracted using DFA for each group; thus, six major factors were extracted. Next, the time-frequency variability of the extracted DFs was examined using multiresolution cross-correlation analysis (MRCCA) with the following steps: 1) major driving forces and their scales in GWL fluctuations were identified by comparing maximum correlation coefficients (rmax) between DFs and the GWL time series and 2) the results were supplemented using the wavelet transformed coherence (WTC) analysis between DFs and the hydrological time series. Finally, relative contributions of six major DFs to the GWL fluctuations could be quantitatively assessed by calculating the effective dynamic efficiency (Def). The characteristics and relevant process of the identified six DFs are: 1) WCG1DF4,1 as an indicative of seasonal agricultural pumping (scales = 64-128 days; rmax = 0.68-0.89; Def ≤ 23.1%); 2) WCG1DF4,4 representing the cycle of regional groundwater recharge (scales = 64-128 days; rmax = 0.98-1.00; Def ≤ 11.1%); 3) WCG2DF4,1 indicating the complex interaction between the episodes of precipitation and direct runoff (scales = 2-8 days; rmax = 0.82-0.91; Def ≤ 35.3%) and seasonal GW-RW interaction (scales = 64-128 days; rmax = 0.76-0.91; Def ≤ 14.2%); 4) WCG2DF4,4 reflecting the complex effects of seasonal pervasive pumping and the local recharge cycle (scales = 64-128 days; rmax = 0.86-0.94; Def ≤ 16.4%); 5) WCG3DF4,2 as the result of temporal pumping (scales = 2-8 days; rmax = 0.98-0.99; Def ≤ 7.7%); and 6) WCG3DF4,4 indicating the local recharge cycle (scales = 64-128 days; rmax = 0.76-0.91; Def ≤ 34.2 %). This study shows that major driving forces controlling GWL time series data in a complex hydrological setting can be identified and quantitatively evaluated by the combined use of DFA and WA and applying MRCCA and WTC.

Development of life story experience (LSE) scales for migrant dentists in Australia: a sequential qualitative-quantitative study.

PubMed

Balasubramanian, M; Spencer, A J; Short, S D; Watkins, K; Chrisopoulos, S; Brennan, D S

2016-09-01

The integration of qualitative and quantitative approaches introduces new avenues to bridge strengths, and address weaknesses of both methods. To develop measure(s) for migrant dentist experiences in Australia through a mixed methods approach. The sequential qualitative-quantitative design involved first the harvesting of data items from qualitative study, followed by a national survey of migrant dentists in Australia. Statements representing unique experiences in migrant dentists' life stories were deployed the survey questionnaire, using a five-point Likert scale. Factor analysis was used to examine component factors. Eighty-two statements from 51 participants were harvested from the qualitative analysis. A total of 1,022 of 1,977 migrant dentists (response rate 54.5%) returned completed questionnaires. Factor analysis supported an initial eight-factor solution; further scale development and reliability analysis led to five scales with a final list of 38 life story experience (LSE) items. Three scales were based on home country events: health system and general lifestyle concerns (LSE1; 10 items), society and culture (LSE4; 4 items) and career development (LSE5; 4 items). Two scales included migrant experiences in Australia: appreciation towards Australian way of life (LSE2; 13 items) and settlement concerns (LSE3; 7 items). The five life story experience scales provided necessary conceptual clarity and empirical grounding to explore migrant dentist experiences in Australia. Being based on original migrant dentist narrations, these scales have the potential to offer in-depth insights for policy makers and support future research on dentist migration. Copyright© 2016 Dennis Barber Ltd

Item response theory analysis of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale for Students (UWES-S) using a sample of Japanese university and college students majoring medical science, nursing, and natural science.

PubMed

Tsubakita, Takashi; Shimazaki, Kazuyo; Ito, Hiroshi; Kawazoe, Nobuo

2017-10-30

The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale for Students has been used internationally to assess students' academic engagement, but it has not been analyzed via item response theory. The purpose of this study was to conduct an item response theory analysis of the Japanese version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale for Students translated by authors. Using a two-parameter model and Samejima's graded response model, difficulty and discrimination parameters were estimated after confirming the factor structure of the scale. The 14 items on the scale were analyzed with a sample of 3214 university and college students majoring medical science, nursing, or natural science in Japan. The preliminary parameter estimation was conducted with the two parameter model, and indicated that three items should be removed because there were outlier parameters. Final parameter estimation was conducted using the survived 11 items, and indicated that all difficulty and discrimination parameters were acceptable. The test information curve suggested that the scale better assesses higher engagement than average engagement. The estimated parameters provide a basis for future comparative studies. The results also suggested that a 7-point Likert scale is too broad; thus, the scaling should be modified to fewer graded scaling structure.

An integrated assessment of location-dependent scaling for microalgae biofuel production facilities

DOE PAGES

Coleman, André M.; Abodeely, Jared M.; Skaggs, Richard L.; ...

2014-06-19

Successful development of a large-scale microalgae-based biofuels industry requires comprehensive analysis and understanding of the feedstock supply chain—from facility siting and design through processing and upgrading of the feedstock to a fuel product. The evolution from pilot-scale production facilities to energy-scale operations presents many multi-disciplinary challenges, including a sustainable supply of water and nutrients, operational and infrastructure logistics, and economic competitiveness with petroleum-based fuels. These challenges are partially addressed by applying the Integrated Assessment Framework (IAF) – an integrated multi-scale modeling, analysis, and data management suite – to address key issues in developing and operating an open-pond microalgae production facility.more » This is done by analyzing how variability and uncertainty over space and through time affect feedstock production rates, and determining the site-specific “optimum” facility scale to minimize capital and operational expenses. This approach explicitly and systematically assesses the interdependence of biofuel production potential, associated resource requirements, and production system design trade-offs. To provide a baseline analysis, the IAF was applied in this paper to a set of sites in the southeastern U.S. with the potential to cumulatively produce 5 billion gallons per year. Finally, the results indicate costs can be reduced by scaling downstream processing capabilities to fit site-specific growing conditions, available and economically viable resources, and specific microalgal strains.« less

The Intonation and Signaling of Declarative Questions in Manchego Peninsular Spanish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henriksen, Nicholas C.

2012-01-01

This paper is an experimental investigation on the tonal structure and phonetic signaling of declarative questions by speakers of Manchego Peninsular Spanish, a dialect of Spanish for which little experimental research on intonation is currently available. Analysis 1 examines the scaling and timing properties of final rises produced by 16 speakers…

LSI (Large Scale Integrated) Design for Testability. Final Report of Design, Demonstration, and Testability Analysis.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-11-01

compound operations, with status. (h) Pre-programmed CRC and double-precision multiply/divide algo- rithms. (i) Double length accumulator with full...IH1.25 _ - MICROCOP ’ RESOLUTION TEST CHART NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS-1963-A .4 ’* • • . - . .. •. . . . . . . . . . . . . . • - -. .• ,. o. . . .- "o

FULL-SCALE DEMONSTRATION OF IN SITU COMETABOLIC BIODEGRADATION OF TRICHLOROETHYLENE IN GROUNDWATER, 2: COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF FIELD DATA USING REACTIVE TRANSPORT MODELING. (R828772)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

A primer on the study of transitory dynamics in ecological series using the scale-dependent correlation analysis.

PubMed

Rodríguez-Arias, Miquel Angel; Rodó, Xavier

2004-03-01

Here we describe a practical, step-by-step primer to scale-dependent correlation (SDC) analysis. The analysis of transitory processes is an important but often neglected topic in ecological studies because only a few statistical techniques appear to detect temporary features accurately enough. We introduce here the SDC analysis, a statistical and graphical method to study transitory processes at any temporal or spatial scale. SDC analysis, thanks to the combination of conventional procedures and simple well-known statistical techniques, becomes an improved time-domain analogue of wavelet analysis. We use several simple synthetic series to describe the method, a more complex example, full of transitory features, to compare SDC and wavelet analysis, and finally we analyze some selected ecological series to illustrate the methodology. The SDC analysis of time series of copepod abundances in the North Sea indicates that ENSO primarily is the main climatic driver of short-term changes in population dynamics. SDC also uncovers some long-term, unexpected features in the population. Similarly, the SDC analysis of Nicholson's blowflies data locates where the proposed models fail and provides new insights about the mechanism that drives the apparent vanishing of the population cycle during the second half of the series.

Fire-protection research for energy technology: Fy 80 year end report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasegawa, H. K.; Alvares, N. J.; Lipska, A. E.; Ford, H.; Priante, S.; Beason, D. G.

1981-05-01

This continuing research program was initiated in order to advance fire protection strategies for Fusion Energy Experiments (FEE). The program expanded to encompass other forms of energy research. Accomplishments for fiscal year 1980 were: finalization of the fault-free analysis of the Shiva fire management system; development of a second-generation, fire-growth analysis using an alternate model and new LLNL combustion dynamics data; improvements of techniques for chemical smoke aerosol analysis; development and test of a simple method to assess the corrosive potential of smoke aerosols; development of an initial aerosol dilution system; completion of primary small-scale tests for measurements of the dynamics of cable fires; finalization of primary survey format for non-LLNL energy technology facilities; and studies of fire dynamics and aerosol production from electrical insulation and computer tape cassettes.

Scaling analysis and model estimation of solar corona index

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ray, Samujjwal; Ray, Rajdeep; Khondekar, Mofazzal Hossain; Ghosh, Koushik

2018-04-01

A monthly average solar green coronal index time series for the period from January 1939 to December 2008 collected from NOAA (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has been analysed in this paper in perspective of scaling analysis and modelling. Smoothed and de-noising have been done using suitable mother wavelet as a pre-requisite. The Finite Variance Scaling Method (FVSM), Higuchi method, rescaled range (R/S) and a generalized method have been applied to calculate the scaling exponents and fractal dimensions of the time series. Autocorrelation function (ACF) is used to find autoregressive (AR) process and Partial autocorrelation function (PACF) has been used to get the order of AR model. Finally a best fit model has been proposed using Yule-Walker Method with supporting results of goodness of fit and wavelet spectrum. The results reveal an anti-persistent, Short Range Dependent (SRD), self-similar property with signatures of non-causality, non-stationarity and nonlinearity in the data series. The model shows the best fit to the data under observation.

BioPig: a Hadoop-based analytic toolkit for large-scale sequence data.

PubMed

Nordberg, Henrik; Bhatia, Karan; Wang, Kai; Wang, Zhong

2013-12-01

The recent revolution in sequencing technologies has led to an exponential growth of sequence data. As a result, most of the current bioinformatics tools become obsolete as they fail to scale with data. To tackle this 'data deluge', here we introduce the BioPig sequence analysis toolkit as one of the solutions that scale to data and computation. We built BioPig on the Apache's Hadoop MapReduce system and the Pig data flow language. Compared with traditional serial and MPI-based algorithms, BioPig has three major advantages: first, BioPig's programmability greatly reduces development time for parallel bioinformatics applications; second, testing BioPig with up to 500 Gb sequences demonstrates that it scales automatically with size of data; and finally, BioPig can be ported without modification on many Hadoop infrastructures, as tested with Magellan system at National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center and the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud. In summary, BioPig represents a novel program framework with the potential to greatly accelerate data-intensive bioinformatics analysis.

A Psychometric Analysis of the Italian Version of the eHealth Literacy Scale Using Item Response and Classical Test Theory Methods.

PubMed

Diviani, Nicola; Dima, Alexandra Lelia; Schulz, Peter Johannes

2017-04-11

The eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) is a tool to assess consumers' comfort and skills in using information technologies for health. Although evidence exists of reliability and construct validity of the scale, less agreement exists on structural validity. The aim of this study was to validate the Italian version of the eHealth Literacy Scale (I-eHEALS) in a community sample with a focus on its structural validity, by applying psychometric techniques that account for item difficulty. Two Web-based surveys were conducted among a total of 296 people living in the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland (Ticino). After examining the latent variables underlying the observed variables of the Italian scale via principal component analysis (PCA), fit indices for two alternative models were calculated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The scale structure was examined via parametric and nonparametric item response theory (IRT) analyses accounting for differences between items regarding the proportion of answers indicating high ability. Convergent validity was assessed by correlations with theoretically related constructs. CFA showed a suboptimal model fit for both models. IRT analyses confirmed all items measure a single dimension as intended. Reliability and construct validity of the final scale were also confirmed. The contrasting results of factor analysis (FA) and IRT analyses highlight the importance of considering differences in item difficulty when examining health literacy scales. The findings support the reliability and validity of the translated scale and its use for assessing Italian-speaking consumers' eHealth literacy. ©Nicola Diviani, Alexandra Lelia Dima, Peter Johannes Schulz. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 11.04.2017.

Multi-Scale Computational Modeling of Two-Phased Metal Using GMC Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moghaddam, Masoud Ghorbani; Achuthan, A.; Bednacyk, B. A.; Arnold, S. M.; Pineda, E. J.

2014-01-01

A multi-scale computational model for determining plastic behavior in two-phased CMSX-4 Ni-based superalloys is developed on a finite element analysis (FEA) framework employing crystal plasticity constitutive model that can capture the microstructural scale stress field. The generalized method of cells (GMC) micromechanics model is used for homogenizing the local field quantities. At first, GMC as stand-alone is validated by analyzing a repeating unit cell (RUC) as a two-phased sample with 72.9% volume fraction of gamma'-precipitate in the gamma-matrix phase and comparing the results with those predicted by finite element analysis (FEA) models incorporating the same crystal plasticity constitutive model. The global stress-strain behavior and the local field quantity distributions predicted by GMC demonstrated good agreement with FEA. High computational saving, at the expense of some accuracy in the components of local tensor field quantities, was obtained with GMC. Finally, the capability of the developed multi-scale model linking FEA and GMC to solve real life sized structures is demonstrated by analyzing an engine disc component and determining the microstructural scale details of the field quantities.

Effect of extreme data loss on heart rate signals quantified by entropy analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yu; Wang, Jun; Li, Jin; Liu, Dazhao

2015-02-01

The phenomenon of data loss always occurs in the analysis of large databases. Maintaining the stability of analysis results in the event of data loss is very important. In this paper, we used a segmentation approach to generate a synthetic signal that is randomly wiped from data according to the Gaussian distribution and the exponential distribution of the original signal. Then, the logistic map is used as verification. Finally, two methods of measuring entropy-base-scale entropy and approximate entropy-are comparatively analyzed. Our results show the following: (1) Two key parameters-the percentage and the average length of removed data segments-can change the sequence complexity according to logistic map testing. (2) The calculation results have preferable stability for base-scale entropy analysis, which is not sensitive to data loss. (3) The loss percentage of HRV signals should be controlled below the range (p = 30 %), which can provide useful information in clinical applications.

Similitude design for the vibration problems of plates and shells: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Yunpeng; Wang, You; Luo, Zhong; Han, Qingkai; Wang, Deyou

2017-06-01

Similitude design plays a vital role in the analysis of vibration and shock problems encountered in large engineering equipment. Similitude design, including dimensional analysis and governing equation method, is founded on the dynamic similitude theory. This study reviews the application of similitude design methods in engineering practice and summarizes the major achievements of the dynamic similitude theory in structural vibration and shock problems in different fields, including marine structures, civil engineering structures, and large power equipment. This study also reviews the dynamic similitude design methods for thin-walled and composite material plates and shells, including the most recent work published by the authors. Structure sensitivity analysis is used to evaluate the scaling factors to attain accurate distorted scaling laws. Finally, this study discusses the existing problems and the potential of the dynamic similitude theory for the analysis of vibration and shock problems of structures.

Application and research of block caving in Pulang copper mine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ge, Qifa; Fan, Wenlu; Zhu, Weigen; Chen, Xiaowei

2018-01-01

The application of block caving in mines shows significant advantages in large scale, low cost and high efficiency, thus block caving is worth promoting in the mines that meets the requirement of natural caving. Due to large scale of production and low ore grade in Pulang copper mine in China, comprehensive analysis and research were conducted on rock mechanics, mining sequence, undercutting and stability of bottom structure in terms of raising mine benefit and maximizing the recovery mineral resources. Finally this study summarizes that block caving is completely suitable for Pulang copper mine.

Length-scale dependent transport properties of colloidal and protein solutions for prediction of crystal nucleation rates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalwarczyk, Tomasz; Sozanski, Krzysztof; Jakiela, Slawomir; Wisniewska, Agnieszka; Kalwarczyk, Ewelina; Kryszczuk, Katarzyna; Hou, Sen; Holyst, Robert

2014-08-01

We propose a scaling equation describing transport properties (diffusion and viscosity) in the solutions of colloidal particles. We apply the equation to 23 different systems including colloids and proteins differing in size (range of diameters: 4 nm to 1 μm), and volume fractions (10-3-0.56). In solutions under study colloids/proteins interact via steric, hydrodynamic, van der Waals and/or electrostatic interactions. We implement contribution of those interactions into the scaling law. Finally we use our scaling law together with the literature values of the barrier for nucleation to predict crystal nucleation rates of hard-sphere like colloids. The resulting crystal nucleation rates agree with existing experimental data.We propose a scaling equation describing transport properties (diffusion and viscosity) in the solutions of colloidal particles. We apply the equation to 23 different systems including colloids and proteins differing in size (range of diameters: 4 nm to 1 μm), and volume fractions (10-3-0.56). In solutions under study colloids/proteins interact via steric, hydrodynamic, van der Waals and/or electrostatic interactions. We implement contribution of those interactions into the scaling law. Finally we use our scaling law together with the literature values of the barrier for nucleation to predict crystal nucleation rates of hard-sphere like colloids. The resulting crystal nucleation rates agree with existing experimental data. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental and some analysis details. See DOI: 10.1039/c4nr00647j

Rolling-Element Fatigue Testing and Data Analysis - A Tutorial

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vlcek, Brian L.; Zaretsky, Erwin V.

2011-01-01

In order to rank bearing materials, lubricants and other design variables using rolling-element bench type fatigue testing of bearing components and full-scale rolling-element bearing tests, the investigator needs to be cognizant of the variables that affect rolling-element fatigue life and be able to maintain and control them within an acceptable experimental tolerance. Once these variables are controlled, the number of tests and the test conditions must be specified to assure reasonable statistical certainty of the final results. There is a reasonable correlation between the results from elemental test rigs with those results obtained with full-scale bearings. Using the statistical methods of W. Weibull and L. Johnson, the minimum number of tests required can be determined. This paper brings together and discusses the technical aspects of rolling-element fatigue testing and data analysis as well as making recommendations to assure quality and reliable testing of rolling-element specimens and full-scale rolling-element bearings.

Large Pilot-Scale Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Capture Project Using Aminosilicone Solvent.Final Scientific/Technical Report

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

Hancu, Dan

GE Global Research has developed, over the last 8 years, a platform of cost effective CO2 capture technologies based on a non-aqueous aminosilicone solvent (GAP-1m). As demonstrated in previous funded DOE projects (DE-FE0007502 and DEFE0013755), the GAP-1m solvent has increased CO2 working capacity, lower volatility and corrosivity than the benchmark aqueous amine technology. Performance of the GAP-1m solvent was recently demonstrated in a 0.5 MWe pilot at National Carbon Capture Center, AL with real flue gas for over 500 hours of operation using a Steam Stripper Column (SSC). The pilot-scale PSTU engineering data were used to (i) update the techno-economicmore » analysis, and EH&S assessment, (ii) perform technology gap analysis, and (iii) conduct the solvent manufacturability and scale-up study.« less

[Evolution of psychopathological alterations in patients with morbid obesity after bariatric surgery].

PubMed

Sánchez Zaldívar, Silvia; Arias Horcajadas, Francisco; Gorgojo Martínez, Juan José; Sánchez Romero, Sergio

2009-07-11

The aims of this study were to know the prevalence of the psychopathological alterations among patients with morbid obesity (MO) candidates for bariatric surgery in our centre, to analyze its predictive value on the surgical outcome and to study the evolution after weight stabilization was achieved. One hundred and forty five patients of the University Hospital Foundation Alcorcón (122 women) candidates for bariatric surgery (108 finally operated) were included in the study. A clinical interview was carried and several scales of psychopathology were applied before and after surgery: Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Maudsley Obsessive-compulsive Interview (MOCI), Barrat Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), Eating Attitudes Test (EAT), Bulimic Investigation Test Edinburg (BITE), and Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ). A comparison of means between the initial and final scores of the psychometric tests and a logistic regression analysis to identify the predictive variables of positive evolution after surgery (defined as percentage of lost overweight> 50% and final IMC <35) were performed. An improvement in the scores of BDI, BAI and in the subscales of EDI, Impulse to the thinness (EDI-DT) and corporal Dissatisfaction (EDI-BD) was observed. The differences were not significant for the rest of the psychometric tests. The multivariate analysis identified 3 predictive factors for postsurgical evolution: BDI (OR 0.91, IC95% 0.82-1.02), BIS (OR 1.08, IC 95% 1.0-1.16) y EDI-DT (OR 1.18, IC 95% 1.0-1.39). In our study, the scales of depression, anxiety, impulse to thinness and corporal dissatisfaction improved in patients with MO after bariatric surgery. Some baseline psychometric variables may predict a favourable postsurgical evolution of these patients.

[Validation of a scale measuring coping with extreme risks].

PubMed

López-Vázquez, Esperanza; Marván, María Luisa

2004-01-01

The objective of this study was to validate, in Mexico, the French coping scale "Echelle Toulousaine de Coping". In the fall of 2001, the scale questionnaire was applied to 209 subjects living in different areas of Mexico, exposed to five different types of extreme natural or industrial risks. The discriminatory capacity of the items, as well as the factorial structure and internal consistency of the scale, were analyzed using Mann-Whitney's U test, principal components factorial analysis, and Cronbach's alpha. The final scale was composed of 26 items forming two groups: active coping and passive coping. Internal consistency of the instrument was high, both in the total sample and in the subsample of natural and industrial risks. The coping scale is reliable and valid for the Mexican population. The English version of this paper is available at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html.

Scaling rules for the final decline to extinction

PubMed Central

Griffen, Blaine D.; Drake, John M.

2009-01-01

Space–time scaling rules are ubiquitous in ecological phenomena. Current theory postulates three scaling rules that describe the duration of a population's final decline to extinction, although these predictions have not previously been empirically confirmed. We examine these scaling rules across a broader set of conditions, including a wide range of density-dependent patterns in the underlying population dynamics. We then report on tests of these predictions from experiments using the cladoceran Daphnia magna as a model. Our results support two predictions that: (i) the duration of population persistence is much greater than the duration of the final decline to extinction and (ii) the duration of the final decline to extinction increases with the logarithm of the population's estimated carrying capacity. However, our results do not support a third prediction that the duration of the final decline scales inversely with population growth rate. These findings not only support the current standard theory of population extinction but also introduce new empirical anomalies awaiting a theoretical explanation. PMID:19141422

Development of a scale to measure consumer perception of the risks involved in consuming raw vegetable salad in full-service restaurants.

PubMed

Danelon, Mariana Schievano; Salay, Elisabete

2012-12-01

The importance of the number of meals taken away-from-home represents an opportunity to promote consumption of vegetables in this context. However, the perception of risk may interfere with the food consumption behavior. The objective of this research was to develop a scale to measure consumer perception of the risks involved in consuming raw vegetable salad in full-service restaurants. The following research steps were carried out: item elaboration; content validity; scale purification (item-total correlation, internal consistency and exploratory factor analysis); and construct validity (confirmatory factor analysis). Non-probabilistic samples of consumers were interviewed (a total of 672 individuals) in the city of Campinas, Brazil. Several analyses were carried out using the Predictive Analytics Software 18.0 and LISREL 8.80. The final scale contained 26 items with an adequate content validity index (0.97) and Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.93). The confirmatory factor analysis validates a six risk type factor model: physical, psychological, social, time, financial and performance (chi-square/degrees of freedom=2.29, root mean square error of approximation - RMSEA=0.060 and comparative fit index - CFI=0.98). The scale developed presented satisfactory reliability and validity results and could therefore be employed in further studies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Student Internationals. An Analysis of International and Regional Student Organizations. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Altbach, Philip G.

The work is a report of a historical study of several international student organizations in their political and educational contexts to learn whether they, in fact, constitute a real student movement on a world scale. After tracing the growth of such organizations as the International Union of Students and the International Student Conference and…

MASW on the standard seismic prospective scale using full spread recording

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Białas, Sebastian; Majdański, Mariusz; Trzeciak, Maciej; Gałczyński, Edward; Maksym, Andrzej

2015-04-01

The Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) is one of seismic survey methods that use the dispersion curve of surface waves in order to describe the stiffness of the surface. Is is used mainly for geotechnical engineering scale with total length of spread between 5 - 450 m and spread offset between 1 - 100 m, the hummer is the seismic source on this surveys. The standard procedure of MASW survey is: data acquisition, dispersion analysis and inversion of extracting dispersion curve to obtain the closest theoretical curve. The final result includes share-wave velocity (Vs) values at different depth along the surveyed lines. The main goal of this work is to expand this engineering method to the bigger scale with the length of standard prospecting spread of 20 km using 4.5 Hz version of vertical component geophones. The standard vibroseis and explosive method are used as the seismic source. The acquisition were conducted on the full spread all the time during each single shoot. The seismic data acquisition used for this analysis were carried out on the Braniewo 2014 project in north of Poland. The results achieved during standard MASW procedure says that this method can be used on much bigger scale as well. The different methodology of this analysis requires only much stronger seismic source.

Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the God Locus of Health Control (GLHC): A Study on Muslim Pilgrims.

PubMed

Nabipour, Amir Reza; Nakhaee, Nouzar; Khanjani, Narges; Soltani, Maryam; Moradlou, Hossein Zirak; Soltani, Zahrasadat

2018-02-01

God Locus of Health Control (GHLC) scale is an instrument for assessing to what extent one believes that God controls his/her health or disease. The aim of this study was to describe the cultural adaptation of this scale and to investigate the psychometric properties of Persian version. At first, the scale was forward-translated to Persian, and then, backward-translation was conducted. Finally, the synthesized back-translated version was prepared and compared to the draft Persian-language version of the GLHC. In the next step, in order to test cognitive debriefing, the Persian-language version of the questionnaire was completed by 20 pilgrims. Final version of Persian GHLC scale was answered by 600 pilgrims attending religious holy places. Mean age of respondents was 33.15 (±11.04) years. There was a positive correlation between six items of GLHC scale and inter-item correlation coefficients. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.84. Exploratory factor analysis showed that the G LHC scale had a one-factor structure. The factor loadings for all items ranged from 0.57 to 0.77. Residual correlations of all items were between -0.2 and +0.2. The people with lower income had significantly higher score of GLHC scale. GLHC scale score had a significant positive correlation with DUREL subscale and MHLC Chance Externality subscale score. There was no a significant correlation between GLHC scale score and Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) Internality and Powerful subscales scores. The results of the present study showed that the Persian version of GHLC scale has acceptable factorial validity and internal consistency reliability.

Analysis and interpretation of the 1985 Sequoia transport experiment. Final report

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

Myrup, L.; Flocchini, R.

1987-10-01

An analysis and interpretation is presented of the 1985 Aerosol Transport and Characterization Program at Sequoia National Park, sponsored by the California Air Resources Board. Overall, it was found that the Program produced unique data sets and interesting new results relating particulate air quality and meteorology in the context of complex terrain. The major conclusion is that the meso-scale wind field, as modulated by synoptic-scale fluctuations, is the chief factor acting to cause variation in particulate concentrations in the Park. Areas for future work are discussed. In addition, it was recommended that in future measurement programs, greater effort be mademore » to locate sites completely unaffected by local sources of pollutants.« less

Update on the Child's Challenging Behaviour Scale following evaluation using Rasch analysis.

PubMed

Bourke-Taylor, H M; Pallant, J F; Law, M

2014-03-01

The Child's Challenging Behaviour Scale (CCBS) was designed to measure a mother's rating of her child's challenging behaviours. The CCBS was initially developed for mothers of school-aged children with developmental disability and has previously been shown to have good psychometric properties using classical test theory techniques. The aim of this study was to use Rasch analysis to fully evaluate all aspects of the scale, including response format, item fit, dimensionality and targeting. The sample consisted of 152 mothers of a school-aged child (aged 5-18 years) with a disability. Mothers were recruited via websites and mail-out newsletters through not-for-profit organizations that supported families with disabilities. Respondents completed a survey which included the 11 items of the CCBS. Rasch analysis was conducted on these responses using the RUMM2030 package. Rasch analysis of the CCBS revealed serious threshold disordering for nine of the 11 items, suggesting problems with the 5-point response format used for the scale. The neutral midpoint of the response format was subsequently removed to create a 4-point scale. High levels of local dependency were detected among two pairs of items, resulting in the removal of two items (item 7 and item 1). The final nine-item version of the scale (CCBS Version 2) was unidimensional, well targeted, showed good fit to the Rasch model, and strong internal consistency. To achieve fit to the Rasch model it was necessary to make two modifications to the CCBS scale. The resulting nine-item scale with a 4-point response format showed excellent psychometric properties, supporting its internal validity. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Methodological Issues in Questionnaire Design.

PubMed

Song, Youngshin; Son, Youn Jung; Oh, Doonam

2015-06-01

The process of designing a questionnaire is complicated. Many questionnaires on nursing phenomena have been developed and used by nursing researchers. The purpose of this paper was to discuss questionnaire design and factors that should be considered when using existing scales. Methodological issues were discussed, such as factors in the design of questions, steps in developing questionnaires, wording and formatting methods for items, and administrations methods. How to use existing scales, how to facilitate cultural adaptation, and how to prevent socially desirable responding were discussed. Moreover, the triangulation method in questionnaire development was introduced. Steps were recommended for designing questions such as appropriately operationalizing key concepts for the target population, clearly formatting response options, generating items and confirming final items through face or content validity, sufficiently piloting the questionnaire using item analysis, demonstrating reliability and validity, finalizing the scale, and training the administrator. Psychometric properties and cultural equivalence should be evaluated prior to administration when using an existing questionnaire and performing cultural adaptation. In the context of well-defined nursing phenomena, logical and systematic methods will contribute to the development of simple and precise questionnaires.

Study deviance-type scale in the development of Korean elder.

PubMed

Cho, Gun-Sang; Yi, Eun-Surk; Hwang, Hee-Jeong

2015-12-01

This research aims to develop a questionnaire of deviant behavior for the Korean elderly people which may make a big contribution to the examination of deviance behavior of the elderly people and may play an important role in providing a methodological basis. In order to accomplish the purpose of the this study, there were three different stages; (a) making preliminary question items, (b) refining the items of the scale through a plot study, and (c) finalizing question items by a main survey. In the first stage, 43 question items were developed using the open-ended questionnaire and structural inquiry of succession from 137 elderly people who are over 65 yr. In the second phase, based on data collected by the 200 elderly people pilot testing was performed through exploratory factor analysis and reliability test. The scale is a 27-item self-report questionnaire. In the main survey conducted by 184 elderly people, 21 items, which consisted of four subfactors, were finalized in order to measure deviance behaviors of the Korean elderly people: social deviance (n=8), economic deviance (n=5), psychological deviance (n=5), and physical deviance (n=3).

PIPER: Performance Insight for Programmers and Exascale Runtimes: Guiding the Development of the Exascale Software Stack

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

Mellor-Crummey, John

The PIPER project set out to develop methodologies and software for measurement, analysis, attribution, and presentation of performance data for extreme-scale systems. Goals of the project were to support analysis of massive multi-scale parallelism, heterogeneous architectures, multi-faceted performance concerns, and to support both post-mortem performance analysis to identify program features that contribute to problematic performance and on-line performance analysis to drive adaptation. This final report summarizes the research and development activity at Rice University as part of the PIPER project. Producing a complete suite of performance tools for exascale platforms during the course of this project was impossible since bothmore » hardware and software for exascale systems is still a moving target. For that reason, the project focused broadly on the development of new techniques for measurement and analysis of performance on modern parallel architectures, enhancements to HPCToolkit’s software infrastructure to support our research goals or use on sophisticated applications, engaging developers of multithreaded runtimes to explore how support for tools should be integrated into their designs, engaging operating system developers with feature requests for enhanced monitoring support, engaging vendors with requests that they add hardware measure- ment capabilities and software interfaces needed by tools as they design new components of HPC platforms including processors, accelerators and networks, and finally collaborations with partners interested in using HPCToolkit to analyze and tune scalable parallel applications.« less

Structural evolution in the crystallization of rapid cooling silver melt

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

Tian, Z.A., E-mail: ze.tian@gmail.com; Laboratory for Simulation and Modelling of Particulate Systems School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052; Dong, K.J.

2015-03-15

The structural evolution in a rapid cooling process of silver melt has been investigated at different scales by adopting several analysis methods. The results testify Ostwald’s rule of stages and Frank conjecture upon icosahedron with many specific details. In particular, the cluster-scale analysis by a recent developed method called LSCA (the Largest Standard Cluster Analysis) clarified the complex structural evolution occurred in crystallization: different kinds of local clusters (such as ico-like (ico is the abbreviation of icosahedron), ico-bcc like (bcc, body-centred cubic), bcc, bcc-like structures) in turn have their maximal numbers as temperature decreases. And in a rather wide temperaturemore » range the icosahedral short-range order (ISRO) demonstrates a saturated stage (where the amount of ico-like structures keeps stable) that breeds metastable bcc clusters. As the precursor of crystallization, after reaching the maximal number bcc clusters finally decrease, resulting in the final solid being a mixture mainly composed of fcc/hcp (face-centred cubic and hexagonal-closed packed) clusters and to a less degree, bcc clusters. This detailed geometric picture for crystallization of liquid metal is believed to be useful to improve the fundamental understanding of liquid–solid phase transition. - Highlights: • A comprehensive structural analysis is conducted focusing on crystallization. • The involved atoms in our analysis are more than 90% for all samples concerned. • A series of distinct intermediate states are found in crystallization of silver melt. • A novelty icosahedron-saturated state breeds the metastable bcc state.« less

Development and validation of a public attitudes toward epilepsy (PATE) scale.

PubMed

Lim, Kheng-Seang; Wu, Cathie; Choo, Wan-Yuen; Tan, Chong-Tin

2012-06-01

A quantitative scale of public attitudes toward epilepsy is essential to determine the magnitude of social stigma against epilepsy. This study aims to develop and validate a cross-culturally applicable scale of public attitudes toward epilepsy. A set of questions was selected from questionnaires identified from a literature review, following which a panel review determined the final version, consisting of 18 items. A 1-5 Likert scale was used for scoring. Additional questions, related to perception of the productivity of people with epilepsy and of a modified epilepsy stigma scale, were added as part of construct validation. One hundred and thirty heterogeneous respondents were collected, consisting of various age groups, ethnicity and occupation status levels. After item and factor analyses, the final version consisted of 14 items. Psychometric properties of the scale were first determined using factor analysis, which revealed a general and a personal domain, with good internal consistency (Cronbach's coefficient 0.868 and 0.633, respectively). Construct validation was demonstrated. The mean score for the personal domain was higher than that for the general domain (2.72±0.56 and 2.09±0.59, respectively). The mean scores of those with tertiary education were significantly lower for the general domain, but not for the personal domain. Age was positively correlated with the mean scores in the personal domain, but not in the general domain. This scale is a reliable and valid scale to assess public attitudes toward epilepsy, in both the general and personal domains. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Condition Monitoring of Large-Scale Facilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, David L.

1999-01-01

This document provides a summary of the research conducted for the NASA Ames Research Center under grant NAG2-1182 (Condition-Based Monitoring of Large-Scale Facilities). The information includes copies of view graphs presented at NASA Ames in the final Workshop (held during December of 1998), as well as a copy of a technical report provided to the COTR (Dr. Anne Patterson-Hine) subsequent to the workshop. The material describes the experimental design, collection of data, and analysis results associated with monitoring the health of large-scale facilities. In addition to this material, a copy of the Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory data fusion visual programming tool kit was also provided to NASA Ames researchers.

Interaction between Liénard and Ikeda dynamics in a nonlinear electro-optical oscillator with delayed bandpass feedback.

PubMed

Marquez, Bicky A; Larger, Laurent; Brunner, Daniel; Chembo, Yanne K; Jacquot, Maxime

2016-12-01

We report on experimental and theoretical analysis of the complex dynamics generated by a nonlinear time-delayed electro-optic bandpass oscillator. We investigate the interaction between the slow- and fast-scale dynamics of autonomous oscillations in the breather regime. We analyze in detail the coupling between the fast-scale behavior associated to a characteristic low-pass Ikeda behavior and the slow-scale dynamics associated to a Liénard limit-cycle. Finally, we show that when projected onto a two-dimensional phase space, the attractors corresponding to periodic and chaotic breathers display a spiral-like pattern, which strongly depends on the shape of the nonlinear function.

Extreme Performance Scalable Operating Systems Final Progress Report (July 1, 2008 - October 31, 2011)

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

Malony, Allen D; Shende, Sameer

This is the final progress report for the FastOS (Phase 2) (FastOS-2) project with Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Oregon (UO). The project started at UO on July 1, 2008 and ran until April 30, 2010, at which time a six-month no-cost extension began. The FastOS-2 work at UO delivered excellent results in all research work areas: * scalable parallel monitoring * kernel-level performance measurement * parallel I/0 system measurement * large-scale and hybrid application performance measurement * onlne scalable performance data reduction and analysis * binary instrumentation

Atomic-Scale Factors of Combustion Nanocatalysts

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-27

AFRL-OSR-VA-TR-2014-0122 ATOMIC- SCALE PRINCIPLES OF COMBUSTION NANOCATALYSIS Uzi Landman GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION Final Report 05/19/2014...Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18 27-03-2014 Final 01-06-2008 - 31-12-2013 MURI 08) - ATOMIC- SCALE PRINCIPLES OF COMBUSTION NANOCATALYSIS N/A FA9550-08...of predictive capabilities, addressing the creation, characterization, atomic- scale manipulations, and control of nanometer- scale catalytic systems

On identifying relationships between the flood scaling exponent and basin attributes.

PubMed

Medhi, Hemanta; Tripathi, Shivam

2015-07-01

Floods are known to exhibit self-similarity and follow scaling laws that form the basis of regional flood frequency analysis. However, the relationship between basin attributes and the scaling behavior of floods is still not fully understood. Identifying these relationships is essential for drawing connections between hydrological processes in a basin and the flood response of the basin. The existing studies mostly rely on simulation models to draw these connections. This paper proposes a new methodology that draws connections between basin attributes and the flood scaling exponents by using observed data. In the proposed methodology, region-of-influence approach is used to delineate homogeneous regions for each gaging station. Ordinary least squares regression is then applied to estimate flood scaling exponents for each homogeneous region, and finally stepwise regression is used to identify basin attributes that affect flood scaling exponents. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is tested by applying it to data from river basins in the United States. The results suggest that flood scaling exponent is small for regions having (i) large abstractions from precipitation in the form of large soil moisture storages and high evapotranspiration losses, and (ii) large fractions of overland flow compared to base flow, i.e., regions having fast-responding basins. Analysis of simple scaling and multiscaling of floods showed evidence of simple scaling for regions in which the snowfall dominates the total precipitation.

Development and validation of brief scales to measure emotional and behavioural problems among Chinese adolescents

PubMed Central

Shen, Minxue; Hu, Ming; Sun, Zhenqiu

2017-01-01

Objectives To develop and validate brief scales to measure common emotional and behavioural problems among adolescents in the examination-oriented education system and collectivistic culture of China. Setting Middle schools in Hunan province. Participants 5442 middle school students aged 11–19 years were sampled. 4727 valid questionnaires were collected and used for validation of the scales. The final sample included 2408 boys and 2319 girls. Primary and secondary outcome measures The tools were assessed by the item response theory, classical test theory (reliability and construct validity) and differential item functioning. Results Four scales to measure anxiety, depression, study problem and sociality problem were established. Exploratory factor analysis showed that each scale had two solutions. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable to good model fit for each scale. Internal consistency and test–retest reliability of all scales were above 0.7. Item response theory showed that all items had acceptable discrimination parameters and most items had appropriate difficulty parameters. 10 items demonstrated differential item functioning with respect to gender. Conclusions Four brief scales were developed and validated among adolescents in middle schools of China. The scales have good psychometric properties with minor differential item functioning. They can be used in middle school settings, and will help school officials to assess the students’ emotional/behavioural problems. PMID:28062469

A topology visualization early warning distribution algorithm for large-scale network security incidents.

PubMed

He, Hui; Fan, Guotao; Ye, Jianwei; Zhang, Weizhe

2013-01-01

It is of great significance to research the early warning system for large-scale network security incidents. It can improve the network system's emergency response capabilities, alleviate the cyber attacks' damage, and strengthen the system's counterattack ability. A comprehensive early warning system is presented in this paper, which combines active measurement and anomaly detection. The key visualization algorithm and technology of the system are mainly discussed. The large-scale network system's plane visualization is realized based on the divide and conquer thought. First, the topology of the large-scale network is divided into some small-scale networks by the MLkP/CR algorithm. Second, the sub graph plane visualization algorithm is applied to each small-scale network. Finally, the small-scale networks' topologies are combined into a topology based on the automatic distribution algorithm of force analysis. As the algorithm transforms the large-scale network topology plane visualization problem into a series of small-scale network topology plane visualization and distribution problems, it has higher parallelism and is able to handle the display of ultra-large-scale network topology.

Development of the Large-Scale Forcing Data to Support MC3E Cloud Modeling Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, S.; Zhang, Y.

2011-12-01

The large-scale forcing fields (e.g., vertical velocity and advective tendencies) are required to run single-column and cloud-resolving models (SCMs/CRMs), which are the two key modeling frameworks widely used to link field data to climate model developments. In this study, we use an advanced objective analysis approach to derive the required forcing data from the soundings collected by the Midlatitude Continental Convective Cloud Experiment (MC3E) in support of its cloud modeling studies. MC3E is the latest major field campaign conducted during the period 22 April 2011 to 06 June 2011 in south-central Oklahoma through a joint effort between the DOE ARM program and the NASA Global Precipitation Measurement Program. One of its primary goals is to provide a comprehensive dataset that can be used to describe the large-scale environment of convective cloud systems and evaluate model cumulus parameterizations. The objective analysis used in this study is the constrained variational analysis method. A unique feature of this approach is the use of domain-averaged surface and top-of-the atmosphere (TOA) observations (e.g., precipitation and radiative and turbulent fluxes) as constraints to adjust atmospheric state variables from soundings by the smallest possible amount to conserve column-integrated mass, moisture, and static energy so that the final analysis data is dynamically and thermodynamically consistent. To address potential uncertainties in the surface observations, an ensemble forcing dataset will be developed. Multi-scale forcing will be also created for simulating various scale convective systems. At the meeting, we will provide more details about the forcing development and present some preliminary analysis of the characteristics of the large-scale forcing structures for several selected convective systems observed during MC3E.

The technological influence on health professionals' care: translation and adaptation of scales1

PubMed Central

Almeida, Carlos Manuel Torres; Almeida, Filipe Nuno Alves dos Santos; Escola, Joaquim José Jacinto; Rodrigues, Vitor Manuel Costa Pereira

2016-01-01

Objectives: in this study, two research tools were validated to study the impact of technological influence on health professionals' care practice. Methods: the following methodological steps were taken: bibliographic review, selection of the scales, translation and cultural adaptation and analysis of psychometric properties. Results: the psychometric properties of the scale were assessed based on its application to a sample of 341 individuals (nurses, physicians, final-year nursing and medical students). The validity, reliability and internal consistency were tested. Two scales were found: Caring Attributes Questionnaire (adapted) with a Cronbach's Alpha coefficient of 0.647 and the Technological Influence Questionnaire (adapted) with an Alpha coefficient of 0.777. Conclusions: the scales are easy to apply and reveal reliable psychometric properties, an additional quality as they permit generalized studies on a theme as important as the impact of technological influence in health care. PMID:27143537

[Developing the Japanese version of the Adult Attachment Style Scale (ECR)].

PubMed

Nakao, Tatsuma; Kato, Kazuo

2004-06-01

This study attempted to adapt into Japanese the Adult Attachment Style Scale (ECR: Experiences in Close Relationships inventory) that was constructed by Brennan, Clark, and Shaver (1998), based on 14 existing scales. Of 387 respondents, 231 who reported having been or are currently involved in romantic relationships were employed for final analysis. We examined validities of the Japanese version of ECR in the two ways: (1) Examining the correlations between "Anxiety" and Self-esteem scale by Rosenberg (1965) which were theoretically related to Self-view, and the correlations between "Avoidance" and Other-view scale by Kato (1999b) which were theoretically related to Other-view; (2) whether or not ECR represents the features of four attachment styles as classified by Relationship Questionnaire (RQ; Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991). The results supported our expectations. This Japanese version of ECR was demonstrated to have adequate psychometric properties in validity and reliability.

Scale of reference bias and the evolution of health.

PubMed

Groot, Wim

2003-09-01

The analysis of subjective measures of well-being-such as self-reports by individuals about their health status is frequently hampered by the problem of scale of reference bias. A particular form of scale of reference bias is age norming. In this study we corrected for scale of reference bias by allowing for individual specific effects in an equation on subjective health. A random effects ordered response model was used to analyze scale of reference bias in self-reported health measures. The results indicate that if we do not control for unobservable individual specific effects, the response to a subjective health state measure suffers from age norming. Age norming can be controlled for by a random effects estimation technique using longitudinal data. Further, estimates are presented on the rate of depreciation of health. Finally, simulations of life expectancy indicate that the estimated model provides a reasonably good fit of the true life expectancy.

Simulation of Mesoscale Cellular Convection in Marine Stratocumulus. Part I: Drizzling Conditions

DOE PAGES

Zhou, Xiaoli; Ackerman, Andrew S.; Fridlind, Ann M.; ...

2018-01-01

This study uses eddy-permitting simulations to investigate the mechanisms that promote mesoscale variability of moisture in drizzling stratocumulus-topped marine boundary layers. Simulations show that precipitation tends to increase horizontal scales. Analysis of terms in the prognostic equation for total water mixing ratio variance indicates that moisture stratification plays a leading role in setting horizontal scales. This result is supported by simulations in which horizontal mean thermodynamic profiles are strongly nudged to their initial well-mixed state, which limits cloud scales. It is found that the spatial variability of subcloud moist cold pools surprisingly tends to respond to, rather than determine, themore » mesoscale variability, which may distinguish them from dry cold pools associated with deeper convection. Finally, simulations also indicate that moisture stratification increases cloud scales specifically by increasing latent heating within updrafts, which increases updraft buoyancy and favors greater horizontal scales.« less

Simulation of Mesoscale Cellular Convection in Marine Stratocumulus. Part I: Drizzling Conditions

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

Zhou, Xiaoli; Ackerman, Andrew S.; Fridlind, Ann M.

This study uses eddy-permitting simulations to investigate the mechanisms that promote mesoscale variability of moisture in drizzling stratocumulus-topped marine boundary layers. Simulations show that precipitation tends to increase horizontal scales. Analysis of terms in the prognostic equation for total water mixing ratio variance indicates that moisture stratification plays a leading role in setting horizontal scales. This result is supported by simulations in which horizontal mean thermodynamic profiles are strongly nudged to their initial well-mixed state, which limits cloud scales. It is found that the spatial variability of subcloud moist cold pools surprisingly tends to respond to, rather than determine, themore » mesoscale variability, which may distinguish them from dry cold pools associated with deeper convection. Finally, simulations also indicate that moisture stratification increases cloud scales specifically by increasing latent heating within updrafts, which increases updraft buoyancy and favors greater horizontal scales.« less

Land-Use Scenarios: National-Scale Housing-Density Scenarios Consistent with Climate Change Storylines (Final Report)

EPA Science Inventory

EPA announced the availability of the final report, Land-Use Scenarios: National-Scale Housing-Density Scenarios Consistent with Climate Change Storylines. This report describes the scenarios and models used to generate national-scale housing density scenarios for the con...

Research in Observations of Oceanic Air/Sea Interaction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Long, David G.; Arnold, David V.

1995-01-01

The primary purpose of this research has been: (1) to develop an innovative research radar scatterometer system capable of directly measuring both the radar backscatter and the small-scale and large-scale ocean wave field simultaneously and (2) deploy this instrument to collect data to support studies of air/sea interaction. The instrument has been successfully completed and deployed. The system deployment lasted for six months during 1995. Results to date suggest that the data is remarkably useful in air/sea interaction studies. While the data analysis is continuing, two journal and fifteen conference papers have been published. Six papers are currently in review with two additional journal papers scheduled for publication. Three Master's theses on this research have been completed. A Ph.D. student is currently finalizing his dissertation which should be completed by the end of the calendar year. We have received additional 'mainstream' funding from the NASA oceans branch to continue data analysis and instrument operations. We are actively pursuing results from the data expect additional publications to follow. This final report briefly describes the instrument system we developed and results to-date from the deployment. Additional detail is contained in the attached papers selected from the bibliography.

Unmasking the masked Universe: the 2M++ catalogue through Bayesian eyes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavaux, Guilhem; Jasche, Jens

2016-01-01

This work describes a full Bayesian analysis of the Nearby Universe as traced by galaxies of the 2M++ survey. The analysis is run in two sequential steps. The first step self-consistently derives the luminosity-dependent galaxy biases, the power spectrum of matter fluctuations and matter density fields within a Gaussian statistic approximation. The second step makes a detailed analysis of the three-dimensional large-scale structures, assuming a fixed bias model and a fixed cosmology. This second step allows for the reconstruction of both the final density field and the initial conditions at z = 1000 assuming a fixed bias model. From these, we derive fields that self-consistently extrapolate the observed large-scale structures. We give two examples of these extrapolation and their utility for the detection of structures: the visibility of the Sloan Great Wall, and the detection and characterization of the Local Void using DIVA, a Lagrangian based technique to classify structures.

Development of a Short Questionnaire to Measure an Extended Set of Job Demands, Job Resources, and Positive Health Outcomes: The New Brief Job Stress Questionnaire

PubMed Central

INOUE, Akiomi; KAWAKAMI, Norito; SHIMOMITSU, Teruichi; TSUTSUMI, Akizumi; HARATANI, Takashi; YOSHIKAWA, Toru; SHIMAZU, Akihito; ODAGIRI, Yuko

2014-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the reliability and construct validity of a new version of the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (New BJSQ), which measures an extended set of psychosocial factors at work by adding new scales/items to the current version of the BJSQ. Additional scales/items were extensively collected from theoretical job stress models and similar questionnaires in several countries. Scales/items were field-tested and refined through a pilot internet survey. Finally, an 84-item questionnaire (141 items in total when combined with the current BJSQ) was developed. A nationally representative survey was administered to employees in Japan (n=1,633) to examine the reliability and construct validity. Most scales showed acceptable levels of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Principal component analyses showed that the first factor explained 50% or greater proportion of the variance in most scales. A scale factor analysis and a correlation analysis showed that these scales fit the theoretical expectations. These findings provided a piece of evidence that the New BJSQ scales are reliable and valid. Although more detailed content and construct validity should be examined in future study, the New BJSQ is a useful instrument to evaluate psychosocial work environment and positive mental health outcomes in the current workplace. PMID:24492763

Development of a short questionnaire to measure an extended set of job demands, job resources, and positive health outcomes: the new brief job stress questionnaire.

PubMed

Inoue, Akiomi; Kawakami, Norito; Shimomitsu, Teruichi; Tsutsumi, Akizumi; Haratani, Takashi; Yoshikawa, Toru; Shimazu, Akihito; Odagiri, Yuko

2014-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the reliability and construct validity of a new version of the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (New BJSQ), which measures an extended set of psychosocial factors at work by adding new scales/items to the current version of the BJSQ. Additional scales/items were extensively collected from theoretical job stress models and similar questionnaires in several countries. Scales/items were field-tested and refined through a pilot internet survey. Finally, an 84-item questionnaire (141 items in total when combined with the current BJSQ) was developed. A nationally representative survey was administered to employees in Japan (n=1,633) to examine the reliability and construct validity. Most scales showed acceptable levels of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Principal component analyses showed that the first factor explained 50% or greater proportion of the variance in most scales. A scale factor analysis and a correlation analysis showed that these scales fit the theoretical expectations. These findings provided a piece of evidence that the New BJSQ scales are reliable and valid. Although more detailed content and construct validity should be examined in future study, the New BJSQ is a useful instrument to evaluate psychosocial work environment and positive mental health outcomes in the current workplace.

Validity and reliability of a scale to measure genital body image.

PubMed

Zielinski, Ruth E; Kane-Low, Lisa; Miller, Janis M; Sampselle, Carolyn

2012-01-01

Women's body image dissatisfaction extends to body parts usually hidden from view--their genitals. Ability to measure genital body image is limited by lack of valid and reliable questionnaires. We subjected a previously developed questionnaire, the Genital Self Image Scale (GSIS) to psychometric testing using a variety of methods. Five experts determined the content validity of the scale. Then using four participant groups, factor analysis was performed to determine construct validity and to identify factors. Further construct validity was established using the contrasting groups approach. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability was determined. Twenty one of 29 items were considered content valid. Two items were added based on expert suggestions. Factor analysis was undertaken resulting in four factors, identified as Genital Confidence, Appeal, Function, and Comfort. The revised scale (GSIS-20) included 20 items explaining 59.4% of the variance. Women indicating an interest in genital cosmetic surgery exhibited significantly lower scores on the GSIS-20 than those who did not. The final 20 item scale exhibited internal reliability across all sample groups as well as test-retest reliability. The GSIS-20 provides a measure of genital body image demonstrating reliability and validity across several populations of women.

Measuring the Psychological Distance between an Organization and Its Members—The Construction and Validation of a New Scale

PubMed Central

Chen, Hong; Li, Shanshan

2018-01-01

There exists a lack of specific research methods to estimate the relationship between an organization and its employees, which has long challenged research in the field of organizational management. Therefore, this article introduces psychological distance concept into the research of organizational behavior, which can define the concept of psychological distance between employees and an organization and describe a level of perceived correspondence or interaction between subjects and objects. We developed an employee-organization psychological distance (EOPD) scale through both qualitative and quantitative analysis methods. As indicated by the research results based on grounded theory (10 employee in-depth interview records and 277 opening questionnaires) and formal investigation (544 questionnaires), this scale consists of six dimensions: experiential distance, behavioral distance, emotional distance, cognitive distance, spatial-temporal distance, and objective social distance based on 44 items. Finally, we determined that the EOPD scale exhibited acceptable reliability and validity using confirmatory factor analysis. This research may establish a foundation for future research on the measurement of psychological relationships between employees and organizations. PMID:29375427

Image-Based Macro-Micro Finite Element Models of a Canine Femur with Implant Design Implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Somnath; Krishnan, Ganapathi; Dyce, Jonathan

2006-06-01

In this paper, a comprehensive model of a bone-cement-implant assembly is developed for a canine cemented femoral prosthesis system. Various steps in this development entail profiling the canine femur contours by computed tomography (CT) scanning, computer aided design (CAD) reconstruction of the canine femur from CT images, CAD modeling of the implant from implant blue prints and CAD modeling of the interface cement. Finite element analysis of the macroscopic assembly is conducted for stress analysis in individual components of the system, accounting for variation in density and material properties in the porous bone material. A sensitivity analysis is conducted with the macroscopic model to investigate the effect of implant design variables on the stress distribution in the assembly. Subsequently, rigorous microstructural analysis of the bone incorporating the morphological intricacies is conducted. Various steps in this development include acquisition of the bone microstructural data from histological serial sectioning, stacking of sections to obtain 3D renderings of void distributions, microstructural characterization and determination of properties and, finally, microstructural stress analysis using a 3D Voronoi cell finite element method. Generation of the simulated microstructure and analysis by the 3D Voronoi cell finite element model provides a new way of modeling complex microstructures and correlating to morphological characteristics. An inverse calculation of the material parameters of bone by combining macroscopic experiments with microstructural characterization and analysis provides a new approach to evaluating properties without having to do experiments at this scale. Finally, the microstructural stresses in the femur are computed using the 3D VCFEM to study the stress distribution at the scale of the bone porosity. Significant difference is observed between the macroscopic stresses and the peak microscopic stresses at different locations.

Scaling up a CMS tier-3 site with campus resources and a 100 Gb/s network connection: what could go wrong?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolf, Matthias; Woodard, Anna; Li, Wenzhao; Hurtado Anampa, Kenyi; Tovar, Benjamin; Brenner, Paul; Lannon, Kevin; Hildreth, Mike; Thain, Douglas

2017-10-01

The University of Notre Dame (ND) CMS group operates a modest-sized Tier-3 site suitable for local, final-stage analysis of CMS data. However, through the ND Center for Research Computing (CRC), Notre Dame researchers have opportunistic access to roughly 25k CPU cores of computing and a 100 Gb/s WAN network link. To understand the limits of what might be possible in this scenario, we undertook to use these resources for a wide range of CMS computing tasks from user analysis through large-scale Monte Carlo production (including both detector simulation and data reconstruction.) We will discuss the challenges inherent in effectively utilizing CRC resources for these tasks and the solutions deployed to overcome them.

SRB Environment Evaluation and Analysis. Volume 3: ASRB Plume Induced Environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bender, R. L.; Brown, J. R.; Reardon, J. E.; Everson, J.; Coons, L. W.; Stuckey, C. I.; Fulton, M. S.

1991-01-01

Contract NAS8-37891 was expanded in late 1989 to initiate analysis of Shuttle plume induced environments as a result of the substitution of the Advanced Solid Rocket Booster (ASRB) for the Redesigned Solid Rocket Booster (RSRB). To support this analysis, REMTECH became involved in subscale and full-scale solid rocket motor test programs which further expanded the scope of work. Later contract modifications included additional tasks to produce initial design cycle environments and to specify development flight instrumentation. Volume 3 of the final report describes these analyses and contains a summary of reports resulting from various studies.

Amyris, Inc. Integrated Biorefinery Project Summary Final Report - Public Version

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

Gray, David; Sato, Suzanne; Garcia, Fernando

The Amyris pilot-scale Integrated Biorefinery (IBR) leveraged Amyris synthetic biology and process technology experience to upgrade Amyris’s existing Emeryville, California pilot plant and fermentation labs to enable development of US-based production capabilities for renewable diesel fuel and alternative chemical products. These products were derived semi-synthetically from high-impact biomass feedstocks via microbial fermentation to the 15-carbon intermediate farnesene, with subsequent chemical finishing to farnesane. The Amyris IBR team tested and provided methods for production of diesel and alternative chemical products from sweet sorghum, and other high-impact lignocellulosic feedstocks, at pilot scale. This enabled robust techno-economic analysis (TEA), regulatory approvals, and amore » basis for full-scale manufacturing processes and facility design.« less

Analysis on the restriction factors of the green building scale promotion based on DEMATEL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wenxia, Hong; Zhenyao, Jiang; Zhao, Yang

2017-03-01

In order to promote the large-scale development of the green building in our country, DEMATEL method was used to classify influence factors of green building development into three parts, including green building market, green technology and macro economy. Through the DEMATEL model, the interaction mechanism of each part was analyzed. The mutual influence degree of each barrier factor that affects the green building promotion was quantitatively analysed and key factors for the development of green building in China were also finally determined. In addition, some implementation strategies of promoting green building scale development in our country were put forward. This research will show important reference value and practical value for making policies of the green building promotion.

Evaluation of the Edinburgh Post Natal Depression Scale using Rasch analysis

PubMed Central

Pallant, Julie F; Miller, Renée L; Tennant, Alan

2006-01-01

Background The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is a 10 item self-rating post-natal depression scale which has seen widespread use in epidemiological and clinical studies. Concern has been raised over the validity of the EPDS as a single summed scale, with suggestions that it measures two separate aspects, one of depressive feelings, the other of anxiety. Methods As part of a larger cross-sectional study conducted in Melbourne, Australia, a community sample (324 women, ranging in age from 18 to 44 years: mean = 32 yrs, SD = 4.6), was obtained by inviting primiparous women to participate voluntarily in this study. Data from the EPDS were fitted to the Rasch measurement model and tested for appropriate category ordering, for item bias through Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analysis, and for unidimensionality through tests of the assumption of local independence. Results Rasch analysis of the data from the ten item scale initially demonstrated a lack of fit to the model with a significant Item-Trait Interaction total chi-square (chi Square = 82.8, df = 40; p < .001). Removal of two items (items 7 and 8) resulted in a non-significant Item-Trait Interaction total chi-square with a residual mean value for items of -0.467 with a standard deviation of 0.850, showing fit to the model. No DIF existed in the final 8-item scale (EPDS-8) and all items showed fit to model expectations. Principal Components Analysis of the residuals supported the local independence assumption, and unidimensionality of the revised EPDS-8 scale. Revised cut points were identified for EPDS-8 to maintain the case identification of the original scale. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that EPDS, in its original 10 item form, is not a viable scale for the unidimensional measurement of depression. Rasch analysis suggests that a revised eight item version (EPDS-8) would provide a more psychometrically robust scale. The revised cut points of 7/8 and 9/10 for the EPDS-8 show high levels of agreement with the original case identification for the EPDS-10. PMID:16768803

Static analysis techniques for semiautomatic synthesis of message passing software skeletons

DOE PAGES

Sottile, Matthew; Dagit, Jason; Zhang, Deli; ...

2015-06-29

The design of high-performance computing architectures demands performance analysis of large-scale parallel applications to derive various parameters concerning hardware design and software development. The process of performance analysis and benchmarking an application can be done in several ways with varying degrees of fidelity. One of the most cost-effective ways is to do a coarse-grained study of large-scale parallel applications through the use of program skeletons. The concept of a “program skeleton” that we discuss in this article is an abstracted program that is derived from a larger program where source code that is determined to be irrelevant is removed formore » the purposes of the skeleton. In this work, we develop a semiautomatic approach for extracting program skeletons based on compiler program analysis. Finally, we demonstrate correctness of our skeleton extraction process by comparing details from communication traces, as well as show the performance speedup of using skeletons by running simulations in the SST/macro simulator.« less

Pedestrian simulation and distribution in urban space based on visibility analysis and agent simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ying, Shen; Li, Lin; Gao, Yurong

2009-10-01

Spatial visibility analysis is the important direction of pedestrian behaviors because our visual conception in space is the straight method to get environment information and navigate your actions. Based on the agent modeling and up-tobottom method, the paper develop the framework about the analysis of the pedestrian flow depended on visibility. We use viewshed in visibility analysis and impose the parameters on agent simulation to direct their motion in urban space. We analyze the pedestrian behaviors in micro-scale and macro-scale of urban open space. The individual agent use visual affordance to determine his direction of motion in micro-scale urban street on district. And we compare the distribution of pedestrian flow with configuration in macro-scale urban environment, and mine the relationship between the pedestrian flow and distribution of urban facilities and urban function. The paper first computes the visibility situations at the vantage point in urban open space, such as street network, quantify the visibility parameters. The multiple agents use visibility parameters to decide their direction of motion, and finally pedestrian flow reach to a stable state in urban environment through the simulation of multiple agent system. The paper compare the morphology of visibility parameters and pedestrian distribution with urban function and facilities layout to confirm the consistence between them, which can be used to make decision support in urban design.

CFD Analysis in Advance of the NASA Juncture Flow Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, H. C.; Pulliam, T. H.; Neuhart, D. H.; Kegerise, M. A.

2017-01-01

NASA through its Transformational Tools and Technologies Project (TTT) under the Advanced Air Vehicle Program, is supporting a substantial effort to investigate the formation and origin of separation bubbles found on wing-body juncture zones. The flow behavior in these regions is highly complex, difficult to measure experimentally, and challenging to model numerically. Multiple wing configurations were designed and evaluated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), and a series of wind tunnel risk reduction tests were performed to further down-select the candidates for the final experiment. This paper documents the CFD analysis done in conjunction with the 6 percent scale risk reduction experiment performed in NASA Langley's 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel. The combined CFD and wind tunnel results ultimately helped the Juncture Flow committee select the wing configurations for the final experiment.

Reaction dynamics analysis of a reconstituted Escherichia coli protein translation system by computational modeling

PubMed Central

Matsuura, Tomoaki; Tanimura, Naoki; Hosoda, Kazufumi; Yomo, Tetsuya; Shimizu, Yoshihiro

2017-01-01

To elucidate the dynamic features of a biologically relevant large-scale reaction network, we constructed a computational model of minimal protein synthesis consisting of 241 components and 968 reactions that synthesize the Met-Gly-Gly (MGG) peptide based on an Escherichia coli-based reconstituted in vitro protein synthesis system. We performed a simulation using parameters collected primarily from the literature and found that the rate of MGG peptide synthesis becomes nearly constant in minutes, thus achieving a steady state similar to experimental observations. In addition, concentration changes to 70% of the components, including intermediates, reached a plateau in a few minutes. However, the concentration change of each component exhibits several temporal plateaus, or a quasi-stationary state (QSS), before reaching the final plateau. To understand these complex dynamics, we focused on whether the components reached a QSS, mapped the arrangement of components in a QSS in the entire reaction network structure, and investigated time-dependent changes. We found that components in a QSS form clusters that grow over time but not in a linear fashion, and that this process involves the collapse and regrowth of clusters before the formation of a final large single cluster. These observations might commonly occur in other large-scale biological reaction networks. This developed analysis might be useful for understanding large-scale biological reactions by visualizing complex dynamics, thereby extracting the characteristics of the reaction network, including phase transitions. PMID:28167777

Performance Modeling and Cost Analysis of a Pilot-Scale Reverse Osmosis Process for the Final Purification of Olive Mill Wastewater

PubMed Central

Ochando-Pulido, Javier Miguel; Hodaifa, Gassan; Victor-Ortega, Maria Dolores; Martinez-Ferez, Antonio

2013-01-01

A secondary treatment for olive mill wastewater coming from factories working with the two-phase olive oil production process (OMW-2) has been set-up on an industrial scale in an olive oil mill in the premises of Jaén (Spain). The secondary treatment comprises Fenton-like oxidation followed by flocculation-sedimentation and filtration through olive stones. In this work, performance modelization and preliminary cost analysis of a final reverse osmosis (RO) process was examined on pilot scale for ulterior purification of OMW-2 with the goal of closing the loop of the industrial production process. Reduction of concentration polarization on the RO membrane equal to 26.3% was provided upon increment of the turbulence over the membrane to values of Reynolds number equal to 2.6 × 104. Medium operating pressure (25 bar) should be chosen to achieve significant steady state permeate flux (21.1 L h−1 m−2) and minimize membrane fouling, ensuring less than 14.7% flux drop and up to 90% feed recovery. Under these conditions, irreversible fouling below 0.08 L h−2 m−2 bar−1 helped increase the longevity of the membrane and reduce the costs of the treatment. For 10 m3 day−1 OMW-2 on average, 47.4 m2 required membrane area and 0.87 € m−3 total costs for the RO process were estimated. PMID:24957058

Guidelines for Genome-Scale Analysis of Biological Rhythms.

PubMed

Hughes, Michael E; Abruzzi, Katherine C; Allada, Ravi; Anafi, Ron; Arpat, Alaaddin Bulak; Asher, Gad; Baldi, Pierre; de Bekker, Charissa; Bell-Pedersen, Deborah; Blau, Justin; Brown, Steve; Ceriani, M Fernanda; Chen, Zheng; Chiu, Joanna C; Cox, Juergen; Crowell, Alexander M; DeBruyne, Jason P; Dijk, Derk-Jan; DiTacchio, Luciano; Doyle, Francis J; Duffield, Giles E; Dunlap, Jay C; Eckel-Mahan, Kristin; Esser, Karyn A; FitzGerald, Garret A; Forger, Daniel B; Francey, Lauren J; Fu, Ying-Hui; Gachon, Frédéric; Gatfield, David; de Goede, Paul; Golden, Susan S; Green, Carla; Harer, John; Harmer, Stacey; Haspel, Jeff; Hastings, Michael H; Herzel, Hanspeter; Herzog, Erik D; Hoffmann, Christy; Hong, Christian; Hughey, Jacob J; Hurley, Jennifer M; de la Iglesia, Horacio O; Johnson, Carl; Kay, Steve A; Koike, Nobuya; Kornacker, Karl; Kramer, Achim; Lamia, Katja; Leise, Tanya; Lewis, Scott A; Li, Jiajia; Li, Xiaodong; Liu, Andrew C; Loros, Jennifer J; Martino, Tami A; Menet, Jerome S; Merrow, Martha; Millar, Andrew J; Mockler, Todd; Naef, Felix; Nagoshi, Emi; Nitabach, Michael N; Olmedo, Maria; Nusinow, Dmitri A; Ptáček, Louis J; Rand, David; Reddy, Akhilesh B; Robles, Maria S; Roenneberg, Till; Rosbash, Michael; Ruben, Marc D; Rund, Samuel S C; Sancar, Aziz; Sassone-Corsi, Paolo; Sehgal, Amita; Sherrill-Mix, Scott; Skene, Debra J; Storch, Kai-Florian; Takahashi, Joseph S; Ueda, Hiroki R; Wang, Han; Weitz, Charles; Westermark, Pål O; Wijnen, Herman; Xu, Ying; Wu, Gang; Yoo, Seung-Hee; Young, Michael; Zhang, Eric Erquan; Zielinski, Tomasz; Hogenesch, John B

2017-10-01

Genome biology approaches have made enormous contributions to our understanding of biological rhythms, particularly in identifying outputs of the clock, including RNAs, proteins, and metabolites, whose abundance oscillates throughout the day. These methods hold significant promise for future discovery, particularly when combined with computational modeling. However, genome-scale experiments are costly and laborious, yielding "big data" that are conceptually and statistically difficult to analyze. There is no obvious consensus regarding design or analysis. Here we discuss the relevant technical considerations to generate reproducible, statistically sound, and broadly useful genome-scale data. Rather than suggest a set of rigid rules, we aim to codify principles by which investigators, reviewers, and readers of the primary literature can evaluate the suitability of different experimental designs for measuring different aspects of biological rhythms. We introduce CircaInSilico, a web-based application for generating synthetic genome biology data to benchmark statistical methods for studying biological rhythms. Finally, we discuss several unmet analytical needs, including applications to clinical medicine, and suggest productive avenues to address them.

Guidelines for Genome-Scale Analysis of Biological Rhythms

PubMed Central

Hughes, Michael E.; Abruzzi, Katherine C.; Allada, Ravi; Anafi, Ron; Arpat, Alaaddin Bulak; Asher, Gad; Baldi, Pierre; de Bekker, Charissa; Bell-Pedersen, Deborah; Blau, Justin; Brown, Steve; Ceriani, M. Fernanda; Chen, Zheng; Chiu, Joanna C.; Cox, Juergen; Crowell, Alexander M.; DeBruyne, Jason P.; Dijk, Derk-Jan; DiTacchio, Luciano; Doyle, Francis J.; Duffield, Giles E.; Dunlap, Jay C.; Eckel-Mahan, Kristin; Esser, Karyn A.; FitzGerald, Garret A.; Forger, Daniel B.; Francey, Lauren J.; Fu, Ying-Hui; Gachon, Frédéric; Gatfield, David; de Goede, Paul; Golden, Susan S.; Green, Carla; Harer, John; Harmer, Stacey; Haspel, Jeff; Hastings, Michael H.; Herzel, Hanspeter; Herzog, Erik D.; Hoffmann, Christy; Hong, Christian; Hughey, Jacob J.; Hurley, Jennifer M.; de la Iglesia, Horacio O.; Johnson, Carl; Kay, Steve A.; Koike, Nobuya; Kornacker, Karl; Kramer, Achim; Lamia, Katja; Leise, Tanya; Lewis, Scott A.; Li, Jiajia; Li, Xiaodong; Liu, Andrew C.; Loros, Jennifer J.; Martino, Tami A.; Menet, Jerome S.; Merrow, Martha; Millar, Andrew J.; Mockler, Todd; Naef, Felix; Nagoshi, Emi; Nitabach, Michael N.; Olmedo, Maria; Nusinow, Dmitri A.; Ptáček, Louis J.; Rand, David; Reddy, Akhilesh B.; Robles, Maria S.; Roenneberg, Till; Rosbash, Michael; Ruben, Marc D.; Rund, Samuel S.C.; Sancar, Aziz; Sassone-Corsi, Paolo; Sehgal, Amita; Sherrill-Mix, Scott; Skene, Debra J.; Storch, Kai-Florian; Takahashi, Joseph S.; Ueda, Hiroki R.; Wang, Han; Weitz, Charles; Westermark, Pål O.; Wijnen, Herman; Xu, Ying; Wu, Gang; Yoo, Seung-Hee; Young, Michael; Zhang, Eric Erquan; Zielinski, Tomasz; Hogenesch, John B.

2017-01-01

Genome biology approaches have made enormous contributions to our understanding of biological rhythms, particularly in identifying outputs of the clock, including RNAs, proteins, and metabolites, whose abundance oscillates throughout the day. These methods hold significant promise for future discovery, particularly when combined with computational modeling. However, genome-scale experiments are costly and laborious, yielding “big data” that are conceptually and statistically difficult to analyze. There is no obvious consensus regarding design or analysis. Here we discuss the relevant technical considerations to generate reproducible, statistically sound, and broadly useful genome-scale data. Rather than suggest a set of rigid rules, we aim to codify principles by which investigators, reviewers, and readers of the primary literature can evaluate the suitability of different experimental designs for measuring different aspects of biological rhythms. We introduce CircaInSilico, a web-based application for generating synthetic genome biology data to benchmark statistical methods for studying biological rhythms. Finally, we discuss several unmet analytical needs, including applications to clinical medicine, and suggest productive avenues to address them. PMID:29098954

The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale: A Reliability Generalization Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

López-Pina, José Antonio; Sánchez-Meca, Julio; López-López, José Antonio; Marín-Martínez, Fulgencio; Núñez-Núñez, Rosa Maria; Rosa-Alcázar, Ana I; Gómez-Conesa, Antonia; Ferrer-Requena, Josefa

2015-10-01

The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) is the most frequently applied test to assess obsessive compulsive symptoms. We conducted a reliability generalization meta-analysis on the Y-BOCS to estimate the average reliability, examine the variability among the reliability estimates, search for moderators, and propose a predictive model that researchers and clinicians can use to estimate the expected reliability of the Y-BOCS. We included studies where the Y-BOCS was applied to a sample of adults and reliability estimate was reported. Out of the 11,490 references located, 144 studies met the selection criteria. For the total scale, the mean reliability was 0.866 for coefficients alpha, 0.848 for test-retest correlations, and 0.922 for intraclass correlations. The moderator analyses led to a predictive model where the standard deviation of the total test and the target population (clinical vs. nonclinical) explained 38.6% of the total variability among coefficients alpha. Finally, clinical implications of the results are discussed. © The Author(s) 2014.

Dynamic research of masonry vault in a technical scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golebiewski, Michal; Lubowiecka, Izabela; Kujawa, Marcin

2017-03-01

The paper presents preliminary results of dynamic tests of the masonry barrel vault in a technical scale. Experimental studies are intended to identify material properties of homogenized masonry vaults under dynamic loads. The aim of the work is to create numerical models to analyse vault's dynamic response to dynamic loads in a simplest and accurate way. The process of building the vault in a technical scale is presented in the paper. Furthermore a excitation of vibrations with an electrodynamic modal exciter placed on the vault, controlled by an arbitrary waveform function generator, is discussed. Finally paper presents trends in the research for homogenization algorithm enabling dynamic analysis of masonry vaults. Experimental results were compared with outcomes of so-called macromodels (macromodel of a brick masonry is a model in which masonry, i.e. a medium consisting of two different fractions - bricks and mortar, is represented by a homogenized, uniformed, material). Homogenization entail significant simplifications, nevertheless according to the authors, can be a useful approach in a static and dynamic analysis of masonry structures.

The Job Satisfaction of Finnish Nursing Staff: The Development of a Job Satisfaction Scale and Survey Results

PubMed Central

Kvist, Tarja; Mäntynen, Raija; Partanen, Pirjo; Turunen, Hannele; Miettinen, Merja; Vehviläinen-Julkunen, Katri

2012-01-01

This paper describes the development of the Kuopio University Hospital Job Satisfaction Scale (KUHJSS) and the results of the survey. The scale was developed through a systematic literature review, and its validity and reliability were assessed using several psychometric properties including expert evaluation (n = 5), a pilot survey (n = 172), and exploratory factor analysis. The final version of KUHJSS included 37 items. A large sample psychometric evaluation was made by nursing staff (n = 2708). The exploratory factor analysis revealed seven factors with modest internal consistency (0.64–0.92). The staff reported relatively high job satisfaction. The greatest satisfaction was derived from motivating factors associated with the work; the least, from the job's demands. Respondents who considered their working units to provide an excellent quality of care reported the highest job satisfaction in every subarea (P < .0001). The KUHJSS proved to be a reliable and valid tool for measuring job satisfaction in hospital care. PMID:23133750

Status of DSMT research program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcgowan, Paul E.; Javeed, Mehzad; Edighoffer, Harold H.

1991-01-01

The status of the Dynamic Scale Model Technology (DSMT) research program is presented. DSMT is developing scale model technology for large space structures as part of the Control Structure Interaction (CSI) program at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). Under DSMT a hybrid-scale structural dynamics model of Space Station Freedom was developed. Space Station Freedom was selected as the focus structure for DSMT since the station represents the first opportunity to obtain flight data on a complex, three-dimensional space structure. Included is an overview of DSMT including the development of the space station scale model and the resulting hardware. Scaling technology was developed for this model to achieve a ground test article which existing test facilities can accommodate while employing realistically scaled hardware. The model was designed and fabricated by the Lockheed Missile and Space Co., and is assembled at LaRc for dynamic testing. Also, results from ground tests and analyses of the various model components are presented along with plans for future subassembly and matted model tests. Finally, utilization of the scale model for enhancing analysis verification of the full-scale space station is also considered.

Scale-up synthesis of zinc borate from the reaction of zinc oxide and boric acid in aqueous medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kılınç, Mert; Çakal, Gaye Ö.; Yeşil, Sertan; Bayram, Göknur; Eroğlu, İnci; Özkar, Saim

2010-11-01

Synthesis of zinc borate was conducted in a laboratory and a pilot scale batch reactor to see the influence of process variables on the reaction parameters and the final product, 2ZnO·3B 2O 3·3.5H 2O. Effects of stirring speed, presence of baffles, amount of seed, particle size and purity of zinc oxide, and mole ratio of H 3BO 3:ZnO on the zinc borate formation reaction were examined at a constant temperature of 85 °C in a laboratory (4 L) and a pilot scale (85 L) reactor. Products obtained from the reaction in both reactors were characterized by chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction, particle size distribution analysis, thermal gravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy. The kinetic data for the zinc borate production reaction was fit by using the logistic model. The results revealed that the specific reaction rate, a model parameter, decreases with increase in particle size of zinc oxide and the presence of baffles, but increases with increase in stirring speed and purity of zinc oxide; however, it is unaffected with the changes in the amount of seed and reactants ratio. The reaction completion time is unaffected by scaling-up.

Adaptation of the Recent Life Changes Questionnaire (RLCQ) to measure stressful life events in adults residing in an urban megapolis in Pakistan.

PubMed

Artani, Azmina; Bhamani, Shireen Shehzad; Azam, Iqbal; AbdulSultan, Moiz; Khoja, Adeel; Kamal, Ayeesha K

2017-05-05

Contextually relevant stressful life events are integral to the quantification of stress. None such measures have been adapted for the Pakistani population. The RLCQ developed by Richard Rahe measures stress of an individual through recording the experience of life changing events. We used qualitative methodology in order to identify contextually relevant stressors in an open ended format, using serial in-depth interviews until thematic saturation of reported stressful life events was achieved. In our next phase of adaptation, our objective was to scale each item on the questionnaire, so as to weigh each of these identified events, in terms of severity of stress. This scaling exercise was performed on 200 random participants residing in the four communities of Karachi namely Kharadar, Dhorajee, Gulshan and Garden. For analysis of the scaled tool, exploratory factor analysis was used to inform structuring. Finally, to complete the process of adaption, content and face validity exercises were performed. Content validity by subject expert review and face validity was performed by translation and back translation of the adapted RLCQ. This yielded our final adapted tool. Stressful life events emerging from the qualitative phase of the study reflect daily life stressors arising from the unstable socio-political environment. Some such events were public harassment, robbery/theft, missed life opportunities due to nepotism, extortion and threats, being a victim of state sponsored brutality, lack of electricity, water, sanitation, fuel, destruction due to natural disasters and direct or media based exposure to suicide bombing in the city. Personal or societal based relevant stressors included male child preference, having an unmarried middle aged daughter, lack of empowerment and respect reported by females. The finally adapted RLCQ incorporated "Environmental Stress" as a new category. The processes of qualitative methodology, in depth interview, community based scaling and face and content validity yielded an adapted RLCQ that represents contextually relevant life stress for adults residing in urban Pakistan. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02356263 . Registered January 28, 2015. (Observational Study Only).

A Comparison of the Personal and Professional Characteristics of Male and Female Leaders in Vocational Education. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bronk, Carol G.

A survey was made of 203 leaders in vocational education to allow a profile and comparison of leader characteristics, and determination of the extent to which selected characteristics relate to professionalism. Data analysis by several sub-programs showed (1) a mean score on the Professionalism Scale similar to that for other groups (54.58); (2)…

An Evaluation of the Cost Effectiveness of Alternative Compensatory Reading Programs, Volume IV: Cost Analysis of Summer Programs. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Salam, Nabeel; Flynn, Donald L.

This report describes the results of a study of the cost and cost effectiveness of 27 summer reading programs, carried through as part of a large-scale evaluation of compensatory reading programs. Three other reports describe cost and cost-effectiveness studies of programs during the regular school year. On an instructional-hour basis, the total…

Measuring patient engagement: development and psychometric properties of the Patient Health Engagement (PHE) Scale

PubMed Central

Graffigna, Guendalina; Barello, Serena; Bonanomi, Andrea; Lozza, Edoardo

2015-01-01

Beyond the rhetorical call for increasing patients' engagement, policy makers recognize the urgency to have an evidence-based measure of patients' engagement and capture its effect when planning and implementing initiatives aimed at sustaining the engagement of consumers in their health. In this paper, authors describe the Patient Health Engagement Scale (PHE-scale), a measure of patient engagement that is grounded in rigorous conceptualization and appropriate psychometric methods. The scale was developed based on our previous conceptualization of patient engagement (the PHE-model). In particular, the items of the PHE-scale were developed based on the findings from the literature review and from interviews with chronic patients. Initial psychometric analysis was performed to pilot test a preliminary version of the items. The items were then refined and administered to a national sample of chronic patients (N = 382) to assess the measure's psychometric performance. A final phase of test-retest reliability was performed. The analysis showed that the PHE Scale has good psychometric properties with good correlation with concurrent measures and solid reliability. Having a valid and reliable measure to assess patient engagement is the first step in understanding patient engagement and its role in health care quality, outcomes, and cost containment. The PHE Scale shows a promising clinical relevance, indicating that it can be used to tailor intervention and assess changes after patient engagement interventions. PMID:25870566

Measuring patient engagement: development and psychometric properties of the Patient Health Engagement (PHE) Scale.

PubMed

Graffigna, Guendalina; Barello, Serena; Bonanomi, Andrea; Lozza, Edoardo

2015-01-01

Beyond the rhetorical call for increasing patients' engagement, policy makers recognize the urgency to have an evidence-based measure of patients' engagement and capture its effect when planning and implementing initiatives aimed at sustaining the engagement of consumers in their health. In this paper, authors describe the Patient Health Engagement Scale (PHE-scale), a measure of patient engagement that is grounded in rigorous conceptualization and appropriate psychometric methods. The scale was developed based on our previous conceptualization of patient engagement (the PHE-model). In particular, the items of the PHE-scale were developed based on the findings from the literature review and from interviews with chronic patients. Initial psychometric analysis was performed to pilot test a preliminary version of the items. The items were then refined and administered to a national sample of chronic patients (N = 382) to assess the measure's psychometric performance. A final phase of test-retest reliability was performed. The analysis showed that the PHE Scale has good psychometric properties with good correlation with concurrent measures and solid reliability. Having a valid and reliable measure to assess patient engagement is the first step in understanding patient engagement and its role in health care quality, outcomes, and cost containment. The PHE Scale shows a promising clinical relevance, indicating that it can be used to tailor intervention and assess changes after patient engagement interventions.

Study deviance-type scale in the development of Korean elder

PubMed Central

Cho, Gun-Sang; Yi, Eun-Surk; Hwang, Hee-Jeong

2015-01-01

This research aims to develop a questionnaire of deviant behavior for the Korean elderly people which may make a big contribution to the examination of deviance behavior of the elderly people and may play an important role in providing a methodological basis. In order to accomplish the purpose of the this study, there were three different stages; (a) making preliminary question items, (b) refining the items of the scale through a plot study, and (c) finalizing question items by a main survey. In the first stage, 43 question items were developed using the open-ended questionnaire and structural inquiry of succession from 137 elderly people who are over 65 yr. In the second phase, based on data collected by the 200 elderly people pilot testing was performed through exploratory factor analysis and reliability test. The scale is a 27-item self-report questionnaire. In the main survey conducted by 184 elderly people, 21 items, which consisted of four subfactors, were finalized in order to measure deviance behaviors of the Korean elderly people: social deviance (n=8), economic deviance (n=5), psychological deviance (n=5), and physical deviance (n=3). PMID:26730382

Effect of resin infiltration on white spot lesions after debonding orthodontic brackets.

PubMed

Hammad, Shaza M; El Banna, Mai; El Zayat, Inas; Mohsen, Mohamed Abdel

2012-02-01

To evaluate the effect of application of a resin infiltration material on masking the white spot lesions (WSLs) after bracket removal. 18 patients participated in this study and were divided into two groups of nine patients each; by a visual score based on the extent of demineralization, according to the classification of the WSLs. Group 1: Visible WSLs without surface disruption and Group 2: WSLs showed a roughened surface but not requiring restoration. Three successive photographs were taken for every patient; immediately after bracket removal, 1 week after oral hygiene measures and after Icon material application. The JPEG images were imported into image analysis software (Image J version 1.33u for Windows XP, US National Institutes of Health) which presented the images into histograms of gray scale from (0 to 255). Initial and final images were compared for percentage of WSLs masking area. For both groups, a statistically significant difference at P<0.05 was obtained as follows; for WSLs in Group 1, the means at gray scale for the initial and the final photographs were 126.091 +/- 13.452 and 221.268 +/- 9.350 respectively and they revealed significance by Wilcoxon's signed rank test = 0.038, P<0.05. For WSLs in Group 2, the means at gray scale for the initial and the final photographs were 95.585 +/- 20.973 and 155.612 +/- 31.203 respectively and they revealed significance by Wilcoxon's signed rank test = 0.029, P<0.05.

Final report from VFL Technologies for the pilot-scale thermal treatment of Lower East Fork Poplar Creek floodplain soils. LEFPC appendices. Volume 5. Appendix V-D

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

NONE

1994-09-01

This final report from VFL Technologies for the pilot-scale thermal treatment of lower East Fork Poplar Creek floodplain soils dated September 1994 contains LEFPC Appendices, Volume 5, Appendix V - D. This appendix includes the final verification run data package (PAH, TCLP herbicides, TCLP pesticides).

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Dialysis patient-perceived Exercise Benefits and Barriers Scale.

PubMed

Zheng, Jing; You, Li-Ming; Lou, Tan-Qi; Chen, Nian-Chang; Lai, De-Yuan; Liang, Yan-Yi; Li, Ying-Na; Gu, Ying-Ming; Lv, Shao-Fen; Zhai, Cui-Qiu

2010-02-01

Perceptions of exercise benefits and barriers affect exercise behavior. Because of the clinical course and treatment, dialysis patients differ from the general population in their perceptions of exercise benefits and barriers, especially the latter. At present, no valid instruments for assessing perceived exercise benefits and barriers in dialysis patients are available. Our goal was to develop and test the psychometric properties of the Dialysis patient-perceived Exercise Benefits and Barriers Scale (DPEBBS). A literature review and two focus groups were conducted to generate the initial item pool. An expert panel examined the content validity. Then, 269 Chinese hemodialysis patients were recruited by convenience sampling. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to test construct validity. Finally, internal consistency and test-retest reliability were assessed. The expert panel determined that the content validity index was satisfactory. The final 24-item scale consisted of six factors explaining 57% of the total variance in the data. Confirmative factor analysis supported the six-factor structure and a higher-order model. Cronbach's alpha was 0.87 for the total scale, and 0.84 for test-retest reliability. The DPEBBS was a valid and reliable instrument for evaluating dialysis patients' perceived benefits and barriers to exercise. The application value of this scale remains to be investigated by increasing the sample size and evaluating patients undergoing different dialysis modalities and coming from different regions and cultural backgrounds. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Development of skill scale for communication skill measurement of pharmacist].

PubMed

Teramachi, Hitomi; Komada, Natsuki; Tanizawa, Katsuya; Kuzuya, Yumi; Tsuchiya, Teruo

2011-04-01

To purpose of this study was to develop a pharmacist communication skill scale. A 38 items scale was made and 283 pharmacists responded. The original questionnaire consisted of 38 items, with 1-5 graded Likert scale. Completed responses of 228 pharmacists data were used for testing the reliability and the validity of this scale. The first group of items from the original questionnaire were 38, and finally 38 original items were chosen for investigation of content validity, correlation coefficient and commonality. From factor analysis, four factors were chosen among the 31 items as follows: patient respect reception skill, problem discovery and solution skill, positive approach skill, feelings processing skill. The correlation coefficient between this original scale and the KiSS-18 (Social Skill) received high score (r=0.694). The reliability of this scale showed high internal consistency (Cronbach α coefficient=0.951), so the result of test for the validity of this scale supports high content validity. Thus we propose adoption of pharmacist communication skill scale to carry a brief eponymous name as TePSS-31. The above findings indicate that this developed scale possess adequate validity and reliability for practical use.

Quantifying cancer cell receptors with paired-agent fluorescent imaging: a novel method to account for tissue optical property effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sadeghipour, Negar; Davis, Scott C.; Tichauer, Kenneth M.

2018-02-01

Dynamic fluorescence imaging approaches can be used to estimate the concentration of cell surface receptors in vivo. Kinetic models are used to generate the final estimation by taking the targeted imaging agent concentration as a function of time. However, tissue absorption and scattering properties cause the final readout signal to be on a different scale than the real fluorescent agent concentration. In paired-agent imaging approaches, simultaneous injection of a suitable control imaging agent with a targeted one can account for non-specific uptake and retention of the targeted agent. Additionally, the signal from the control agent can be a normalizing factor to correct for tissue optical property differences. In this study, the kinetic model used for paired-agent imaging analysis (i.e., simplified reference tissue model) is modified and tested in simulation and experimental data in a way that accounts for the scaling correction within the kinetic model fit to the data to ultimately extract an estimate of the targeted biomarker concentration.

A New Quantum Gray-Scale Image Encoding Scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naseri, Mosayeb; Abdolmaleky, Mona; Parandin, Fariborz; Fatahi, Negin; Farouk, Ahmed; Nazari, Reza

2018-02-01

In this paper, a new quantum images encoding scheme is proposed. The proposed scheme mainly consists of four different encoding algorithms. The idea behind of the scheme is a binary key generated randomly for each pixel of the original image. Afterwards, the employed encoding algorithm is selected corresponding to the qubit pair of the generated randomized binary key. The security analysis of the proposed scheme proved its enhancement through both randomization of the generated binary image key and altering the gray-scale value of the image pixels using the qubits of randomized binary key. The simulation of the proposed scheme assures that the final encoded image could not be recognized visually. Moreover, the histogram diagram of encoded image is flatter than the original one. The Shannon entropies of the final encoded images are significantly higher than the original one, which indicates that the attacker can not gain any information about the encoded images. Supported by Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, IRAN

Analysis on the hot spot and trend of the foreign assembly building research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bi, Xiaoqing; Luo, Yanbing

2017-03-01

First of all, the paper analyzes the research on the front of the assembly building in the past 15 years. This article mainly adopts the method of CO word analysis, construct the co word matrix, correlation matrix, and then into a dissimilarity matrix, and on this basis, using factor analysis, cluster analysis and multi scale analysis method to study the structure of prefabricated construction field display. Finally, the results of the analysis are discussed, and summarized the current research focus of foreign prefabricated construction mainly concentrated in 7 aspects: embankment construction, wood construction, bridge construction, crane layout, PCM wall and glass system, based on neural network test, energy saving and recycling, and forecast the future trend of development study.

Conceptual design of advanced central receiver power systems sodium-cooled receiver concept. Volume 1. Executive summary. Final report

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

Not Available

1979-06-01

The conceptual design of an advanced central receiver power system using liquid sodium as a heat transport medium has been completed by a team consisting of the Energy Systems Group (prime contractor), McDonnell Douglas, Stearns-Roger, The University of Houston, and Salt River Project. The purpose of this study was to determine the technical and economic advantages of this concept for commercial-scale power plants. This final report covers all tasks of the project. These tasks were as follows: (1) review and analysis of preliminary specification; (2) parametric analysis; (3) select commercial configuration; (4) commercial plant conceptual design; (5) assessment of commercialmore » plant; (6) advanced central receiver power system development plan; (7) program plan; (8) reports and data; (9) program management; and (10) safety analysis. A programmatic overview of the accomplishments of this program is given. The 100-MW conceptual commercial plant, the 281-MW optimum plant, and the 10-MW pilot plant are described. (WHK)« less

75 FR 27798 - Notice of Issuance of Final Determination Concerning Certain Commodity-Based Clustered Storage Units

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-18

... device to function as a cloud computing device similar to a network storage RAID array (HDDs strung... contract. This final determination, in HQ H082476, was issued at the request of Scale Computing under... response to your request dated October 15, 2009, made on behalf of Scale Computing (``Scale''). You ask for...

A quality assessment of 3D video analysis for full scale rockfall experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volkwein, A.; Glover, J.; Bourrier, F.; Gerber, W.

2012-04-01

Main goal of full scale rockfall experiments is to retrieve a 3D trajectory of a boulder along the slope. Such trajectories then can be used to calibrate rockfall simulation models. This contribution presents the application of video analysis techniques capturing rock fall velocity of some free fall full scale rockfall experiments along a rock face with an inclination of about 50 degrees. Different scaling methodologies have been evaluated. They mainly differ in the way the scaling factors between the movie frames and the reality and are determined. For this purpose some scale bars and targets with known dimensions have been distributed in advance along the slope. The single scaling approaches are briefly described as follows: (i) Image raster is scaled to the distant fixed scale bar then recalibrated to the plane of the passing rock boulder by taking the measured position of the nearest impact as the distance to the camera. The distance between the camera, scale bar, and passing boulder are surveyed. (ii) The image raster was scaled using the four nearest targets (identified using frontal video) from the trajectory to be analyzed. The average of the scaling factors was finally taken as scaling factor. (iii) The image raster was scaled using the four nearest targets from the trajectory to be analyzed. The scaling factor for one trajectory was calculated by balancing the mean scaling factors associated with the two nearest and the two farthest targets in relation to their mean distance to the analyzed trajectory. (iv) Same as previous method but with varying scaling factors during along the trajectory. It has shown that a direct measure of the scaling target and nearest impact zone is the most accurate. If constant plane is assumed it doesn't account for the lateral deviations of the rock boulder from the fall line consequently adding error into the analysis. Thus a combination of scaling methods (i) and (iv) are considered to give the best results. For best results regarding the lateral rough positioning along the slope, the frontal video must also be scaled. The error in scaling the video images can be evaluated by comparing the data by additional combination of the vertical trajectory component over time with the theoretical polynomial trend according to gravity. The different tracking techniques used to plot the position of the boulder's center of gravity all generated positional data with minimal error acceptable for trajectory analysis. However, when calculating instantaneous velocities an amplification of this error becomes un acceptable. A regression analysis of the data is helpful to optimize trajectory and velocity, respectively.

A new energy transfer model for turbulent free shear flow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liou, William W.-W.

1992-01-01

A new model for the energy transfer mechanism in the large-scale turbulent kinetic energy equation is proposed. An estimate of the characteristic length scale of the energy containing large structures is obtained from the wavelength associated with the structures predicted by a weakly nonlinear analysis for turbulent free shear flows. With the inclusion of the proposed energy transfer model, the weakly nonlinear wave models for the turbulent large-scale structures are self-contained and are likely to be independent flow geometries. The model is tested against a plane mixing layer. Reasonably good agreement is achieved. Finally, it is shown by using the Liapunov function method, the balance between the production and the drainage of the kinetic energy of the turbulent large-scale structures is asymptotically stable as their amplitude saturates. The saturation of the wave amplitude provides an alternative indicator for flow self-similarity.

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

Preston, Benjamin L.; King, Anthony W.; Ernst, Kathleen M.

Human agency is an essential determinant of the dynamics of agroecosystems. However, the manner in which agency is represented within different approaches to agroecosystem modeling is largely contingent on the scales of analysis and the conceptualization of the system of interest. While appropriate at times, narrow conceptualizations of agroecosystems can preclude consideration for how agency manifests at different scales, thereby marginalizing processes, feedbacks, and constraints that would otherwise affect model results. Modifications to the existing modeling toolkit may therefore enable more holistic representations of human agency. Model integration can assist with the development of multi-scale agroecosystem modeling frameworks that capturemore » different aspects of agency. In addition, expanding the use of socioeconomic scenarios and stakeholder participation can assist in explicitly defining context-dependent elements of scale and agency. Finally, such approaches, however, should be accompanied by greater recognition of the meta agency of model users and the need for more critical evaluation of model selection and application.« less

Quantum realization of the bilinear interpolation method for NEQR.

PubMed

Zhou, Ri-Gui; Hu, Wenwen; Fan, Ping; Ian, Hou

2017-05-31

In recent years, quantum image processing is one of the most active fields in quantum computation and quantum information. Image scaling as a kind of image geometric transformation has been widely studied and applied in the classical image processing, however, the quantum version of which does not exist. This paper is concerned with the feasibility of the classical bilinear interpolation based on novel enhanced quantum image representation (NEQR). Firstly, the feasibility of the bilinear interpolation for NEQR is proven. Then the concrete quantum circuits of the bilinear interpolation including scaling up and scaling down for NEQR are given by using the multiply Control-Not operation, special adding one operation, the reverse parallel adder, parallel subtractor, multiplier and division operations. Finally, the complexity analysis of the quantum network circuit based on the basic quantum gates is deduced. Simulation result shows that the scaled-up image using bilinear interpolation is clearer and less distorted than nearest interpolation.

Investigation of the small-scale structure and dynamics of Uranus' atmosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eshleman, Von R.; Hinson, David P.

1991-01-01

This document constitutes the final technical report of the Uranus Analysis Program. Papers and/or abstracts resulting from this research are presented. The following topics are covered: (1) past and future of radio occultation studies of planetary atmospheres; (2) equatorial waves in the stratosphere of Uranus; (3) the atmosphere of Uranus- results of radio occultation measurements with Voyager 2; (4) Uranus' atmospheric dynamics and circulation; (5) small-scale structure and dynamics in the atmosphere of Uranus; (6) evidence for inertia-gravity waves in the stratosphere of Uranus derived from Voyager 2 radio occultation data; and (7) planetary waves in the equatorial stratosphere of Uranus.

Time Hierarchies and Model Reduction in Canonical Non-linear Models

PubMed Central

Löwe, Hannes; Kremling, Andreas; Marin-Sanguino, Alberto

2016-01-01

The time-scale hierarchies of a very general class of models in differential equations is analyzed. Classical methods for model reduction and time-scale analysis have been adapted to this formalism and a complementary method is proposed. A unified theoretical treatment shows how the structure of the system can be much better understood by inspection of two sets of singular values: one related to the stoichiometric structure of the system and another to its kinetics. The methods are exemplified first through a toy model, then a large synthetic network and finally with numeric simulations of three classical benchmark models of real biological systems. PMID:27708665

Development of a Decisional Balance Scale for Young Adult Marijuana Use

PubMed Central

Elliott, Jennifer C.; Carey, Kate B.; Scott-Sheldon, Lori A. J.

2010-01-01

This study describes the development and validation of a decisional balance scale for marijuana use in young adults. Scale development was accomplished in four phases. First, 53 participants (70% female, 68% freshman) provided qualitative data that yielded content for an initial set of 47 items. In the second phase, an exploratory factor analysis on the responses of 260 participants (52% female, 68% freshman) revealed two factors, corresponding to pros and cons. Items that did not load well on the factors were omitted, resulting in a reduced set of 36 items. In the third phase, 182 participants (49% female, 37% freshmen) completed the revised scale and an evaluation of factor structure led to scale revisions and model respecification to create a good-fitting model. The final scales consisted of 8 pros (α = 0.91) and 16 cons (α = 0.93), and showed evidence of validity. In the fourth phase (N = 248, 66% female, 70% freshman), we confirmed the factor structure, and provided further evidence for reliability and validity. The Marijuana Decisional Balance Scale enhances our ability to study motivational factors associated with marijuana use among young adults. PMID:21261405

A Hybrid Soft-computing Method for Image Analysis of Digital Plantar Scanners.

PubMed

Razjouyan, Javad; Khayat, Omid; Siahi, Mehdi; Mansouri, Ali Alizadeh

2013-01-01

Digital foot scanners have been developed in recent years to yield anthropometrists digital image of insole with pressure distribution and anthropometric information. In this paper, a hybrid algorithm containing gray level spatial correlation (GLSC) histogram and Shanbag entropy is presented for analysis of scanned foot images. An evolutionary algorithm is also employed to find the optimum parameters of GLSC and transform function of the membership values. Resulting binary images as the thresholded images are undergone anthropometric measurements taking in to account the scale factor of pixel size to metric scale. The proposed method is finally applied to plantar images obtained through scanning feet of randomly selected subjects by a foot scanner system as our experimental setup described in the paper. Running computation time and the effects of GLSC parameters are investigated in the simulation results.

Assessing rumination in eating disorders: principal component analysis of a minimally modified ruminative response scale.

PubMed

Cowdrey, Felicity A; Park, Rebecca J

2011-12-01

A process account of eating disorders (EDs) (Park et al., in press-a) proposes that preoccupation with ruminative themes of eating, weight and shape may be important in ED maintenance. No self-report measure exists to capture disorder-specific rumination in EDs. 275 healthy participants rated rumination items and completed self-report measures of ED symptoms, depression and anxiety. Principal component analysis revealed two factors, reflection and brooding. The final nine-item Ruminative Response Scale for Eating Disorders (RRS-ED) demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity and test-retest reliability. The psychometric properties were replicated in an anorexia nervosa sample. The findings support the notion that rumination in EDs is distinct from rumination in depression and is not adequately captured by existing measures. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis techniques for tracer studies of oxidation. M. S. Thesis Final Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Basu, S. N.

1984-01-01

Analysis techniques to obtain quantitative diffusion data from tracer concentration profiles were developed. Mass balance ideas were applied to determine the mechanism of oxide growth and to separate the fraction of inward and outward growth of oxide scales. The process of inward oxygen diffusion with exchange was theoretically modelled and the effect of lattice diffusivity, grain boundary diffusivity and grain size on the tracer concentration profile was studied. The development of the tracer concentration profile in a growing oxide scale was simulated. The double oxidation technique was applied to a FeCrAl-Zr alloy using 0-18 as a tracer. SIMS was used to obtain the tracer concentration profile. The formation of lacey oxide on the alloy was discussed. Careful consideration was given to the quality of data required to obtain quantitative information.

Hydrothermal Liquefaction and Upgrading of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant Sludge: A Preliminary Techno-Economic Analysis

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

Snowden-Swan, Lesley J.; Zhu, Yunhua; Jones, Susanne B.

A preliminary process model and techno-economic analysis (TEA) was completed for fuel produced from hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of sludge waste from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and subsequent biocrude upgrading. The model is adapted from previous work by Jones et al. (2014) for algae HTL, using experimental data generated in fiscal year 2015 (FY15) bench-scale HTL testing of sludge waste streams. Testing was performed on sludge samples received from MetroVancouver’s Annacis Island WWTP (Vancouver, B.C.) as part of a collaborative project with the Water Environment and Reuse Foundation (WERF). The full set of sludge HTL testing data from thismore » effort will be documented in a separate report to be issued by WERF. This analysis is based on limited testing data and therefore should be considered preliminary. Future refinements are necessary to improve the robustness of the model, including a cross-check of modeled biocrude components with the experimental GCMS data and investigation of equipment costs most appropriate at the smaller scales used here. Environmental sustainability metrics analysis is also needed to understand the broader impact of this technology pathway. The base case scenario for the analysis consists of 10 HTL plants, each processing 100 dry U.S. ton/day (92.4 ton/day on a dry, ash-free basis) of sludge waste and producing 234 barrel per stream day (BPSD) biocrude, feeding into a centralized biocrude upgrading facility that produces 2,020 barrel per standard day of final fuel. This scale was chosen based upon initial wastewater treatment plant data collected by the resource assessment team from the EPA’s Clean Watersheds Needs Survey database (EPA 2015a) and a rough estimate of what the potential sludge availability might be within a 100-mile radius. In addition, we received valuable feedback from the wastewater treatment industry as part of the WERF collaboration that helped form the basis for the selected HTL and upgrading plant scales and feedstock credit (current cost of disposal). It is assumed that the sludge is currently disposed of at $16.20/wet ton ($46/dry ton at 35% solids; $50/ton dry, ash-free basis) and this is included as a feedstock credit in the operating costs. The base case assumptions result in a minimum biocrude selling price of $3.8/gge and a minimum final upgraded fuel selling price of $4.9/gge. Several areas of process improvement and refinements to the analysis have the potential to significantly improve economics relative to the base case: • Optimization of HTL sludge feed solids content • Optimization of HTL biocrude yield • Optimization of HTL reactor liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) • Optimization of fuel yield from hydrotreating • Combined large and small HTL scales specific to regions (e.g., metropolitan and suburban plants) Combined improvements believed to be achievable in these areas can potentially reduce the minimum selling price of biocrude and final upgraded fuel by about 50%. Further improvements may be possible through recovery of higher value components from the HTL aqueous phase, as being investigated under separate PNNL projects. Upgrading the biocrude at an existing petroleum refinery could also reduce the MFSP, although this option requires further testing to ensure compatibility and mitigate risks to a refinery. And finally, recycling the HTL aqueous phase product stream back to the headworks of the WWTP (with no catalytic hydrothermal gasification treatment) can significantly reduce cost. This option is uniquely appropriate for application at a water treatment facility but also requires further investigation to determine any technical and economic challenges related to the extra chemical oxygen demand (COD) associated with the recycled water.« less

Hydrothermal Liquefaction and Upgrading of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant Sludge: A Preliminary Techno-Economic Analysis, Rev.1

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

Snowden-Swan, Lesley J.; Zhu, Yunhua; Jones, Susanne B.

A preliminary process model and techno-economic analysis (TEA) was completed for fuel produced from hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of sludge waste from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and subsequent biocrude upgrading. The model is adapted from previous work by Jones et al. (2014) for algae HTL, using experimental data generated in fiscal year 2015 (FY15) bench-scale HTL testing of sludge waste streams. Testing was performed on sludge samples received from Metro Vancouver’s Annacis Island WWTP (Vancouver, B.C.) as part of a collaborative project with the Water Environment and Reuse Foundation (WERF). The full set of sludge HTL testing data frommore » this effort will be documented in a separate report to be issued by WERF. This analysis is based on limited testing data and therefore should be considered preliminary. In addition, the testing was conducted with the goal of successful operation, and therefore does not represent an optimized process. Future refinements are necessary to improve the robustness of the model, including a cross-check of modeled biocrude components with the experimental GCMS data and investigation of equipment costs most appropriate at the relatively small scales used here. Environmental sustainability metrics analysis is also needed to understand the broader impact of this technology pathway. The base case scenario for the analysis consists of 10 HTL plants, each processing 100 dry U.S. ton/day (92.4 ton/day on a dry, ash-free basis) of sludge waste and producing 234 barrel per stream day (BPSD) biocrude, feeding into a centralized biocrude upgrading facility that produces 2,020 barrel per standard day of final fuel. This scale was chosen based upon initial wastewater treatment plant data collected by PNNL’s resource assessment team from the EPA’s Clean Watersheds Needs Survey database (EPA 2015a) and a rough estimate of what the potential sludge availability might be within a 100-mile radius. In addition, we received valuable feedback from the wastewater treatment industry as part of the WERF collaboration that helped form the basis for the selected HTL and upgrading plant scales and feedstock credit (current cost of disposal). It is assumed that the sludge is currently disposed of at $16.20/wet ton ($46/dry ton at 35% solids; $50/ton dry, ash-free basis) and this is included as a feedstock credit in the operating costs. The base case assumptions result in a minimum biocrude selling price of $3.8/gge and a minimum final upgraded fuel selling price of $4.9/gge. Several areas of process improvement and refinements to the analysis have the potential to significantly improve economics relative to the base case: •Optimization of HTL sludge feed solids content •Optimization of HTL biocrude yield •Optimization of HTL reactor liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) •Optimization of fuel yield from hydrotreating •Combined large and small HTL scales specific to regions (e.g., metropolitan and suburban plants) Combined improvements believed to be achievable in these areas can potentially reduce the minimum selling price of biocrude and final upgraded fuel by about 50%. Further improvements may be possible through recovery of higher value components from the HTL aqueous phase, as being investigated under separate PNNL projects. Upgrading the biocrude at an existing petroleum refinery could also reduce the MFSP, although this option requires further testing to ensure compatibility and mitigation of risks to a refinery. And finally, recycling the HTL aqueous phase product stream back to the headworks of the WWTP (with no catalytic hydrothermal gasification treatment) can significantly reduce cost. This option is uniquely appropriate for application at a water treatment facility but also requires further investigation to determine any technical and economic challenges related to the extra chemical oxygen demand (COD) associated with the recycled water.« less

Nanocoatings for High-Efficiency Industrial and Tooling Systems

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

Blau, P; Qu, J.; Higdon, C.

This industry-driven project was the result of a successful response by Eaton Corporation to a DOE/ITP Program industry call. It consisted of three phases in which ORNL participated. In addition to Eaton Corporation and ORNL (CRADA), the project team included Ames Laboratory, who developed the underlying concept for aluminum-magnesium-boron based nanocomposite coatings [1], and Greenleaf, a small tooling manufacturer in western Pennsylvania. This report focuses on the portion of this work that was conducted by ORNL in a CRADA with Eaton Corporation. A comprehensive final report for the entire effort, which ended in September 2010, has been prepared by Eatonmore » Corporation. Phase I, “Proof of Concept” ran for one year (September 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007) during which the applicability of AlMgB14 single-phase and nanocomposite coatings on hydraulic material coupons and components as well as on tool inserts was demonstrated.. The coating processes used either plasma laser deposition (PLD) or physical vapor deposition (PVD). During Phase I, ORNL conducted laboratory-scale pin-on-disk and reciprocating pin-on-flat tests of coatings produced by PLD and PVD. Non-coated M2 tool steel was used as a baseline for comparison, and the material for the sliding counterface was Type 52100 bearing steel since it simulated the pump materials. Initial tests were run mainly in a commercial hydraulic fluid named Mobil DTE-24, but some tests were later run in a water-glycol mixture as well. A tribosystem analysis was conducted to define the operating conditions of pump components and to help develop simulative tests in Phase II. Phase II, “Coating Process Scale-up” was intended to use scaled-up process to generate prototype parts. This involved both PLD practices at Ames Lab, and a PVD scale-up study at Eaton using its production capable equipment. There was also a limited scale-up study at Greenleaf for the tooling application. ORNL continued to conduct friction and wear tests on process variants and developed tests to better simulate the applications of interest. ORNL also employed existing lubrication models to better understand hydraulic pump frictional behavior and test results. Phase III, “Functional Testing” focused on finalizing the strategy for commercialization of AlMgB14 coatings for both hydraulic and tooling systems. ORNL continued to provide tribology testing and analysis support for hydraulic pump applications. It included both laboratory-scale coupon testing and the analysis of friction and wear data from full component-level tests performed at Eaton Corp. Laboratory-scale tribology test methods are used to characterize the behavior of nanocomposite coatings prior to running them in full-sized hydraulic pumps. This task also includes developing tribosystems analyses, both to provide a better understanding of the performance of coated surfaces in alternate hydraulic fluids, and to help design useful laboratory protocols. Analysis also includes modeling the lubrication conditions and identifying the physical processes by which wear and friction of the contact interface changes over time. This final report summarizes ORNL’s portion of the nanocomposite coatings development effort and presents both generated data and the analyses that were used in the course of this effort.« less

QCGAT mixer compound exhaust system design and static big model test report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blackmore, W. L.; Thompson, C. E.

1978-01-01

A mixer exhaust system was designed to meet the proposed performance and exhaust jet noise goals for the AiResearch QCGAT engine. Some 0.35 scale models of the various nozzles were fabricated and aerodynamically and acoustically tested. Preliminary optimization, engine cycle matching, model test data and analysis are presented. A final mixer exhaust system is selected for optimum performance for the overall flight regime.

SELECTIVE DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION--REVIEW OF SELECTED SYSTEMS AND A DESIGN FOR ARMY TECHNICAL LIBRARIES. FINAL REPORT. ARMY TECHNICAL LIBRARY IMPROVEMENT STUDIES (ATLIS), REPORT NO. 8.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

BIVONA, WILLIAM A.

THIS REPORT PRESENTS AN ANALYSIS OF OVER EIGHTEEN SMALL, INTERMEDIATE, AND LARGE SCALE SYSTEMS FOR THE SELECTIVE DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION (SDI). SYSTEMS ARE COMPARED AND ANALYZED WITH RESPECT TO DESIGN CRITERIA AND THE FOLLOWING NINE SYSTEM PARAMETERS--(1) INFORMATION INPUT, (2) METHODS OF INDEXING AND ABSTRACTING, (3) USER INTEREST PROFILE…

ILLIAC IV Applications Research

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-12-31

Reducino a Real Matrix to the Unper-Hessenbern Form," CAC Document Ko . 11: Center for Advanced Computation, Pniversitv of Illinois at Urbana...Complex for small-scale interactive imane analysis; (4) The APPA Network for decentrali7ed user access Ko t.hp system; -11- APPA FINAL REPORT (5...Grossman David M. Grothe Bruce P. Hanna Bruce M. Hannon James H. Hansen David C. Healy Steven F, Holmgren Dorothy J. Hopkin Robert J. Husby Renato

Direct numerical simulation of the flow around an aerofoil in ramp-up motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosti, Marco E.; Omidyeganeh, Mohammad; Pinelli, Alfredo

2016-02-01

A detailed analysis of the flow around a NACA0020 aerofoil at Rec = 2 × 104 undergoing a ramp up motion has been carried out by means of direct numerical simulations. During the manoeuvre, the angle of attack is linearly varied in time between 0° and 20° with a constant rate of change of α ˙ rad = 0 . 12 U ∞ / c . When the angle of incidence has reached the final value, the lift experiences a first overshoot and then suddenly decreases towards the static stall asymptotic value. The transient instantaneous flow is dominated by the generation and detachment of the dynamic stall vortex, a large scale structure formed by the merging of smaller scales vortices generated by an instability originating at the trailing edge. New insights on the vorticity dynamics leading to the lift overshoot, lift crisis, and the damped oscillatory cycle that gradually matches the steady condition are discussed using a number of post-processing techniques. These include a detailed analysis of the flow ensemble average statistics and coherent structures identification carried out using the Q -criterion and the finite-time Lyapunov exponent technique. The results are compared with the one obtained in a companion simulation considering a static stall condition at the final angle of incidence α = 20°.

[Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the PROMIS Global Health scale in the Portuguese language].

PubMed

Zumpano, Camila Eugênia; Mendonça, Tânia Maria da Silva; Silva, Carlos Henrique Martins da; Correia, Helena; Arnold, Benjamin; Pinto, Rogério de Melo Costa

2017-01-23

This study aimed to perform the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Global Health scale in the Portuguese language. The ten Global Health items were cross-culturally adapted by the method proposed in the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT). The instrument's final version in Portuguese was self-administered by 1,010 participants in Brazil. The scale's precision was verified by floor and ceiling effects analysis, reliability of internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess the construct's validity and instrument's dimensionality. Calibration of the items used the Gradual Response Model proposed by Samejima. Four global items required adjustments after the pretest. Analysis of the psychometric properties showed that the Global Health scale has good reliability, with Cronbach's alpha of 0.83 and intra-class correlation of 0.89. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed good fit in the previously established two-dimensional model. The Global Physical Health and Global Mental Health scale showed good latent trait coverage according to the Gradual Response Model. The PROMIS Global Health items showed equivalence in Portuguese compared to the original version and satisfactory psychometric properties for application in clinical practice and research in the Brazilian population.

The Fusion Gain Analysis of the Inductively Driven Liner Compression Based Fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimazu, Akihisa; Slough, John

2016-10-01

An analytical analysis of the fusion gain expected in the inductively driven liner compression (IDLC) based fusion is conducted to identify the fusion gain scaling at various operating conditions. The fusion based on the IDLC is a magneto-inertial fusion concept, where a Field-Reversed Configuration (FRC) plasmoid is compressed via the inductively-driven metal liner to drive the FRC to fusion conditions. In the past, an approximate scaling law for the expected fusion gain for the IDLC based fusion was obtained under the key assumptions of (1) D-T fuel at 5-40 keV, (2) adiabatic scaling laws for the FRC dynamics, (3) FRC energy dominated by the pressure balance with the edge magnetic field at the peak compression, and (4) the liner dwell time being liner final diameter divided by the peak liner velocity. In this study, various assumptions made in the previous derivation is relaxed to study the change in the fusion gain scaling from the previous result of G ml1 / 2 El11 / 8 , where ml is the liner mass and El is the peak liner kinetic energy. The implication from the modified fusion gain scaling on the performance of the IDLC fusion reactor system is also explored.

Risk of large-scale evacuation based on the effectiveness of rescue strategies under different crowd densities.

PubMed

Wang, Jinghong; Lo, Siuming; Wang, Qingsong; Sun, Jinhua; Mu, Honglin

2013-08-01

Crowd density is a key factor that influences the moving characteristics of a large group of people during a large-scale evacuation. In this article, the macro features of crowd flow and subsequent rescue strategies were considered, and a series of characteristic crowd densities that affect large-scale people movement, as well as the maximum bearing density when the crowd is extremely congested, were analyzed. On the basis of characteristic crowd densities, the queuing theory was applied to simulate crowd movement. Accordingly, the moving characteristics of the crowd and the effects of typical crowd density-which is viewed as the representation of the crowd's arrival intensity in front of the evacuation passageways-on rescue strategies was studied. Furthermore, a "risk axle of crowd density" is proposed to determine the efficiency of rescue strategies in a large-scale evacuation, i.e., whether the rescue strategies are able to effectively maintain or improve evacuation efficiency. Finally, through some rational hypotheses for the value of evacuation risk, a three-dimensional distribution of the evacuation risk is established to illustrate the risk axle of crowd density. This work aims to make some macro, but original, analysis on the risk of large-scale crowd evacuation from the perspective of the efficiency of rescue strategies. © 2012 Society for Risk Analysis.

Multiscale integral analysis of a HT leakage in a fusion nuclear power plant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Velarde, M.; Fradera, J.; Perlado, J. M.; Zamora, I.; Martínez-Saban, E.; Colomer, C.; Briani, P.

2016-05-01

The present work presents an example of the application of an integral methodology based on a multiscale analysis that covers the whole tritium cycle within a nuclear fusion power plant, from a micro scale, analyzing key components where tritium is leaked through permeation, to a macro scale, considering its atmospheric transport. A leakage from the Nuclear Power Plants, (NPP) primary to the secondary side of a heat exchanger (HEX) is considered for the present example. Both primary and secondary loop coolants are assumed to be He. Leakage is placed inside the HEX, leaking tritium in elementary tritium (HT) form to the secondary loop where it permeates through the piping structural material to the exterior. The Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system removes the leaked tritium towards the NPP exhaust. The HEX is modelled with system codes and coupled to Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) to account for tritium dispersion inside the nuclear power plants buildings and in site environment. Finally, tritium dispersion is calculated with an atmospheric transport code and a dosimetry analysis is carried out. Results show how the implemented methodology is capable of assessing the impact of tritium from the microscale to the atmospheric scale including the dosimetric aspect.

Perfectionism in African American students: relationship to racial identity, GPA, self-esteem, and depression.

PubMed

Elion, Audrey A; Wang, Kenneth T; Slaney, Robert B; French, Bryana H

2012-04-01

This study examined 219 African American college students at predominantly White universities using the constructs of perfectionism, academic achievement, self-esteem, depression, and racial identity. Cluster analysis was performed using the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R), which yielded three clusters that represented adaptive perfectionists, maladaptive perfectionists, and nonperfectionists. These three groups were compared on their scores on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), the Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS), and Grade Point Average (GPA). Adaptive perfectionists reported higher self-esteem and lower depression scores than both the nonperfectionists and maladaptive perfectionists. Adaptive perfectionists had higher GPAs than nonperfectionists. On the racial identity scales, maladaptive perfectionists had higher scores on Pre-Encounter Self Hatred and Immersion-Emersion Anti-White subscales than adaptive perfectionists. The cultural and counseling implications of this study are discussed and integrated. Finally, recommendations are made for future studies of African American college students and perfectionism. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Scale and the representation of human agency in the modeling of agroecosystems

DOE PAGES

Preston, Benjamin L.; King, Anthony W.; Ernst, Kathleen M.; ...

2015-07-17

Human agency is an essential determinant of the dynamics of agroecosystems. However, the manner in which agency is represented within different approaches to agroecosystem modeling is largely contingent on the scales of analysis and the conceptualization of the system of interest. While appropriate at times, narrow conceptualizations of agroecosystems can preclude consideration for how agency manifests at different scales, thereby marginalizing processes, feedbacks, and constraints that would otherwise affect model results. Modifications to the existing modeling toolkit may therefore enable more holistic representations of human agency. Model integration can assist with the development of multi-scale agroecosystem modeling frameworks that capturemore » different aspects of agency. In addition, expanding the use of socioeconomic scenarios and stakeholder participation can assist in explicitly defining context-dependent elements of scale and agency. Finally, such approaches, however, should be accompanied by greater recognition of the meta agency of model users and the need for more critical evaluation of model selection and application.« less

Scaling laws and accurate small-amplitude stationary solution for the motion of a planar vortex filament in the Cartesian form of the local induction approximation.

PubMed

Van Gorder, Robert A

2013-04-01

We provide a formulation of the local induction approximation (LIA) for the motion of a vortex filament in the Cartesian reference frame (the extrinsic coordinate system) which allows for scaling of the reference coordinate. For general monotone scalings of the reference coordinate, we derive an equation for the planar solution to the derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation governing the LIA. We proceed to solve this equation perturbatively in small amplitude through an application of multiple-scales analysis, which allows for accurate computation of the period of the planar vortex filament. The perturbation result is shown to agree strongly with numerical simulations, and we also relate this solution back to the solution obtained in the arclength reference frame (the intrinsic coordinate system). Finally, we discuss nonmonotone coordinate scalings and their application for finding self-intersections of vortex filaments. These self-intersecting vortex filaments are likely unstable and collapse into other structures or dissipate completely.

Scaling analysis and instantons for thermally assisted tunneling and quantum Monte Carlo simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Zhang; Smelyanskiy, Vadim N.; Isakov, Sergei V.; Boixo, Sergio; Mazzola, Guglielmo; Troyer, Matthias; Neven, Hartmut

2017-01-01

We develop an instantonic calculus to derive an analytical expression for the thermally assisted tunneling decay rate of a metastable state in a fully connected quantum spin model. The tunneling decay problem can be mapped onto the Kramers escape problem of a classical random dynamical field. This dynamical field is simulated efficiently by path-integral quantum Monte Carlo (QMC). We show analytically that the exponential scaling with the number of spins of the thermally assisted quantum tunneling rate and the escape rate of the QMC process are identical. We relate this effect to the existence of a dominant instantonic tunneling path. The instanton trajectory is described by nonlinear dynamical mean-field theory equations for a single-site magnetization vector, which we solve exactly. Finally, we derive scaling relations for the "spiky" barrier shape when the spin tunneling and QMC rates scale polynomially with the number of spins N while a purely classical over-the-barrier activation rate scales exponentially with N .

ClearFuels-Rentech Integrated Biorefinery Final Report

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

Pearson, Joshua

The project Final Report describes the validation of the performance of the integration of two technologies that were proven individually on a pilot scale and were demonstrated as a pilot scale integrated biorefinery. The integrated technologies were a larger scale ClearFuels’ (CF) advanced flexible biomass to syngas thermochemical high efficiency hydrothermal reformer (HEHTR) technology with Rentech’s (RTK) existing synthetic gas to liquids (GTL) technology.

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of State Self-Esteem Scale: an analysis of data from a cross-sectional survey of patients in the first four months after stroke.

PubMed

Chau, Janita P C; Thompson, David R; Chang, Anne M; Woo, Jean

2012-11-01

To establish the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the State Self-Esteem Scale in stroke patients. Self-esteem is seen to enhance peoples' ability to cope with disease: low self-esteem may inhibit participation in rehabilitation and thus result in poor health and social outcomes. Although the Chinese version of the State Self-Esteem Scale has been used as an outcome measure for stroke rehabilitation, no study has examined its factor structure in this patient group. A cross-sectional design. A convenience sample of 265 Chinese stroke patients (mean age 71·4, SD 10·3 years), with a minimum score of 18 out of a possible 30 for the Mini Mental State Exam recruited from two regional rehabilitation hospitals in Hong Kong. An exploratory factor analysis and an internal consistency analysis of the State Self-Esteem Scale were conducted. Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated between the State Self-Esteem Scale and the Geriatric Depression Scale to determine convergent validity. The final factor solution comprised a three-factor model with correlated constructs and accounted for 49·5% of the total variance. Significant negative correlations were found between the Geriatric Depression Scale and the State Self-Esteem Scale subscale scores (r-0·31 to -0·55, p < 0·01), indicating that the State Self-Esteem Scale had acceptable convergent validity. The new three-factor structure had higher Cronbach's alphas when compared with the original three-factor structure. The State Self-Esteem Scale appears to be a useful measure for assessing state self-esteem in stroke patients. To establish the concurrent, discriminative and construct validities, the factor structure of the SSES could be further developed and tested. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Spanish validation of the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT-30) Scale.

PubMed

Lozano, Luis M; Megías, Alberto; Catena, Andrés; Perales, José C; Baltruschat, Sabina; Cándido, Antonio

2017-02-01

The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a Spanish version of the short Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT-30) scale, measuring risk-taking behavior, risk perception, and expected beneficial consequences (from taking risks) in five life domains: ethics, finance, health/security, recreational, and social decisions. The scale was back-translated, and administered online to 826 participants. Validity evidence was tested using correlations with construct-related instruments (UPPS-P and SSS-V), as well as using factor analysis. Internal consistency reliability was calculated with the ordinal Alpha coefficient, and gender differences were considered. Internal consistency was good, and factor analysis confirmed the five factors proposed by the authors. With respect to the external validity, high correlations with the positive urgency and the sensation seeking subscales of the UPPS-P, as well as with the thrill and adventure seeking and disinhibition subscales of the SSS-V were found. Finally, gender differences were found in all subscales and domains, with men tending to take more risks, perceive less risk and expect more beneficial consequences, except for the social domain where an inverse pattern was found. As these findings are in line with the original version, they indicate the scale was successfully adapted.

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Female Genital Self-Image Scale (FGSIS) in Iranian female college students.

PubMed

Pakpour, Amir H; Zeidi, Isa Mohammadi; Ziaeiha, Masoumeh; Burri, Andrea

2014-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychometric properties of a translated and culturally adapted Iranian version of the Female Genital Self-Image Scale (FGSIS-I) in a sample of college women. Further, the relationship between women's self-image, body appreciation, sexual functioning, and gynecological exam behavior was explored. A sample of 1,877 female students from five different universities across Qazvin and Tehran completed the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), the FGSIS-I, and a gynecological exam behavior questionnaire. Good to excellent internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, and convergent and construct validity were found. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) both provided a two-factor structure for the FGSIS-I. The validity of the FGSIS-I in predicting gynecological exam behavior of college women was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The final model accounted for 33% of the variance in gynecological exam behavior (p < 0.01). In conclusion, the FGSIS-I was found to be a highly valid and reliable instrument to assess female genital self-image in Iranian women.

Assessing Empathy across Childhood and Adolescence: Validation of the Empathy Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (EmQue-CA)

PubMed Central

Overgaauw, Sandy; Rieffe, Carolien; Broekhof, Evelien; Crone, Eveline A.; Güroğlu, Berna

2017-01-01

Empathy plays a crucial role in healthy social functioning and in maintaining positive social relationships. In this study, 1250 children and adolescents (10–15 year olds) completed the newly developed Empathy Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (EmQue-CA) that was tested on reliability, construct validity, convergent validity, and concurrent validity. The EmQue-CA aims to assess empathy using the following scales: affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and intention to comfort. A Principal Components Analysis, which was directly tested with a Confirmatory Factor Analysis, confirmed the proposed three-factor model resulting in 14 final items. Reliability analyses demonstrated high internal consistency of the scales. Furthermore, the scales showed high convergent validity, as they were positively correlated with related scales of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1983). With regard to concurrent validity, higher empathy was related to more attention to others’ emotions, higher friendship quality, less focus on own affective state, and lower levels of bullying behavior. Taken together, we show that the EmQue-CA is a reliable and valid instrument to measure empathy in typically developing children and adolescents aged 10 and older. PMID:28611713

Development of an Instrument to Measure Pharmacy Student Attitudes Toward Social Media Professionalism.

PubMed

Chisholm-Burns, Marie A; Spivey, Christina A; Jaeger, Melanie C; Williams, Jennifer; George, Christa

2017-05-01

Objectives. To develop and validate a scale measuring pharmacy students' attitudes toward social media professionalism, and assess the impact of an educational presentation on social media professionalism. Methods. A social media professionalism scale was used in a pre- and post-survey to determine the effects of a social media professionalism presentation. The 26-item scale was administered to 197 first-year pharmacy (P1) students during orientation. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to determine the number of underlying factors responsible for covariation of the data. Principal components analysis was used as the extraction method. Varimax was selected as the rotation method. Cronbach's alpha was estimated. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare pre- and post-scores of each item, subscale, and total scale. Results. There were 187 (95%) students who participated. The final scale had five subscales and 15 items. Subscales were named according to the professionalism tenet they best represented. Scores of items addressing reading/posting to social media during class, an employer's use of social media when making hiring decisions, and a college/university's use of social media as a measure of professional conduct significantly increased from pre-test to post-test. The "honesty and integrity" subscale score also significantly increased. Conclusion. The social media professionalism scale measures five tenets of professionalism and exhibits satisfactory reliability. The presentation improved P1 students' attitudes regarding social media professionalism.

Sexual Self-Schema Scale for Women-Validation and Psychometric Properties of the Polish Version.

PubMed

Nowosielski, Krzysztof; Jankowski, Konrad S; Kowalczyk, Robert; Kurpisz, Jacek; Normantowicz-Zakrzewska, Małgorzata; Krasowska, Aleksandra

2018-06-01

The sexual self-schema is a part of a broader concept of the self that is believed to be crucial for intrapersonal and interpersonal sexual relationships. To develop and perform psychometric validation of the Polish version of the Sexual Self-Schema Scale for Women (SSSS-W-PL). 561 women 18 to 55 years old were included in the final analysis. Linguistic validation was performed in 4 steps in line with the MAPI Institute guidelines. Convergent validity was calculated using the Pearson r product-moment coefficient between different measures of sexuality (attitudes and experience, behavior, arousal, romantic relationship) and SSSS-W-PL total and factor scores. To test discriminant validity, we applied hierarchical regression analyses predicting the number of lifetime sexual partners, self-rating as a sexual person (1 item, "I feel sexually attractive"; on a 5-point Likert scale), and arousability, with independent variables being extraversion (Ten-Item Personality Inventory), self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), and the SSSS-W-PL (total and factor scores). Sexual self-schema was measured by the SSSS-W-PL, whereas arousability was measured by the arousal/excitement scale of the Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire. The mean age of the study population was 29.0 ± 7.6 years. The final scale consisted of 24 adjectives grouped within 4 factors: romantic, passionate, direct, and embarrassed. The 4-factor model accounted for 39% of the variance. The Cronbach α was 0.74 for the SSSS-W-PL total score and 0.61 to 0.84 for individual factors. Test-retest reliability of the scale after 2- to 8-week intervals was 0.87 (95% CI = 0.82-0.86, P < .001). The increment variances were statistically significant and ranged from 3.8% to 11.6%. The analysis showed good psychometric properties and internal validity of the SSSS-W-PL. The SSSS-W-PL might be helpful in consulting and/or providing sexual therapy to gynecologic cancer survivors or women with a history of childhood sexual abuse. Nowosielski K, Jankowski KS, Kowalczyk R, et al. Sexual Self-Schema Scale for Women-Validation and Psychometric Properties of the Polish Version. Sex Med 2018;6:131-142. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of hypertensive patients towards prevention and early detection of chronic kidney disease: a cross sectional study from Palestine.

PubMed

Sa'adeh, Hala H; Darwazeh, Razan N; Khalil, Amani A; Zyoud, Sa'ed H

2018-01-01

Hypertension is the second most common cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Therefore, the aims of the study were to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of hypertensive patients towards prevention and early detection of CKD, and to determine the clinical and socio-demographic factors, which affect the KAP regarding prevention of CKD. A cross-sectional study was held using the CKD screening Index to assess the KAP of 374 hypertensive patients who were selected from multiple primary healthcare centers in Nablus, Palestine. The CKD Screening Index is formed of three scales. First, the knowledge scale was a dichotomous scale of 30 items, while the attitude scale used 5-point Likert-type scale for 18 items and finally the practice scale was measured using 4-point Likert-type scale for 12 items. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the association between clinical and socio-demographic factors and practices. In total, 374 hypertensive patients participated in the study. The mean age of participants was 59.14 ± 10.4 years, (range 26-85). The median (interquartile range) of the knowledge, attitude, and practice scores of hypertensive patients towards prevention and early detection of CKD were 20 (16-23), 69 (65-72), and 39 (36-42), respectively. In multiple linear regression analysis, patients age < 65 years ( p  < 0.001) and patients with high education level ( p  = 0.009) were the only factors significantly associated with higher knowledge scores. Additionally, patients age < 65 years ( p  = 0.007), patients with high income ( p  = 0.005), and patients with high knowledge score ( p  < 0.001) were the only factors significantly associated with higher attitude scores. Furthermore, regression analysis showed that patients with higher total knowledge ( p  = 0.001) as well as higher total attitudes scores towards CKD prevention ( p  < 0.001), male gender ( p  = 0.048), and patients with normal body mass index (BMI) ( p  = 0.026) were statistically significantly associated with higher practice score towards CKD prevention. Among hypertensive patients, higher scores for total knowledge and attitudes toward prevention, male sex, and normal BMI were associated with modestly higher scores for prevention practices. Finally the findings may encourage healthcare workers to give better counseling to improve knowledge.

Quality of life in Essential Tremor Questionnaire (QUEST): development and initial validation.

PubMed

Tröster, Alexander I; Pahwa, Rajesh; Fields, Julie A; Tanner, Caroline M; Lyons, Kelly E

2005-09-01

Essential tremor (ET) can diminish functioning and quality of life (QOL) but generic QOL measures may be relatively insensitive to ET and its therapies. We sought to develop an ET-specific measure that might be more sensitive, acceptable to patients, relatively brief, and easily used. A sample of 200 patients (average age 70 years, range 30-91; average disease duration 15 years) rated the extent to which tremor impacts a function or state, tremor severity in various body parts, perceived health, and overall QOL. Responses to this initial questionnaire were subjected to principal components analysis (PCA). Inspection of factor coordinates, Eigenvalues, variance accounted for, and correlation matrices were used to select items for confirmatory PCA. Final scale reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Validity was evaluated by correlations between QOL scales and self-rated tremor severity. PCA of 65 initial items yielded 11 factors accounting for 71% of variance. Six factors were discarded. Two items were eliminated for not loading on a factor and 33 for perceived redundancy. Confirmatory PCA of the retained 30 items yielded an almost identical factor structure (six factors, 70% of variance accounted for, and similar item loadings). Because two factors had very few items loading on them, these two factors were combined into one scale. The final measure has five scales: Physical, Psychosocial, Communication, Hobbies/Leisure, and Work/Finance. Reliability was excellent for the whole instrument and four scales (> or =0.89), and good for the Work/Finance scale (0.79). Severity of voice and head tremor were the best correlates of Communication (0.70 and 0.35), while the Physical scale was related to right and left upper extremity tremor (0.59 and 0.56). Scales correlated more highly with patients' rating of their overall QOL than their health perception. A brief, 30-item, ET-specific QOL scale with excellent reliability was developed. Preliminary validity data are encouraging. The Quality of Life in Essential Tremor Questionnaire (QUEST) promises to facilitate QOL measurement in ET.

Final Report Scalable Analysis Methods and In Situ Infrastructure for Extreme Scale Knowledge Discovery

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

O'Leary, Patrick

The primary challenge motivating this project is the widening gap between the ability to compute information and to store it for subsequent analysis. This gap adversely impacts science code teams, who can perform analysis only on a small fraction of the data they calculate, resulting in the substantial likelihood of lost or missed science, when results are computed but not analyzed. Our approach is to perform as much analysis or visualization processing on data while it is still resident in memory, which is known as in situ processing. The idea in situ processing was not new at the time ofmore » the start of this effort in 2014, but efforts in that space were largely ad hoc, and there was no concerted effort within the research community that aimed to foster production-quality software tools suitable for use by Department of Energy (DOE) science projects. Our objective was to produce and enable the use of production-quality in situ methods and infrastructure, at scale, on DOE high-performance computing (HPC) facilities, though we expected to have an impact beyond DOE due to the widespread nature of the challenges, which affect virtually all large-scale computational science efforts. To achieve this objective, we engaged in software technology research and development (R&D), in close partnerships with DOE science code teams, to produce software technologies that were shown to run efficiently at scale on DOE HPC platforms.« less

Development and validation of a disease-specific scale to assess psychosocial well-being of patients living with unruptured intracranial aneurysm.

PubMed

Fujishima-Hachiya, Asami; Inoue, Tomoko

2012-12-01

Although the detection rate for unruptured intracranial aneurysm (UIA) has improved since the 1990s, the quality of life and psychosocial status of patients living with UIA have been negatively affected. However, a comprehensive assessment tool for UIA patients is still awaited. This study aimed to develop and validate a disease-specific scale to assess UIA patients' psychosocial well-being in their daily lives. On the basis of previous qualitative research, 52 items on a six-dimension scale were generated. After a pilot study, statistical analysis was conducted to examine construct validity-including convergent validity, discriminant and known-group validity, and internal reliability. Between 2010 and 2011, 124 patients across three hospitals in Japan were tested using a tentative scale. As a result of exploratory factor analysis, we identified 25 items based on five conceptually derived dimensions (psychological stability, trust in healthcare resources, satisfaction with the decision-making process, positive perception of self-management, and confidence in UIA knowledge) as a final psychosocial well-being scale for UIA patients (UIA-PW scale). Cronbach's alpha coefficients for each subscale ranged between .76 and .90, with .83 for the total score, which indicated satisfactory internal consistency. The total score for the UIA-PW scale correlated significantly with the existing quality of life and mental health scales, but it is important to note that psychological stability and positive perception of self-management were negatively correlated. Although additional investigation is needed, the UIA-PW scale shows reasonable validity and reliability in assessing psychosocial well-being of patients living with UIA.

Page layout analysis and classification for complex scanned documents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erkilinc, M. Sezer; Jaber, Mustafa; Saber, Eli; Bauer, Peter; Depalov, Dejan

2011-09-01

A framework for region/zone classification in color and gray-scale scanned documents is proposed in this paper. The algorithm includes modules for extracting text, photo, and strong edge/line regions. Firstly, a text detection module which is based on wavelet analysis and Run Length Encoding (RLE) technique is employed. Local and global energy maps in high frequency bands of the wavelet domain are generated and used as initial text maps. Further analysis using RLE yields a final text map. The second module is developed to detect image/photo and pictorial regions in the input document. A block-based classifier using basis vector projections is employed to identify photo candidate regions. Then, a final photo map is obtained by applying probabilistic model based on Markov random field (MRF) based maximum a posteriori (MAP) optimization with iterated conditional mode (ICM). The final module detects lines and strong edges using Hough transform and edge-linkages analysis, respectively. The text, photo, and strong edge/line maps are combined to generate a page layout classification of the scanned target document. Experimental results and objective evaluation show that the proposed technique has a very effective performance on variety of simple and complex scanned document types obtained from MediaTeam Oulu document database. The proposed page layout classifier can be used in systems for efficient document storage, content based document retrieval, optical character recognition, mobile phone imagery, and augmented reality.

[Not Available].

PubMed

Brosseau, Lucie; Laroche, Chantal; Sutton, Anne; Guitard, Paulette; King, Judy; Poitras, Stéphane; Casimiro, Lynn; Tremblay, Manon; Cardinal, Dominique; Cavallo, Sabrina; Laferrière, Lucie; Grisé, Isabelle; Marshall, Lisa; Smith, Jacky R; Lagacé, Josée; Pharand, Denyse; Galipeau, Roseline; Toupin-April, Karine; Loew, Laurianne; Demers, Catrine; Sauvé-Schenk, Katrine; Paquet, Nicole; Savard, Jacinthe; Tourigny, Jocelyne; Vaillancourt, Véronique

2015-08-01

To prepare a Canadian French translation of the PEDro Scale under the proposed name l'Échelle PEDro, and to examine the validity of its content. A modified approach of Vallerand's cross-cultural validation methodology was used, beginning with a parallel back-translation of the PEDro scale by both professional translators and clinical researchers. These versions were reviewed by an initial panel of experts (P1), who then created the first experimental version of l'Échelle PEDro. This version was evaluated by a second panel of experts (P2). Finally, 32 clinical researchers evaluated the second experimental version of l'Échelle PEDro, using a 5-point clarity scale, and suggested final modifications. The various items on the final version of l'Échelle PEDro show a high degree of clarity (from 4.0 to 4.7 on the 5-point scale). The four rigorous steps of the translation process have produced a valid Canadian French version of the PEDro scale.

Multivariate Bayesian analysis of Gaussian, right censored Gaussian, ordered categorical and binary traits using Gibbs sampling

PubMed Central

Korsgaard, Inge Riis; Lund, Mogens Sandø; Sorensen, Daniel; Gianola, Daniel; Madsen, Per; Jensen, Just

2003-01-01

A fully Bayesian analysis using Gibbs sampling and data augmentation in a multivariate model of Gaussian, right censored, and grouped Gaussian traits is described. The grouped Gaussian traits are either ordered categorical traits (with more than two categories) or binary traits, where the grouping is determined via thresholds on the underlying Gaussian scale, the liability scale. Allowances are made for unequal models, unknown covariance matrices and missing data. Having outlined the theory, strategies for implementation are reviewed. These include joint sampling of location parameters; efficient sampling from the fully conditional posterior distribution of augmented data, a multivariate truncated normal distribution; and sampling from the conditional inverse Wishart distribution, the fully conditional posterior distribution of the residual covariance matrix. Finally, a simulated dataset was analysed to illustrate the methodology. This paper concentrates on a model where residuals associated with liabilities of the binary traits are assumed to be independent. A Bayesian analysis using Gibbs sampling is outlined for the model where this assumption is relaxed. PMID:12633531

New integrated and multiscale decision-aiding framework in a context of imperfect information: application to the assessment of torrent checkdams' effectiveness.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tacnet, Jean-Marc; Carladous, Simon; Dezert, Jean; Batton-Hubert, Mireille

2017-04-01

Mountain natural phenomena (e.g. torrential floods) put people and buildings at risk. Civil engineering protection works such as torrent check-dams are designed to mitigate those natural risks. Protection works act on both causes and effects of phenomena to reduce consequences and therefore risks. For instance, check-dams control sediment production and liquid/solid flow of torrential floods: several series of dams are located in the headwaters of a watershed, each having specific functions. All those works are damaged by time passing and flood impacts. Effectiveness assessment is needed to define, compare or choose strategies for investment and maintenance which are essential issues in risk management process. Decision support tools are expected to analyze at different scales both their technical effectiveness (related to their structural state and functional effects on phenomena such as stopping, braking, guiding, etc.) and their economic efficiency through comparison between benefits and costs. Several methods, often based on expert knowledge, have already been developed to care about decision under risk. But uncertainty has also to be considered, since decisions are indeed often taken in a context of lack of information and knowledge on natural phenomena, heterogeneity of available information and, finally, reliability of sources. First methods derived from classical industrial contexts, such as dependability analysis, are used to formalize expert knowledge used for decision-making. After having defined the concept of effectiveness, dependability analysis are used to identify decision contexts and problems: criteria and indicators are identified in relation with structural or functional features. Then, innovative and multi-scales multi-criteria decision-making methods (MCDMs) and frameworks are proposed to help assessing protection works effectiveness. They combine classical MCDM approaches, belief function, fuzzy sets and possibility theories. Those methods allow to make decisions based on heterogeneous, imprecise and uncertain evaluation of criteria provided by more or less reliable sources in an uncertain context: COWA-ER (Cautious Ordered Weighted Averaging with Evidential Reasoning), Fuzzy-Cautious OWA or ER-MCDA (Evidential Reasoning for Multi Criteria Decision Analysis) are thus applied to several scales of torrent check-dams' effectiveness assessment. Those methods are then improved for a better knowledge representation and final decision. Enhanced methods are then associated together. Finally, individual problems and associated methods are integrated in a generic methodology to move from torrential protective single measure effectiveness assessment to complete protection systems at watershed scale.

Adaptation of the Practice Environment Scale for military nurses: a psychometric analysis.

PubMed

Swiger, Pauline A; Raju, Dheeraj; Breckenridge-Sproat, Sara; Patrician, Patricia A

2017-09-01

The aim of this study was to confirm the psychometric properties of Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index in a military population. This study also demonstrates association rule analysis, a contemporary exploratory technique. One of the instruments most commonly used to evaluate the nursing practice environment is the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index. Although the instrument has been widely used, the reliability, validity and individual item function are not commonly evaluated. Gaps exist with regard to confirmatory evaluation of the subscale factors, individual item analysis and evaluation in the outpatient setting and with non-registered nursing staff. This was a secondary data analysis of existing survey data. Multiple psychometric methods were used for this analysis using survey data collected in 2014. First, descriptive analyses were conducted, including exploration using association rules. Next, internal consistency was tested and confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test the factor structure. The specified factor structure did not hold; therefore, exploratory factor analysis was performed. Finally, item analysis was executed using item response theory. The differential item functioning technique allowed the comparison of responses by care setting and nurse type. The results of this study indicate that responses differ between groups and that several individual items could be removed without altering the psychometric properties of the instrument. The instrument functions moderately well in a military population; however, researchers may want to consider nurse type and care setting during analysis to identify any meaningful variation in responses. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Psychometric Properties of the Heart Disease Knowledge Scale: Evidence from Item and Confirmatory Factor Analyses

PubMed Central

Lim, Bee Chiu; Kueh, Yee Cheng; Arifin, Wan Nor; Ng, Kok Huan

2016-01-01

Background Heart disease knowledge is an important concept for health education, yet there is lack of evidence on proper validated instruments used to measure levels of heart disease knowledge in the Malaysian context. Methods A cross-sectional, survey design was conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the adapted English version of the Heart Disease Knowledge Questionnaire (HDKQ). Using proportionate cluster sampling, 788 undergraduate students at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia, were recruited and completed the HDKQ. Item analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used for the psychometric evaluation. Construct validity of the measurement model was included. Results Most of the students were Malay (48%), female (71%), and from the field of science (51%). An acceptable range was obtained with respect to both the difficulty and discrimination indices in the item analysis results. The difficulty index ranged from 0.12–0.91 and a discrimination index of ≥ 0.20 were reported for the final retained 23 items. The final CFA model showed an adequate fit to the data, yielding a 23-item, one-factor model [weighted least squares mean and variance adjusted scaled chi-square difference = 1.22, degrees of freedom = 2, P-value = 0.544, the root mean square error of approximation = 0.03 (90% confidence interval = 0.03, 0.04); close-fit P-value = > 0.950]. Conclusion Adequate psychometric values were obtained for Malaysian undergraduate university students using the 23-item, one-factor model of the adapted HDKQ. PMID:27660543

Psychometric Properties of the Heart Disease Knowledge Scale: Evidence from Item and Confirmatory Factor Analyses.

PubMed

Lim, Bee Chiu; Kueh, Yee Cheng; Arifin, Wan Nor; Ng, Kok Huan

2016-07-01

Heart disease knowledge is an important concept for health education, yet there is lack of evidence on proper validated instruments used to measure levels of heart disease knowledge in the Malaysian context. A cross-sectional, survey design was conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the adapted English version of the Heart Disease Knowledge Questionnaire (HDKQ). Using proportionate cluster sampling, 788 undergraduate students at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia, were recruited and completed the HDKQ. Item analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used for the psychometric evaluation. Construct validity of the measurement model was included. Most of the students were Malay (48%), female (71%), and from the field of science (51%). An acceptable range was obtained with respect to both the difficulty and discrimination indices in the item analysis results. The difficulty index ranged from 0.12-0.91 and a discrimination index of ≥ 0.20 were reported for the final retained 23 items. The final CFA model showed an adequate fit to the data, yielding a 23-item, one-factor model [weighted least squares mean and variance adjusted scaled chi-square difference = 1.22, degrees of freedom = 2, P-value = 0.544, the root mean square error of approximation = 0.03 (90% confidence interval = 0.03, 0.04); close-fit P-value = > 0.950]. Adequate psychometric values were obtained for Malaysian undergraduate university students using the 23-item, one-factor model of the adapted HDKQ.

Inference from the small scales of cosmic shear with current and future Dark Energy Survey data

DOE PAGES

MacCrann, N.; Aleksić, J.; Amara, A.; ...

2016-11-05

Cosmic shear is sensitive to fluctuations in the cosmological matter density field, including on small physical scales, where matter clustering is affected by baryonic physics in galaxies and galaxy clusters, such as star formation, supernovae feedback and AGN feedback. While muddying any cosmological information that is contained in small scale cosmic shear measurements, this does mean that cosmic shear has the potential to constrain baryonic physics and galaxy formation. We perform an analysis of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Science Verification (SV) cosmic shear measurements, now extended to smaller scales, and using the Mead et al. 2015 halo model tomore » account for baryonic feedback. While the SV data has limited statistical power, we demonstrate using a simulated likelihood analysis that the final DES data will have the statistical power to differentiate among baryonic feedback scenarios. We also explore some of the difficulties in interpreting the small scales in cosmic shear measurements, presenting estimates of the size of several other systematic effects that make inference from small scales difficult, including uncertainty in the modelling of intrinsic alignment on nonlinear scales, `lensing bias', and shape measurement selection effects. For the latter two, we make use of novel image simulations. While future cosmic shear datasets have the statistical power to constrain baryonic feedback scenarios, there are several systematic effects that require improved treatments, in order to make robust conclusions about baryonic feedback.« less

Development and validation of a tool to assess knowledge and attitudes towards generic medicines among students in Greece: The ATtitude TOwards GENerics (ATTOGEN) questionnaire.

PubMed

Domeyer, Philip J; Aletras, Vassilis; Anagnostopoulos, Fotios; Katsari, Vasiliki; Niakas, Dimitris

2017-01-01

The use of generic medicines is a cost-effective policy, often dictated by fiscal restraints. To our knowledge, no fully validated tool exploring the students' knowledge and attitudes towards generic medicines exists. The aim of our study was to develop and validate a questionnaire exploring the knowledge and attitudes of M.Sc. in Health Care Management students and recent alumni's towards generic drugs in Greece. The development of the questionnaire was a result of literature review and pilot-testing of its preliminary versions to researchers and students. The final version of the questionnaire contains 18 items measuring the respondents' knowledge and attitude towards generic medicines on a 5-point Likert scale. Given the ordinal nature of the data, ordinal alpha and polychoric correlations were computed. The sample was randomly split into two halves. Exploratory factor analysis, performed in the first sample, was used for the creation of multi-item scales. Confirmatory factor analysis and Generalized Linear Latent and Mixed Model analysis (GLLAMM) with the use of the rating scale model were used in the second sample to assess goodness of fit. An assessment of internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, and construct validity was also performed. Among 1402 persons contacted, 986 persons completed our questionnaire (response rate = 70.3%). Overall Cronbach's alpha was 0.871. The conjoint use of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis resulted in a six-scale model, which seemed to fit the data well. Five of the six scales, namely trust, drug quality, state audit, fiscal impact and drug substitution were found to be valid and reliable, while the knowledge scale suffered only from low inter-scale correlations and a ceiling effect. However, the subsequent confirmatory factor and GLLAMM analyses indicated a good fit of the model to the data. The ATTOGEN instrument proved to be a reliable and valid tool, suitable for assessing students' knowledge and attitudes towards generic medicines.

The use of single-date MODIS imagery for estimating large-scale urban impervious surface fraction with spectral mixture analysis and machine learning techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Chengbin; Wu, Changshan

2013-12-01

Urban impervious surface information is essential for urban and environmental applications at the regional/national scales. As a popular image processing technique, spectral mixture analysis (SMA) has rarely been applied to coarse-resolution imagery due to the difficulty of deriving endmember spectra using traditional endmember selection methods, particularly within heterogeneous urban environments. To address this problem, we derived endmember signatures through a least squares solution (LSS) technique with known abundances of sample pixels, and integrated these endmember signatures into SMA for mapping large-scale impervious surface fraction. In addition, with the same sample set, we carried out objective comparative analyses among SMA (i.e. fully constrained and unconstrained SMA) and machine learning (i.e. Cubist regression tree and Random Forests) techniques. Analysis of results suggests three major conclusions. First, with the extrapolated endmember spectra from stratified random training samples, the SMA approaches performed relatively well, as indicated by small MAE values. Second, Random Forests yields more reliable results than Cubist regression tree, and its accuracy is improved with increased sample sizes. Finally, comparative analyses suggest a tentative guide for selecting an optimal approach for large-scale fractional imperviousness estimation: unconstrained SMA might be a favorable option with a small number of samples, while Random Forests might be preferred if a large number of samples are available.

Fault diagnosis of rolling element bearing using a new optimal scale morphology analysis method.

PubMed

Yan, Xiaoan; Jia, Minping; Zhang, Wan; Zhu, Lin

2018-02-01

Periodic transient impulses are key indicators of rolling element bearing defects. Efficient acquisition of impact impulses concerned with the defects is of much concern to the precise detection of bearing defects. However, transient features of rolling element bearing are generally immersed in stochastic noise and harmonic interference. Therefore, in this paper, a new optimal scale morphology analysis method, named adaptive multiscale combination morphological filter-hat transform (AMCMFH), is proposed for rolling element bearing fault diagnosis, which can both reduce stochastic noise and reserve signal details. In this method, firstly, an adaptive selection strategy based on the feature energy factor (FEF) is introduced to determine the optimal structuring element (SE) scale of multiscale combination morphological filter-hat transform (MCMFH). Subsequently, MCMFH containing the optimal SE scale is applied to obtain the impulse components from the bearing vibration signal. Finally, fault types of bearing are confirmed by extracting the defective frequency from envelope spectrum of the impulse components. The validity of the proposed method is verified through the simulated analysis and bearing vibration data derived from the laboratory bench. Results indicate that the proposed method has a good capability to recognize localized faults appeared on rolling element bearing from vibration signal. The study supplies a novel technique for the detection of faulty bearing. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Development of a simple measurement scale to evaluate the severity of non-specific low back pain for industrial ergonomics.

PubMed

Higuchi, Yoshiyuki; Izumi, Hiroyuki; Kumashiro, Mashaharu

2010-06-01

This study developed an assessment scale that hierarchically classifies degrees of low back pain severity. This assessment scale consists of two subscales: 1) pain intensity; 2) pain interference. First, the assessment scale devised by the authors was used to administer a self-administered questionnaire to 773 male workers in the car manufacturing industry. Subsequently, the validity of the measurement items was examined and some of them were revised. Next, the corrected low back pain scale was used in a self-administered questionnaire, the subjects of which were 5053 ordinary workers. The hierarchical validity between the measurement items was checked based on the results of Mokken Scale analysis. Finally, a low back pain assessment scale consisting of seven items was perfected. Quantitative assessment is made possible by scoring the items and low back pain severity can be classified into four hierarchical levels: none; mild; moderate; severe. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: The use of this scale devised by the authors allows a more detailed assessment of the degree of risk factor effect and also should prove useful both in selecting remedial measures for occupational low back pain and evaluating their efficacy.

Multiobjective optimization design of an rf gun based electron diffraction beam line

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gulliford, Colwyn; Bartnik, Adam; Bazarov, Ivan; Maxson, Jared

2017-03-01

Multiobjective genetic algorithm optimizations of a single-shot ultrafast electron diffraction beam line comprised of a 100 MV /m 1.6-cell normal conducting rf (NCRF) gun, as well as a nine-cell 2 π /3 bunching cavity placed between two solenoids, have been performed. These include optimization of the normalized transverse emittance as a function of bunch charge, as well as optimization of the transverse coherence length as a function of the rms bunch length of the beam at the sample location for a fixed charge of 1 06 electrons. Analysis of the resulting solutions is discussed in terms of the relevant scaling laws, and a detailed description of one of the resulting solutions from the coherence length optimizations is given. For a charge of 1 06 electrons and final beam sizes of σx≥25 μ m and σt≈5 fs , we found a relative coherence length of Lc ,x/σx≈0.07 using direct optimization of the coherence length. Additionally, based on optimizations of the emittance as a function of final bunch length, we estimate the relative coherence length for bunch lengths of 30 and 100 fs to be roughly 0.1 and 0.2 nm /μ m , respectively. Finally, using the scaling of the optimal emittance with bunch charge, for a charge of 1 05 electrons, we estimate relative coherence lengths of 0.3, 0.5, and 0.92 nm /μ m for final bunch lengths of 5, 30 and 100 fs, respectively.

Carbon budgets of biological soil crusts at micro-, meso-, and global scales

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sancho, Leopoldo G; Belnap, Jayne; Colesie, Claudia; Raggio, Jose; Weber, Bettina

2016-01-01

The importance of biocrusts in the ecology of arid lands across all continents is widely recognized. In spite of this broad distribution, contributions of biocrusts to the global biogeochemical cycles have only recently been considered. While these studies opened a new view on the global role of biocrusts, they also clearly revealed the lack of data for many habitats and of overall standards for measurements and analysis. In order to understand carbon cycling in biocrusts and the progress which has been made during the last 15 years, we offer a multi-scale approach covering different climatic regions. We also include a discussion on available measurement techniques at each scale: A micro-scale section focuses on the individual organism level, including modeling based on the combination of field and lab data. The meso-scale section addresses the CO2 exchange of a complete ecosystem or at the community level. Finally, we consider the contribution of biocrusts at a global scale, giving a general perspective of the most relevant findings regarding the role of biological soil crusts in the global terrestrial carbon cycle.

The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale: Further Examination of Dimensionality, Reliability, and Concurrent Validity Estimates.

PubMed

Osman, Augustine; Lamis, Dorian A; Bagge, Courtney L; Freedenthal, Stacey; Barnes, Sean M

2016-01-01

We examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) in a sample of 810 undergraduate students. Using common exploratory factor analysis (EFA), we obtained evidence for a 1-factor solution (41.84% common variance). To confirm unidimensionality of the 15-item MAAS, we conducted a 1-factor confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results of the EFA and CFA, respectively, provided support for a unidimensional model. Using differential item functioning analysis methods within item response theory modeling (IRT-based DIF), we found that individuals with high and low levels of nonattachment responded similarly to the MAAS items. Following a detailed item analysis, we proposed a 5-item short version of the instrument and present descriptive statistics and composite score reliability for the short and full versions of the MAAS. Finally, correlation analyses showed that scores on the full and short versions of the MAAS were associated with measures assessing related constructs. The 5-item MAAS is as useful as the original MAAS in enhancing our understanding of the mindfulness construct.

Detection and analysis of part load and full load instabilities in a real Francis turbine prototype

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Presas, Alexandre; Valentin, David; Egusquiza, Eduard; Valero, Carme

2017-04-01

Francis turbines operate in many cases out of its best efficiency point, in order to regulate their output power according to the instantaneous energy demand of the grid. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to analyse and determine the unstable operating points for these kind of units. In the framework of the HYPERBOLE project (FP7-ENERGY-2013-1; Project number 608532) a large Francis unit was investigated numerically, experimentally in a reduced scale model and also experimentally and numerically in the real prototype. This paper shows the unstable operating points identified during the experimental tests on the real Francis unit and the analysis of the main characteristics of these instabilities. Finally, it is shown that similar phenomena have been identified on previous research in the LMH (Laboratory for Hydraulic Machines, Lausanne) with the reduced scale model.

Evaluation of Hydrologic and Meteorological Impacts on Dengue Fever Incidences in Southern Taiwan using Time- Frequency Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Christina; Yeh, Ting-Gu

2017-04-01

Extreme weather events are occurring more frequently as a result of climate change. Recently dengue fever has become a serious issue in southern Taiwan. It may have characteristic temporal scales that can be identified. Some researchers have hypothesized that dengue fever incidences are related to climate change. This study applies time-frequency analysis to time series data concerning dengue fever and hydrologic and meteorological variables. Results of three time-frequency analytical methods - the Hilbert Huang transform (HHT), the Wavelet Transform (WT) and the Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) are compared and discussed. A more effective time-frequency analysis method will be identified to analyze relevant time series data. The most influential time scales of hydrologic and meteorological variables that are associated with dengue fever are determined. Finally, the linkage between hydrologic/meteorological factors and dengue fever incidences can be established.

Comparative study on predicting Young's modulus of graphene sheets using nano-scale continuum mechanics approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rafiee, Roham; Eskandariyun, Amirali

2017-06-01

In this research, nano-scale continuum modeling is employed to predict Young's modulus of graphene sheet. The lattice nano-structure of a graphene sheet is replaced with a discrete space-frame structure simulating carbon-carbon bonds with either beam or spring elements. A comparative study is carried out to check the influence of employed elements on estimated Young's moduli of graphene sheets in both horizontal and vertical directions. A detailed analysis is also conducted to investigate the influence of graphene sheet sizes on its Young's modulus and corresponding aspect ratios that unwelcomed end effects disappear on the results are extracted. At the final stage, defected graphene sheets suffering from vacancy defects are investigated through a stochastic analysis taking into account both number of defects and their locations as random parameters. The reduction level in the Young's moduli of defected graphene sheets compared with non-defected ones is analyzed and reported.

Dynamical behavior in f (T, TG) cosmology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kofinas, Georgios; Leon, Genly; Saridakis, Emmanuel N.

2014-09-01

The f(T,{{T}_{G}}) class of gravitational modification, based on the quadratic torsion scalar T as well as on the new quartic torsion scalar TG, which is the teleparallel equivalent of the Gauss-Bonnet term, is a novel theory, different from both f (T) and f(R,G) ones. We perform a detailed dynamical analysis of a spatially flat universe governed by the simplest non-trivial model of f(T,{{T}_{G}}) gravity which does not introduce a new mass scale. We find that the universe can result in dark-energy dominated, quintessence-like, cosmological-constant-like, or phantom-like solutions, according to the parameter choices. Additionally, it may result in a dark energy-dark matter scaling solution; thus it can alleviate the coincidence problem. Finally, the analysis ‘at infinity’ reveals that the universe may exhibit future, past, or intermediate singularities, depending on the parameters.

Ocean data assimilation using optimal interpolation with a quasi-geostrophic model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rienecker, Michele M.; Miller, Robert N.

1991-01-01

A quasi-geostrophic (QG) stream function is analyzed by optimal interpolation (OI) over a 59-day period in a 150-km-square domain off northern California. Hydrographic observations acquired over five surveys were assimilated into a QG open boundary ocean model. Assimilation experiments were conducted separately for individual surveys to investigate the sensitivity of the OI analyses to parameters defining the decorrelation scale of an assumed error covariance function. The analyses were intercompared through dynamical hindcasts between surveys. The best hindcast was obtained using the smooth analyses produced with assumed error decorrelation scales identical to those of the observed stream function. The rms difference between the hindcast stream function and the final analysis was only 23 percent of the observation standard deviation. The two sets of OI analyses were temporally smoother than the fields from statistical objective analysis and in good agreement with the only independent data available for comparison.

Development and validation of the work-family-school role conflicts and role-related social support scales among registered nurses with multiple roles.

PubMed

Xu, Lijuan; Song, Rhayun

2013-10-01

The purpose of this study was to develop work-family-school role conflicts and role-related social support scales, and to validate the psychometrics of those scales among registered nurses with multiple roles. The concepts, generation of items, and the scale domains of work-family-school role conflicts and role-related social support scales were constructed based on a review of the literature. The validity and reliability of the scales were examined by administering them to 201 registered nurses who were recruited from 8 university hospitals in South Korea. The content validity was examined by nursing experts using a content validity index. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to establish the construct validity. The correlation with depression was examined to assess concurrent validity. Finally, internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficients. The work-family-school role conflicts scale comprised ten items with three factors: work-school-to-family conflict (three items), family-school-to-work conflict (three items), and work-family-to-school conflict (four items). The role-related social support scale comprised nine items with three factors: support from family (three items), support from work (three items), and support from school (three items). Cronbach's alphas were 0.83 and 0.76 for the work-family-school role conflicts and role-related social support scales, respectively. Both instruments exhibited acceptable construct and concurrent validity. The validity and reliability of the developed scales indicate their potential usefulness for the assessment of work-family-school role conflict and role-related social support among registered nurses with multiple roles in Korea. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of electrostatic precipitator during SRC combustion tests. Final task report Apr--Aug 1977

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

Nichols, G.B.; Barrett, W.J.

1978-07-01

The report deals with the evaluation of an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and associated environmental factors during the burning of solvent refined coal (SRC) in a boiler at Plant Mitchell of the Georgia Power Company. The effort was part of an overall study of the use of SRC in a full-scale electric power plant. Results of a performance evaluation of the ESP are reported and interpreted. Samples of stack emissions were collected with a Source Assessment Sampling System (SASS) train for chemical analysis: results of the analysis are to be reported later.

Research on power market technical analysis index system employing high-low matching mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Tao; Wang, Shengyu

2018-06-01

The power market trading technical analysis refers to a method that takes the bidding behavior of members in the power market as the research object, sums up some typical market rules and price trends by applying mathematical and logical methods, and finally can effectively assist members in the power market to make more reasonable trading decisions. In this paper, the following four indicators have been proposed: bidding price difference scale, extreme bidding price rate, dispersion of bidding price and monthly transaction satisfaction of electricity trading, which are the core of the index system.

Development and validation of the simulation-based learning evaluation scale.

PubMed

Hung, Chang-Chiao; Liu, Hsiu-Chen; Lin, Chun-Chih; Lee, Bih-O

2016-05-01

The instruments that evaluate a student's perception of receiving simulated training are English versions and have not been tested for reliability or validity. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a Chinese version Simulation-Based Learning Evaluation Scale (SBLES). Four stages were conducted to develop and validate the SBLES. First, specific desired competencies were identified according to the National League for Nursing and Taiwan Nursing Accreditation Council core competencies. Next, the initial item pool was comprised of 50 items related to simulation that were drawn from the literature of core competencies. Content validity was established by use of an expert panel. Finally, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted for construct validity, and Cronbach's coefficient alpha determined the scale's internal consistency reliability. Two hundred and fifty students who had experienced simulation-based learning were invited to participate in this study. Two hundred and twenty-five students completed and returned questionnaires (response rate=90%). Six items were deleted from the initial item pool and one was added after an expert panel review. Exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation revealed 37 items remaining in five factors which accounted for 67% of the variance. The construct validity of SBLES was substantiated in a confirmatory factor analysis that revealed a good fit of the hypothesized factor structure. The findings tally with the criterion of convergent and discriminant validity. The range of internal consistency for five subscales was .90 to .93. Items were rated on a 5-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The results of this study indicate that the SBLES is valid and reliable. The authors recommend that the scale could be applied in the nursing school to evaluate the effectiveness of simulation-based learning curricula. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The ability of clinical balance measures to identify falls risk in multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Quinn, Gillian; Comber, Laura; Galvin, Rose; Coote, Susan

2018-05-01

To determine the ability of clinical measures of balance to distinguish fallers from non-fallers and to determine their predictive validity in identifying those at risk of falls. AMED, CINAHL, Medline, Scopus, PubMed Central and Google Scholar. First search: July 2015. Final search: October 2017. Inclusion criteria were studies of adults with a definite multiple sclerosis diagnosis, a clinical balance assessment and method of falls recording. Data were extracted independently by two reviewers. Study quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 scale and the modified Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. Statistical analysis was conducted for the cross-sectional studies using Review Manager 5. The mean difference with 95% confidence interval in balance outcomes between fallers and non-fallers was used as the mode of analysis. We included 33 studies (19 cross-sectional, 5 randomised controlled trials, 9 prospective) with a total of 3901 participants, of which 1917 (49%) were classified as fallers. The balance measures most commonly reported were the Berg Balance Scale, Timed Up and Go and Falls Efficacy Scale International. Meta-analysis demonstrated fallers perform significantly worse than non-fallers on all measures analysed except the Timed Up and Go Cognitive ( p < 0.05), but discriminative ability of the measures is commonly not reported. Of those reported, the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale had the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value (0.92), but without reporting corresponding measures of clinical utility. Clinical measures of balance differ significantly between fallers and non-fallers but have poor predictive ability for falls risk in people with multiple sclerosis.

Consistency Analysis of Genome-Scale Models of Bacterial Metabolism: A Metamodel Approach

PubMed Central

Ponce-de-Leon, Miguel; Calle-Espinosa, Jorge; Peretó, Juli; Montero, Francisco

2015-01-01

Genome-scale metabolic models usually contain inconsistencies that manifest as blocked reactions and gap metabolites. With the purpose to detect recurrent inconsistencies in metabolic models, a large-scale analysis was performed using a previously published dataset of 130 genome-scale models. The results showed that a large number of reactions (~22%) are blocked in all the models where they are present. To unravel the nature of such inconsistencies a metamodel was construed by joining the 130 models in a single network. This metamodel was manually curated using the unconnected modules approach, and then, it was used as a reference network to perform a gap-filling on each individual genome-scale model. Finally, a set of 36 models that had not been considered during the construction of the metamodel was used, as a proof of concept, to extend the metamodel with new biochemical information, and to assess its impact on gap-filling results. The analysis performed on the metamodel allowed to conclude: 1) the recurrent inconsistencies found in the models were already present in the metabolic database used during the reconstructions process; 2) the presence of inconsistencies in a metabolic database can be propagated to the reconstructed models; 3) there are reactions not manifested as blocked which are active as a consequence of some classes of artifacts, and; 4) the results of an automatic gap-filling are highly dependent on the consistency and completeness of the metamodel or metabolic database used as the reference network. In conclusion the consistency analysis should be applied to metabolic databases in order to detect and fill gaps as well as to detect and remove artifacts and redundant information. PMID:26629901

Development and psychometric properties of a new social support scale for self-care in middle-aged patients with type II diabetes (S4-MAD)

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Social support has proved to be one of the most effective factors on the success of diabetic self-care. This study aimed to develop a scale for evaluating social support for self-care in middle-aged patients (30–60 years old) with type II diabetes. Methods This was a two-phase qualitative and quantitative study. The study was conducted during 2009 to 2011 in Tehran, Iran. In the qualitative part, a sample of diabetic patients participated in four focus group discussions in order to develop a preliminary item pool. Consequently, content and face validity were performed to provide a pre-final version of the questionnaire. Then, in a quantitative study, reliability (internal consistency and test-retest analysis), validity and factor analysis (both exploratory and confirmatory) were performed to assess psychometric properties of the scale. Results A 38-item questionnaire was developed through the qualitative phase. It was reduced to a 33-item after content validity. Exploratory factor analysis loaded a 30-item with a five-factor solution (nutrition, physical activity, self monitoring of blood glucose, foot care and smoking) that jointly accounted for 72.3% of observed variance. The confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit to the data. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient showed excellent internal consistency (alpha=0.94), and test-retest of the scale with 2-weeks intervals indicated an appropriate stability for the scale (ICC=0.87). Conclusion The findings showed that the designed questionnaire was a valid and reliable instrument for measuring social support for self-care in middle-aged patients with type II diabetes. It is an easy to use questionnaire and contains the most significant diabetes related behaviors that need continuous support for self-care. PMID:23190685

Analysis of the Yukawa gravitational potential in f (R ) gravity. II. Relativistic periastron advance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Laurentis, Mariafelicia; De Martino, Ivan; Lazkoz, Ruth

2018-05-01

Alternative theories of gravity may serve to overcome several shortcomings of the standard cosmological model but, in their weak field limit, general relativity must be recovered so as to match the tight constraints at the Solar System scale. Therefore, testing such alternative models at scales of stellar systems could give a unique opportunity to confirm or rule them out. One of the most straightforward modifications is represented by analytical f (R )-gravity models that introduce a Yukawa-like modification to the Newtonian potential thus modifying the dynamics of particles. Using the geodesics equations, we have illustrated the amplitude of these modifications. First, we have integrated numerically the equations of motion showing the orbital precession of a particle around a massive object. Second, we have computed an analytic expression for the periastron advance of systems having their semimajor axis much shorter than the Yukawa-scale length. Finally, we have extended our results to the case of a binary system composed of two massive objects. Our analysis provides a powerful tool to obtain constraints on the underlying theory of gravity using current and forthcoming data sets.

Solar photo-Fenton treatment of carbofuran: analysis of mineralization, toxicity, and organic by-products.

PubMed

Lopez-Alvarez, Blady; Torres-Palma, Ricardo A; Ferraro, Franklin; Peñuela, Gustavo

2012-01-01

The degradation of the pesticide carbofuran (CBF) using solar photo-Fenton treatment, at both the laboratory and the pilot scale, was evaluated. At the laboratory scale, in a suntest reactor, the Fe(2+) concentration and H(2)O(2) concentration were evaluated and optimized using the surface response methodology and the Pareto diagram. Under optimal conditions experiments were performed to evaluate the evolution of the substrate removal, oxidation, subsequent mineralization, toxicity and the formation of chloride ions during the treatment. The analysis and evolution of five CBF by-products as well as several control and reactivity tests at the density functional theory level were used to depict a general scheme of the main degradation pathway of CBF via the photo-Fenton system. Finally, at the pilot scale, a sample of the commercial CBF product Furadan was eliminated after 420 min by the photo-Fenton system using direct sunlight. Under these conditions, after 900 min 89% of toxicity (1/E(50) on Vibrio fischeri bacteria), 97% of chemical oxygen demand, and 90% of dissolved organic carbon were removed.

Development and Validation of the Controller Acceptance Rating Scale (CARS): Results of Empirical Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Katharine K.; Kerns, Karol; Bone, Randall

2001-01-01

The measurement of operational acceptability is important for the development, implementation, and evolution of air traffic management decision support tools. The Controller Acceptance Rating Scale was developed at NASA Ames Research Center for the development and evaluation of the Passive Final Approach Spacing Tool. CARS was modeled after a well-known pilot evaluation rating instrument, the Cooper-Harper Scale, and has since been used in the evaluation of the User Request Evaluation Tool, developed by MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development. In this paper, we provide a discussion of the development of CARS and an analysis of the empirical data collected with CARS to examine construct validity. Results of intraclass correlations indicated statistically significant reliability for the CARS. From the subjective workload data that were collected in conjunction with the CARS, it appears that the expected set of workload attributes was correlated with the CARS. As expected, the analysis also showed that CARS was a sensitive indicator of the impact of decision support tools on controller operations. Suggestions for future CARS development and its improvement are also provided.

Development of the Internet addiction scale based on the Internet Gaming Disorder criteria suggested in DSM-5.

PubMed

Cho, Hyun; Kwon, Min; Choi, Ji-Hye; Lee, Sang-Kyu; Choi, Jung Seok; Choi, Sam-Wook; Kim, Dai-Jin

2014-09-01

This study was conducted to develop and validate a standardized self-diagnostic Internet addiction (IA) scale based on the diagnosis criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, 5th edition (DSM-5). Items based on the IGD diagnosis criteria were developed using items of the previous Internet addiction scales. Data were collected from a community sample. The data were divided into two sets, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed repeatedly. The model was modified after discussion with professionals based on the first CFA results, after which the second CFA was performed. The internal consistency reliability was generally good. The items that showed significantly low correlation values based on the item-total correlation of each factor were excluded. After the first CFA was performed, some factors and items were excluded. Seven factors and 26 items were prepared for the final model. The second CFA results showed good general factor loading, Squared Multiple Correlation (SMC) and model fit. The model fit of the final model was good, but some factors were very highly correlated. It is recommended that some of the factors be refined through further studies. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Large Scale Processes and Extreme Floods in Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribeiro Lima, C. H.; AghaKouchak, A.; Lall, U.

2016-12-01

Persistent large scale anomalies in the atmospheric circulation and ocean state have been associated with heavy rainfall and extreme floods in water basins of different sizes across the world. Such studies have emerged in the last years as a new tool to improve the traditional, stationary based approach in flood frequency analysis and flood prediction. Here we seek to advance previous studies by evaluating the dominance of large scale processes (e.g. atmospheric rivers/moisture transport) over local processes (e.g. local convection) in producing floods. We consider flood-prone regions in Brazil as case studies and the role of large scale climate processes in generating extreme floods in such regions is explored by means of observed streamflow, reanalysis data and machine learning methods. The dynamics of the large scale atmospheric circulation in the days prior to the flood events are evaluated based on the vertically integrated moisture flux and its divergence field, which are interpreted in a low-dimensional space as obtained by machine learning techniques, particularly supervised kernel principal component analysis. In such reduced dimensional space, clusters are obtained in order to better understand the role of regional moisture recycling or teleconnected moisture in producing floods of a given magnitude. The convective available potential energy (CAPE) is also used as a measure of local convection activities. We investigate for individual sites the exceedance probability in which large scale atmospheric fluxes dominate the flood process. Finally, we analyze regional patterns of floods and how the scaling law of floods with drainage area responds to changes in the climate forcing mechanisms (e.g. local vs large scale).

EPOS-WP16: A Platform for European Multi-scale Laboratories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spiers, Chris; Drury, Martyn; Kan-Parker, Mirjam; Lange, Otto; Willingshofer, Ernst; Funiciello, Francesca; Rosenau, Matthias; Scarlato, Piergiorgio; Sagnotti, Leonardo; W16 Participants

2016-04-01

The participant countries in EPOS embody a wide range of world-class laboratory infrastructures ranging from high temperature and pressure experimental facilities, to electron microscopy, micro-beam analysis, analogue modeling and paleomagnetic laboratories. Most data produced by the various laboratory centres and networks are presently available only in limited "final form" in publications. As such many data remain inaccessible and/or poorly preserved. However, the data produced at the participating laboratories are crucial to serving society's need for geo-resources exploration and for protection against geo-hazards. Indeed, to model resource formation and system behaviour during exploitation, we need an understanding from the molecular to the continental scale, based on experimental data. This contribution will describe the work plans that the laboratories community in Europe is making, in the context of EPOS. The main objectives are: - To collect and harmonize available and emerging laboratory data on the properties and processes controlling rock system behaviour at multiple scales, in order to generate products accessible and interoperable through services for supporting research activities. - To co-ordinate the development, integration and trans-national usage of the major solid Earth Science laboratory centres and specialist networks. The length scales encompassed by the infrastructures included range from the nano- and micrometer levels (electron microscopy and micro-beam analysis) to the scale of experiments on centimetre sized samples, and to analogue model experiments simulating the reservoir scale, the basin scale and the plate scale. - To provide products and services supporting research into Geo-resources and Geo-storage, Geo-hazards and Earth System Evolution.

An Investigation of the Large Scale Evolution and Topology of Coronal Mass Ejections in the Solar Wind

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Riley, Peter

2000-01-01

This investigation is concerned with the large-scale evolution and topology of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the solar wind. During this reporting period we have focused on several aspects of CME properties, their identification and their evolution in the solar wind. The work included both analysis of Ulysses and ACE observations as well as fluid and magnetohydrodynamic simulations. In addition, we analyzed a series of "density holes" observed in the solar wind, that bear many similarities with CMEs. Finally, this work was communicated to the scientific community at three meetings and has led to three scientific papers that are in various stages of review.

Completion of the 1:1,500,000-Scale Geologic Map of Western Libya Montes and Northwestern Tyrrhena Terra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huff, A. E.; Skinner, J. A.

2018-06-01

Final progress report on the 1:1,500,000-scale mapping of western Libya Montes and northwestern Tyrrhena Terra. The final unit names, labels, and descriptions are reported as well as the methodology for age determinations and brief geologic history.

Final report from VFL Technologies for the pilot-scale thermal treatment of lower East Fork Poplar Creek floodplain soils. LEFPC appendices, Volume 4, Appendix V-C

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

NONE

1994-09-01

This is the the final verification run data package for pilot scale thermal treatment of lower East Fork Poplar Creek floodplain soils. Included are data on volatiles, semivolatiles, and TCLP volatiles.

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: theoretical systematics and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations in the galaxy correlation function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vargas-Magaña, Mariana; Ho, Shirley; Cuesta, Antonio J.; O'Connell, Ross; Ross, Ashley J.; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Percival, Will J.; Grieb, Jan Niklas; Sánchez, Ariel G.; Tinker, Jeremy L.; Tojeiro, Rita; Beutler, Florian; Chuang, Chia-Hsun; Kitaura, Francisco-Shu; Prada, Francisco; Rodríguez-Torres, Sergio A.; Rossi, Graziano; Seo, Hee-Jong; Brownstein, Joel R.; Olmstead, Matthew; Thomas, Daniel

2018-06-01

We investigate the potential sources of theoretical systematics in the anisotropic Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) distance scale measurements from the clustering of galaxies in configuration space using the final Data Release (DR12) of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). We perform a detailed study of the impact on BAO measurements from choices in the methodology such as fiducial cosmology, clustering estimators, random catalogues, fitting templates, and covariance matrices. The theoretical systematic uncertainties in BAO parameters are found to be 0.002 in the isotropic dilation α and 0.003 in the quadrupolar dilation ɛ. The leading source of systematic uncertainty is related to the reconstruction techniques. Theoretical uncertainties are sub-dominant compared with the statistical uncertainties for BOSS survey, accounting 0.2σstat for α and 0.25σstat for ɛ (σα, stat ˜ 0.010 and σɛ, stat ˜ 0.012, respectively). We also present BAO-only distance scale constraints from the anisotropic analysis of the correlation function. Our constraints on the angular diameter distance DA(z) and the Hubble parameter H(z), including both statistical and theoretical systematic uncertainties, are 1.5 per cent and 2.8 per cent at zeff = 0.38, 1.4 per cent and 2.4 per cent at zeff = 0.51, and 1.7 per cent and 2.6 per cent at zeff = 0.61. This paper is part of a set that analyses the final galaxy clustering data set from BOSS. The measurements and likelihoods presented here are cross-checked with other BAO analysis in Alam et al. The systematic error budget concerning the methodology on post-reconstruction BAO analysis presented here is used in Alam et al. to produce the final cosmological constraints from BOSS.

A wavelet analysis of co-movements in Asian gold markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Debojyoti; Kannadhasan, M.; Al-Yahyaee, Khamis Hamed; Yoon, Seong-Min

2018-02-01

This study assesses the cross-country co-movements of gold spot returns among the major gold consuming countries in Asia using wavelet-based analysis for a dataset spanning over 26 years. Wavelet-based analysis is used since it allows measuring co-movements in a time-frequency space. The results suggest intense and positive co-movements in Asia after the Asian financial crisis of 1997 at all frequencies. In addition, the Asian gold spot markets depict a state of impending perfect market integration. Finally, Thailand emerges as the potential market leader in all wavelet scales except one, which is led by India. The study has important implications for international diversification of a single-asset (gold) portfolio.

An overview of data acquisition, signal coding and data analysis techniques for MST radars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rastogi, P. K.

1986-01-01

An overview is given of the data acquisition, signal processing, and data analysis techniques that are currently in use with high power MST/ST (mesosphere stratosphere troposphere/stratosphere troposphere) radars. This review supplements the works of Rastogi (1983) and Farley (1984) presented at previous MAP workshops. A general description is given of data acquisition and signal processing operations and they are characterized on the basis of their disparate time scales. Then signal coding, a brief description of frequently used codes, and their limitations are discussed, and finally, several aspects of statistical data processing such as signal statistics, power spectrum and autocovariance analysis, outlier removal techniques are discussed.

Preliminary Design and Analysis of the ARES Atmospheric Flight Vehicle Thermal Control System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gasbarre, J. F.; Dillman, R. A.

2003-01-01

The Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey (ARES) is a proposed 2007 Mars Scout Mission that will be the first mission to deploy an atmospheric flight vehicle (AFV) on another planet. This paper will describe the preliminary design and analysis of the AFV thermal control system for its flight through the Martian atmosphere and also present other analyses broadening the scope of that design to include other phases of the ARES mission. Initial analyses are discussed and results of trade studies are presented which detail the design process for AFV thermal control. Finally, results of the most recent AFV thermal analysis are shown and the plans for future work are discussed.

Treatment effect of methylphenidate on intrinsic functional brain network in medication-naïve ADHD children: A multivariate analysis.

PubMed

Yoo, Jae Hyun; Kim, Dohyun; Choi, Jeewook; Jeong, Bumseok

2018-04-01

Methylphenidate is a first-line therapeutic option for treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); however, elicited changes on resting-state functional networks (RSFNs) are not well understood. This study investigated the treatment effect of methylphenidate using a variety of RSFN analyses and explored the collaborative influences of treatment-relevant RSFN changes in children with ADHD. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was acquired from 20 medication-naïve ADHD children before methylphenidate treatment and twelve weeks later. Changes in large-scale functional connectivity were defined using independent component analysis with dual regression and graph theoretical analysis. The amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) was measured to investigate local spontaneous activity alteration. Finally, significant findings were recruited to random forest regression to identify the feature subset that best explains symptom improvement. After twelve weeks of methylphenidate administration, large-scale connectivity was increased between the left fronto-parietal RSFN and the left insula cortex and the right fronto-parietal and the brainstem, while the clustering coefficient (CC) of the global network and nodes, the left fronto-parietal, cerebellum, and occipital pole-visual network, were decreased. ALFF was increased in the bilateral superior parietal cortex and decreased in the right inferior fronto-temporal area. The subset of the local and large-scale RSFN changes, including widespread ALFF changes, the CC of the global network and the cerebellum, could explain the 27.1% variance of the ADHD Rating Scale and 13.72% of the Conner's Parent Rating Scale. Our multivariate approach suggests that the neural mechanism of methylphenidate treatment could be associated with alteration of spontaneous activity in the superior parietal cortex or widespread brain regions as well as functional segregation of the large-scale intrinsic functional network.

Extended-range high-resolution dynamical downscaling over a continental-scale spatial domain with atmospheric and surface nudging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husain, S. Z.; Separovic, L.; Yu, W.; Fernig, D.

2014-12-01

Extended-range high-resolution mesoscale simulations with limited-area atmospheric models when applied to downscale regional analysis fields over large spatial domains can provide valuable information for many applications including the weather-dependent renewable energy industry. Long-term simulations over a continental-scale spatial domain, however, require mechanisms to control the large-scale deviations in the high-resolution simulated fields from the coarse-resolution driving fields. As enforcement of the lateral boundary conditions is insufficient to restrict such deviations, large scales in the simulated high-resolution meteorological fields are therefore spectrally nudged toward the driving fields. Different spectral nudging approaches, including the appropriate nudging length scales as well as the vertical profiles and temporal relaxations for nudging, have been investigated to propose an optimal nudging strategy. Impacts of time-varying nudging and generation of hourly analysis estimates are explored to circumvent problems arising from the coarse temporal resolution of the regional analysis fields. Although controlling the evolution of the atmospheric large scales generally improves the outputs of high-resolution mesoscale simulations within the surface layer, the prognostically evolving surface fields can nevertheless deviate from their expected values leading to significant inaccuracies in the predicted surface layer meteorology. A forcing strategy based on grid nudging of the different surface fields, including surface temperature, soil moisture, and snow conditions, toward their expected values obtained from a high-resolution offline surface scheme is therefore proposed to limit any considerable deviation. Finally, wind speed and temperature at wind turbine hub height predicted by different spectrally nudged extended-range simulations are compared against observations to demonstrate possible improvements achievable using higher spatiotemporal resolution.

Aeroelastic Ground Wind Loads Analysis Tool for Launch Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ivanco, Thomas G.

2016-01-01

Launch vehicles are exposed to ground winds during rollout and on the launch pad that can induce static and dynamic loads. Of particular concern are the dynamic loads caused by vortex shedding from nearly-cylindrical structures. When the frequency of vortex shedding nears that of a lowly-damped structural mode, the dynamic loads can be more than an order of magnitude greater than mean drag loads. Accurately predicting vehicle response to vortex shedding during the design and analysis cycles is difficult and typically exceeds the practical capabilities of modern computational fluid dynamics codes. Therefore, mitigating the ground wind loads risk typically requires wind-tunnel tests of dynamically-scaled models that are time consuming and expensive to conduct. In recent years, NASA has developed a ground wind loads analysis tool for launch vehicles to fill this analytical capability gap in order to provide predictions for prelaunch static and dynamic loads. This paper includes a background of the ground wind loads problem and the current state-of-the-art. It then discusses the history and significance of the analysis tool and the methodology used to develop it. Finally, results of the analysis tool are compared to wind-tunnel and full-scale data of various geometries and Reynolds numbers.

[Subjective cognition in schizophrenia].

PubMed

Potvin, S; Aubin, G; Stip, E

2017-02-01

Given the extent, magnitude and functional significance of the neurocognitive deficits of schizophrenia, growing attention has been paid recently to patients' self-awareness of their own deficits. Thus far, the literature has shown either that patients fail to recognize their cognitive deficits or that the association between subjective and objective cognition is weak in schizophrenia. The reasons for this lack of consistency remain unexplained but may have to do, among others, with the influence of potential confounding clinical variables and the choice of the scale used to measure self-awareness of cognitive deficits. In the current study, we sought to examine the relationships between subjective and objective cognitive performance in schizophrenia, while controlling for the influence of sociodemographic and psychiatric variables. Eighty-two patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder (DSM-IV criteria) were recruited. Patients' subjective cognitive complaints were evaluated with the Subjective Scale to Investigate Cognition in Schizophrenia (SSTICS), the most frequently used scale to measure self-awareness of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Neurocognition was evaluated with working memory, planning and visual learning tasks taken from Cambridge Neuropsychological Tests Automated Battery. The Stroop Color-Word test was also administered. Psychiatric symptoms were evaluated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia. The relationships between subjective and objective cognition were evaluated with multivariate hierarchic linear regression analyses, taking into consideration potential confounders such as sociodemographic and psychiatric variables. Finally, a factor analysis of the SSTICS was performed. For the SSTICS total score, the regression analysis produced a model including two predictors, namely visual learning and Stoop interference performance, explaining a moderate portion of the variance. Visual learning performance was the most consistent predictor of most SSTICS subscores (e.g. episodic memory, attention, executive functioning, language and praxis). Modest associations were found between the PANSS cognitive factor and objective cognition (e.g. Stroop interference, visual learning, and working memory). Finally, the factor analysis revealed a 6-factor solution that echoes the classification of the items of the SSTICS based on the neuropsychological literature. Using a scale having good internal validity, as shown by the factor analysis, the current study highlighted modest associations between subjective and objective cognitive performance, which suggests that schizophrenia patients are only partially aware of their own cognitive deficits. The results also showed a lack of correspondence between the impaired cognitive domain and the domain of cognitive awareness. It should be noted that clinicians were not better than patients at evaluating their cognitive deficits. Future research will need to determine if the observations reported here are schizophrenia-specific or not. Copyright © 2016 L'Encéphale, Paris. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Time tracking and interaction of energy-eddies at different scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cardesa, Jose I.; Vela-Martin, Alberto; Jimenez, Javier

2016-11-01

We study the energy cascade through coherent structures obtained in time-resolved simulations of incompressible, statistically steady isotropic turbulence. The structures are defined as geometrically connected regions of the flow with high kinetic energy. We compute the latter by band-pass filtering the velocity field around a scale r. We analyse the dynamics of structures extracted with different r, which are a proxy for eddies containing energy at those r. We find that the size of these "energy-eddies" scales with r, while their lifetime scales with the local eddy-turnover r 2 / 3ɛ - 1 / 3 , where ɛ is the energy dissipation averaged over all space and time. Furthermore, a statistical analysis over the lives of the eddies shows a slight predominance of the splitting over the merging process. When we isolate the eddies which do not interact with other eddies of the same scale, we observe a parent-child dependence by which, on average, structures are born at scale r during the decaying part of the life of a structure at scale r' > r . The energy-eddy at r' lives in the same region of space as that at r. Finally, we investigate how interactions between eddies at the same scale are echoed across other scales. Funded by the ERC project Coturb.

Medical student and junior doctors' tolerance of ambiguity: development of a new scale.

PubMed

Hancock, Jason; Roberts, Martin; Monrouxe, Lynn; Mattick, Karen

2015-03-01

The practice of medicine involves inherent ambiguity, arising from limitations of knowledge, diagnostic problems, complexities of treatment and outcome and unpredictability of patient response. Research into doctors' tolerance of ambiguity is hampered by poor conceptual clarity and inadequate measurement scales. We aimed to create and pilot a measurement scale for tolerance of ambiguity in medical students and junior doctors that addresses the limitations of existing scales. After defining tolerance of ambiguity, scale items were generated by literature review and expert consultation. Feedback on the draft scale was sought and incorporated. 411 medical students and 75 foundation doctors in Exeter, UK were asked to complete the scale. Psychometric analysis enabled further scale refinement and comparison of scale scores across subgroups. The pilot study achieved a 64% response rate. The final 29 item version of the Tolerance of Ambiguity in Medical Students and Doctors (TAMSAD) scale had good internal reliability (Cronbach's α 0.80). Tolerance of ambiguity was higher in foundation year 2 doctors than first, third and fourth year medical students (-5.23, P = 0.012; -5.98, P = 0.013; -4.62, P = 0.035, for each year group respectively). The TAMSAD scale offers a valid and reliable alternative to existing scales. Further work is required in different settings and in longitudinal studies but this study offers intriguing provisional insights.

[Adaptation and psychometric proprieties study for the Portuguese version of the Adolescent Coping Scale - Escala de Coping para Adolescentes].

PubMed

Guerreiro, Diogo Frasquilho; Cruz, Diana; Figueira, Maria Luísa; Sampaio, Daniel

2014-01-01

Coping is a psychological process that prompts the individual to adapt to stressful situations. The Adolescent Coping Scale is a widely used research and clinical tool. This study aimed to develop a Portuguese version of the Adolescent Coping Scale and to analyze the strategies and coping styles of young people in our sample. An anonymous questionnaire comprising the Adolescent Coping Scale was submitted and replied by 1 713 students (56% female, from 12 to 20 years, average age 16) The validity study of the scale included: principal component and reliability analysis; confirmatory analysis using structural equation modelling Subsequently, a gender comparison of both the strategies and the coping styles was conducted through independent samples t tests. The final structure of the Adolescent Coping Scale adaptation retained 70 items assessing 16 coping strategies grouped into three major styles. The scales showed good internal consistency (Cronbach alpha values between 0.63. and 0.86, with the exception of one dimension that as shown a value of 0.55) and the confirmatory model showed a good fit (goodness of fit index values between 0.94 e 0.96). Two coping strategies were eliminated on statistical grounds (insufficient saturations of items in the corresponding dimensions). We found that the style of coping focused on problem solving is the most used by youths from our sample, in both sexes. Females had higher mean values in non-productive coping style and reference to others. This adapted version has high similarity with the original scale, with expectable minor changes, given that coping is influenced by cultural, geographical and socio-economic variables. The present study represents an important part of the validation protocol Portuguese Adolescent Coping Scale, including its linguistic adaptation and its internal consistency and factor structure studies.

Projectile fragmentation of 40,48Ca and isotopic scaling in a transport approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mikhailova, T. I.; Erdemchimeg, B.; Artukh, A. G.; Di Toro, M.; Wolter, H. H.

2016-07-01

We investigate theoretically projectile fragmentation in reactions of 40,48Ca on 9Be and 181Ta targets using a Boltzmann-type transport approach, which is supplemented by a statistical decay code to describe the de-excitation of the hot primary fragments. We determine the thermodynamical properties of the primary fragments and calculate the isotope distributions of the cold final fragments. These describe the data reasonably well. For the pairs of projectiles with different isotopic content we analyze the isotopic scaling (or isoscaling) of the final fragment distributions, which has been used to extract the symmetry energy of the primary source. The calculation exhibits isoscaling behavior for the total yields as do the experiments. We also perform an impact-parameter-dependent isoscaling analysis in view of the fact that the primary systems at different impact parameters have very different properties. Then the isoscaling behavior is less stringent, which we can attribute to specific structure effects of the 40,48Ca pair. The symmetry energy determined in this way depends on these structure effects.

Projectile fragmentation of {sup 40,48}Ca and isotopic scaling in a transport approach

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

Mikhailova, T. I., E-mail: tmikh@jinr.ru; Erdemchimeg, B.; Artukh, A. G.

2016-07-15

We investigate theoretically projectile fragmentation in reactions of {sup 40,48}Ca on {sup 9}Be and {sup 181}Ta targets using a Boltzmann-type transport approach, which is supplemented by a statistical decay code to describe the de-excitation of the hot primary fragments. We determine the thermodynamical properties of the primary fragments and calculate the isotope distributions of the cold final fragments. These describe the data reasonably well. For the pairs of projectiles with different isotopic content we analyze the isotopic scaling (or isoscaling) of the final fragment distributions, which has been used to extract the symmetry energy of the primary source. The calculationmore » exhibits isoscaling behavior for the total yields as do the experiments. We also perform an impact-parameter-dependent isoscaling analysis in view of the fact that the primary systems at different impact parameters have very different properties. Then the isoscaling behavior is less stringent, which we can attribute to specific structure effects of the {sup 40,48}Ca pair. The symmetry energy determined in this way depends on these structure effects.« less

Venus mapping

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Batson, R. M.; Morgan, H. F.; Sucharski, Robert

1991-01-01

Semicontrolled image mosaics of Venus, based on Magellan data, are being compiled at 1:50,000,000, 1:10,000,000, 1:5,000,000, and 1:1,000,000 scales to support the Magellan Radar Investigator (RADIG) team. The mosaics are semicontrolled in the sense that data gaps were not filled and significant cosmetic inconsistencies exist. Contours are based on preliminary radar altimetry data that is subjected to revision and improvement. Final maps to support geologic mapping and other scientific investigations, to be compiled as the dataset becomes complete, will be sponsored by the Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program and/or the Venus Data Analysis Program. All maps, both semicontrolled and final, will be published as I-maps by the United States Geological Survey. All of the mapping is based on existing knowledge of the spacecraft orbit; photogrammetric triangulation, a traditional basis for geodetic control on planets where framing cameras were used, is not feasible with the radar images of Venus, although an eventual shift of coordinate system to a revised spin-axis location is anticipated. This is expected to be small enough that it will affect only large-scale maps.

University student depression inventory (USDI): confirmatory factor analysis and review of psychometric properties.

PubMed

Romaniuk, Madeline; Khawaja, Nigar G

2013-09-25

The 30-item USDI is a self-report measure that assesses depressive symptoms among university students. It consists of three correlated three factors: lethargy, cognitive-emotional and academic motivation. The current research used confirmatory factor analysis to asses construct validity and determine whether the original factor structure would be replicated in a different sample. Psychometric properties were also examined. Participants were 1148 students (mean age 22.84 years, SD=6.85) across all faculties from a large Australian metropolitan university. Students completed a questionnaire comprising of the USDI, the depression anxiety stress scale (DASS) and Life Satisfaction Scale (LSS). The three correlated factor model was shown to be an acceptable fit to the data, indicating sound construct validity. Internal consistency of the scale was also demonstrated to be sound, with high Cronbach alpha values. Temporal stability of the scale was also shown to be strong through test-retest analysis. Finally, concurrent and discriminant validity was examined with correlations between the USDI and DASS subscales as well as the LSS, with sound results further supporting the construct validity of the scale. Cut-off points were also developed to aid total score interpretation. Response rates are unclear. In addition, the representativeness of the sample could be improved potentially through targeted recruitment (i.e. reviewing the online sample statistics during data collection, examining the representativeness trends and addressing particular faculties within the university that were underrepresented). The USDI provides a valid and reliable method of assessing depressive symptoms found among university students. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

Rowe, M.D.; Pierce, B.L.

This report presents results of tests of different final site selection methods used for siting large-scale facilities such as nuclear power plants. Test data are adapted from a nuclear power plant siting study conducted on Long Island, New York. The purpose of the tests is to determine whether or not different final site selection methods produce different results, and to obtain some understanding of the nature of any differences found. Decision rules and weighting methods are included. Decision rules tested are Weighting Summation, Power Law, Decision Analysis, Goal Programming, and Goal Attainment; weighting methods tested are Categorization, Ranking, Rating Ratiomore » Estimation, Metfessel Allocation, Indifferent Tradeoff, Decision Analysis lottery, and Global Evaluation. Results show that different methods can, indeed, produce different results, but that the probability that they will do so is controlled by the structure of differences among the sites being evaluated. Differences in weights and suitability scores attributable to methods have reduced significance if the alternatives include one or two sites that are superior to all others in many attributes. The more tradeoffs there are among good and bad levels of different attributes at different sites, the more important are the specifics of methods to the final decision. 5 refs., 14 figs., 19 tabs.« less

Disruptive behavior scale for adolescents (DISBA): development and psychometric properties.

PubMed

Karimy, Mahmood; Fakhri, Ahmad; Vali, Esmaeel; Vali, Farzaneh; Veiga, Feliciano H; Stein, L A R; Araban, Marzieh

2018-01-01

Growing evidence indicates that if disruptive behavior is left unidentified and untreated, a significant proportion of these problems will persist and may develop into problems linked with delinquency, substance abuse, and violence. Research is needed to develop valid and reliable measures of disruptive behavior to assist recognition and impact of treatments on disruptive behavior. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a scale for disruptive behavior in adolescents. Six hundred high school students (50% girls), ages ranged 15-18 years old, selected through multi stage random sampling. Psychometrics of the disruptive behavior scale for adolescents (DISBA) (Persian version) was assessed through content validity, explanatory factor analysis (EFA) using Varimax rotation and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The reliability of this scale was assessed via internal consistency and test-retest reliability. EFA revealed four factors accounting for 59% of observed variance. The final 29-item scale contained four factors: (1) aggressive school behavior, (2) classroom defiant behavior, (3) unimportance of school, and (4) defiance to school authorities. Furthermore, CFA produced a sufficient Goodness of Fit Index > 0.90. Test-retest and internal consistency reliabilities were acceptable at 0.85 and 0.89, respectively. The findings from this study suggest that the Iranian version of DISBA questionnaire has content validity. Further studies are needed to evaluate stronger psychometric properties for DISBA.

Pore-Scale Simulation and Sensitivity Analysis of Apparent Gas Permeability in Shale Matrix

PubMed Central

Zhang, Pengwei; Hu, Liming; Meegoda, Jay N.

2017-01-01

Extremely low permeability due to nano-scale pores is a distinctive feature of gas transport in a shale matrix. The permeability of shale depends on pore pressure, porosity, pore throat size and gas type. The pore network model is a practical way to explain the macro flow behavior of porous media from a microscopic point of view. In this research, gas flow in a shale matrix is simulated using a previously developed three-dimensional pore network model that includes typical bimodal pore size distribution, anisotropy and low connectivity of the pore structure in shale. The apparent gas permeability of shale matrix was calculated under different reservoir pressures corresponding to different gas exploitation stages. Results indicate that gas permeability is strongly related to reservoir gas pressure, and hence the apparent permeability is not a unique value during the shale gas exploitation, and simulations suggested that a constant permeability for continuum-scale simulation is not accurate. Hence, the reservoir pressures of different shale gas exploitations should be considered. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was also performed to determine the contributions to apparent permeability of a shale matrix from petro-physical properties of shale such as pore throat size and porosity. Finally, the impact of connectivity of nano-scale pores on shale gas flux was analyzed. These results would provide an insight into understanding nano/micro scale flows of shale gas in the shale matrix. PMID:28772465

Pore-Scale Simulation and Sensitivity Analysis of Apparent Gas Permeability in Shale Matrix.

PubMed

Zhang, Pengwei; Hu, Liming; Meegoda, Jay N

2017-01-25

Extremely low permeability due to nano-scale pores is a distinctive feature of gas transport in a shale matrix. The permeability of shale depends on pore pressure, porosity, pore throat size and gas type. The pore network model is a practical way to explain the macro flow behavior of porous media from a microscopic point of view. In this research, gas flow in a shale matrix is simulated using a previously developed three-dimensional pore network model that includes typical bimodal pore size distribution, anisotropy and low connectivity of the pore structure in shale. The apparent gas permeability of shale matrix was calculated under different reservoir pressures corresponding to different gas exploitation stages. Results indicate that gas permeability is strongly related to reservoir gas pressure, and hence the apparent permeability is not a unique value during the shale gas exploitation, and simulations suggested that a constant permeability for continuum-scale simulation is not accurate. Hence, the reservoir pressures of different shale gas exploitations should be considered. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was also performed to determine the contributions to apparent permeability of a shale matrix from petro-physical properties of shale such as pore throat size and porosity. Finally, the impact of connectivity of nano-scale pores on shale gas flux was analyzed. These results would provide an insight into understanding nano/micro scale flows of shale gas in the shale matrix.

Singular-Arc Time-Optimal Trajectory of Aircraft in Two-Dimensional Wind Field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Nhan

2006-01-01

This paper presents a study of a minimum time-to-climb trajectory analysis for aircraft flying in a two-dimensional altitude dependent wind field. The time optimal control problem possesses a singular control structure when the lift coefficient is taken as a control variable. A singular arc analysis is performed to obtain an optimal control solution on the singular arc. Using a time-scale separation with the flight path angle treated as a fast state, the dimensionality of the optimal control solution is reduced by eliminating the lift coefficient control. A further singular arc analysis is used to decompose the original optimal control solution into the flight path angle solution and a trajectory solution as a function of the airspeed and altitude. The optimal control solutions for the initial and final climb segments are computed using a shooting method with known starting values on the singular arc The numerical results of the shooting method show that the optimal flight path angle on the initial and final climb segments are constant. The analytical approach provides a rapid means for analyzing a time optimal trajectory for aircraft performance.

Final Pilot Performance Rating Scales.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horner, Walter R.; And Others

These rating scales are intended for evaluation of student pilot performance. Each student is evaluated individually on the basis of video recordings of the student in flight. Ten point rating lines are used for the ten criterion performance elements of each of three maneuvers, (1) Final Turn to Landing, (2) Lazy Eight, and (3) Vertical S "A".…

Adolescents' perception of parental feeding practices: Adaptation and validation of the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire for Brazilian adolescents—The CFPQ-Teen

PubMed Central

Piccoli, Ângela Bein; Neiva-Silva, Lucas; Mosmann, Clarisse Pereira; Musher-Eizenman, Dara; Pellanda, Lucia C.

2017-01-01

Background Parental feeding practices may play a key role in dietary habits and nutritional status of adolescents, but research from adolescents’ point of view on this topic is scarce. Objective To adapt and validate an instrument of parental feeding practices as perceived by adolescents in a Brazilian setting. Methods The Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire was translated into Portuguese and adapted to be answered by adolescents (ages 12 to 18). Content analysis and FACE validity to assess cultural equivalence was undertaken by experts in the adolescent nutritional and psychological fields. Pilot study was evaluated in 23 adolescents. The final version was administered to 41 students to assess instrument reproducibility (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient). Internal consistency (Cronbach's Alpha) and construct validity (Confirmatory Factor Analysis) were assessed in a third sample of 307 adolescents. Results Experts and adolescents considered content validity as appropriate. In reproducibility analysis (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient), 10 of the 12 factors were above 0.7. The factors “teaching about nutrition” and “food as reward” obtained values of 0.60 and 0.68, respectively. The Cronbach's Alpha of the whole scale was 0.83 and alphas for subscales ranged from 0.52 to 0.85; the factors “teaching about nutrition” and “food as a reward” had the lowest values (0.52). After removing these two factors, the Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicated that the structural model was appropriate. The final scale was made up of 10 factors with 43 questions. Conclusions The Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire-Teen demonstrates validity and reliability, and is a suitable tool to evaluate the perceptions of adolescents regarding parental feeding practices. PMID:29145485

Global Precipitation Analyses at Time Scales of Monthly to 3-Hourly

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adler, Robert F.; Huffman, George; Curtis, Scott; Bolvin, David; Nelkin, Eric; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Global precipitation analysis covering the last few decades and the impact of the new TRMM precipitation observations are discussed. The 20+ year, monthly, globally complete precipitation analysis of the World Climate Research Program's (WCRP/GEWEX) Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) is used to explore global and regional variations and trends and is compared to the much shorter TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) tropical data set. The GPCP data set shows no significant trend in precipitation over the twenty years, unlike the positive trend in global surface temperatures over the past century. Regional trends are also analyzed. A trend pattern that is a combination of both El Nino and La Nina precipitation features is evident in the Goodyear data set. This pattern is related to an increase with time in the number of combined months of El Nino and La Nina during the Goodyear period. Monthly anomalies of precipitation are related to ENRON variations with clear signals extending into middle and high latitudes of both hemispheres. The GPCP daily, 1 degree latitude-longitude analysis, which is available from January 1997 to the present is described and the evolution of precipitation patterns on this time scale related to El Nino and La Nina is described. Finally, a TRMM-based Based analysis is described that uses TRMM to calibrate polar-orbit microwave observations from SSM/I and geosynchronous OR observations and merges the various calibrated observations into a final, Baehr resolution map. This TRMM standard product will be available for the entire TRMM period (January Represent). A real-time version of this merged product is being produced and is available at 0.25 degree latitude-longitude resolution over the latitude range from 50 deg. N -50 deg. S. Examples will be shown, including its use in monitoring flood conditions.

Development of an Instrument to Measure Pharmacy Student Attitudes Toward Social Media Professionalism

PubMed Central

Spivey, Christina A.; Jaeger, Melanie C.; Williams, Jennifer; George, Christa

2017-01-01

Objectives. To develop and validate a scale measuring pharmacy students’ attitudes toward social media professionalism, and assess the impact of an educational presentation on social media professionalism. Methods. A social media professionalism scale was used in a pre- and post-survey to determine the effects of a social media professionalism presentation. The 26-item scale was administered to 197 first-year pharmacy (P1) students during orientation. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to determine the number of underlying factors responsible for covariation of the data. Principal components analysis was used as the extraction method. Varimax was selected as the rotation method. Cronbach’s alpha was estimated. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare pre- and post-scores of each item, subscale, and total scale. Results. There were 187 (95%) students who participated. The final scale had five subscales and 15 items. Subscales were named according to the professionalism tenet they best represented. Scores of items addressing reading/posting to social media during class, an employer’s use of social media when making hiring decisions, and a college/university’s use of social media as a measure of professional conduct significantly increased from pre-test to post-test. The “honesty and integrity” subscale score also significantly increased. Conclusion. The social media professionalism scale measures five tenets of professionalism and exhibits satisfactory reliability. The presentation improved P1 students’ attitudes regarding social media professionalism. PMID:28630506

Development and validation of the Simulation Learning Effectiveness Scale for nursing students.

PubMed

Pai, Hsiang-Chu

2016-11-01

To develop and validate the Simulation Learning Effectiveness Scale, which is based on Bandura's social cognitive theory. A simulation programme is a significant teaching strategy for nursing students. Nevertheless, there are few evidence-based instruments that validate the effectiveness of simulation learning in Taiwan. This is a quantitative descriptive design. In Study 1, a nonprobability convenience sample of 151 student nurses completed the Simulation Learning Effectiveness Scale. Exploratory factor analysis was used to examine the factor structure of the instrument. In Study 2, which involved 365 student nurses, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to analyse the construct validity of the Simulation Learning Effectiveness Scale. In Study 1, exploratory factor analysis yielded three components: self-regulation, self-efficacy and self-motivation. The three factors explained 29·09, 27·74 and 19·32% of the variance, respectively. The final 12-item instrument with the three factors explained 76·15% of variance. Cronbach's alpha was 0·94. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis identified a second-order factor termed Simulation Learning Effectiveness Scale. Goodness-of-fit indices showed an acceptable fit overall with the full model (χ 2 /df (51) = 3·54, comparative fit index = 0·96, Tucker-Lewis index = 0·95 and standardised root-mean-square residual = 0·035). In addition, teacher's competence was found to encourage learning, and self-reflection and insight were significantly and positively associated with Simulation Learning Effectiveness Scale. Teacher's competence in encouraging learning also was significantly and positively associated with self-reflection and insight. Overall, theses variable explained 21·9% of the variance in the student's learning effectiveness. The Simulation Learning Effectiveness Scale is a reliable and valid means to assess simulation learning effectiveness for nursing students. The Simulation Learning Effectiveness Scale can be used to examine nursing students' learning effectiveness and serve as a basis to improve student's learning efficiency through simulation programmes. Future implementation research that focuses on the relationship between learning effectiveness and nursing competence in nursing students is recommended. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Perceptıon scale of barrıers to contraceptıve use: a methodologıcal study.

PubMed

Sen, Selma; Cetinkaya, Aynur; Cavuslar, Aysel

2017-01-01

The objective of this study was to design and develop the Perception Scale of Barriers to Contraceptive Use (PSBCU) as a measurement tool for the qualitative assessment of the barriers and obstacles women perceived with regard to contraceptive use or low rates of contraceptive use in women using family planning services. The data for this methodological study were collected using the face-to-face interview technique from 320 married women between the ages of 15-49 who were attending clinics at the Hafsa Sultan Hospital, CBU. The data collection tools used in the study, which was carried out from May to September 2014, were the "Introductory Information Form" and the "Perception Scale of Barriers to Contraceptive Use". Language validity and construct validity (explanatory factor analysis) were applied in order to test the validity of the Perception Scale of Barriers to Contraceptive Use. Kaiser Meier Olkin (KMO) analysis was performed to determine the availability of the scale for the size of participants. The sample adequacy calculated as the KMO value was 0.916 and the Bartlett's Test of Sphericity (X 2  = 6721.793 p  < 0.000) sample size analysis value was found to be sufficient for factor analysis. The total Cronbach's Alpha coefficient of 34 items which included three factors explaining 54.95% of the variance after Varimax rotation was calculated to be 0.95. The largest factor was the "cognitive domain" explaining 18.89% of the variance, followed by the "emotional domain" explaining 18.05% of the variance, and finally the "social domain" explaining 18.01% of the variance. Item-total score correlation coefficients of scale items were found to be between 0.54 and 0.83. The study demonstrateded that the "Perception Scale of Barriers to Contraceptive Use" was valid and reliable. We believe that the scale is suitable for use by women in a family planning education and training programs in order to evaluate their situation. It should also be assessed for validity and reliability for different groups (adolescents, men, etc.).

Ship detection using STFT sea background statistical modeling for large-scale oceansat remote sensing image

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lixia; Pei, Jihong; Xie, Weixin; Liu, Jinyuan

2018-03-01

Large-scale oceansat remote sensing images cover a big area sea surface, which fluctuation can be considered as a non-stationary process. Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) is a suitable analysis tool for the time varying nonstationary signal. In this paper, a novel ship detection method using 2-D STFT sea background statistical modeling for large-scale oceansat remote sensing images is proposed. First, the paper divides the large-scale oceansat remote sensing image into small sub-blocks, and 2-D STFT is applied to each sub-block individually. Second, the 2-D STFT spectrum of sub-blocks is studied and the obvious different characteristic between sea background and non-sea background is found. Finally, the statistical model for all valid frequency points in the STFT spectrum of sea background is given, and the ship detection method based on the 2-D STFT spectrum modeling is proposed. The experimental result shows that the proposed algorithm can detect ship targets with high recall rate and low missing rate.

Large-Scale Biomonitoring of Remote and Threatened Ecosystems via High-Throughput Sequencing

PubMed Central

Gibson, Joel F.; Shokralla, Shadi; Curry, Colin; Baird, Donald J.; Monk, Wendy A.; King, Ian; Hajibabaei, Mehrdad

2015-01-01

Biodiversity metrics are critical for assessment and monitoring of ecosystems threatened by anthropogenic stressors. Existing sorting and identification methods are too expensive and labour-intensive to be scaled up to meet management needs. Alternately, a high-throughput DNA sequencing approach could be used to determine biodiversity metrics from bulk environmental samples collected as part of a large-scale biomonitoring program. Here we show that both morphological and DNA sequence-based analyses are suitable for recovery of individual taxonomic richness, estimation of proportional abundance, and calculation of biodiversity metrics using a set of 24 benthic samples collected in the Peace-Athabasca Delta region of Canada. The high-throughput sequencing approach was able to recover all metrics with a higher degree of taxonomic resolution than morphological analysis. The reduced cost and increased capacity of DNA sequence-based approaches will finally allow environmental monitoring programs to operate at the geographical and temporal scale required by industrial and regulatory end-users. PMID:26488407

The Scaling of Water Governance Tasks: A Comparative Federal Analysis of the European Union and Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benson, David; Jordan, Andrew

2010-07-01

Conflicts over how to “scale” policy-making tasks have characterized environmental governance since time immemorial. They are particularly evident in the area of water policy and raise important questions over the democratic legitimacy, economic efficiency and effectiveness of allocating (or “scaling”) tasks to some administrative levels as opposed to others. This article adopts a comparative federalism perspective to assess the “optimality” of scaling—either upward or downward—in one issue area, namely coastal recreational water quality. It does so by comparing the scaling of recreational water quality tasks in the European Union (EU) and Australia. It reveals that the two systems have adopted rather different approaches to scaling and that this difference can partly be accounted for in federal theoretical terms. However, a much greater awareness of the inescapably political nature of scaling processes is nonetheless required. Finally, some words of caution are offered with regard to transferring policy lessons between these two jurisdictions.

Validation of the Parental Facilitation of Mastery Scale-II.

PubMed

Zalta, Alyson K; Allred, Kelly M; Jayawickreme, Eranda; Blackie, Laura E R; Chambless, Dianne L

2017-10-01

To develop a more reliable and comprehensive version of the Parental Facilitation of Mastery Scale (PFMS) METHOD: In Study 1, 387 undergraduates completed an expanded PFMS (PFMS-II) and measures of parenting, perceived control, responses to early life challenges, and psychopathology. In Study 2, 182 trauma-exposed community participants completed the PFMS-II and measures of perceived control, psychopathology, and well-being RESULTS: In Study 1, exploratory factor analysis of the PFMS-II revealed two factors. These factors replicated in Study 2; one item was removed to achieve measurement invariance across race. The final PFMS-II comprised a 10-item overprotection scale and a 7-item challenge scale. In both samples, this measure demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity and was more reliable than the original PFMS. Parental challenge was a unique predictor of perceived control in both samples CONCLUSION: The PFMS-II is a valid measure of important parenting behaviors not fully captured in other measures. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[The scale of social provisions: their validation in Quebec].

PubMed

Caron, J

1996-01-01

This article presents the results of the Quebec validation of the Social Provisions Scale (Cutrona et Russell, 1989). L'échelle de provision sociales was administered to 790 people on the course of two studies. The first one included 387 university students of first level and the second was realized with 266 people from the general population, 79 welfare recipients and 58 persons with a diagnosis related to psychosis. The results show that the scale presents a good internal coherence and a satisfying temporal stability, thus assuring the fidelity of the instrument. The factorial analyses have not reproduced exactly the same profile as the original instrument, however the moderate correlations between the different social provisions sustain the validity of the multidimensional construct of social support. Moreover, analyses of the variance and the discriminating analysis allow to acknowledge that the sub-scales have a high discriminating power; they allow to distinguish the general population from welfare recipients and people suffering from psychosis. Finally, norms are presented for the general population.

Earth Observation and Indicators Pertaining to Determinants of Health- An Approach to Support Local Scale Characterization of Environmental Determinants of Vector-Borne Diseases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kotchi, Serge Olivier; Brazeau, Stephanie; Ludwig, Antoinette; Aube, Guy; Berthiaume, Pilippe

2016-08-01

Environmental determinants (EVDs) were identified as key determinant of health (DoH) for the emergence and re-emergence of several vector-borne diseases. Maintaining ongoing acquisition of data related to EVDs at local scale and for large regions constitutes a significant challenge. Earth observation (EO) satellites offer a framework to overcome this challenge. However, EO image analysis methods commonly used to estimate EVDs are time and resource consuming. Moreover, variations of microclimatic conditions combined with high landscape heterogeneity limit the effectiveness of climatic variables derived from EO. In this study, we present what are DoH and EVDs, the impacts of EVDs on vector-borne diseases in the context of global environmental change, the need to characterize EVDs of vector-borne diseases at local scale and its challenges, and finally we propose an approach based on EO images to estimate at local scale indicators pertaining to EVDs of vector-borne diseases.

[Land use and land cover charnge (LUCC) and landscape service: Evaluation, mapping and modeling].

PubMed

Song, Zhang-jian; Cao, Yu; Tan, Yong-zhong; Chen, Xiao-dong; Chen, Xian-peng

2015-05-01

Studies on ecosystem service from landscape scale aspect have received increasing attention from researchers all over the world. Compared with ecosystem scale, it should be more suitable to explore the influence of human activities on land use and land cover change (LUCC), and to interpret the mechanisms and processes of sustainable landscape dynamics on landscape scale. Based on comprehensive and systematic analysis of researches on landscape service, this paper firstly discussed basic concepts and classification of landscape service. Then, methods of evaluation, mapping and modeling of landscape service were analyzed and concluded. Finally, future trends for the research on landscape service were proposed. It was put forward that, exploring further connotation and classification system of landscape service, improving methods and quantitative indicators for evaluation, mapping and modelling of landscape service, carrying out long-term integrated researches on landscape pattern-process-service-scale relationships and enhancing the applications of theories and methods on landscape economics and landscape ecology are very important fields of the research on landscape service in future.

Studies of Sub-Synchronous Oscillations in Large-Scale Wind Farm Integrated System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yue, Liu; Hang, Mend

2018-01-01

With the rapid development and construction of large-scale wind farms and grid-connected operation, the series compensation wind power AC transmission is gradually becoming the main way of power usage and improvement of wind power availability and grid stability, but the integration of wind farm will change the SSO (Sub-Synchronous oscillation) damping characteristics of synchronous generator system. Regarding the above SSO problem caused by integration of large-scale wind farms, this paper focusing on doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) based wind farms, aim to summarize the SSO mechanism in large-scale wind power integrated system with series compensation, which can be classified as three types: sub-synchronous control interaction (SSCI), sub-synchronous torsional interaction (SSTI), sub-synchronous resonance (SSR). Then, SSO modelling and analysis methods are categorized and compared by its applicable areas. Furthermore, this paper summarizes the suppression measures of actual SSO projects based on different control objectives. Finally, the research prospect on this field is explored.

The NASA Ames PAH IR Spectroscopic Database: Computational Version 3.00 with Updated Content and the Introduction of Multiple Scaling Factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauschlicher, Charles W., Jr.; Ricca, A.; Boersma, C.; Allamandola, L. J.

2018-02-01

Version 3.00 of the library of computed spectra in the NASA Ames PAH IR Spectroscopic Database (PAHdb) is described. Version 3.00 introduces the use of multiple scale factors, instead of the single scaling factor used previously, to align the theoretical harmonic frequencies with the experimental fundamentals. The use of multiple scale factors permits the use of a variety of basis sets; this allows new PAH species to be included in the database, such as those containing oxygen, and yields an improved treatment of strained species and those containing nitrogen. In addition, the computed spectra of 2439 new PAH species have been added. The impact of these changes on the analysis of an astronomical spectrum through database-fitting is considered and compared with a fit using Version 2.00 of the library of computed spectra. Finally, astronomical constraints are defined for the PAH spectral libraries in PAHdb.

Scaling in the aggregation dynamics of a magnetorheological fluid.

PubMed

Domínguez-García, P; Melle, Sonia; Pastor, J M; Rubio, M A

2007-11-01

We present experimental results on the aggregation dynamics of a magnetorheological fluid, namely, an aqueous suspension of micrometer-sized superparamagnetic particles, under the action of a constant uniaxial magnetic field using video microscopy and image analysis. We find a scaling behavior in several variables describing the aggregation kinetics. The data agree well with the Family-Vicsek scaling ansatz for diffusion-limited cluster-cluster aggregation. The kinetic exponents z and z' are obtained from the temporal evolution of the mean cluster size S(t) and the number of clusters N(t), respectively. The crossover exponent Delta is calculated in two ways: first, from the initial slope of the scaling function; second, from the evolution of the nonaggregated particles, n1(t). We report on results of Brownian two-dimensional dynamics simulations and compare the results with the experiments. Finally, we discuss the differences obtained between the kinetic exponents in terms of the variation in the crossover exponent and relate this behavior to the physical interpretation of the crossover exponent.

Wavelet multiscale analysis for Hedge Funds: Scaling and strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conlon, T.; Crane, M.; Ruskin, H. J.

2008-09-01

The wide acceptance of Hedge Funds by Institutional Investors and Pension Funds has led to an explosive growth in assets under management. These investors are drawn to Hedge Funds due to the seemingly low correlation with traditional investments and the attractive returns. The correlations and market risk (the Beta in the Capital Asset Pricing Model) of Hedge Funds are generally calculated using monthly returns data, which may produce misleading results as Hedge Funds often hold illiquid exchange-traded securities or difficult to price over-the-counter securities. In this paper, the Maximum Overlap Discrete Wavelet Transform (MODWT) is applied to measure the scaling properties of Hedge Fund correlation and market risk with respect to the S&P 500. It is found that the level of correlation and market risk varies greatly according to the strategy studied and the time scale examined. Finally, the effects of scaling properties on the risk profile of a portfolio made up of Hedge Funds is studied using correlation matrices calculated over different time horizons.

Final Report: Multi-Scale Analysis of Deformation and Failure in Polycrystalline Titanium Alloys Under High Strain-Rates

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-28

Masoud Anahid, Mahendra K. Samal , and Somnath Ghosh. Dwell fatigue crack nucleation model based on crystal plasticity finite element simulations of...induced crack nucleation in polycrystals. Model. Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng., 17, 064009. 19. Anahid, M., Samal , M. K. & Ghosh, S. (2011). Dwell fatigue...Jour. Plas., 24:428–454, 2008. 4. M. Anahid, M. K. Samal , and S. Ghosh. Dwell fatigue crack nucleation model based on crystal plasticity finite

Exploring Northwest China's agricultural water-saving strategy: analysis of water use efficiency based on an SE-DEA model conducted in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.

PubMed

Mu, L; Fang, L; Wang, H; Chen, L; Yang, Y; Qu, X J; Wang, C Y; Yuan, Y; Wang, S B; Wang, Y N

Worldwide, water scarcity threatens delivery of water to urban centers. Increasing water use efficiency (WUE) is often recommended to reduce water demand, especially in water-scarce areas. In this paper, agricultural water use efficiency (AWUE) is examined using the super-efficient data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach in Xi'an in Northwest China at a temporal and spatial level. The grey systems analysis technique was then adopted to identify the factors that influenced the efficiency differentials under the shortage of water resources. From the perspective of temporal scales, the AWUE increased year by year during 2004-2012, and the highest (2.05) was obtained in 2009. Additionally, the AWUE was the best in the urban area at the spatial scale. Moreover, the key influencing factors of the AWUE are the financial situations and agricultural water-saving technology. Finally, we identified several knowledge gaps and proposed water-saving strategies for increasing AWUE and reducing its water demand by: (1) improving irrigation practices (timing and amounts) based on compatible water-saving techniques; (2) maximizing regional WUE by managing water resources and allocation at regional scales as well as enhancing coordination among Chinese water governance institutes.

[Development of a measurement of intellectual capital for hospital nursing organizations].

PubMed

Kim, Eun A; Jang, Keum Seong

2011-02-01

This study was done to develop an instrument for measuring intellectual capital and assess its validity and reliability in identifying the components, human capital, structure capital and customer capital of intellectual capital in hospital nursing organizations. The participants were 950 regular clinical nurses who had worked for over 13 months in 7 medical hospitals including 4 national university hospitals and 3 private university hospitals. The data were collected through a questionnaire survey done from July 2 to August 25, 2009. Data from 906 nurses were used for the final analysis. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha coefficients, item analysis, factor analysis (principal component analysis, Varimax rotation) with the SPSS PC+ 17.0 for Windows program. Developing the instrument for measuring intellectual capital in hospital nursing organizations involved a literature review, development of preliminary items, and verification of validity and reliability. The final instrument was in a self-report form on a 5-point Likert scale. There were 29 items on human capital (5 domains), 21 items on customer capital (4 domains), 26 items on structure capital (4 domains). The results of this study may be useful to assess the levels of intellectual capital of hospital nursing organizations.

On uses, misuses and potential abuses of fractal analysis in zooplankton behavioral studies: A review, a critique and a few recommendations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seuront, Laurent

2015-08-01

Fractal analysis is increasingly used to describe, and provide further understanding to, zooplankton swimming behavior. This may be related to the fact that fractal analysis and the related fractal dimension D have the desirable properties to be independent of measurement scale and to be very sensitive to even subtle behavioral changes that may be undetectable to other behavioral variables. As early claimed by Coughlin et al. (1992), this creates "the need for fractal analysis" in behavioral studies, which has hence the potential to become a valuable tool in zooplankton behavioral ecology. However, this paper stresses that fractal analysis, as well as the more elaborated multifractal analysis, is also a risky business that may lead to irrelevant results, without paying extreme attention to a series of both conceptual and practical steps that are all likely to bias the results of any analysis. These biases are reviewed and exemplified on the basis of the published literature, and remedial procedures are provided not only for geometric and stochastic fractal analyses, but also for the more complicated multifractal analysis. The concept of multifractals is finally introduced as a direct, objective and quantitative tool to identify models of motion behavior, such as Brownian motion, fractional Brownian motion, ballistic motion, Lévy flight/walk and multifractal random walk. I finally briefly review the state of this emerging field in zooplankton behavioral research.

Scaling in biomechanical experimentation: a finite similitude approach.

PubMed

Ochoa-Cabrero, Raul; Alonso-Rasgado, Teresa; Davey, Keith

2018-06-01

Biological experimentation has many obstacles: resource limitations, unavailability of materials, manufacturing complexities and ethical compliance issues; any approach that resolves all or some of these is of some interest. The aim of this study is applying the recently discovered concept of finite similitude as a novel approach for the design of scaled biomechanical experiments supported with analysis using a commercial finite-element package and validated by means of image correlation software. The study of isotropic scaling of synthetic bones leads to the selection of three-dimensional (3D) printed materials for the trial-space materials. These materials conforming to the theory are analysed in finite-element models of a cylinder and femur geometries undergoing compression, tension, torsion and bending tests to assess the efficacy of the approach using reverse scaling of the approach. The finite-element results show similar strain patterns in the surface for the cylinder with a maximum difference of less than 10% and for the femur with a maximum difference of less than 4% across all tests. Finally, the trial-space, physical-trial experimentation using 3D printed materials for compression and bending testing provides a good agreement in a Bland-Altman statistical analysis, providing good supporting evidence for the practicality of the approach. © 2018 The Author(s).

Latitude delineates patterns of biogeography in terrestrial Streptomyces.

PubMed

Choudoir, Mallory J; Doroghazi, James R; Buckley, Daniel H

2016-12-01

The biogeography of Streptomyces was examined at regional spatial scales to identify factors that govern patterns of microbial diversity. Streptomyces are spore forming filamentous bacteria which are widespread in soil. Streptomyces strains were isolated from perennial grass habitats sampled across a spatial scale of more than 6000 km. Previous analysis of this geographically explicit culture collection provided evidence for a latitudinal diversity gradient in Streptomyces species. Here the hypothesis that this latitudinal diversity gradient is a result of evolutionary dynamics associated with historical demographic processes was evaluated. Historical demographic phenomena have genetic consequences that can be evaluated through analysis of population genetics. Population genetic approaches were applied to analyze population structure in six of the most numerically abundant and geographically widespread Streptomyces phylogroups from our culture collection. Streptomyces population structure varied at regional spatial scales, and allelic diversity correlated with geographic distance. In addition, allelic diversity and gene flow are partitioned by latitude. Finally, it was found that nucleotide diversity within phylogroups was negatively correlated with latitude. These results indicate that phylogroup diversification is constrained by dispersal limitation at regional spatial scales, and they are consistent with the hypothesis that historical demographic processes have influenced the contemporary biogeography of Streptomyces. © 2016 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

University of São Paulo Reasons for Smoking Scale: a new tool for the evaluation of smoking motivation.

PubMed

Souza, Elisa Sebba Tosta de; Crippa, José Alexandre de Souza; Pasian, Sonia Regina; Martinez, José Antônio Baddini

2010-01-01

To develop a new scale aimed at evaluating smoking motivation by incorporating questions and domains from the 68-item Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives (WISDM-68) into the Modified Reasons for Smoking Scale (MRSS). Nine WISDM-68 questions regarding affiliative attachment, cue exposure/associative processes, and weight control were added to the 21 questions of the MRSS. The new scale, together with the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), was administered to 311 smokers (214 males; mean age = 37.6 ± 10.8 years; mean number of cigarettes smoked per day = 15.0 ± 9.2), who also provided additional information. We used exploratory factor analysis in order to determine the factor structure of the scale. The influence that certain clinical features had on the scores of the final factor solution was also analyzed. The factor analysis revealed a 21-question solution grouped into nine factors: addiction, pleasure from smoking, tension reduction, stimulation, automatism, handling, social smoking, weight control, and affiliative attachment. For the overall scale, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.83. Females scored significantly higher for addiction, tension reduction, handling, weight control, and affiliative attachment than did males. The FTND score correlated positively with addiction, tension reduction, stimulation, automatism, social smoking, and affiliative attachment. The number of cigarettes smoked per day was associated with addiction, tension reduction, stimulation, automatism, affiliative attachment, and handling. The level of exhaled CO correlated positively with addiction, automatism, and affiliative attachment. The new scale provides an acceptable framework of motivational factors for smoking, with satisfactory psychometric properties and reliability.

Personal hygiene among military personnel: developing and testing a self-administered scale.

PubMed

Saffari, Mohsen; Koenig, Harold G; Pakpour, Amir H; Sanaeinasab, Hormoz; Jahan, Hojat Rshidi; Sehlo, Mohammad Gamal

2014-03-01

Good personal hygiene (PH) behavior is recommended to prevent contagious diseases, and members of military forces may be at high risk for contracting contagious diseases. The aim of this study was to develop and test a new questionnaire on PH for soldiers. Participants were all male and from different military settings throughout Iran. Using a five-stage guideline, a panel of experts in the Persian language (Farsi) developed a 21-item self-administered questionnaire. Face and content validity of the first-draft items were assessed. The questionnaire was then translated and subsequently back-translated into English, and both the Farsi and English versions were tested in pilot studies. The consistency and stability of the questionnaire were tested using Cronbach's alpha and the test-retest strategy. The final scale was administered to a sample of 502 military personnel. Explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses evaluated the structure of the scale. Both the convergent and discriminative validity of the scale were also determined. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were >0.85. Principal component analysis demonstrated a uni-dimensional structure that explained 59 % of the variance in PH behaviors. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit (goodness-of-fit index = 0.902; comparative fitness index = 0.923; root mean square error of approximation = 0.0085). The results show that this new PH scale has solid psychometric properties for testing PH behaviors among an Iranian sample of military personnel. We conclude that this scale can be a useful tool for assessing PH behaviors in military personnel. Further research is needed to determine the scale's value in other countries and cultures.

Scalings of intermittent structures in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

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

Zhdankin, Vladimir, E-mail: zhdankin@jila.colorado.edu; Boldyrev, Stanislav; Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado 80301

Turbulence is ubiquitous in plasmas, leading to rich dynamics characterized by irregularity, irreversibility, energy fluctuations across many scales, and energy transfer across many scales. Another fundamental and generic feature of turbulence, although sometimes overlooked, is the inhomogeneous dissipation of energy in space and in time. This is a consequence of intermittency, the scale-dependent inhomogeneity of dynamics caused by fluctuations in the turbulent cascade. Intermittency causes turbulent plasmas to self-organize into coherent dissipative structures, which may govern heating, diffusion, particle acceleration, and radiation emissions. In this paper, we present recent progress on understanding intermittency in incompressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence with a strongmore » guide field. We focus on the statistical analysis of intermittent dissipative structures, which occupy a small fraction of the volume but arguably account for the majority of energy dissipation. We show that, in our numerical simulations, intermittent structures in the current density, vorticity, and Elsässer vorticities all have nearly identical statistical properties. We propose phenomenological explanations for the scalings based on general considerations of Elsässer vorticity structures. Finally, we examine the broader implications of intermittency for astrophysical systems.« less

Neuroscience from a mathematical perspective: key concepts, scales and scaling hypothesis, universality.

PubMed

van Hemmen, J Leo

2014-10-01

This article analyzes the question of whether neuroscience allows for mathematical descriptions and whether an interaction between experimental and theoretical neuroscience can be expected to benefit both of them. It is argued that a mathematization of natural phenomena never happens by itself. First, appropriate key concepts must be found that are intimately connected with the phenomena one wishes to describe and explain mathematically. Second, the scale on, and not beyond, which a specific description can hold must be specified. Different scales allow for different conceptual and mathematical descriptions. This is the scaling hypothesis. Third, can a mathematical description be universally valid and, if so, how? Here we put forth the argument that universals also exist in theoretical neuroscience, that evolution proves the rule, and that theoretical neuroscience is a domain with still lots of space for new developments initiated by an intensive interaction with experiment. Finally, major insight is provided by a careful analysis of the way in which particular brain structures respond to perceptual input and in so doing induce action in an animal's surroundings.

Acoustic emission analysis on tensile failure of steam-side oxide scales formed on T22 alloy superheater tubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Jun-Lin; Zhou, Ke-Yi; Wang, Xin-Meng; Tu, Yi-You; Xu, Jian-Qun

2014-07-01

Failure of steam-side oxide scales on boiler tubes can seriously influence the safety of coal-fired power plants. Uniaxial tensile tests employing acoustic emission (AE) monitoring were performed, in this work, to investigate the failure behavior of steam-side oxide scales on T22 alloy boiler superheater tubes. The characteristic frequency spectra of the captured AE signals were obtained by performing fast Fourier transform. Three distinct peak frequency bands, 100-170, 175-250, and 280-390 kHz, encountered in different testing stages were identified in the frequency spectra, which were confirmed to, respectively, correspond to substrate plastic deformation, oxide vertical cracking, and oxide spalling with the aid of scanning electronic microscopy observations, and can thus be used for distinguishing different oxide failure mechanisms. Finally, the critical cracking strain of the oxide scale and the interfacial shear strength of the oxide/substrate interface were estimated, which are the critical parameters urgently desired for modeling the failure behavior of steam-side oxide scales on boiler tubes of coal-fired power plants.

Renormalization group evolution of the universal theories EFT

DOE PAGES

Wells, James D.; Zhang, Zhengkang

2016-06-21

The conventional oblique parameters analyses of precision electroweak data can be consistently cast in the modern framework of the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) when restrictions are imposed on the SMEFT parameter space so that it describes universal theories. However, the usefulness of such analyses is challenged by the fact that universal theories at the scale of new physics, where they are matched onto the SMEFT, can flow to nonuniversal theories with renormalization group (RG) evolution down to the electroweak scale, where precision observables are measured. The departure from universal theories at the electroweak scale is not arbitrary, butmore » dictated by the universal parameters at the matching scale. But to define oblique parameters, and more generally universal parameters at the electroweak scale that directly map onto observables, additional prescriptions are needed for the treatment of RG-induced nonuniversal effects. Finally, we perform a RG analysis of the SMEFT description of universal theories, and discuss the impact of RG on simplified, universal-theories-motivated approaches to fitting precision electroweak and Higgs data.« less

Three-scale analysis of the permeability of a natural shale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davy, C. A.; Adler, P. M.

2017-12-01

The macroscopic permeability of a natural shale is determined by using structural measurements on three different scales. Transmission electron microscopy yields two-dimensional (2D) images with pixels smaller than 1 nm; these images are used to reconstruct 3D nanostructures. Three-dimensional focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy (5.95- to 8.48-nm voxel size) provides 3D mesoscale pores of limited relative volume (1.71-5.9%). Micro-computed tomography (700-nm voxel size) provides information on the mineralogy of the shale, including the pores on this scale which do not percolate; synthetic 3D media are derived on the macroscopic scale by a training image technique. Permeability of the nanoscale, of the mesoscale structures and of their superposition is determined by solving the Stokes equation and this enables us to estimate the permeabilities of the 700-nm voxels located within the clay matrix. Finally, the Darcy equation is solved on synthetic 3D macroscale media to obtain the macroscopic permeability which is found in good agreement with experimental results obtained on the centimetric scale.

Renormalization group evolution of the universal theories EFT

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

Wells, James D.; Zhang, Zhengkang

The conventional oblique parameters analyses of precision electroweak data can be consistently cast in the modern framework of the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) when restrictions are imposed on the SMEFT parameter space so that it describes universal theories. However, the usefulness of such analyses is challenged by the fact that universal theories at the scale of new physics, where they are matched onto the SMEFT, can flow to nonuniversal theories with renormalization group (RG) evolution down to the electroweak scale, where precision observables are measured. The departure from universal theories at the electroweak scale is not arbitrary, butmore » dictated by the universal parameters at the matching scale. But to define oblique parameters, and more generally universal parameters at the electroweak scale that directly map onto observables, additional prescriptions are needed for the treatment of RG-induced nonuniversal effects. Finally, we perform a RG analysis of the SMEFT description of universal theories, and discuss the impact of RG on simplified, universal-theories-motivated approaches to fitting precision electroweak and Higgs data.« less

Validation of the Expanded Versions of the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale v1.1 Symptom Checklist and the Adult ADHD Investigator Symptom Rating Scale.

PubMed

Silverstein, Michael J; Faraone, Stephen V; Alperin, Samuel; Leon, Terry L; Biederman, Joseph; Spencer, Thomas J; Adler, Lenard A

2018-02-01

The aim of this study is to validate the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) and Adult ADHD Investigator Symptom Rating Scale (AISRS) expanded versions, including executive function deficits (EFDs) and emotional dyscontrol (EC) items, and to present ASRS and AISRS pilot normative data. Two patient samples (referred and primary care physician [PCP] controls) were pooled together for these analyses. Final analysis included 297 respondents, 171 with adult ADHD. Cronbach's alphas were high for all sections of the scales. Examining histograms of ASRS 31-item and AISRS 18-item total scores for ADHD controls, 95% cutoff scores were 70 and 23, respectively; histograms for pilot normative sample suggest cutoffs of 82 and 26, respectively. (a) ASRS- and AISRS-expanded versions have high validity in assessment of core 18 adult ADHD Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM) symptoms and EFD and EC symptoms. (b) ASRS (31-item) scores 70 to 82 and AISRS (18-item) scores from 23 to 26 suggest a high likelihood of adult ADHD.

Facial disability index (FDI): Adaptation to Spanish, reliability and validity

PubMed Central

Gonzalez-Cardero, Eduardo; Cayuela, Aurelio; Acosta-Feria, Manuel; Gutierrez-Perez, Jose-Luis

2012-01-01

Objectives: To adapt to Spanish the facial disability index (FDI) described by VanSwearingen and Brach in 1995 and to assess its reliability and validity in patients with facial nerve paresis after parotidectomy. Study Design: The present study was conducted in two different stages: a) cross-cultural adaptation of the questionnaire and b) cross-sectional study of a control group of 79 Spanish-speaking patients who suffered facial paresis after superficial parotidectomy with facial nerve preservation. The cross-cultural adaptation process comprised the following stages: (I) initial translation, (II) synthesis of the translated document, (III) retro-translation, (IV) review by a board of experts, (V) pilot study of the pre-final draft and (VI) analysis of the pilot study and final draft. Results: The reliability and internal consistency of every one of the rating scales included in the FDI (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient) was 0.83 for the complete scale and 0.77 and 0.82 for the physical and the social well-being subscales. The analysis of the factorial validity of the main components of the adapted FDI yielded similar results to the original questionnaire. Bivariate correlations between FDI and House-Brackmann scale were positive. The variance percentage was calculated for all FDI components. Conclusions: The FDI questionnaire is a specific instrument for assessing facial neuromuscular dysfunction which becomes a useful tool in order to determine quality of life in patients with facial nerve paralysis. Spanish adapted FDI is equivalent to the original questionnaire and shows similar reliability and validity. The proven reproducibi-lity, reliability and validity of this questionnaire make it a useful additional tool for evaluating the impact of facial nerve paralysis in Spanish-speaking patients. Key words:Parotidectomy, facial nerve paralysis, facial disability. PMID:22926474

Effect of trace metals and sulfite oxidation of adipic acid degradation in FGD systems. Final report Dec 81-May 82

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

Jarvis, J.B.; Terry, J.C.; Schubert, S.A.

The report gives results of the measurement of the adipic acid degradation rate in a bench-scale flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system, designed to simulate many of the important aspects of full-scale FGD systems. Results show that the adipic acid degradation rate depends on the sulfite oxidation rate, the adipic acid concentration, the presence of manganese in solution, and temperature. The degradation rate is also affected by pH, but only when manganese is present. Adipic acid degradation products identified in the liquid phase include valeric, butyric, propionic, succinic, and glutaric acids. When manganese was present, the predominant degradation products were succinicmore » and glutaric acids. Analysis of solids from the bench scale tests shows large concentrations of coprecipitated adipic acid in low oxidation sulfite solids. By contrast, low quantities of coprecipitated adipic acid were found in high oxidation gypsum solids.« less

Topology assisted self-organization of colloidal nanoparticles: application to 2D large-scale nanomastering.

PubMed

Kadiri, Hind; Kostcheev, Serguei; Turover, Daniel; Salas-Montiel, Rafael; Nomenyo, Komla; Gokarna, Anisha; Lerondel, Gilles

2014-01-01

Our aim was to elaborate a novel method for fully controllable large-scale nanopatterning. We investigated the influence of the surface topology, i.e., a pre-pattern of hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) posts, on the self-organization of polystyrene beads (PS) dispersed over a large surface. Depending on the post size and spacing, long-range ordering of self-organized polystyrene beads is observed wherein guide posts were used leading to single crystal structure. Topology assisted self-organization has proved to be one of the solutions to obtain large-scale ordering. Besides post size and spacing, the colloidal concentration and the nature of solvent were found to have a significant effect on the self-organization of the PS beads. Scanning electron microscope and associated Fourier transform analysis were used to characterize the morphology of the ordered surfaces. Finally, the production of silicon molds is demonstrated by using the beads as a template for dry etching.

Quantum watermarking scheme through Arnold scrambling and LSB steganography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Ri-Gui; Hu, Wenwen; Fan, Ping

2017-09-01

Based on the NEQR of quantum images, a new quantum gray-scale image watermarking scheme is proposed through Arnold scrambling and least significant bit (LSB) steganography. The sizes of the carrier image and the watermark image are assumed to be 2n× 2n and n× n, respectively. Firstly, a classical n× n sized watermark image with 8-bit gray scale is expanded to a 2n× 2n sized image with 2-bit gray scale. Secondly, through the module of PA-MOD N, the expanded watermark image is scrambled to a meaningless image by the Arnold transform. Then, the expanded scrambled image is embedded into the carrier image by the steganography method of LSB. Finally, the time complexity analysis is given. The simulation experiment results show that our quantum circuit has lower time complexity, and the proposed watermarking scheme is superior to others.

Psychometric properties and clinical cut-off scores of the Spanish version of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents.

PubMed

Garcia-Lopez, Luis J; Inglés, Cándido J; García-Fernández, José M; Hidalgo, María D; Bermejo, Rosa; Puklek Levpušček, Melita

2011-01-01

This study examined the reliability and validity evidence drawn from the scores of the Spanish version of the Slovenian-developed Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SASA; Puklek, 1997; Puklek & Vidmar, 2000) using a community sample (Study 1) and a clinical sample (Study 2). Confirmatory factor analysis in Study 1 replicated the 2-factor structure found by the original authors in a sample of Slovenian adolescents. Test-retest reliability was adequate. Furthermore, the SASA correlated significantly with other social anxiety scales, supporting concurrent validity evidence in Spanish adolescents. The results of Study 2 confirmed the correlations between the SASA and other social anxiety measures in a clinical sample. In addition, findings revealed that the SASA can effectively discriminate between adolescents with a clinical diagnosis of social anxiety disorder (SAD) and those without this disorder. Finally, cut-off scores for the SASA are provided for Spanish adolescents.

Correlative Tomography

PubMed Central

Burnett, T. L.; McDonald, S. A.; Gholinia, A.; Geurts, R.; Janus, M.; Slater, T.; Haigh, S. J.; Ornek, C.; Almuaili, F.; Engelberg, D. L.; Thompson, G. E.; Withers, P. J.

2014-01-01

Increasingly researchers are looking to bring together perspectives across multiple scales, or to combine insights from different techniques, for the same region of interest. To this end, correlative microscopy has already yielded substantial new insights in two dimensions (2D). Here we develop correlative tomography where the correlative task is somewhat more challenging because the volume of interest is typically hidden beneath the sample surface. We have threaded together x-ray computed tomography, serial section FIB-SEM tomography, electron backscatter diffraction and finally TEM elemental analysis all for the same 3D region. This has allowed observation of the competition between pitting corrosion and intergranular corrosion at multiple scales revealing the structural hierarchy, crystallography and chemistry of veiled corrosion pits in stainless steel. With automated correlative workflows and co-visualization of the multi-scale or multi-modal datasets the technique promises to provide insights across biological, geological and materials science that are impossible using either individual or multiple uncorrelated techniques. PMID:24736640

Use of the Morlet mother wavelet in the frequency-scale domain decomposition technique for the modal identification of ambient vibration responses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le, Thien-Phu

2017-10-01

The frequency-scale domain decomposition technique has recently been proposed for operational modal analysis. The technique is based on the Cauchy mother wavelet. In this paper, the approach is extended to the Morlet mother wavelet, which is very popular in signal processing due to its superior time-frequency localization. Based on the regressive form and an appropriate norm of the Morlet mother wavelet, the continuous wavelet transform of the power spectral density of ambient responses enables modes in the frequency-scale domain to be highlighted. Analytical developments first demonstrate the link between modal parameters and the local maxima of the continuous wavelet transform modulus. The link formula is then used as the foundation of the proposed modal identification method. Its practical procedure, combined with the singular value decomposition algorithm, is presented step by step. The proposition is finally verified using numerical examples and a laboratory test.

Relationship between water quality and macro-scale parameters (land use, erosion, geology, and population density) in the Siminehrood River Basin.

PubMed

Bostanmaneshrad, Farshid; Partani, Sadegh; Noori, Roohollah; Nachtnebel, Hans-Peter; Berndtsson, Ronny; Adamowski, Jan Franklin

2018-10-15

To date, few studies have investigated the simultaneous effects of macro-scale parameters (MSPs) such as land use, population density, geology, and erosion layers on micro-scale water quality variables (MSWQVs). This research focused on an evaluation of the relationship between MSPs and MSWQVs in the Siminehrood River Basin, Iran. In addition, we investigated the importance of water particle travel time (hydrological distance) on this relationship. The MSWQVs included 13 physicochemical and biochemical parameters observed at 15 stations during three seasons. Primary screening was performed by utilizing three multivariate statistical analyses (Pearson's correlation, cluster and discriminant analyses) in seven series of observed data. These series included three separate seasonal data, three two-season data, and aggregated three-season data for investigation of relationships between MSPs and MSWQVs. Coupled data (pairs of MSWQVs and MSPs) repeated in at least two out of three statistical analyses were selected for final screening. The primary screening results demonstrated significant relationships between land use and phosphorus, total solids and turbidity, erosion levels and electrical conductivity, and erosion and total solids. Furthermore, water particle travel time effects were considered through three geographical pattern definitions of distance for each MSP by using two weighting methods. To find effective MSP factors on MSWQVs, a multivariate linear regression analysis was employed. Then, preliminary equations that estimated MSWQVs were developed. The preliminary equations were modified to adaptive equations to obtain the final models. The final models indicated that a new metric, referred to as hydrological distance, provided better MSWQV estimation and water quality prediction compared to the National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The 11-item Medication Adherence Reasons Scale: reliability and factorial validity among patients with hypertension in Malaysian primary healthcare settings

PubMed Central

Shima, Razatul; Farizah, Hairi; Majid, Hazreen Abdul

2015-01-01

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of a modified Malaysian version of the Medication Adherence Reasons Scale (MAR-Scale). METHODS In this cross-sectional study, the 15-item MAR-Scale was administered to 665 patients with hypertension who attended one of the four government primary healthcare clinics in the Hulu Langat and Klang districts of Selangor, Malaysia, between early December 2012 and end-March 2013. The construct validity was examined in two phases. Phase I consisted of translation of the MAR-Scale from English to Malay, a content validity check by an expert panel, a face validity check via a small preliminary test among patients with hypertension, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Phase II involved internal consistency reliability calculations and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). RESULTS EFA verified five existing factors that were previously identified (i.e. issues with medication management, multiple medications, belief in medication, medication availability, and the patient’s forgetfulness and convenience), while CFA extracted four factors (medication availability issues were not extracted). The final modified MAR-Scale model, which had 11 items and a four-factor structure, provided good evidence of convergent and discriminant validities. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was > 0.7, indicating good internal consistency of the items in the construct. The results suggest that the modified MAR-Scale has good internal consistencies and construct validity. CONCLUSION The validated modified MAR-Scale (Malaysian version) was found to be suitable for use among patients with hypertension receiving treatment in primary healthcare settings. However, the comprehensive measurement of other factors that can also lead to non-adherence requires further exploration. PMID:25902719

[Upper limb functional assessment scale for children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Spinal muscular atrophy].

PubMed

Escobar, Raúl G; Lucero, Nayadet; Solares, Carmen; Espinoza, Victoria; Moscoso, Odalie; Olguín, Polín; Muñoz, Karin T; Rosas, Ricardo

2016-08-16

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) causes significant disability and progressive functional impairment. Readily available instruments that assess functionality, especially in advanced stages of the disease, are required to monitor the progress of the disease and the impact of therapeutic interventions. To describe the development of a scale to evaluate upper limb function (UL) in patients with DMD and SMA, and describe its validation process, which includes self-training for evaluators. The development of the scale included a review of published scales, an exploratory application of a pilot scale in healthy children and those with DMD, self-training of evaluators in applying the scale using a handbook and video tutorial, and assessment of a group of children with DMD and SMA using the final scale. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach and Kendall concordance and with intra and inter-rater test-retest, and validity with concordance and factorial analysis. A high level of reliability was observed, with high internal consistency (Cronbach α=0.97), and inter-rater (Kendall W=0.96) and intra-rater concordance (r=0.97 to 0.99). The validity was demonstrated by the absence of significant differences between results by different evaluators with an expert evaluator (F=0.023, P>.5), and by the factor analysis that showed that four factors account for 85.44% of total variance. This scale is a reliable and valid tool for assessing UL functionality in children with DMD and SMA. It is also easily implementable due to the possibility of self-training and the use of simple and inexpensive materials. Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Chilena de Pediatría. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

The 11-item Medication Adherence Reasons Scale: reliability and factorial validity among patients with hypertension in Malaysian primary healthcare settings.

PubMed

Shima, Razatul; Farizah, Hairi; Majid, Hazreen Abdul

2015-08-01

The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of a modified Malaysian version of the Medication Adherence Reasons Scale (MAR-Scale). In this cross-sectional study, the 15-item MAR-Scale was administered to 665 patients with hypertension who attended one of the four government primary healthcare clinics in the Hulu Langat and Klang districts of Selangor, Malaysia, between early December 2012 and end-March 2013. The construct validity was examined in two phases. Phase I consisted of translation of the MAR-Scale from English to Malay, a content validity check by an expert panel, a face validity check via a small preliminary test among patients with hypertension, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Phase II involved internal consistency reliability calculations and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). EFA verified five existing factors that were previously identified (i.e. issues with medication management, multiple medications, belief in medication, medication availability, and the patient's forgetfulness and convenience), while CFA extracted four factors (medication availability issues were not extracted). The final modified MAR-Scale model, which had 11 items and a four-factor structure, provided good evidence of convergent and discriminant validities. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was > 0.7, indicating good internal consistency of the items in the construct. The results suggest that the modified MAR-Scale has good internal consistencies and construct validity. The validated modified MAR-Scale (Malaysian version) was found to be suitable for use among patients with hypertension receiving treatment in primary healthcare settings. However, the comprehensive measurement of other factors that can also lead to non-adherence requires further exploration.

Development of an efficient, low cost, small-scale natural gas fuel reformer for residential scale electric power generation. Final report for the period October 1, 1998 - December 31, 1999

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

Kreutz, Thomas G; Ogden, Joan M

2000-07-01

In the final report, we present results from a technical and economic assessment of residential scale PEM fuel cell power systems. The objectives of our study are to conceptually design an inexpensive, small-scale PEMFC-based stationary power system that converts natural gas to both electricity and heat, and then to analyze the prospective performance and economics of various system configurations. We developed computer models for residential scale PEMFC cogeneration systems to compare various system designs (e.g., steam reforming vs. partial oxidation, compressed vs. atmospheric pressure, etc.) and determine the most technically and economically attractive system configurations at various scales (e.g., singlemore » family, residential, multi-dwelling, neighborhood).« less

Dispersion and characterization of Thermoplastic Polyurethane/Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes in co-rotative twin screw extruder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedito, Adolfo; Buezas, Ignacio; Giménez, Enrique; Galindo, Begoña

2010-06-01

The dispersion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in thermoplastic polyurethanes has been done in co-rotative twin screw extruder through a melt blending process. A specific experimental design was prepared taking into account different compounding parameters such as feeding, temperature profile, screw speed, screw design, and carbon nanotube loading. The obtained samples were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), light transmission microscopy, dynamic rheometry, and dynamic mechanical analysis. The objective of this work has been to study the dispersion quality of the carbon nanotubes and the effect of different compounding parameters to optimize them for industrial scale-up to final applications.

Wavelet and Multiresolution Analysis for Finite Element Networking Paradigms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurdila, Andrew J.; Sharpley, Robert C.

1999-01-01

This paper presents a final report on Wavelet and Multiresolution Analysis for Finite Element Networking Paradigms. The focus of this research is to derive and implement: 1) Wavelet based methodologies for the compression, transmission, decoding, and visualization of three dimensional finite element geometry and simulation data in a network environment; 2) methodologies for interactive algorithm monitoring and tracking in computational mechanics; and 3) Methodologies for interactive algorithm steering for the acceleration of large scale finite element simulations. Also included in this report are appendices describing the derivation of wavelet based Particle Image Velocity algorithms and reduced order input-output models for nonlinear systems by utilizing wavelet approximations.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II.

PubMed

Robitschek, Christine; Ashton, Matthew W; Spering, Cynthia C; Geiger, Nathaniel; Byers, Danielle; Schotts, G Christian; Thoen, Megan A

2012-04-01

The original Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS; Robitschek, 1998) was unidimensional, despite theory identifying multiple components (e.g., cognition and behavior) of personal growth initiative (PGI). The present research developed a multidimensional measure of the complex process of PGI, while retaining the brief and psychometrically sound properties of the original scale. Study 1 focused on scale development, including theoretical derivation of items, assessing factor structure, reducing number of items, and refining the scale length using samples of college students. Study 2 consisted of confirmatory factor analysis with 3 independent samples of college students and community members. Lastly, Study 3 assessed test-retest reliability over 1-, 2-, 4-, and 6-week periods and tests of concurrent and discriminant validity using samples of college students. The final measure, the Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II (PGIS-II), includes 4 subscales: Readiness for Change, Planfulness, Using Resources, and Intentional Behavior. These studies provide exploratory and confirmatory evidence for the 4-factor structure, strong internal consistency for the subscales and overall score across samples, acceptable temporal stability at all assessed intervals, and concurrent and discriminant validity of the PGIS-II. Future directions for research and clinical practice are discussed.

Lamellae spatial distribution modulates fracture behavior and toughness of african pangolin scales

DOE PAGES

Chon, Michael J.; Daly, Matthew; Wang, Bin; ...

2017-06-10

Pangolin scales form a durable armor whose hierarchical structure offers an avenue towards high performance bio-inspired materials design. In this paper, the fracture resistance of African pangolin scales is examined using single edge crack three-point bend fracture testing in order to understand toughening mechanisms arising from the structures of natural mammalian armors. In these mechanical tests, the influence of material orientation and hydration level are examined. The fracture experiments reveal an exceptional fracture resistance due to crack deflection induced by the internal spatial orientation of lamellae. An order of magnitude increase in the measured fracture resistance due to scale hydration,more » reaching up to ~ 25 kJ/m 2 was measured. Post-mortem analysis of the fracture samples was performed using a combination of optical and electron microscopy, and X-ray computerized tomography. Interestingly, the crack profile morphologies are observed to follow paths outlined by the keratinous lamellae structure of the pangolin scale. Most notably, the inherent structure of pangolin scales offers a pathway for crack deflection and fracture toughening. Finally, the results of this study are expected to be useful as design principles for high performance biomimetic applications.« less

Lamellae spatial distribution modulates fracture behavior and toughness of african pangolin scales

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

Chon, Michael J.; Daly, Matthew; Wang, Bin

Pangolin scales form a durable armor whose hierarchical structure offers an avenue towards high performance bio-inspired materials design. In this paper, the fracture resistance of African pangolin scales is examined using single edge crack three-point bend fracture testing in order to understand toughening mechanisms arising from the structures of natural mammalian armors. In these mechanical tests, the influence of material orientation and hydration level are examined. The fracture experiments reveal an exceptional fracture resistance due to crack deflection induced by the internal spatial orientation of lamellae. An order of magnitude increase in the measured fracture resistance due to scale hydration,more » reaching up to ~ 25 kJ/m 2 was measured. Post-mortem analysis of the fracture samples was performed using a combination of optical and electron microscopy, and X-ray computerized tomography. Interestingly, the crack profile morphologies are observed to follow paths outlined by the keratinous lamellae structure of the pangolin scale. Most notably, the inherent structure of pangolin scales offers a pathway for crack deflection and fracture toughening. Finally, the results of this study are expected to be useful as design principles for high performance biomimetic applications.« less

Accuracy improvement in laser stripe extraction for large-scale triangulation scanning measurement system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yang; Liu, Wei; Li, Xiaodong; Yang, Fan; Gao, Peng; Jia, Zhenyuan

2015-10-01

Large-scale triangulation scanning measurement systems are widely used to measure the three-dimensional profile of large-scale components and parts. The accuracy and speed of the laser stripe center extraction are essential for guaranteeing the accuracy and efficiency of the measuring system. However, in the process of large-scale measurement, multiple factors can cause deviation of the laser stripe center, including the spatial light intensity distribution, material reflectivity characteristics, and spatial transmission characteristics. A center extraction method is proposed for improving the accuracy of the laser stripe center extraction based on image evaluation of Gaussian fitting structural similarity and analysis of the multiple source factors. First, according to the features of the gray distribution of the laser stripe, evaluation of the Gaussian fitting structural similarity is estimated to provide a threshold value for center compensation. Then using the relationships between the gray distribution of the laser stripe and the multiple source factors, a compensation method of center extraction is presented. Finally, measurement experiments for a large-scale aviation composite component are carried out. The experimental results for this specific implementation verify the feasibility of the proposed center extraction method and the improved accuracy for large-scale triangulation scanning measurements.

Personality and emotional intelligence in teacher burnout.

PubMed

Pishghadam, Reza; Sahebjam, Samaneh

2012-03-01

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between teacher's personality types, emotional intelligence and burnout and to predict the burnout levels of 147 teachers in the city of Mashhad (Iran). To this end, we have used three inventories: Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), and Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-I). We used Homogeneity Analysis and Multiple Linear Regression to analyze the data. The results exhibited a significant relationship between personality types and emotional intelligence and the three dimensions of burnout. It was indicated that the best predictors for emotional exhaustion were neuroticism and extroversion, for depersonalization were intrapersonal scale of emotional intelligence and agreeableness, and for personal accomplishment were interpersonal scale and conscientiousness. Finally, the results were discussed in the context of teacher burnout.

XVIS: Visualization for the Extreme-Scale Scientific-Computation Ecosystem Final Scientific/Technical Report

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

Geveci, Berk; Maynard, Robert

The XVis project brings together the key elements of research to enable scientific discovery at extreme scale. Scientific computing will no longer be purely about how fast computations can be performed. Energy constraints, processor changes, and I/O limitations necessitate significant changes in both the software applications used in scientific computation and the ways in which scientists use them. Components for modeling, simulation, analysis, and visualization must work together in a computational ecosystem, rather than working independently as they have in the past. The XVis project brought together collaborators from predominant DOE projects for visualization on accelerators and combining their respectivemore » features into a new visualization toolkit called VTK-m.« less

Leadership: validation of a self-report scale.

PubMed

Dussault, Marc; Frenette, Eric; Fernet, Claude

2013-04-01

The aim of this paper was to propose and test the factor structure of a new self-report questionnaire on leadership. A sample of 373 school principals in the Province of Quebec, Canada completed the initial 46-item version of the questionnaire. In order to obtain a questionnaire of minimal length, a four-step procedure was retained. First, items analysis was performed using Classical Test Theory. Second, Rasch analysis was used to identify non-fitting or overlapping items. Third, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using structural equation modelling was performed on the 21 remaining items to verify the factor structure of the scale. Results show that the model with a single third-order dimension (leadership), two second-order dimensions (transactional and transformational leadership), and one first-order dimension (laissez-faire leadership) provides a good fit to the data. Finally, invariance of factor structure was assessed with a second sample of 222 vice-principals in the Province of Quebec, Canada. This model is in agreement with the theoretical model developed by Bass (1985), upon which the questionnaire is based.

Large-Scale Cognitive GWAS Meta-Analysis Reveals Tissue-Specific Neural Expression and Potential Nootropic Drug Targets.

PubMed

Lam, Max; Trampush, Joey W; Yu, Jin; Knowles, Emma; Davies, Gail; Liewald, David C; Starr, John M; Djurovic, Srdjan; Melle, Ingrid; Sundet, Kjetil; Christoforou, Andrea; Reinvang, Ivar; DeRosse, Pamela; Lundervold, Astri J; Steen, Vidar M; Espeseth, Thomas; Räikkönen, Katri; Widen, Elisabeth; Palotie, Aarno; Eriksson, Johan G; Giegling, Ina; Konte, Bettina; Roussos, Panos; Giakoumaki, Stella; Burdick, Katherine E; Payton, Antony; Ollier, William; Chiba-Falek, Ornit; Attix, Deborah K; Need, Anna C; Cirulli, Elizabeth T; Voineskos, Aristotle N; Stefanis, Nikos C; Avramopoulos, Dimitrios; Hatzimanolis, Alex; Arking, Dan E; Smyrnis, Nikolaos; Bilder, Robert M; Freimer, Nelson A; Cannon, Tyrone D; London, Edythe; Poldrack, Russell A; Sabb, Fred W; Congdon, Eliza; Conley, Emily Drabant; Scult, Matthew A; Dickinson, Dwight; Straub, Richard E; Donohoe, Gary; Morris, Derek; Corvin, Aiden; Gill, Michael; Hariri, Ahmad R; Weinberger, Daniel R; Pendleton, Neil; Bitsios, Panos; Rujescu, Dan; Lahti, Jari; Le Hellard, Stephanie; Keller, Matthew C; Andreassen, Ole A; Deary, Ian J; Glahn, David C; Malhotra, Anil K; Lencz, Todd

2017-11-28

Here, we present a large (n = 107,207) genome-wide association study (GWAS) of general cognitive ability ("g"), further enhanced by combining results with a large-scale GWAS of educational attainment. We identified 70 independent genomic loci associated with general cognitive ability. Results showed significant enrichment for genes causing Mendelian disorders with an intellectual disability phenotype. Competitive pathway analysis implicated the biological processes of neurogenesis and synaptic regulation, as well as the gene targets of two pharmacologic agents: cinnarizine, a T-type calcium channel blocker, and LY97241, a potassium channel inhibitor. Transcriptome-wide and epigenome-wide analysis revealed that the implicated loci were enriched for genes expressed across all brain regions (most strongly in the cerebellum). Enrichment was exclusive to genes expressed in neurons but not oligodendrocytes or astrocytes. Finally, we report genetic correlations between cognitive ability and disparate phenotypes including psychiatric disorders, several autoimmune disorders, longevity, and maternal age at first birth. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Measuring Filial Piety in the 21st Century: Development, Factor Structure, and Reliability of the 10-Item Contemporary Filial Piety Scale.

PubMed

Lum, Terry Y S; Yan, Elsie C W; Ho, Andy H Y; Shum, Michelle H Y; Wong, Gloria H Y; Lau, Mandy M Y; Wang, Junfang

2016-11-01

The experience and practice of filial piety have evolved in modern Chinese societies, and existing measures fail to capture these important changes. Based on a conceptual analysis on current literature, 42 items were initially compiled to form a Contemporary Filial Piety Scale (CFPS), and 1,080 individuals from a representative sample in Hong Kong were surveyed. Principal component analysis generated a 16-item three-factor model: Pragmatic Obligations (Factor 1; 10 items), Compassionate Reverence (Factor 2; 4 items), and Family Continuity (Factor 3; 2 items). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed strong factor loadings for Factors 1 and 2, while removing Factor 3 and conceptually duplicated items increased total variance explained from 58.02% to 60.09% and internal consistency from .84 to .88. A final 10-item two-factor structure model was adopted with a goodness of fit of 0.95. The CFPS-10 is a data-driven, simple, and efficient instrument with strong psychometric properties for assessing contemporary filial piety. © The Author(s) 2015.

The small-scale treatability study sample exemption

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

Coalgate, J.

1991-01-01

In 1981, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an interim final rule that conditionally exempted waste samples collected solely for the purpose of monitoring or testing to determine their characteristics or composition'' from RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste regulations. This exemption (40 CFR 261.4(d)) apples to the transportation of samples between the generator and testing laboratory, temporary storage of samples at the laboratory prior to and following testing, and storage at a laboratory for specific purposes such as an enforcement action. However, the exclusion did not include large-scale samples used in treatability studies or other testing at pilot plants ormore » other experimental facilities. As a result of comments received by the EPA subsequent to the issuance of the interim final rule, the EPA reopened the comment period on the interim final rule on September 18, 1987, and specifically requested comments on whether or not the sample exclusion should be expanded to include waste samples used in small-scale treatability studies. Almost all responders commented favorably on such a proposal. As a result, the EPA issued a final rule (53 FR 27290, July 19, 1988) conditionally exempting waste samples used in small-scale treatability studies from full regulation under Subtitle C of RCRA. The question of whether or not to extend the exclusion to larger scale as proposed by the Hazardous Waste Treatment Council was deferred until a later date. This information Brief summarizes the requirements of the small-scale treatability exemption.« less

Riding the Right Wavelet: Detecting Fracture and Fault Orientation Scale Transitions Using Morlet Wavelets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rizzo, R. E.; Healy, D.; Farrell, N. J.; Smith, M.

2016-12-01

The analysis of images through two-dimensional (2D) continuous wavelet transforms makes it possible to acquire local information at different scales of resolution. This characteristic allows us to use wavelet analysis to quantify anisotropic random fields such as networks of fractures. Previous studies [1] have used 2D anisotropic Mexican hat wavelets to analyse the organisation of fracture networks from cm- to km-scales. However, Antoine et al. [2] explained that this technique can have a relatively poor directional selectivity. This suggests the use of a wavelet whose transform is more sensitive to directions of linear features, i.e. 2D Morlet wavelets [3]. In this work, we use a fully-anisotropic Morlet wavelet as implemented by Neupauer & Powell [4], which is anisotropic in its real and imaginary parts and also in its magnitude. We demonstrate the validity of this analytical technique by application to both synthetic - generated according to known distributions of orientations and lengths - and experimentally produced fracture networks. We have analysed SEM Back Scattered Electron images of thin sections of Hopeman Sandstone (Scotland, UK) deformed under triaxial conditions. We find that the Morlet wavelet, compared to the Mexican hat, is more precise in detecting dominant orientations in fracture scale transition at every scale from intra-grain fractures (µm-scale) up to the faults cutting the whole thin section (cm-scale). Through this analysis we can determine the relationship between the initial orientation of tensile microcracks and the final geometry of the through-going shear fault, with total areal coverage of the analysed image. By comparing thin sections from experiments at different confining pressures, we can quantitatively explore the relationship between the observed geometry and the inferred mechanical processes. [1] Ouillon et al., Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics (1995) 2:158 - 177. [2] Antoine et al., Cambridge University Press (2008) 192-194. [3] Antoine et al., Signal Processing (1993) 31:241 - 272. [4] Neupauer & Powell, Computer & Geosciences (2005) 31:456 - 471.

CFD analysis of a full-scale ceramic kiln module under actual operating conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milani, Massimo; Montorsi, Luca; Stefani, Matteo; Venturelli, Matteo

2017-11-01

The paper focuses on the CFD analysis of a full-scale module of an industrial ceramic kiln under actual operating conditions. The multi-dimensional analysis includes the real geometry of a ceramic kiln module employed in the preheating and firing sections and investigates the heat transfer between the tiles and the burners' flame as well as the many components that comprise the module. Particular attention is devoted to the simulation of the convective flow field in the upper and lower chambers and to the effects of radiation on the different materials is addressed. The assessment of the radiation contribution to the tiles temperature is paramount to the improvement of the performance of the kiln in terms of energy efficiency and fuel consumption. The CFD analysis is combined to a lumped and distributed parameter model of the entire kiln in order to simulate the module behaviour at the boundaries under actual operating conditions. Finally, the CFD simulation is employed to address the effects of the module operating conditions on the tiles' temperature distribution in order to improve the temperature uniformity as well as to enhance the energy efficiency of the system and thus to reduce the fuel consumption.

Large-Scale Interaction Profiling of Protein Domains Through Proteomic Peptide-Phage Display Using Custom Peptidomes.

PubMed

Seo, Moon-Hyeong; Nim, Satra; Jeon, Jouhyun; Kim, Philip M

2017-01-01

Protein-protein interactions are essential to cellular functions and signaling pathways. We recently combined bioinformatics and custom oligonucleotide arrays to construct custom-made peptide-phage libraries for screening peptide-protein interactions, an approach we call proteomic peptide-phage display (ProP-PD). In this chapter, we describe protocols for phage display for the identification of natural peptide binders for a given protein. We finally describe deep sequencing for the analysis of the proteomic peptide-phage display.

Hybrid Wing Body Multi-Bay Test Article Analysis and Assembly Final Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Velicki, Alexander; Hoffman, Krishna; Linton, Kim A.; Baraja, Jaime; Wu, Hsi-Yung T.; Thrash, Patrick

2017-01-01

This report summarizes work performed by The Boeing Company, through its Boeing Research & Technology organization located in Huntington Beach, California, under the Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) project. The report documents work performed to structurally analyze and assemble a large-scale Multi-bay Box (MBB) Test Article capable of withstanding bending and internal pressure loadings representative of a Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) aircraft. The work included fabrication of tooling elements for use in the fabrication and assembly of the test article.

NMR reaction monitoring in flow synthesis

PubMed Central

Gomez, M Victoria

2017-01-01

Recent advances in the use of flow chemistry with in-line and on-line analysis by NMR are presented. The use of macro- and microreactors, coupled with standard and custom made NMR probes involving microcoils, incorporated into high resolution and benchtop NMR instruments is reviewed. Some recent selected applications have been collected, including synthetic applications, the determination of the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters and reaction optimization, even in single experiments and on the μL scale. Finally, software that allows automatic reaction monitoring and optimization is discussed. PMID:28326137

NMR reaction monitoring in flow synthesis.

PubMed

Gomez, M Victoria; de la Hoz, Antonio

2017-01-01

Recent advances in the use of flow chemistry with in-line and on-line analysis by NMR are presented. The use of macro- and microreactors, coupled with standard and custom made NMR probes involving microcoils, incorporated into high resolution and benchtop NMR instruments is reviewed. Some recent selected applications have been collected, including synthetic applications, the determination of the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters and reaction optimization, even in single experiments and on the μL scale. Finally, software that allows automatic reaction monitoring and optimization is discussed.

Analysis of Multi-Scale Phenomena in Heterogeneous Materials

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-22

requires the use of properties of the Catalan numbers to show that the series coefficients are exponentially bounded in the H1 Sobolev norm. This is joint...the use of a small number of optimal local basis functions. The local bases are supported on sub domains of fixed diameter within the computa- tional...not display a currently valid OMB control number . 1. REPORT DATE 22 FEB 2011 2. REPORT TYPE FINAL REPORT 3. DATES COVERED 03-01-2008 to 03-03

Preliminary Design of a Manned Nuclear Electric Propulsion Vehicle Using Genetic Algorithms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Irwin, Ryan W.; Tinker, Michael L.

2005-01-01

Nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) vehicles will be needed for future manned missions to Mars and beyond. Candidate designs must be identified for further detailed design from a large array of possibilities. Genetic algorithms have proven their utility in conceptual design studies by effectively searching a large design space to pinpoint unique optimal designs. This research combined analysis codes for NEP subsystems with a genetic algorithm. The use of penalty functions with scaling ratios was investigated to increase computational efficiency. Also, the selection of design variables for optimization was considered to reduce computation time without losing beneficial design search space. Finally, trend analysis of a reference mission to the asteroids yielded a group of candidate designs for further analysis.

Which are the most useful scales for predicting repeat self-harm? A systematic review evaluating risk scales using measures of diagnostic accuracy

PubMed Central

Quinlivan, L; Cooper, J; Davies, L; Hawton, K; Gunnell, D; Kapur, N

2016-01-01

Objectives The aims of this review were to calculate the diagnostic accuracy statistics of risk scales following self-harm and consider which might be the most useful scales in clinical practice. Design Systematic review. Methods We based our search terms on those used in the systematic reviews carried out for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence self-harm guidelines (2012) and evidence update (2013), and updated the searches through to February 2015 (CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and PsychINFO). Methodological quality was assessed and three reviewers extracted data independently. We limited our analysis to cohort studies in adults using the outcome of repeat self-harm or attempted suicide. We calculated diagnostic accuracy statistics including measures of global accuracy. Statistical pooling was not possible due to heterogeneity. Results The eight papers included in the final analysis varied widely according to methodological quality and the content of scales employed. Overall, sensitivity of scales ranged from 6% (95% CI 5% to 6%) to 97% (CI 95% 94% to 98%). The positive predictive value (PPV) ranged from 5% (95% CI 3% to 9%) to 84% (95% CI 80% to 87%). The diagnostic OR ranged from 1.01 (95% CI 0.434 to 2.5) to 16.3 (95%CI 12.5 to 21.4). Scales with high sensitivity tended to have low PPVs. Conclusions It is difficult to be certain which, if any, are the most useful scales for self-harm risk assessment. No scales perform sufficiently well so as to be recommended for routine clinical use. Further robust prospective studies are warranted to evaluate risk scales following an episode of self-harm. Diagnostic accuracy statistics should be considered in relation to the specific service needs, and scales should only be used as an adjunct to assessment. PMID:26873046

Measuring mental well-being in Norway: validation of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS).

PubMed

Smith, Otto R F; Alves, Daniele E; Knapstad, Marit; Haug, Ellen; Aarø, Leif E

2017-05-12

Mental well-being is an important, yet understudied, area of research, partly due to lack of appropriate population-based measures. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) was developed to meet the needs for such a measure. This article assesses the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the WEMWBS, and its short-version (SWEMWBS) among a sample of primary health care patients who participated in the evaluation of Prompt Mental Health Care (PMHC), a novel Norwegian mental health care program aimed to increase access to treatment for anxiety and depression. Forward and back-translations were conducted, and 1168 patients filled out an electronic survey including the WEMWBS, and other mental health scales. The original dataset was randomly divided into a training sample (≈70%) and a validation sample (≈30%). Parallel analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were carried out to assess construct validity and precision. The final models were cross-validated in the validation sample by specifying a model with fixed parameters based on the estimates from the trainings set. Criterion validity and measurement invariance of the (S)WEMWBS were examined as well. Support was found for the single factor hypothesis in both scales, but similar to previous studies, only after a number of residuals were allowed to correlate (WEMWBS: CFI = 0.99; RMSEA = 0.06, SWEMWBS: CFI = .99; RMSEA = 0.06). Further analyses showed that the correlated residuals did not alter the meaning of the underlying construct and did not substantially affect the associations with other variables. Precision was high for both versions of the WEMWBS (>.80), and scalar measurement invariance was obtained for gender and age group. The final measurement models displayed adequate fit statistics in the validation sample as well. Correlations with other mental health scales were largely in line with expectations. No statistically significant differences were found in mean latent (S)WEMWBS scores for age and gender. Both WEMWBS scales appear to be valid and precise instruments to measure mental well-being in primary health care patients. The results encourage the use of mental well-being as an outcome in future epidemiological, clinical, and evaluation studies, and may as such be valuable for both research and public health practice.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Premarital Sexual Behavior Assessment Scale for Young Women (PSAS-YW): an exploratory mixed method study.

PubMed

Rahmani, Azam; Merghati-Khoei, Effat; Moghadam-Banaem, Lida; Hajizadeh, Ebrahim; Hamdieh, Mostafa; Montazeri, Ali

2014-06-13

Premarital sexual behaviors are important issue for women's health. The present study was designed to develop and examine the psychometric properties of a scale in order to identify young women who are at greater risk of premarital sexual behavior. This was an exploratory mixed method investigation. Indeed, the study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, qualitative methods (focus group discussion and individual interview) were applied to generate items and develop the questionnaire. In the second phase, psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of the questionnaire were assessed. In the first phase an item pool containing 53 statements related to premarital sexual behavior was generated. In the second phase item reduction was applied and the final version of the questionnaire containing 26 items was developed. The psychometric properties of this final version were assessed and the results showed that the instrument has a good structure, and reliability. The results from exploratory factory analysis indicated a 5-factor solution for the instrument that jointly accounted for the 57.4% of variance observed. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the instrument was found to be 0.87. This study provided a valid and reliable scale to identify premarital sexual behavior in young women. Assessment of premarital sexual behavior might help to improve women's sexual abstinence.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Premarital Sexual Behavior Assessment Scale for Young Women (PSAS-YW): an exploratory mixed method study

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Premarital sexual behaviors are important issue for women’s health. The present study was designed to develop and examine the psychometric properties of a scale in order to identify young women who are at greater risk of premarital sexual behavior. Method This was an exploratory mixed method investigation. Indeed, the study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, qualitative methods (focus group discussion and individual interview) were applied to generate items and develop the questionnaire. In the second phase, psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of the questionnaire were assessed. Results In the first phase an item pool containing 53 statements related to premarital sexual behavior was generated. In the second phase item reduction was applied and the final version of the questionnaire containing 26 items was developed. The psychometric properties of this final version were assessed and the results showed that the instrument has a good structure, and reliability. The results from exploratory factory analysis indicated a 5-factor solution for the instrument that jointly accounted for the 57.4% of variance observed. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the instrument was found to be 0.87. Conclusion This study provided a valid and reliable scale to identify premarital sexual behavior in young women. Assessment of premarital sexual behavior might help to improve women’s sexual abstinence. PMID:24924696

Development and validation of a tool to assess knowledge and attitudes towards generic medicines among students in Greece: The ATtitude TOwards GENerics (ATTOGEN) questionnaire

PubMed Central

Katsari, Vasiliki; Niakas, Dimitris

2017-01-01

Introduction The use of generic medicines is a cost-effective policy, often dictated by fiscal restraints. To our knowledge, no fully validated tool exploring the students’ knowledge and attitudes towards generic medicines exists. The aim of our study was to develop and validate a questionnaire exploring the knowledge and attitudes of M.Sc. in Health Care Management students and recent alumni’s towards generic drugs in Greece. Materials and methods The development of the questionnaire was a result of literature review and pilot-testing of its preliminary versions to researchers and students. The final version of the questionnaire contains 18 items measuring the respondents’ knowledge and attitude towards generic medicines on a 5-point Likert scale. Given the ordinal nature of the data, ordinal alpha and polychoric correlations were computed. The sample was randomly split into two halves. Exploratory factor analysis, performed in the first sample, was used for the creation of multi-item scales. Confirmatory factor analysis and Generalized Linear Latent and Mixed Model analysis (GLLAMM) with the use of the rating scale model were used in the second sample to assess goodness of fit. An assessment of internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, and construct validity was also performed. Results Among 1402 persons contacted, 986 persons completed our questionnaire (response rate = 70.3%). Overall Cronbach’s alpha was 0.871. The conjoint use of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis resulted in a six-scale model, which seemed to fit the data well. Five of the six scales, namely trust, drug quality, state audit, fiscal impact and drug substitution were found to be valid and reliable, while the knowledge scale suffered only from low inter-scale correlations and a ceiling effect. However, the subsequent confirmatory factor and GLLAMM analyses indicated a good fit of the model to the data. Conclusions The ATTOGEN instrument proved to be a reliable and valid tool, suitable for assessing students’ knowledge and attitudes towards generic medicines. PMID:29186163

A scale for measuring hygiene behavior: development, reliability and validity.

PubMed

Stevenson, Richard J; Case, Trevor I; Hodgson, Deborah; Porzig-Drummond, Renata; Barouei, Javad; Oaten, Megan J

2009-09-01

There is currently no general self-report measure for assessing hygiene behavior. This article details the development and testing of such a measure. In studies 1 to 4, a total of 855 participants were used for scale and subscale development and for reliability and validity testing. The latter involved establishing the relationships between self-reported hygiene behavior and existing measures, hand hygiene behavior, illness rates, and a physiological marker of immune function. In study 5, a total of 507 participants were used to assess the psychometric properties of the final revised version of the scale. The final 23-item scale comprised 5 subscales: general, household, food-related, handwashing technique, and personal hygiene. Studies 1 to 4 confirmed the scale's reliability and validity, and study 5 confirmed the scale's 5-factor structure. The scale is potentially suitable for multiple uses, in various settings, and for experimental and correlational approaches.

Segmentation-based wavelet transform for still-image compression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mozelle, Gerard; Seghier, Abdellatif; Preteux, Francoise J.

1996-10-01

In order to address simultaneously the two functionalities, content-based scalability required by MPEG-4, we introduce a segmentation-based wavelet transform (SBWT). SBWT takes into account both the mathematical properties of multiresolution analysis and the flexibility of region-based approaches for image compression. The associated methodology has two stages: 1) image segmentation into convex and polygonal regions; 2) 2D-wavelet transform of the signal corresponding to each region. In this paper, we have mathematically studied a method for constructing a multiresolution analysis (VjOmega)j (epsilon) N adapted to a polygonal region which provides an adaptive region-based filtering. The explicit construction of scaling functions, pre-wavelets and orthonormal wavelets bases defined on a polygon is carried out by using scaling functions is established by using the theory of Toeplitz operators. The corresponding expression can be interpreted as a location property which allow defining interior and boundary scaling functions. Concerning orthonormal wavelets and pre-wavelets, a similar expansion is obtained by taking advantage of the properties of the orthogonal projector P(V(j(Omega )) perpendicular from the space Vj(Omega ) + 1 onto the space (Vj(Omega )) perpendicular. Finally the mathematical results provide a simple and fast algorithm adapted to polygonal regions.

Cometary atmospheres: Modeling the spatial distribution of observed neutral radicals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Combi, Michael R.

1986-01-01

Progress during the second year of a program of research on the modeling of the spatial distributions of cometary radicals is discussed herein in several major areas. New scale length laws for cometary C2 and CN were determined which explain that the previously-held apparent drop of the C2/CN ratio for large heliocentric distances does not exist and that there is no systematic variation. Monte Carlo particle trajectory model (MCPTM) analysis of sunward and anti-sunward brightness profiles of cometary C2 was completed. This analysis implies a lifetime of 31,000 seconds for the C2 parent and an ejection speed for C2 of approximately 0.5 km/sec upon dissociation from the parent. A systematic reanalysis of published C3 and OH data was begun. Preliminary results find a heliocentric distance dependence for C3 scale lengths with a much larger variation than for C2 and CN. Scale lengths for OH are generally somewhat larger than currently accepted values. The MCPTM was updated to include the coma temperature. Finally, the collaborative effort with the University of Arizona programs has yielded some preliminary CCD images of Comet P/Halley.

Evaluation of an immunosuppressant side effect instrument.

PubMed

Winsett, Rebecca P; Arheart, Kris; Stratta, Robert J; Alloway, Rita; Wicks, Mona N; Gaber, A Osama; Hathaway, Donna K

2004-09-01

Clinicians continue to be compelled to evaluate the impact of immunosuppressive medication side effects on the quality of life of transplant recipients. We Were asked to develop an instrument to measure side effects in immunosuppressed transplant recipients. To construct an instrument that measures the impact and severity of side effects of immunosuppressive medications used in transplantation and to assess the reliability and validity of the newly developed instrument called the Memphis Survey. The instrument was constructed by a panel of physicians, nurses, and pharmacists with experience in treating transplant recipients. A small group of kidney transplant recipients (n= 13) provided pilot data for refining and testing the instrument. A national sample of kidney, liver, and heart transplant recipients (n = 505) provided data that were used to further develop the instrument. Factor analysis was used to determine the psychological dimensions underlying the instrument and to guide the construction of scales from the survey items. The instrument scales were then computed from the dataset of 505 transplant recipients to quantify the impact of immunosuppressant side effects on the quality of life of transplant recipients. Analyses showed the final instrument scales to be valid and reliable. Exploratory analysis suggests the need for further testing of the instrument to determine gender differences.

Cross-cultural adaptation, validation and factor structure of the Insight Scale for Affective Disorders.

PubMed

de Assis da Silva, Rafael; Mograbi, Daniel C; Camelo, Evelyn V M; Morton, Gregory Duff; Landeira-Fernandez, J; Cheniaux, Elie

2015-06-01

In the last few decades, several tools for studying insight in bipolar disorders have been used. Olaya and colleagues developed the Insight Scale for Affective Disorders (ISAD), which consists of a scale measuring insight through hetero evaluation for patients with mood disorders. The objective of this work is to translate and adapt the original English version of the ISAD to Brazilian Portuguese (ISAD-BR) and to conduct an evaluation of its psychometric properties. Adaptation procedures included translation/back-translation and consultation with a panel of experts. 95 patients with the diagnosis of Type 1 bipolar disorder were evaluated with the final version of the ISAD-BR, which was applied, simultaneously, but independently, by two examiners. Internal consistency and inter-rater reliability were explored and the latent structure of the scale was investigated with principal axis factoring and promax rotation. A second-order factor analysis was conducted to test if the scale had a hierarchical factor structure. The ISAD-BR showed good internal consistency and good inter-rater reliability. The analysis pointed to a four-factor solution of the ISAD-BR: awareness of symptoms associated with activity/energy; awareness of having a disorder; awareness of self-esteem and feelings of pleasure; and awareness of social functioning and relationships. The second order factor analysis indicated a hierarchical factor structure for the ISAD-BR, with the four lower-order factors loading on a single higher-order factor. Insight into bipolar disorder is a multidimensional construct, covering different aspects of the condition and its symptomatology. Nevertheless, insight about activity/energy changes may be a crucial aspect of insight into bipolar disorder. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Relationship Between Reported Sleep Quality and Sleep Hygiene in Italian and American Adolescents

PubMed Central

LeBourgeois, Monique K.; Giannotti, Flavia; Cortesi, Flavia; Wolfson, Amy R.; Harsh, John

2014-01-01

Objective The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between self-reported sleep quality and sleep hygiene in Italian and American adolescents and to assess whether sleep-hygiene practices mediate the relationship between culture and sleep quality. Methods Two nonprobability samples were collected from public schools in Rome, Italy, and Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Students completed the following self-report measures: Adolescent Sleep-Wake Scale, Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale, Pubertal Developmental Scale, and Morningness/Eveningness Scale. Results The final sample included 776 Italian and 572 American adolescents 12 to 17 years old. Italian adolescents reported much better sleep hygiene and substantially better sleep quality than American adolescents. A moderate-to-strong linear relationship was found between sleep hygiene and sleep quality in both samples. Separate hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed on both samples. Demographic and individual characteristics explained a significant proportion of the variance in sleep quality (Italians: 18%; Americans: 25%), and the addition of sleep-hygiene domains explained significantly more variance in sleep quality (Italians: 17%; Americans: 16%). A final hierarchical multiple regression analysis with both samples combined showed that culture (Italy versus United States) only explained 0.8% of the variance in sleep quality after controlling for sleep hygiene and all other variables. Conclusions Cross-cultural differences in sleep quality, for the most part, were due to differences in sleep-hygiene practices. Sleep hygiene is an important predictor of sleep quality in Italian and American adolescents, thus supporting the implementation and evaluation of educational programs on good sleep-hygiene practices. PMID:15866860

Scale up, optimization and stability analysis of Curcumin C3 complex-loaded nanoparticles for cancer therapy

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Nanoparticle based delivery of anticancer drugs have been widely investigated. However, a very important process for Research & Development in any pharmaceutical industry is scaling nanoparticle formulation techniques so as to produce large batches for preclinical and clinical trials. This process is not only critical but also difficult as it involves various formulation parameters to be modulated all in the same process. Methods In our present study, we formulated curcumin loaded poly (lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles (PLGA-CURC). This improved the bioavailability of curcumin, a potent natural anticancer drug, making it suitable for cancer therapy. Post formulation, we optimized our process by Reponse Surface Methodology (RSM) using Central Composite Design (CCD) and scaled up the formulation process in four stages with final scale-up process yielding 5 g of curcumin loaded nanoparticles within the laboratory setup. The nanoparticles formed after scale-up process were characterized for particle size, drug loading and encapsulation efficiency, surface morphology, in vitro release kinetics and pharmacokinetics. Stability analysis and gamma sterilization were also carried out. Results Results revealed that that process scale-up is being mastered for elaboration to 5 g level. The mean nanoparticle size of the scaled up batch was found to be 158.5 ± 9.8 nm and the drug loading was determined to be 10.32 ± 1.4%. The in vitro release study illustrated a slow sustained release corresponding to 75% drug over a period of 10 days. The pharmacokinetic profile of PLGA-CURC in rats following i.v. administration showed two compartmental model with the area under the curve (AUC0-∞) being 6.139 mg/L h. Gamma sterilization showed no significant change in the particle size or drug loading of the nanoparticles. Stability analysis revealed long term physiochemical stability of the PLGA-CURC formulation. Conclusions A successful effort towards formulating, optimizing and scaling up PLGA-CURC by using Solid-Oil/Water emulsion technique was demonstrated. The process used CCD-RSM for optimization and further scaled up to produce 5 g of PLGA-CURC with almost similar physicochemical characteristics as that of the primary formulated batch. PMID:22937885

Scale up, optimization and stability analysis of Curcumin C3 complex-loaded nanoparticles for cancer therapy.

PubMed

Ranjan, Amalendu P; Mukerjee, Anindita; Helson, Lawrence; Vishwanatha, Jamboor K

2012-08-31

Nanoparticle based delivery of anticancer drugs have been widely investigated. However, a very important process for Research & Development in any pharmaceutical industry is scaling nanoparticle formulation techniques so as to produce large batches for preclinical and clinical trials. This process is not only critical but also difficult as it involves various formulation parameters to be modulated all in the same process. In our present study, we formulated curcumin loaded poly (lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles (PLGA-CURC). This improved the bioavailability of curcumin, a potent natural anticancer drug, making it suitable for cancer therapy. Post formulation, we optimized our process by Reponse Surface Methodology (RSM) using Central Composite Design (CCD) and scaled up the formulation process in four stages with final scale-up process yielding 5 g of curcumin loaded nanoparticles within the laboratory setup. The nanoparticles formed after scale-up process were characterized for particle size, drug loading and encapsulation efficiency, surface morphology, in vitro release kinetics and pharmacokinetics. Stability analysis and gamma sterilization were also carried out. Results revealed that that process scale-up is being mastered for elaboration to 5 g level. The mean nanoparticle size of the scaled up batch was found to be 158.5±9.8 nm and the drug loading was determined to be 10.32±1.4%. The in vitro release study illustrated a slow sustained release corresponding to 75% drug over a period of 10 days. The pharmacokinetic profile of PLGA-CURC in rats following i.v. administration showed two compartmental model with the area under the curve (AUC0-∞) being 6.139 mg/L h. Gamma sterilization showed no significant change in the particle size or drug loading of the nanoparticles. Stability analysis revealed long term physiochemical stability of the PLGA-CURC formulation. A successful effort towards formulating, optimizing and scaling up PLGA-CURC by using Solid-Oil/Water emulsion technique was demonstrated. The process used CCD-RSM for optimization and further scaled up to produce 5 g of PLGA-CURC with almost similar physicochemical characteristics as that of the primary formulated batch.

Exploring the Links in Monthly to Decadal Variability of the Atmospheric Water Balance Over the Wettest Regions in ERA-20C

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nogueira, M.

2017-10-01

Monthly-to-decadal variability of the regional precipitation over Intertropical Convergence Zone and north-Atlantic and north-Pacific storm tracks was investigated using ERA-20C reanalysis. Satellite-based precipitation (P) and evaporation (E) climatological patterns were well reproduced by ERA-20C. Regional P and E monthly time series displayed 20% differences, but these decreased rapidly with time scale ( 10% at yearly time scales). Spectral analysis showed good scale-by-scale statistical agreement between ERA-20C and observations. Using ERA-Interim showed no improvement despite the much wider range of information assimilated (including satellites). Remarkably high Detrended Cross-Correlation Analysis coefficients (ρDCCA > 0.7 and often ρDCCA > 0.9) revealed tight links between the nonperiodic variability of P, moisture divergence (DIV), and pressure velocity (ω) at monthly-to-decadal time scales over all the wet regions. In contrast, ρDCCA was essentially nonsignificant between nonperiodic P and E or sea surface temperature (SST). Thus, the nonperiodic monthly-to-decadal variability of precipitation in these regions is almost fully controlled by dynamics and not by local E or SST (suggested by Clausius-Clapeyron relation). Analysis of regional nonperiodic standard deviations and power spectra (and respective spectral exponents, β) provided further robustness to this conclusion. Finally, clear transitions in β for P, DIV, and ω between tropical and storm track regions were found. The latter is dominated by transient storms, with energy accumulation at synoptic scales and β < 0.1 at monthly-to-decadal time scales, implying that variability and information creation decrease rapidly with time scale. Larger β values (0.2 to 0.4) were found in the tropics, implying longer-range autocorrelations and slower decreasing variability and information creation with time scale, consistent with the important forcing from internal modes of variability (e.g., El Niño-Southern Oscillation).

Toward seamless hydrologic predictions across spatial scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samaniego, Luis; Kumar, Rohini; Thober, Stephan; Rakovec, Oldrich; Zink, Matthias; Wanders, Niko; Eisner, Stephanie; Müller Schmied, Hannes; Sutanudjaja, Edwin H.; Warrach-Sagi, Kirsten; Attinger, Sabine

2017-09-01

Land surface and hydrologic models (LSMs/HMs) are used at diverse spatial resolutions ranging from catchment-scale (1-10 km) to global-scale (over 50 km) applications. Applying the same model structure at different spatial scales requires that the model estimates similar fluxes independent of the chosen resolution, i.e., fulfills a flux-matching condition across scales. An analysis of state-of-the-art LSMs and HMs reveals that most do not have consistent hydrologic parameter fields. Multiple experiments with the mHM, Noah-MP, PCR-GLOBWB, and WaterGAP models demonstrate the pitfalls of deficient parameterization practices currently used in most operational models, which are insufficient to satisfy the flux-matching condition. These examples demonstrate that J. Dooge's 1982 statement on the unsolved problem of parameterization in these models remains true. Based on a review of existing parameter regionalization techniques, we postulate that the multiscale parameter regionalization (MPR) technique offers a practical and robust method that provides consistent (seamless) parameter and flux fields across scales. Herein, we develop a general model protocol to describe how MPR can be applied to a particular model and present an example application using the PCR-GLOBWB model. Finally, we discuss potential advantages and limitations of MPR in obtaining the seamless prediction of hydrological fluxes and states across spatial scales.

New convergence results for the scaled gradient projection method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonettini, S.; Prato, M.

2015-09-01

The aim of this paper is to deepen the convergence analysis of the scaled gradient projection (SGP) method, proposed by Bonettini et al in a recent paper for constrained smooth optimization. The main feature of SGP is the presence of a variable scaling matrix multiplying the gradient, which may change at each iteration. In the last few years, extensive numerical experimentation showed that SGP equipped with a suitable choice of the scaling matrix is a very effective tool for solving large scale variational problems arising in image and signal processing. In spite of the very reliable numerical results observed, only a weak convergence theorem is provided establishing that any limit point of the sequence generated by SGP is stationary. Here, under the only assumption that the objective function is convex and that a solution exists, we prove that the sequence generated by SGP converges to a minimum point, if the scaling matrices sequence satisfies a simple and implementable condition. Moreover, assuming that the gradient of the objective function is Lipschitz continuous, we are also able to prove the {O}(1/k) convergence rate with respect to the objective function values. Finally, we present the results of a numerical experience on some relevant image restoration problems, showing that the proposed scaling matrix selection rule performs well also from the computational point of view.

Creating a spatially-explicit index: a method for assessing the global wildfire-water risk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinne, François-Nicolas; Parisien, Marc-André; Flannigan, Mike; Miller, Carol; Bladon, Kevin D.

2017-04-01

The wildfire-water risk (WWR) has been defined as the potential for wildfires to adversely affect water resources that are important for downstream ecosystems and human water needs for adequate water quantity and quality, therefore compromising the security of their water supply. While tools and methods are numerous for watershed-scale risk analysis, the development of a toolbox for the large-scale evaluation of the wildfire risk to water security has only started recently. In order to provide managers and policy-makers with an adequate tool, we implemented a method for the spatial analysis of the global WWR based on the Driving forces-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses (DPSIR) framework. This framework relies on the cause-and-effect relationships existing between the five categories of the DPSIR chain. As this approach heavily relies on data, we gathered an extensive set of spatial indicators relevant to fire-induced hydrological hazards and water consumption patterns by human and natural communities. When appropriate, we applied a hydrological routing function to our indicators in order to simulate downstream accumulation of potentially harmful material. Each indicator was then assigned a DPSIR category. We collapsed the information in each category using a principal component analysis in order to extract the most relevant pixel-based information provided by each spatial indicator. Finally, we compiled our five categories using an additive indexation process to produce a spatially-explicit index of the WWR. A thorough sensitivity analysis has been performed in order to understand the relationship between the final risk values and the spatial pattern of each category used during the indexation. For comparison purposes, we aggregated index scores by global hydrological regions, or hydrobelts, to get a sense of regional DPSIR specificities. This rather simple method does not necessitate the use of complex physical models and provides a scalable and efficient tool for the analysis of global water security issues.

Mathematical Analysis of Vehicle Delivery Scale of Bike-Sharing Rental Nodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhai, Y.; Liu, J.; Liu, L.

2018-04-01

Aiming at the lack of scientific and reasonable judgment of vehicles delivery scale and insufficient optimization of scheduling decision, based on features of the bike-sharing usage, this paper analyses the applicability of the discrete time and state of the Markov chain, and proves its properties to be irreducible, aperiodic and positive recurrent. Based on above analysis, the paper has reached to the conclusion that limit state (steady state) probability of the bike-sharing Markov chain only exists and is independent of the initial probability distribution. Then this paper analyses the difficulty of the transition probability matrix parameter statistics and the linear equations group solution in the traditional solving algorithm of the bike-sharing Markov chain. In order to improve the feasibility, this paper proposes a "virtual two-node vehicle scale solution" algorithm which considered the all the nodes beside the node to be solved as a virtual node, offered the transition probability matrix, steady state linear equations group and the computational methods related to the steady state scale, steady state arrival time and scheduling decision of the node to be solved. Finally, the paper evaluates the rationality and accuracy of the steady state probability of the proposed algorithm by comparing with the traditional algorithm. By solving the steady state scale of the nodes one by one, the proposed algorithm is proved to have strong feasibility because it lowers the level of computational difficulty and reduces the number of statistic, which will help the bike-sharing companies to optimize the scale and scheduling of nodes.

Are you interested? A meta-analysis of relations between vocational interests and employee performance and turnover.

PubMed

Van Iddekinge, Chad H; Roth, Philip L; Putka, Dan J; Lanivich, Stephen E

2011-11-01

A common belief among researchers is that vocational interests have limited value for personnel selection. However, no comprehensive quantitative summaries of interests validity research have been conducted to substantiate claims for or against the use of interests. To help address this gap, we conducted a meta-analysis of relations between interests and employee performance and turnover using data from 74 studies and 141 independent samples. Overall validity estimates (corrected for measurement error in the criterion but not for range restriction) for single interest scales were .14 for job performance, .26 for training performance, -.19 for turnover intentions, and -.15 for actual turnover. Several factors appeared to moderate interest-criterion relations. For example, validity estimates were larger when interests were theoretically relevant to the work performed in the target job. The type of interest scale also moderated validity, such that corrected validities were larger for scales designed to assess interests relevant to a particular job or vocation (e.g., .23 for job performance) than for scales designed to assess a single, job-relevant realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, or conventional (i.e., RIASEC) interest (.10) or a basic interest (.11). Finally, validity estimates were largest when studies used multiple interests for prediction, either by using a single job or vocation focused scale (which tend to tap multiple interests) or by using a regression-weighted composite of several RIASEC or basic interest scales. Overall, the results suggest that vocational interests may hold more promise for predicting employee performance and turnover than researchers may have thought. (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

Results of tests OA26 and IA16 in the NASA/ARC 3.5-foot hypersonic wind tunnel on an 0.015-scale model (36-OTS) of the space shuttle configuration 140A/B to obtain pressures for venting analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spangler, R. H.; Thornton, D. E.; Polek, T. E.

1974-01-01

Tests were conducted, from November 15 to December 4, 1973, to obtain surface pressure data on an 0.015-scale replica of the Space Shuttle Vehicle 4. Data were obtained at Mach numbers of 5.3, 7.4, and 10.3, to support the venting analysis for both launch and entry conditions. These tests were the final tests in a series covering a Mach number range from 0.6 to 10.3. The model was instrumented with pressure orifices in the vicinity of the cargo bay door hinge and parting lines, and on the side of the fuselage at the crew compartment, and below the orbital maneuvering system pods at the aft compartment. The model was tested at angles of attack and sideslip consistent with expected divergencies from the nominal trajectory.

Psychometric evaluation of the Korean Version of the Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale for older adults.

PubMed

Choi, Mona; Ahn, Sangwoo; Jung, Dukyoo

2015-01-01

We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale (SEE-K). The SEE-K consists of nine items and was translated into Korean using the forward-backward translation method. We administered it to 212 community-dwelling older adults along with measures of outcome expectation for exercise, quality of life, and physical activity. The validity was determined using confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis with INFIT and OUTFIT statistics, which showed acceptable model fit. The concurrent validity was confirmed according to positive correlations between the SEE-K, outcome expectation for exercise, and quality of life. Furthermore, the high physical activity group had higher SEE-K scores. Finally, the reliability of the SEE-K was deemed acceptable based on Cronbach's alpha, coefficients of determination, and person and item separation indices with reliability. Thus, the SEE-K appears to have satisfactory validity and reliability among older adults in South Korea. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of pair distribution function analysis

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

Vondreele, R.; Billinge, S.; Kwei, G.

1996-09-01

This is the final report of a 3-year LDRD project at LANL. It has become more and more evident that structural coherence in the CuO{sub 2} planes of high-{Tc} superconducting materials over some intermediate length scale (nm range) is important to superconductivity. In recent years, the pair distribution function (PDF) analysis of powder diffraction data has been developed for extracting structural information on these length scales. This project sought to expand and develop this technique, use it to analyze neutron powder diffraction data, and apply it to problems. In particular, interest is in the area of high-{Tc} superconductors, although wemore » planned to extend the study to the closely related perovskite ferroelectric materials andother materials where the local structure affects the properties where detailed knowledge of the local and intermediate range structure is important. In addition, we planned to carry out single crystal experiments to look for diffuse scattering. This information augments the information from the PDF.« less

The Construct and Measurement of Perceived Risk of Nonremunerated Blood Donation: Evidence from the Chinese Public

PubMed Central

Chen, Liangyong

2015-01-01

The perceived risk of nonremunerated blood donation (NRBD) is one of the most important factors which hinder the Chinese public from donating blood. To understand deeply and measure scientifically the public's perceived risk of NRBD, in this paper the qualitative and quantitative methods were used to explore the construct of perceived risk of NRBD in Chinese context. Firstly, the preliminary construct of perceived risk of NRBD was developed based on the grounded theory. Then, a measurement scale of perceived risk of NRBD was designed. Finally, the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were adopted for testing and verifying the construct. The results show that the construct of perceived risk of NRBD has three core dimensions, namely, trust risk, psychological risk, and health risk, which provides a clear construct and concise scale to better capture the Chinese public's perceived risk of NRBD. Blood collection agencies can strategically make polices about perceived risk reduction to maximize the public's NRBD behavior. PMID:26526570

Toward Improved Fidelity of Thermal Explosion Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nichols, Albert; Becker, Richard; Burnham, Alan; Howard, W. Michael; Knap, Jarek; Wemhoff, Aaron

2009-06-01

We present results of an improved thermal/chemical/mechanical model of HMX based explosives like LX04 and LX10 for thermal cook-off. The original HMX model and analysis scheme were developed by Yoh et.al. for use in the ALE3D modeling framework. The improvements were concentrated in four areas. First, we added porosity to the chemical material model framework in ALE3D used to model HMX explosive formulations to handle the roughly 2% porosity in solid explosives. Second, we improved the HMX reaction network, which included the addition of a reactive phase change model base on work by Henson et.al. Third, we added early decomposition gas species to the CHEETAH material database to improve equations of state for gaseous intermediates and products. Finally, we improved the implicit mechanics module in ALE3D to more naturally handle the long time scales associated with thermal cookoff. The application of the resulting framework to the analysis of the Scaled Thermal Explosion (STEX) experiments will be discussed.

A modeling analysis program for the JPL table mountain Io sodium cloud data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smyth, William H.; Goldberg, Bruce A.

1988-01-01

Research in the third and final year of this project is divided into three main areas: (1) completion of data processing and calibration for 34 of the 1981 Region B/C images, selected from the massive JPL sodium cloud data set; (2) identification and examination of the basic features and observed changes in the morphological characteristics of the sodium cloud images; and (3) successful physical interpretation of these basic features and observed changes using the highly developed numerical sodium cloud model at AER. The modeling analysis has led to a number of definite conclusions regarding the local structure of Io's atmosphere, the gas escape mechanism at Io, and the presence of an east-west electric field and a System III longitudinal asymmetry in the plasma torus. Large scale stability, as well as some smaller scale time variability for both the sodium cloud and the structure of the plasma torus over a several year time period are also discussed.

The Construct and Measurement of Perceived Risk of Nonremunerated Blood Donation: Evidence from the Chinese Public.

PubMed

Chen, Liangyong; Ma, Zujun

2015-01-01

The perceived risk of nonremunerated blood donation (NRBD) is one of the most important factors which hinder the Chinese public from donating blood. To understand deeply and measure scientifically the public's perceived risk of NRBD, in this paper the qualitative and quantitative methods were used to explore the construct of perceived risk of NRBD in Chinese context. Firstly, the preliminary construct of perceived risk of NRBD was developed based on the grounded theory. Then, a measurement scale of perceived risk of NRBD was designed. Finally, the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were adopted for testing and verifying the construct. The results show that the construct of perceived risk of NRBD has three core dimensions, namely, trust risk, psychological risk, and health risk, which provides a clear construct and concise scale to better capture the Chinese public's perceived risk of NRBD. Blood collection agencies can strategically make polices about perceived risk reduction to maximize the public's NRBD behavior.

Dynamical mean-field theory and weakly non-linear analysis for the phase separation of active Brownian particles

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

Speck, Thomas; Menzel, Andreas M.; Bialké, Julian

2015-06-14

Recently, we have derived an effective Cahn-Hilliard equation for the phase separation dynamics of active Brownian particles by performing a weakly non-linear analysis of the effective hydrodynamic equations for density and polarization [Speck et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 218304 (2014)]. Here, we develop and explore this strategy in more detail and show explicitly how to get to such a large-scale, mean-field description starting from the microscopic dynamics. The effective free energy emerging from this approach has the form of a conventional Ginzburg-Landau function. On the coarsest scale, our results thus agree with the mapping of active phase separation ontomore » that of passive fluids with attractive interactions through a global effective free energy (motility-induced phase transition). Particular attention is paid to the square-gradient term necessary for the phase separation kinetics. We finally discuss results from numerical simulations corroborating the analytical results.« less

Electrically modulated capillary filling imbibition of nematic liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dhar, Jayabrata; Chakraborty, Suman

2018-04-01

The flow of nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) in the presence of an electric field is typically characterized by the variation in its rheological properties due to transition in its molecular arrangements. Here, we bring out a nontrivial interplay of a consequent alteration in the resistive viscous effects and driving electrocapillary interactions, toward maneuvering the capillary filling dynamics over miniaturized scales. Considering a dynamic interplay of the relevant bulk and interfacial forces acting in tandem, our results converge nicely to previously reported experimental data. Finally, we attempt a scaling analysis to bring forth further insight to the reported observations. Our analysis paves the way for the development of microfluidic strategies with previously unexplored paradigms of interaction between electrical and fluidic phenomenon, providing with an augmented controllability on capillary filling as compared to tthose reported to be achievable by the existing strategies. This, in turn, holds utilitarian scopes in improved designs of functional capillarities in electro-optical systems, electrorheological utilities, electrokinetic flow control, as well as in interfacing and imaging systems for biomedical microdevices.

[Computer aided diagnosis model for lung tumor based on ensemble convolutional neural network].

PubMed

Wang, Yuanyuan; Zhou, Tao; Lu, Huiling; Wu, Cuiying; Yang, Pengfei

2017-08-01

The convolutional neural network (CNN) could be used on computer-aided diagnosis of lung tumor with positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT), which can provide accurate quantitative analysis to compensate for visual inertia and defects in gray-scale sensitivity, and help doctors diagnose accurately. Firstly, parameter migration method is used to build three CNNs (CT-CNN, PET-CNN, and PET/CT-CNN) for lung tumor recognition in CT, PET, and PET/CT image, respectively. Then, we aimed at CT-CNN to obtain the appropriate model parameters for CNN training through analysis the influence of model parameters such as epochs, batchsize and image scale on recognition rate and training time. Finally, three single CNNs are used to construct ensemble CNN, and then lung tumor PET/CT recognition was completed through relative majority vote method and the performance between ensemble CNN and single CNN was compared. The experiment results show that the ensemble CNN is better than single CNN on computer-aided diagnosis of lung tumor.

3D And 4D Cloud Lifecycle Investigations Using Innovative Scanning Radar Analysis Methods. Final report

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

Kollias, Pavlos

2017-04-23

With the vast upgrades to the ARM program radar measurement capabilities in 2010 and beyond, our ability to probe the 3D structure of clouds and associated precipitation has increased dramatically. This project build on the PI's and co-I's expertisein the analysis of radar observations. The first research thrust aims to document the 3D morphological (as depicted by the radar reflectivity structure) and 3D dynamical (cloud$-$scale eddies) structure of boundary layer clouds. Unraveling the 3D dynamical structure of stratocumulus and shallow cumulus clouds requires decomposition of the environmental wind contribution and particle sedimentation velocity from the observed radial Doppler velocity. Themore » second thrust proposes to unravel the mechanism of cumulus entrainment (location, scales) and its impact on microphysics utilizing radar measurements from the vertically pointing and new scanning radars at the ARM sites. The third research thrust requires the development of a cloud$-$tracking algorithm that monitors the properties of cloud.« less

Simulation of parametric model towards the fixed covariate of right censored lung cancer data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afiqah Muhamad Jamil, Siti; Asrul Affendi Abdullah, M.; Kek, Sie Long; Ridwan Olaniran, Oyebayo; Enera Amran, Syahila

2017-09-01

In this study, simulation procedure was applied to measure the fixed covariate of right censored data by using parametric survival model. The scale and shape parameter were modified to differentiate the analysis of parametric regression survival model. Statistically, the biases, mean biases and the coverage probability were used in this analysis. Consequently, different sample sizes were employed to distinguish the impact of parametric regression model towards right censored data with 50, 100, 150 and 200 number of sample. R-statistical software was utilised to develop the coding simulation with right censored data. Besides, the final model of right censored simulation was compared with the right censored lung cancer data in Malaysia. It was found that different values of shape and scale parameter with different sample size, help to improve the simulation strategy for right censored data and Weibull regression survival model is suitable fit towards the simulation of survival of lung cancer patients data in Malaysia.

Triacylglycerol Analysis in Human Milk and Other Mammalian Species: Small-Scale Sample Preparation, Characterization, and Statistical Classification Using HPLC-ELSD Profiles.

PubMed

Ten-Doménech, Isabel; Beltrán-Iturat, Eduardo; Herrero-Martínez, José Manuel; Sancho-Llopis, Juan Vicente; Simó-Alfonso, Ernesto Francisco

2015-06-24

In this work, a method for the separation of triacylglycerols (TAGs) present in human milk and from other mammalian species by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography using a core-shell particle packed column with UV and evaporative light-scattering detectors is described. Under optimal conditions, a mobile phase containing acetonitrile/n-pentanol at 10 °C gave an excellent resolution among more than 50 TAG peaks. A small-scale method for fat extraction in these milks (particularly of interest for human milk samples) using minimal amounts of sample and reagents was also developed. The proposed extraction protocol and the traditional method were compared, giving similar results, with respect to the total fat and relative TAG contents. Finally, a statistical study based on linear discriminant analysis on the TAG composition of different types of milks (human, cow, sheep, and goat) was carried out to differentiate the samples according to their mammalian origin.

News from the proton - recent DIS results from HERA

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

Meier, K.

1997-01-01

Recent results from the two large general-purpose detectors H1 and ZEUS at HERA (DESY, Hamburg, Germany) are presented. Emphasis is given to the analysis of deep inelastic scattering defined by the observation of the scattered electron or positron in the main calorimeters. Results on purely inclusive cross sections lead to a determination of the charged (quarks) parton distribution F{sub 2}(x, Q{sup 2}). Access to the electrically neutral parton content (gluons) is obtained indirectly by an analysis of the expected scaling violation behavior of F{sub 2} or directly from multijet rates originating from well-defined initial parton configurations. Finally, the recently uncoveredmore » subclass of large rapidity gap (LRG) events has been analyzed in terms of F{sub 2}. The result supports the concept of a color neutral object (Pomeron IP) being probed by a hard scattering electron. Evidence for factorization of the Pomeron radiation process as well as for scaling in the inclusive IP structure functions has been found.« less

The Development of an Instrument for Measuring Healing

PubMed Central

Meza, James Peter; Fahoome, Gail F.

2008-01-01

PURPOSE Our lack of ability to measure healing attributes impairs our ability to research the topic. The specific aim of this project is to describe the psychological and social construct of healing and to create a valid and reliable measurement scale for attributes of healing. METHODS A content expert conducted a domain analysis examining the existing literature of midrange theories of healing. Theme saturation of content sampling was ensured by brainstorming more than 220 potential items. Selection of items was sequential: pile sorting and data reduction, with factor analysis of a mailed 54-item questionnaire. Criterion validity (convergent and divergent) and temporal reliability were established using a second mailing of the development version of the instrument. Construct validity was judged with structural equation modeling for goodness of fit. RESULTS Cronbach’s α of the original questionnaire was .869 and the final scale was .862. The test-retest reliability was .849. Eigenvalues for the 2 factors were 8 and 4, respectively. Divergent and convergent validity using the Spann-Fischer Codependency Scale and SF-36 mental health and emotional subscales were consistent with predictions. The root mean square error of approximation was 0.066 and Bentler’s Comparative Fit Index was 0.871. Root mean square residual was 0.102. CONCLUSIONS We developed a valid and reliable measurement scale for attributes of healing, which we named the Self-Integration Scale v 2.1. By creating a new variable, new areas of research in humanistic health care are possible. PMID:18626036

Determining Representative Elementary Volume For Multiple Petrophysical Parameters using a Convex Hull Analysis of Digital Rock Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shah, S.; Gray, F.; Yang, J.; Crawshaw, J.; Boek, E.

2016-12-01

Advances in 3D pore-scale imaging and computational methods have allowed an exceptionally detailed quantitative and qualitative analysis of the fluid flow in complex porous media. A fundamental problem in pore-scale imaging and modelling is how to represent and model the range of scales encountered in porous media, starting from the smallest pore spaces. In this study, a novel method is presented for determining the representative elementary volume (REV) of a rock for several parameters simultaneously. We calculate the two main macroscopic petrophysical parameters, porosity and single-phase permeability, using micro CT imaging and Lattice Boltzmann (LB) simulations for 14 different porous media, including sandpacks, sandstones and carbonates. The concept of the `Convex Hull' is then applied to calculate the REV for both parameters simultaneously using a plot of the area of the convex hull as a function of the sub-volume, capturing the different scales of heterogeneity from the pore-scale imaging. The results also show that the area of the convex hull (for well-chosen parameters such as the log of the permeability and the porosity) decays exponentially with sub-sample size suggesting a computationally efficient way to determine the system size needed to calculate the parameters to high accuracy (small convex hull area). Finally we propose using a characteristic length such as the pore size to choose an efficient absolute voxel size for the numerical rock.

Developing a model of competence in the operating theatre: psychometric validation of the perceived perioperative competence scale-revised.

PubMed

Gillespie, Brigid M; Polit, Denise F; Hamlin, Lois; Chaboyer, Wendy

2012-01-01

This paper describes the development and validation of the Revised Perioperative Competence Scale (PPCS-R). There is a lack of a psychometrically tested sound self-assessment tools to measure nurses' perceived competence in the operating room. Content validity was established by a panel of international experts and the original 98-item scale was pilot tested with 345 nurses in Queensland, Australia. Following the removal of several items, a national sample that included all 3209 nurses who were members of the Australian College of Operating Room Nurses was surveyed using the 94-item version. Psychometric testing assessed content validity using exploratory factor analysis, internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha, and construct validity using the "known groups" technique. During item reduction, several preliminary factor analyses were performed on two random halves of the sample (n=550). Usable data for psychometric assessment were obtained from 1122 nurses. The original 94-item scale was reduced to 40 items. The final factor analysis using the entire sample resulted in a 40 item six-factor solution. Cronbach's alpha for the 40-item scale was .96. Construct validation demonstrated significant differences (p<.0001) in perceived competence scores relative to years of operating room experience and receipt of specialty education. On the basis of these results, the psychometric properties of the PPCS-R were considered encouraging. Further testing of the tool in different samples of operating room nurses is necessary to enable cross-cultural comparisons. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Local properties of the large-scale peaks of the CMB temperature

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

Marcos-Caballero, A.; Martínez-González, E.; Vielva, P., E-mail: marcos@ifca.unican.es, E-mail: martinez@ifca.unican.es, E-mail: vielva@ifca.unican.es

2017-05-01

In the present work, we study the largest structures of the CMB temperature measured by Planck in terms of the most prominent peaks on the sky, which, in particular, are located in the southern galactic hemisphere. Besides these large-scale features, the well-known Cold Spot anomaly is included in the analysis. All these peaks would contribute significantly to some of the CMB large-scale anomalies, as the parity and hemispherical asymmetries, the dipole modulation, the alignment between the quadrupole and the octopole, or in the case of the Cold Spot, to the non-Gaussianity of the field. The analysis of the peaks ismore » performed by using their multipolar profiles, which characterize the local shape of the peaks in terms of the discrete Fourier transform of the azimuthal angle. In order to quantify the local anisotropy of the peaks, the distribution of the phases of the multipolar profiles is studied by using the Rayleigh random walk methodology. Finally, a direct analysis of the 2-dimensional field around the peaks is performed in order to take into account the effect of the galactic mask. The results of the analysis conclude that, once the peak amplitude and its first and second order derivatives at the centre are conditioned, the rest of the field is compatible with the standard model. In particular, it is observed that the Cold Spot anomaly is caused by the large value of curvature at the centre.« less

Scaling and stochastic cascade properties of NEMO oceanic simulations and their potential value for GCM evaluation and downscaling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verrier, Sébastien; Crépon, Michel; Thiria, Sylvie

2014-09-01

Spectral scaling properties have already been evidenced on oceanic numerical simulations and have been subject to several interpretations. They can be used to evaluate classical turbulence theories that predict scaling with specific exponents and to evaluate the quality of GCM outputs from a statistical and multiscale point of view. However, a more complete framework based on multifractal cascades is able to generalize the classical but restrictive second-order spectral framework to other moment orders, providing an accurate description of probability distributions of the fields at multiple scales. The predictions of this formalism still needed systematic verification in oceanic GCM while they have been confirmed recently for their atmospheric counterparts by several papers. The present paper is devoted to a systematic analysis of several oceanic fields produced by the NEMO oceanic GCM. Attention is focused to regional, idealized configurations that permit to evaluate the NEMO engine core from a scaling point of view regardless of limitations involved by land masks. Based on classical multifractal analysis tools, multifractal properties were evidenced for several oceanic state variables (sea surface temperature and salinity, velocity components, etc.). While first-order structure functions estimated a different nonconservativity parameter H in two scaling ranges, the multiorder statistics of turbulent fluxes were scaling over almost the whole available scaling range. This multifractal scaling was then parameterized with the help of the universal multifractal framework, providing parameters that are coherent with existing empirical literature. Finally, we argue that the knowledge of these properties may be useful for oceanographers. The framework seems very well suited for the statistical evaluation of OGCM outputs. Moreover, it also provides practical solutions to simulate subpixel variability stochastically for GCM downscaling purposes. As an independent perspective, the existence of multifractal properties in oceanic flows seems also interesting for investigating scale dependencies in remote sensing inversion algorithms.

Scaling analysis of cloud and rain water in marine stratocumulus and implications for scale-aware microphysical parameterizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Witte, M.; Morrison, H.; Jensen, J. B.; Bansemer, A.; Gettelman, A.

2017-12-01

The spatial covariance of cloud and rain water (or in simpler terms, small and large drops, respectively) is an important quantity for accurate prediction of the accretion rate in bulk microphysical parameterizations that account for subgrid variability using assumed probability density functions (pdfs). Past diagnoses of this covariance from remote sensing, in situ measurements and large eddy simulation output have implicitly assumed that the magnitude of the covariance is insensitive to grain size (i.e. horizontal resolution) and averaging length, but this is not the case because both cloud and rain water exhibit scale invariance across a wide range of scales - from tens of centimeters to tens of kilometers in the case of cloud water, a range that we will show is primarily limited by instrumentation and sampling issues. Since the individual variances systematically vary as a function of spatial scale, it should be expected that the covariance follows a similar relationship. In this study, we quantify the scaling properties of cloud and rain water content and their covariability from high frequency in situ aircraft measurements of marine stratocumulus taken over the southeastern Pacific Ocean aboard the NSF/NCAR C-130 during the VOCALS-REx field experiment of October-November 2008. First we confirm that cloud and rain water scale in distinct manners, indicating that there is a statistically and potentially physically significant difference in the spatial structure of the two fields. Next, we demonstrate that the covariance is a strong function of spatial scale, which implies important caveats regarding the ability of limited-area models with domains smaller than a few tens of kilometers across to accurately reproduce the spatial organization of precipitation. Finally, we present preliminary work on the development of a scale-aware parameterization of cloud-rain water subgrid covariability based in multifractal analysis intended for application in large-scale model microphysics schemes.

Multiscale analysis of the fracture pattern in granite, example of Tamariu's granite, Catalunya.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertrand, L.; LeGarzic, E.; Géraud, Y.; Diraison, M.

2012-04-01

Crystalline rocks can be the host of important fluid flow and therefore they can provide a good reservoir potential. In this kind of rocks, the matrice porosity is in general low and a large part of the permeability is governed by the fracture pattern. Thus, they are the first interest of studies in order to characterize and model the fluid flows. Actual reservoirs are underground, and the only access to the fracture pattern is with boreholes and seismic lines. Those methods are investigating different scales and dimensions: seismic is in 3D at a global scale whereas boreholes are 1D at a localized scale. To make the link between the different data, it is necessary to study field analogues where such fractured rocks are outcropping. Tamariu's granite, in Catalunya, has recently been studied as a field analogue of a fractured reservoir. The previous studies have lead to define structural blocks at different scales, linked to the regional deformation. This study's aim is to characterize the internal fracturation of a single structural block with a statistical analysis. We used one dimension scan lines at the scale of a block and 2 dimensions mapping at a more precise scale until the grain scale. The data highlighted that the fracture and fault lengths have a power law relation in 8 orders of scales. So this power law is stretching between seismic and borehole scales. Therefore, the data fit with a very good trust in the power law exponent, which is very well defined. The link between the reservoir scale faults and the internal block fracturation has also been defined in term of the structures orientation. Finally, a comparison between the 1D and 2D measurement could be done. The 1D scan lines show correctly the different fractures families but samples incompletely a part the fracture pattern, whereas the 2D maps which show more the global trends of the fractures and could lose some minor trends orientations.

3D X-ray ultra-microscopy of bone tissue.

PubMed

Langer, M; Peyrin, F

2016-02-01

We review the current X-ray techniques with 3D imaging capability at the nano-scale: transmission X-ray microscopy, ptychography and in-line phase nano-tomography. We further review the different ultra-structural features that have so far been resolved: the lacuno-canalicular network, collagen orientation, nano-scale mineralization and their use as basis for mechanical simulations. X-ray computed tomography at the micro-metric scale is increasingly considered as the reference technique in imaging of bone micro-structure. The trend has been to push towards increasingly higher resolution. Due to the difficulty of realizing optics in the hard X-ray regime, the magnification has mainly been due to the use of visible light optics and indirect detection of the X-rays, which limits the attainable resolution with respect to the wavelength of the visible light used in detection. Recent developments in X-ray optics and instrumentation have allowed to implement several types of methods that achieve imaging that is limited in resolution by the X-ray wavelength, thus enabling computed tomography at the nano-scale. We review here the X-ray techniques with 3D imaging capability at the nano-scale: transmission X-ray microscopy, ptychography and in-line phase nano-tomography. Further, we review the different ultra-structural features that have so far been resolved and the applications that have been reported: imaging of the lacuno-canalicular network, direct analysis of collagen orientation, analysis of mineralization on the nano-scale and use of 3D images at the nano-scale to drive mechanical simulations. Finally, we discuss the issue of going beyond qualitative description to quantification of ultra-structural features.

German translation, cross-cultural adaptation and diagnostic test accuracy of three frailty screening tools : PRISMA-7, FRAIL scale and Groningen Frailty Indicator.

PubMed

Braun, Tobias; Grüneberg, Christian; Thiel, Christian

2018-04-01

Routine screening for frailty could be used to timely identify older people with increased vulnerability und corresponding medical needs. The aim of this study was the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the PRISMA-7 questionnaire, the FRAIL scale and the Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI) into the German language as well as a preliminary analysis of the diagnostic test accuracy of these instruments used to screen for frailty. A diagnostic cross-sectional study was performed. The instrument translation into German followed a standardized process. Prefinal versions were clinically tested on older adults who gave structured in-depth feedback on the scales in order to compile a final revision of the German language scale versions. For the analysis of diagnostic test accuracy (criterion validity), PRISMA-7, FRAIL scale and GFI were considered the index tests. Two reference tests were applied to assess frailty, either based on Fried's model of a Physical Frailty Phenotype or on the model of deficit accumulation, expressed in a Frailty Index. Prefinal versions of the German translations of each instrument were produced and completed by 52 older participants (mean age: 73 ± 6 years). Some minor issues concerning comprehensibility and semantics of the scales were identified and resolved. Using the Physical Frailty Phenotype (frailty prevalence: 4%) criteria as a reference standard, the accuracy of the instruments was excellent (area under the curve AUC >0.90). Taking the Frailty Index (frailty prevalence: 23%) as the reference standard, the accuracy was good (AUC between 0.73 and 0.88). German language versions of PRISMA-7, FRAIL scale and GFI have been established and preliminary results indicate sufficient diagnostic test accuracy that needs to be further established.

Multiscale Laboratory Infrastructure and Services to users: Plans within EPOS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spiers, Chris; Willingshofer, Ernst; Drury, Martyn; Funiciello, Francesca; Rosenau, Matthias; Scarlato, Piergiorgio; Sagnotti, Leonardo; EPOS WG6, Corrado Cimarelli

2015-04-01

The participant countries in EPOS embody a wide range of world-class laboratory infrastructures ranging from high temperature and pressure experimental facilities, to electron microscopy, micro-beam analysis, analogue modeling and paleomagnetic laboratories. Most data produced by the various laboratory centres and networks are presently available only in limited "final form" in publications. Many data remain inaccessible and/or poorly preserved. However, the data produced at the participating laboratories are crucial to serving society's need for geo-resources exploration and for protection against geo-hazards. Indeed, to model resource formation and system behaviour during exploitation, we need an understanding from the molecular to the continental scale, based on experimental data. This contribution will describe the plans that the laboratories community in Europe is making, in the context of EPOS. The main objectives are: • To collect and harmonize available and emerging laboratory data on the properties and processes controlling rock system behaviour at multiple scales, in order to generate products accessible and interoperable through services for supporting research activities. • To co-ordinate the development, integration and trans-national usage of the major solid Earth Science laboratory centres and specialist networks. The length scales encompassed by the infrastructures included range from the nano- and micrometer levels (electron microscopy and micro-beam analysis) to the scale of experiments on centimetre sized samples, and to analogue model experiments simulating the reservoir scale, the basin scale and the plate scale. • To provide products and services supporting research into Geo-resources and Geo-storage, Geo-hazards and Earth System Evolution. If the EPOS Implementation Phase proposal presently under construction is successful, then a range of services and transnational activities will be put in place to realize these objectives.

Large-scale metabolite analysis of standards and human serum by laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry from silicon nanopost arrays

DOE PAGES

Korte, Andrew R.; Stopka, Sylwia A.; Morris, Nicholas; ...

2016-07-11

The unique challenges presented by metabolomics have driven the development of new mass spectrometry (MS)-based techniques for small molecule analysis. We have previously demonstrated silicon nanopost arrays (NAPA) to be an effective substrate for laser desorption ionization (LDI) of small molecules for MS. However, the utility of NAPA-LDI-MS for a wide range of metabolite classes has not been investigated. Here we apply NAPA-LDI-MS to the large-scale acquisition of high-resolution mass spectra and tandem mass spectra from a collection of metabolite standards covering a range of compound classes including amino acids, nucleotides, carbohydrates, xenobiotics, lipids, and other classes. In untargeted analysismore » of metabolite standard mixtures, detection was achieved for 374 compounds and useful MS/MS spectra were obtained for 287 compounds, without individual optimization of ionization or fragmentation conditions. Metabolite detection was evaluated in the context of 31 metabolic pathways, and NAPA-LDI-MS was found to provide detection for 63% of investigated pathway metabolites. Individual, targeted analysis of the 20 common amino acids provided detection of 100% of the investigated compounds, demonstrating that improved coverage is possible through optimization and targeting of individual analytes or analyte classes. In direct analysis of aqueous and organic extracts from human serum samples, spectral features were assigned to a total of 108 small metabolites and lipids. Glucose and amino acids were quantitated within their physiological concentration ranges. Finally, the broad coverage demonstrated by this large-scale screening experiment opens the door for use of NAPA-LDI-MS in numerous metabolite analysis applications« less

Large-scale metabolite analysis of standards and human serum by laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry from silicon nanopost arrays

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

Korte, Andrew R.; Stopka, Sylwia A.; Morris, Nicholas

The unique challenges presented by metabolomics have driven the development of new mass spectrometry (MS)-based techniques for small molecule analysis. We have previously demonstrated silicon nanopost arrays (NAPA) to be an effective substrate for laser desorption ionization (LDI) of small molecules for MS. However, the utility of NAPA-LDI-MS for a wide range of metabolite classes has not been investigated. Here we apply NAPA-LDI-MS to the large-scale acquisition of high-resolution mass spectra and tandem mass spectra from a collection of metabolite standards covering a range of compound classes including amino acids, nucleotides, carbohydrates, xenobiotics, lipids, and other classes. In untargeted analysismore » of metabolite standard mixtures, detection was achieved for 374 compounds and useful MS/MS spectra were obtained for 287 compounds, without individual optimization of ionization or fragmentation conditions. Metabolite detection was evaluated in the context of 31 metabolic pathways, and NAPA-LDI-MS was found to provide detection for 63% of investigated pathway metabolites. Individual, targeted analysis of the 20 common amino acids provided detection of 100% of the investigated compounds, demonstrating that improved coverage is possible through optimization and targeting of individual analytes or analyte classes. In direct analysis of aqueous and organic extracts from human serum samples, spectral features were assigned to a total of 108 small metabolites and lipids. Glucose and amino acids were quantitated within their physiological concentration ranges. Finally, the broad coverage demonstrated by this large-scale screening experiment opens the door for use of NAPA-LDI-MS in numerous metabolite analysis applications« less

Hydrometeorological variability on a large french catchment and its relation to large-scale circulation across temporal scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Massei, Nicolas; Dieppois, Bastien; Fritier, Nicolas; Laignel, Benoit; Debret, Maxime; Lavers, David; Hannah, David

2015-04-01

In the present context of global changes, considerable efforts have been deployed by the hydrological scientific community to improve our understanding of the impacts of climate fluctuations on water resources. Both observational and modeling studies have been extensively employed to characterize hydrological changes and trends, assess the impact of climate variability or provide future scenarios of water resources. In the aim of a better understanding of hydrological changes, it is of crucial importance to determine how and to what extent trends and long-term oscillations detectable in hydrological variables are linked to global climate oscillations. In this work, we develop an approach associating large-scale/local-scale correlation, enmpirical statistical downscaling and wavelet multiresolution decomposition of monthly precipitation and streamflow over the Seine river watershed, and the North Atlantic sea level pressure (SLP) in order to gain additional insights on the atmospheric patterns associated with the regional hydrology. We hypothesized that: i) atmospheric patterns may change according to the different temporal wavelengths defining the variability of the signals; and ii) definition of those hydrological/circulation relationships for each temporal wavelength may improve the determination of large-scale predictors of local variations. The results showed that the large-scale/local-scale links were not necessarily constant according to time-scale (i.e. for the different frequencies characterizing the signals), resulting in changing spatial patterns across scales. This was then taken into account by developing an empirical statistical downscaling (ESD) modeling approach which integrated discrete wavelet multiresolution analysis for reconstructing local hydrometeorological processes (predictand : precipitation and streamflow on the Seine river catchment) based on a large-scale predictor (SLP over the Euro-Atlantic sector) on a monthly time-step. This approach basically consisted in 1- decomposing both signals (SLP field and precipitation or streamflow) using discrete wavelet multiresolution analysis and synthesis, 2- generating one statistical downscaling model per time-scale, 3- summing up all scale-dependent models in order to obtain a final reconstruction of the predictand. The results obtained revealed a significant improvement of the reconstructions for both precipitation and streamflow when using the multiresolution ESD model instead of basic ESD ; in addition, the scale-dependent spatial patterns associated to the model matched quite well those obtained from scale-dependent composite analysis. In particular, the multiresolution ESD model handled very well the significant changes in variance through time observed in either prepciptation or streamflow. For instance, the post-1980 period, which had been characterized by particularly high amplitudes in interannual-to-interdecadal variability associated with flood and extremely low-flow/drought periods (e.g., winter 2001, summer 2003), could not be reconstructed without integrating wavelet multiresolution analysis into the model. Further investigations would be required to address the issue of the stationarity of the large-scale/local-scale relationships and to test the capability of the multiresolution ESD model for interannual-to-interdecadal forecasting. In terms of methodological approach, further investigations may concern a fully comprehensive sensitivity analysis of the modeling to the parameter of the multiresolution approach (different families of scaling and wavelet functions used, number of coefficients/degree of smoothness, etc.).

Intensive mothering ideology in France: A pilot study.

PubMed

Loyal, D; Sutter Dallay, A-L; Rascle, N

2017-12-01

The aim of this pilot study was to adapt the intensive mothering ideology concept in a French sample and to get an assessment tool. First, the Intensive Parenting Attitudes Questionnaire (IPAQ), a U.S. scale comprising 25 items, was translated and submitted online to French mothers and mothers-to-be (n=250). Structural validity was tested through confirmatory factor analysis with poor results. Secondly, to increase the cultural validity of a new tool, new items were derived from French women speech. French mothers and mothers-to-be (n=22) were asked about their views regarding motherhood and childcare (semi-structured interviews). A thematic content analysis was performed with good inter-judge agreement (0.53-0.86) and 27 items were created. Finally, the total set of 52 items was submitted online to French mothers and mothers-to-be (n=474). The structure was tested through exploratory factor analysis. A new tool called the Measure of Intensive Mothering Ideology (MIMI) was obtained. This 21 items scale with 6 dimensions (Essentialism, Consuming Fulfillment, Child-centrism, Challenge, Sacrifice and Stimulation) explains 59.75% of variance. Internal consistencies were satisfactory (0.61-0.83) and most dimensions were positively and moderately correlated (0.17-0.38). The MIMI is the first French-language scale assessing IMI and offers interesting research avenues notably regarding perinatal parental adaptation. Copyright © 2017 L'Encéphale, Paris. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

THE TRANSLATION, VALIDATION AND CULTURAL ADAPTATION OF FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT OF CHRONIC ILLNESS THERAPY - SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING 12 (FACIT-SP12) SCALE IN GREEK LANGUAGE.

PubMed

Fradelos, Evangelos C; Tzavella, Foteini; Koukia, Evmorfia; Tsaras, Konstantinos; Papathanasiou, Ioanna V; Aroni, Adamantia; Alikari, Victoria; Ralli, Maria; Bredle, Jason; Zyga, Sofia

2016-06-01

According to World Health Organization (WHO), spirituality is an important domain of quality of life especially in terminal, life threatens chronic diseases. For many people spirituality and religion are not just very important dimensions of their existence, but also a source of support that contributes to wellbeing and coping with everyday difficulties of life. Aim of the study was the translation of the Facit Spiritual Well Being Scale (Facit-Sp12) in Greek language and the validation of the scale for the Greek population. The Facit-Sp12 questionnaire is an anonymous self-administered questionnaire that contains twelve, four point Likert scale, closed questions (0=Not at all, 1=A little bit, 2=Some-what, 3=Quite a bit, 4=Very Much). The questionnaire was translated into Greek language and then back translated in the English in order to be checked for any inconsistencies. The sample of the study was 183 chronic kidney disease patients, undergoing hemodialysis. Exploratory factor analysis, with principal components analysis with Varimax rotation was performed for checking the construct validity of the questionnaire. The test-retest reliability and the internal consistency were also examined. Statistical analysis performed by the use of SPSS 21.0. Statistical significance level was set at p=0.05. The final Greek version of the questionnaire includes all of the twelve questions. The mean age of the participants was 61.81±13.9. Three factors were exported from the statistical analysis. The Cronbach-α coefficient was 0.77 for the total questionnaire and for each subscale was 0.70 for "meaning", 0.73 for "peace" and 0.87 for "faith". Between the three subscales "meaning" had the highest score (mean 12.49, SD=2.865). The Facit Spiritual Wellbeing Scale-Facit-Sp12, is a valuable and reliable questionnaire of three dimensions that can be used for assessing spirituality and spiritual wellbeing in Greek population.

Detecting the transition to failure: wavelet analysis of multi-scale crack patterns at different confining pressures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rizzo, R. E.; Healy, D.; Farrell, N. J.

2017-12-01

Numerous laboratory brittle deformation experiments have shown that a rapid transition exists in the behaviour of porous materials under stress: at a certain point, early formed tensile cracks interact and coalesce into a `single' narrow zone, the shear plane, rather than remaining distributed throughout the material. In this work, we present and apply a novel image processing tool which is able to quantify this transition between distributed (`stable') damage accumulation and localised (`unstable') deformation, in terms of size, density, and orientation of cracks at the point of failure. Our technique, based on a two-dimensional (2D) continuous Morlet wavelet analysis, can recognise, extract and visually separate the multi-scale changes occurring in the fracture network during the deformation process. We have analysed high-resolution SEM-BSE images of thin sections of Hopeman Sandstone (Scotland, UK) taken from core plugs deformed under triaxial conditions, with increasing confining pressure. Through this analysis, we can determine the relationship between the initial orientation of tensile microcracks and the final geometry of the through-going shear fault, exploiting the total areal coverage of the analysed image. In addition, by comparing patterns of fractures in thin sections derived from triaxial (σ1>σ2=σ3=Pc) laboratory experiments conducted at different confining pressures (Pc), we can quantitatively explore the relationship between the observed geometry and the inferred mechanical processes. The methodology presented here can have important implications for larger-scale mechanical problems related to major fault propagation. Just as a core plug scale fault localises through extension and coalescence of microcracks, larger faults also grow by extension and coalescence of segments in a multi-scale process by which microscopic cracks can ultimately lead to macroscopic faulting. Consequently, wavelet analysis represents a useful tool for fracture pattern recognition, applicable to the detection of the transitions occurring at the time of catastrophic rupture.

Computerized lung cancer malignancy level analysis using 3D texture features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Wenqing; Huang, Xia; Tseng, Tzu-Liang; Zhang, Jianying; Qian, Wei

2016-03-01

Based on the likelihood of malignancy, the nodules are classified into five different levels in Lung Image Database Consortium (LIDC) database. In this study, we tested the possibility of using threedimensional (3D) texture features to identify the malignancy level of each nodule. Five groups of features were implemented and tested on 172 nodules with confident malignancy levels from four radiologists. These five feature groups are: grey level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) features, local binary pattern (LBP) features, scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) features, steerable features, and wavelet features. Because of the high dimensionality of our proposed features, multidimensional scaling (MDS) was used for dimension reduction. RUSBoost was applied for our extracted features for classification, due to its advantages in handling imbalanced dataset. Each group of features and the final combined features were used to classify nodules highly suspicious for cancer (level 5) and moderately suspicious (level 4). The results showed that the area under the curve (AUC) and accuracy are 0.7659 and 0.8365 when using the finalized features. These features were also tested on differentiating benign and malignant cases, and the reported AUC and accuracy were 0.8901 and 0.9353.

Intermediate-scale vegetation mapping of Innoko National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska using Landsat MSS digital data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Talbot, Stephen S.; Markon, Carl J.

1988-01-01

A Landsat-derived vegetation map was prepared for lnnoko National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge lies within the northern boreal subzone of northwestern central Alaska. Six major vegetation classes and 21 subclasses were recognized: forest (closed needleleaf, open needleleaf, needleleaf woodland, mixed, and broadleaf); broadleaf scrub (lowland, upland burn regeneration, subalpine); dwarf scrub (prostrate dwarf shrub tundra, erect dwarf shrub heath, dwarf shrub-graminoid peatland, dwarf shrub-graminoid tussock peatland, dwarf shrub raised bog with scattered trees, dwarf shrub-graminoid marsh); herbaceous (graminoid bog, graminoid marsh, graminoid tussock-dwarf shrub peatland); scarcely vegetated areas (scarcely vegetated scree and floodplain); and water (clear, sedimented). The methodology employed a cluster-block technique. Sample areas were described based on a combination of helicopter-ground survey, aerial photo-interpretation, and digital Landsat data. Major steps in the Landsat analysis involved preprocessing (geometric correction), derivation of statistical parameters for spectral classes, spectral class labeling of sample areas, preliminary classification of the entire study area using a maximum-likelihood algorithm, and final classification utilizing ancillary information such as digital elevation data. The final product is 1:250,000-scale vegetation map representative of distinctive regional patterns and suitable for use in comprehensive conservation planning.

Combining microwave resonance technology to multivariate data analysis as a novel PAT tool to improve process understanding in fluid bed granulation.

PubMed

Lourenço, Vera; Herdling, Thorsten; Reich, Gabriele; Menezes, José C; Lochmann, Dirk

2011-08-01

A set of 192 fluid bed granulation batches at industrial scale were in-line monitored using microwave resonance technology (MRT) to determine moisture, temperature and density of the granules. Multivariate data analysis techniques such as multiway partial least squares (PLS), multiway principal component analysis (PCA) and multivariate batch control charts were applied onto collected batch data sets. The combination of all these techniques, along with off-line particle size measurements, led to significantly increased process understanding. A seasonality effect could be put into evidence that impacted further processing through its influence on the final granule size. Moreover, it was demonstrated by means of a PLS that a relation between the particle size and the MRT measurements can be quantitatively defined, highlighting a potential ability of the MRT sensor to predict information about the final granule size. This study has contributed to improve a fluid bed granulation process, and the process knowledge obtained shows that the product quality can be built in process design, following Quality by Design (QbD) and Process Analytical Technology (PAT) principles. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Numerical simulation of tornadoes' meteorological conditions over Greece: A case study of tornadic activity over NW Peloponnese on March 25, 2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsangouras, Ioannis T.; Nastos, Panagiotis T.; Pytharoulis, Ioannis

2014-05-01

Recent research revealed that NW Peloponnese, Greece is an area that favours pre-frontal tornadic incidence. This study presents the results of the synoptic analysis of the meteorological conditions during a tornado event over NW Peloponnese on March 25, 2009. Further, the role of topography in tornado genesis is examined. The tornado was formed approximately at 10:30 UTC, south-west of Vardas village, crossed the Nea Manolada and faded away at Lappas village, causing several damage. The length of its track was approximately 9-10 km and this tornado was characterized as F2 (Fujita scale) or T4-T5 in TORRO intensity scale. Synoptic analysis was based on ECMWF datasets, as well as on daily composite mean and anomaly of the geopotential heights at the middle and lower troposphere from NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. In addition, numerous datasets derived from weather observations and remote sensing were used in order to interpret better the examined extreme event. Finally, a numerical simulation was performed using the non-hydrostatic Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF), initialized with ECMWF gridded analyses, with telescoping nested grids that allow the representation of atmospheric circulations ranging from the synoptic scale down to the meso-scale. In the numerical simulations the topography of the inner grid was modified by: a) 0% (actual topography) and b) -100% (without topography).

Return to sporting activity after osteochondral autograft transplantation for Freiberg disease in young athletes.

PubMed

Ishimatsu, Tetsuro; Yoshimura, Ichiro; Kanazawa, Kazuki; Hagio, Tomonobu; Yamamoto, Takuaki

2017-07-01

Freiberg disease is defined as osteochondrosis of the metatarsal head and typically occurs in adolescents with sporting activity. This study aimed to evaluate the sporting activity of young athletes after osteochondral autograft transplantation (OAT) for Freiberg disease. OAT for Freiberg disease was conducted in 12 consecutive patients between August 2008 and November 2014. The present study evaluated 10 of these patients who both undertook sporting activity preoperatively and were teenagers at the time of surgery. Clinical evaluations were performed based on the Japanese Society for Surgery of the Foot lesser metatarsophalangeal-interphalangeal scale (JSSF scale) and range of motion (ROM) of the operated metatarsophalangeal joint preoperatively and at the final follow-up (mean 24.6 months). Whether patients were able to return to sporting activity and time until return to sporting activity were evaluated, including the Halasi score to reflect the level of sporting activity. Regarding symptoms at the donor knee, the Lysholm knee scale score was evaluated at the final follow-up. The mean JSSF scale showed a significant improvement at the final follow-up (p < 0.01). The mean ROM in extension and flexion improved at the final follow-up (p < 0.01, and p < 0.05, respectively). All patients were able to return to sporting activity at a mean time of 3.5 months postoperatively and the Halasi score showed no significant change. The mean Lysholm knee scale score was 97.9 (range 89-100) points at the final follow-up. All young athletes who underwent OAT for Freiberg disease achieved early return to almost equal sporting activity postoperatively and exhibited a significant improvement of the ROM of the metatarsophalangeal joint with almost no knee pain.

Multiscale object-based drought monitoring and comparison in rainfed and irrigated agriculture from Landsat 8 OLI imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ozelkan, Emre; Chen, Gang; Ustundag, Burak Berk

2016-02-01

Drought is a rapidly rising environmental issue that can cause hardly repaired or unrepaired damages to the nature and socio-economy. This is especially true for a region that features arid/semi-arid climate, including the Turkey's most important agricultural district - Southeast Anatolia. In this area, we examined the uncertainties of applying Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) NDVI data to estimate meteorological drought - Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) - measured from 31 in-situ agro-meteorological monitoring stations during spring and summer of 2013 and 2014. Our analysis was designed to address two important, yet under-examined questions: (i) how does the co-existence of rainfed and irrigated agriculture affect remote sensing drought monitoring in an arid/semi-arid region? (ii) What is the role of spatial scale in drought monitoring using a GEOBIA (geographic object-based image analysis) framework? Results show that spatial scale exerted a higher impact on drought monitoring especially in the drier year 2013, during which small scales were found to outperform large scales in general. In addition, consideration of irrigated and rainfed areas separately ensured a better performance in drought analysis. Compared to the positive correlations between SPI and NDVI over the rainfed areas, negative correlations were determined over the irrigated agricultural areas. Finally, the time lag effect was evident in the study, i.e., strong correlations between spring SPI and summer NDVI in both 2013 and 2014. This reflects the fact that spring watering is crucial for the growth and yield of the major crops (i.e., winter wheat, barley and lentil) cultivated in the region.

Adaptation and analysis of psychometric features of the Caregiver Risk Screen: a tool for detecting the risk of burden in family caregivers.

PubMed

Martinez-Rodriguez, Silvia; Ortiz-Marqués, Nuria; Iraurgi, Ioseba; Carrasco, María; Miguel, José J

2013-05-01

There are a limited number of scales available in the Spanish language that can be used to detect burden among individuals who care for a dependent family member. The purpose of this work was to adapt and validate the Caregiver Risk Screen (CRS) scale developed by Guberman et al. (2001) (Guberman, N., Keefe, J., Fancey, P., Nahmiash, D. and Barylak, L. (2001). Development of Screening and Assessment Tools for Family Caregivers: Final Report. Montreal, Canada: Health Transition Fund). The sample was made up of 302 informal caregivers of dependent family members (average age 57.3 years, and 78.9% were women). Scale structure was subjected to a confirmatory factor analysis. Concurrent and convergent validity were assessed by correlation with validated questionnaires for measuring burden (Zarit Burden Inventory (ZBI)) and psychological health (SCL-90-R). The results show a high level of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86), suitable fit of the one-dimensional model tested via confirmatory factor analysis (GFI = 0.91; CFI = 0.91; RMSEA = 0.097), and appropriate convergent validity with similar constructs (r = 0.77 with ZBI; and r-values between 0.45 and 0.63 with SCL-90-R dimensions). The findings are promising in terms of their adaptation of the CRS to Spanish, and the results enable us to draw the conclusion that the CRS is a suitable tool for assessing and detecting strain in family caregivers. Nevertheless, new research is required that explores all the psychometric features on the scale.

Development and study of self-efficacy scale in medication adherence among Iranian patients with hypertension

PubMed Central

Najimi, Arash; Mostafavi, Firoozeh; Sharifirad, Gholamreza; Golshiri, Parastoo

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: This study was aimed at developing and studying the scale of self-efficacy in adherence to treatment in Iranian patients with hypertension. METHODS: A mix-method study was conducted on the two stages: in the first phase, a qualitative study was done using content analysis through deep and semi-structured interviews. After data analysis, the draft of tool was prepared. Items in the draft were selected based on the extracted concepts. In the second phase, validity and reliability of the instrument were implemented using a quantitative study. The prepared instrument in the first phase was studied among 612 participants. To test the construct validity and internal consistency, exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha were used, respectively. To study the validity of the final scale, the average score of self-efficacy in patients with controlled hypertension were compared with patients with uncontrolled hypertension. RESULTS: In overall, 16 patients were interviewed. Twenty-six items were developed to assess different concepts of self-efficacy. Concept-related items were extracted from interviews to study the face validity of the tool from patient's point of view. Four items were deleted because scored 0.79 in content validity. The mean of questionnaire content validity was 0.85. Items were collected in two factors with an eigenvalue >1. Four items were deleted with load factor <0.4. Reliability was 0.84 for the entire instrument. CONCLUSION: Self-efficacy scale in patients with hypertension is a valid and reliable instrument that can effectively evaluate the self-efficacy in medication adherence in the management of hypertension. PMID:29114551

[The French adaptation of the STAXI-2, C.D. Spielberger's State-trait anger expression inventory].

PubMed

Borteyrou, X; Bruchon-Schweitzer, M; Spielberger, C D

2008-06-01

The assessment of anger has received increasing attention because of growing evidence that anger and hostility are related to heart disease. Research on anger assessment has also been stimulated by the development of psychometric measures for evaluating different aspects of anger. First, we review the major self-report scales used to assess anger and hostility. The scales appeared to have been constructed without explicit definition of anger and there is little differentiation between the experience and expression of anger. The factor-derived STAXI-2 is a 57-item measure of the expression of anger, and is comprised of the state-trait anger scale [Spielberger CD, Jacobs G, Russell JS, Crane RS. Assessment of anger: the state-trait anger scale. In: Butcher JN, Spielberger CD, editors. Advances in personality assessment, 2. Hillside, NJ: Erlbaum; 1983] and the anger expression scale (AX; Spielberger et al., 1985). The state anger scale (SAS) includes three subscales: feeling angry, feeling like expressing anger verbally, and feeling like expressing anger physically. The trait anger scale (TAS) consists of two subscales: angry temperament and angry reaction. The AX deals with the direction of both anger expression and anger control, resulting in four revised AX subscales: anger expression/out (verbal and physical, aggressive behavior directed toward other persons or objects), and anger expression/in (anger suppression), anger control/out (attempts to monitor and prevent the outward expression of anger) and anger control/in (active attempts to calm down and reduce angry feelings). The aim of this work was to examine the factor structure and the psychometric properties of the French adaptation of STAXI-2. A sample of 1085 French subjects, 546 female and 539 male, between 18 and 70 years old participated in the study. The 57 items of the three original subscales (SAS, TAS, and AX scale) were analyzed separately by sex and by subscale, using exploratory factor analyses (principal axis analysis, followed by promax rotations). For the first part of the questionnaire (SAS), factor analysis suggested the presence of three factors with eigenvalues >1.0; but the factor structure obtained for males and females differed and was difficult to interpret. Moreover, the explained variance of Factors 2 and 3 was low. Velicer's MAP criteria and screen test established that one solution factor was more relevant. Confirmatory factor analysis suggested that the three factor solution was acceptable, but the unifactorial solution adjusted better to the data. For the second part of the questionnaire (TAS) factor analysis was conducted following the same procedure, and two factors were extracted. The explained variance of Factor 2 was very low. Velicer's MAP criteria and screen test suggested that the solution factor was more relevant. Moreover, the adjustment parameters of the original two-factor structure were not satisfactory. Finally, the analyses of the 32 items of anger expression and control yielded four factors with eigenvalues >1.0. All items loaded higher than 0.38 on the corresponding factor and lower than 0.30 in other factor. The factor structure of the AX scale was fairly robust, both for males and females. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the subscales were acceptable except for the SAS. The correlations of the six subscales with four criterion variables (Buss Durkee hostility inventory, Cook and Medley Ho scale, NEO PI-R Ho scale and Courtauld emotions control scale) were in the expected direction, establishing their convergent validity. In summary, the analysis reported in this study checked the factor structure of the STAXI-2 translated into French. The state anger dimension was also essentially confirmed, but no distinction was found between the three components: feeling angry, feeling like expressing anger verbally, and feeling like expressing anger physically. Moreover, the distinction between angry temperament and angry reaction was not confirmed because of gender differences, but we established a robust and valid trait anger factor. Finally, we confirmed the factor structure of the original anger expression scale without gender differences. Some practical and theoretical perspectives for the use of the French adaptation of the STAXI-2 are suggested.

Mastoidectomy performance assessment of virtual simulation training using final-product analysis.

PubMed

Andersen, Steven A W; Cayé-Thomasen, Per; Sørensen, Mads S

2015-02-01

The future development of integrated automatic assessment in temporal bone virtual surgical simulators calls for validation against currently established assessment tools. This study aimed to explore the relationship between mastoidectomy final-product performance assessment in virtual simulation and traditional dissection training. Prospective trial with blinding. A total of 34 novice residents performed a mastoidectomy on the Visible Ear Simulator and on a cadaveric temporal bone. Two blinded senior otologists assessed the final-product performance using a modified Welling scale. The simulator gathered basic metrics on time, steps, and volumes in relation to the on-screen tutorial and collisions with vital structures. Substantial inter-rater reliability (kappa = 0.77) for virtual simulation and moderate inter-rater reliability (kappa = 0.59) for dissection final-product assessment was found. The simulation and dissection performance scores had significant correlation (P = .014). None of the basic simulator metrics correlated significantly with the final-product score except for number of steps completed in the simulator. A modified version of a validated final-product performance assessment tool can be used to assess mastoidectomy on virtual temporal bones. Performance assessment of virtual mastoidectomy could potentially save the use of cadaveric temporal bones for more advanced training when a basic level of competency in simulation has been achieved. NA. © 2014 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Effects of Adjuvant Mental Practice on Affected Upper Limb Function Following a Stroke: Results of Three-Dimensional Motion Analysis, Fugl-Meyer Assessment of the Upper Extremity and Motor Activity Logs.

PubMed

Oh, Hyun Seung; Kim, Eun Joo; Kim, Doo Young; Kim, Soo Jeong

2016-06-01

To investigate the effects of adjuvant mental practice (MP) on affected upper limb function following a stroke using three-dimensional (3D) motion analysis. In this AB/BA crossover study, we studied 10 hemiplegic patients who had a stroke within the past 6 months. The patients were randomly allocated to two groups: one group received MP combined with conventional rehabilitation therapy for the first 3 weeks followed by conventional rehabilitation therapy alone for the final 3 weeks; the other group received the same therapy but in reverse order. The MP tasks included drinking from a cup and opening a door. MP was individually administered for 20 minutes, 3 days a week for 3 weeks. To assess the tasks, we used 3D motion analysis and three additional tests: the Fugl-Meyer Assessment of the upper extremity (FMA-UE) and the motor activity logs for amount of use (MAL-AOU) and quality of movement (MAL-QOM). Assessments were performed immediately before treatment (T0), 3 weeks into treatment (T1), and 6 weeks into treatment (T2). Based on the results of the 3D motion analysis and the FMA-UE index (p=0.106), the MAL-AOU scale (p=0.092), and MAL-QOM scale (p=0.273), adjuvant MP did not result in significant improvements. Adjuvant MP had no significant effect on upper limb function following a stroke, according to 3D motion analysis and three clinical assessment tools (the FMA-UE index and the two MAL scales). The importance of this study is its use of objective 3D motion analysis to evaluate the effects of MP. Further studies will be needed to validate these findings.

Exploring the onset of collective motion in self-organised trails of social organisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brigatti, E.; Hernández, A.

2018-04-01

We investigate the emergence of self-organised trails between two specific target areas in collective motion of social organisms by means of an agent-based model. We present numerical evidences that an increase in the efficiency of navigation, in dependence of the colony size, exists. Moreover, the shift, from the diffusive to the directed motion can be quantitatively characterised, identifying and measuring a well defined crossover point. This point corresponds to the minimal number of individuals necessary for the onset of collective cooperation. Finally, by means of a finite-size scaling analysis, we describe its scaling behaviour as a function of the environment size. This last result can be of particular interest for interpreting empirical observations or for the design of artificial swarms.

Design of permanent magnet eddy current brake for a small scaled electromagnetic launch model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Shigui; Yu, Haitao; Hu, Minqiang; Huang, Lei

2012-04-01

A variable pole-pitch double-sided permanent magnet (PM) linear eddy current brake (LECB) is proposed for a small scaled electromagnetic launch model. A two-dimensional (2D) analytical steady state model is presented for the double-sided PM-LECB, and the expression for the braking force is derived. Based on the analytical model, the material and eddy current skin effect of the conducting plate are analyzed. Moreover, a variable pole-pitch double-sided PM-LECB is proposed for the effective braking of the moving plate. In addition, the braking force is predicted by finite element (FE) analysis, and the simulated results are in good agreement with the analytical model. Finally, a prototype is presented to test the braking profile for validation of the proposed design.

The fractal architecture of cytoplasmic organization: scaling, kinetics and emergence in metabolic networks.

PubMed

Aon, Miguel Antonio; O'Rourke, Brian; Cortassa, Sonia

2004-01-01

In this work, we highlight the links between fractals and scaling in cells and explore the kinetic consequences for biochemical reactions operating in fractal media. Based on the proposal that the cytoskeletal architecture is organized as a percolation lattice, with clusters emerging as fractal forms, the analysis of kinetics in percolation clusters is especially emphasized. A key consequence of this spatiotemporal cytoplasmic organization is that enzyme reactions following Michaelis-Menten or allosteric type kinetics exhibit higher rates in fractal media (for short times and at lower substrate concentrations) at the percolation threshold than in Euclidean media. As a result, considerably faster and higher amplification of enzymatic activity is obtained. Finally, we describe some of the properties bestowed by cytoskeletal organization and dynamics on metabolic networks.

Joint denoising and distortion correction of atomic scale scanning transmission electron microscopy images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berkels, Benjamin; Wirth, Benedikt

2017-09-01

Nowadays, modern electron microscopes deliver images at atomic scale. The precise atomic structure encodes information about material properties. Thus, an important ingredient in the image analysis is to locate the centers of the atoms shown in micrographs as precisely as possible. Here, we consider scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), which acquires data in a rastering pattern, pixel by pixel. Due to this rastering combined with the magnification to atomic scale, movements of the specimen even at the nanometer scale lead to random image distortions that make precise atom localization difficult. Given a series of STEM images, we derive a Bayesian method that jointly estimates the distortion in each image and reconstructs the underlying atomic grid of the material by fitting the atom bumps with suitable bump functions. The resulting highly non-convex minimization problems are solved numerically with a trust region approach. Existence of minimizers and the model behavior for faster and faster rastering are investigated using variational techniques. The performance of the method is finally evaluated on both synthetic and real experimental data.

Perceived Discrimination and Subjective Well-being in Chinese Migrant Adolescents: Collective and Personal Self-esteem As Mediators

PubMed Central

Jia, Xuji; Liu, Xia; Shi, Baoguo

2017-01-01

This study aimed to examine whether collective and personal self-esteem serve as mediators in the relationship between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being among Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents. Six hundred and ninety-two adolescents completed a perceived discrimination scale, a collective self-esteem scale, a personal self-esteem scale, and a subjective well-being scale. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediation hypothesis. The analysis indicated that both collective and personal self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being. The final model also revealed a significant path from perceived discrimination through collective and personal self-esteem to subjective well-being. These findings contribute to the understanding of the complicated relationships among perceived discrimination, collective and personal self-esteem, and subjective well-being. The findings suggest that collective and personal self-esteem are possible targets for interventions aimed at improving subjective well-being. Programs to nurture both the personal and collective self-esteem of migrant adolescents may help to weaken the negative relationships between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being. PMID:28769850

Perceived Discrimination and Subjective Well-being in Chinese Migrant Adolescents: Collective and Personal Self-esteem As Mediators.

PubMed

Jia, Xuji; Liu, Xia; Shi, Baoguo

2017-01-01

This study aimed to examine whether collective and personal self-esteem serve as mediators in the relationship between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being among Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents. Six hundred and ninety-two adolescents completed a perceived discrimination scale, a collective self-esteem scale, a personal self-esteem scale, and a subjective well-being scale. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediation hypothesis. The analysis indicated that both collective and personal self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being. The final model also revealed a significant path from perceived discrimination through collective and personal self-esteem to subjective well-being. These findings contribute to the understanding of the complicated relationships among perceived discrimination, collective and personal self-esteem, and subjective well-being. The findings suggest that collective and personal self-esteem are possible targets for interventions aimed at improving subjective well-being. Programs to nurture both the personal and collective self-esteem of migrant adolescents may help to weaken the negative relationships between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being.

Scale growth of structures in the turbulent boundary layer with a rod-roughened wall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Jin; Kim, Jung Hoon; Lee, Jae Hwa

2016-01-01

Direct numerical simulation of a turbulent boundary layer over a rod-roughened wall is performed with a long streamwise domain to examine the streamwise-scale growth mechanism of streamwise velocity fluctuating structures in the presence of two-dimensional (2-D) surface roughness. An instantaneous analysis shows that there is a slightly larger population of long structures with a small helix angle (spanwise inclinations relative to streamwise) and a large spanwise width over the rough-wall compared to that over a smooth-wall. Further inspection of time-evolving instantaneous fields clearly exhibits that adjacent long structures combine to form a longer structure through a spanwise merging process over the rough-wall; moreover, spanwise merging for streamwise scale growth is expected to occur frequently over the rough-wall due to the large spanwise scales generated by the 2-D roughness. Finally, we examine the influence of a large width and a small helix angle of the structures over the rough-wall with regard to spatial two-point correlation. The results show that these factors can increase the streamwise coherence of the structures in a statistical sense.

Just enough inflation: power spectrum modifications at large scales

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

Cicoli, Michele; Downes, Sean; Dutta, Bhaskar

2014-12-01

We show that models of 'just enough' inflation, where the slow-roll evolution lasted only 50- 60 e-foldings, feature modifications of the CMB power spectrum at large angular scales. We perform a systematic analytic analysis in the limit of a sudden transition between any possible non-slow-roll background evolution and the final stage of slow-roll inflation. We find a high degree of universality since most common backgrounds like fast-roll evolution, matter or radiation-dominance give rise to a power loss at large angular scales and a peak together with an oscillatory behaviour at scales around the value of the Hubble parameter at themore » beginning of slow-roll inflation. Depending on the value of the equation of state parameter, different pre-inflationary epochs lead instead to an enhancement of power at low ℓ, and so seem disfavoured by recent observational hints for a lack of CMB power at ℓ∼< 40. We also comment on the importance of initial conditions and the possibility to have multiple pre-inflationary stages.« less

Development and validation of the Hospitality Axiological Scale for Humanization of Nursing Care

PubMed Central

Galán González-Serna, José María; Ferreras-Mencia, Soledad; Arribas-Marín, Juan Manuel

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Objective: to develop and validate a scale to evaluate nursing attitudes in relation to hospitality for the humanization of nursing care. Participants: the sample consisted of 499 nursing professionals and undergraduate students of the final two years of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. Method: the instrument has been developed and validated to evaluate the ethical values related to hospitality using a methodological approach. Subsequently, a model was developed to measure the dimensions forming the construct hospitality. Results: the Axiological Hospitality Scale showed a high internal consistency, with Cronbach’s Alpha=0.901. The validation of the measuring instrument was performed using factorial, exploratory and confirmatory analysis techniques with high goodness of fit measures. Conclusions: the developed instrument showed an adequate validity and a high internal consistency. Based on the consistency of its psychometric properties, it is possible to affirm that the scale provides a reliable measurement of the hospitality. It was also possible to determine the dimensions or sources that embrace it: respect, responsibility, quality and transpersonal care. PMID:28793127

Reduced linear noise approximation for biochemical reaction networks with time-scale separation: The stochastic tQSSA+

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herath, Narmada; Del Vecchio, Domitilla

2018-03-01

Biochemical reaction networks often involve reactions that take place on different time scales, giving rise to "slow" and "fast" system variables. This property is widely used in the analysis of systems to obtain dynamical models with reduced dimensions. In this paper, we consider stochastic dynamics of biochemical reaction networks modeled using the Linear Noise Approximation (LNA). Under time-scale separation conditions, we obtain a reduced-order LNA that approximates both the slow and fast variables in the system. We mathematically prove that the first and second moments of this reduced-order model converge to those of the full system as the time-scale separation becomes large. These mathematical results, in particular, provide a rigorous justification to the accuracy of LNA models derived using the stochastic total quasi-steady state approximation (tQSSA). Since, in contrast to the stochastic tQSSA, our reduced-order model also provides approximations for the fast variable stochastic properties, we term our method the "stochastic tQSSA+". Finally, we demonstrate the application of our approach on two biochemical network motifs found in gene-regulatory and signal transduction networks.

Measurement equivalence of the Empowerment Scale for White and Black persons with severe mental illness.

PubMed

Morris, Scott B; Huang, Jialin; Zhao, Lei; Sergent, Jessica D; Neuhengen, Jonas

2014-12-01

The current study examined the measurement equivalence on a measure of personal empowerment for Black and White consumers of mental health services. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess measurement equivalence of the 28-item Empowerment Scale (Rogers, Chamberlin, Ellison, & Crean, 1997), using data from 1,035 White and 301 Black persons with severe mental illness. Metric invariance of the Empowerment Scale was supported, in that the factor structure and loadings were equivalent across groups. Scalar invariance was violated on 3 items; however, the impact of these items on scale scores was quite small. Finally, subscales of empowerment tended to be more highly intercorrelated for Black than for White respondents. RESULTS generally support the use of Empowerment Scale for ethnic group comparisons. However, subtle differences in the psychometric properties of this measure suggest that Black and White individuals may conceptualize the construct of empowerment in different ways. Specifically, Black respondents had a lower threshold for endorsing some items on the self-esteem and powerlessness dimensions. Further, White respondents viewed the 3 dimensions of empowerment (self-esteem, powerlessness, and activism) as more distinct, whereas these 3 traits were more strongly interrelated for Blacks. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Automatic event detection in low SNR microseismic signals based on multi-scale permutation entropy and a support vector machine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Rui-Sheng; Sun, Hong-Mei; Peng, Yan-Jun; Liang, Yong-Quan; Lu, Xin-Ming

2017-07-01

Microseismic monitoring is an effective means for providing early warning of rock or coal dynamical disasters, and its first step is microseismic event detection, although low SNR microseismic signals often cannot effectively be detected by routine methods. To solve this problem, this paper presents permutation entropy and a support vector machine to detect low SNR microseismic events. First, an extraction method of signal features based on multi-scale permutation entropy is proposed by studying the influence of the scale factor on the signal permutation entropy. Second, the detection model of low SNR microseismic events based on the least squares support vector machine is built by performing a multi-scale permutation entropy calculation for the collected vibration signals, constructing a feature vector set of signals. Finally, a comparative analysis of the microseismic events and noise signals in the experiment proves that the different characteristics of the two can be fully expressed by using multi-scale permutation entropy. The detection model of microseismic events combined with the support vector machine, which has the features of high classification accuracy and fast real-time algorithms, can meet the requirements of online, real-time extractions of microseismic events.

Is math anxiety in the secondary classroom limiting physics mastery? A study of math anxiety and physics performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mercer, Gary J.

This quantitative study examined the relationship between secondary students with math anxiety and physics performance in an inquiry-based constructivist classroom. The Revised Math Anxiety Rating Scale was used to evaluate math anxiety levels. The results were then compared to the performance on a physics standardized final examination. A simple correlation was performed, followed by a multivariate regression analysis to examine effects based on gender and prior math background. The correlation showed statistical significance between math anxiety and physics performance. The regression analysis showed statistical significance for math anxiety, physics performance, and prior math background, but did not show statistical significance for math anxiety, physics performance, and gender.

Multiple scaling behaviour and nonlinear traits in music scores

PubMed Central

Larralde, Hernán; Martínez-Mekler, Gustavo; Müller, Markus

2017-01-01

We present a statistical analysis of music scores from different composers using detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). We find different fluctuation profiles that correspond to distinct autocorrelation structures of the musical pieces. Further, we reveal evidence for the presence of nonlinear autocorrelations by estimating the DFA of the magnitude series, a result validated by a corresponding study of appropriate surrogate data. The amount and the character of nonlinear correlations vary from one composer to another. Finally, we performed a simple experiment in order to evaluate the pleasantness of the musical surrogate pieces in comparison with the original music and find that nonlinear correlations could play an important role in the aesthetic perception of a musical piece. PMID:29308256

A Theoretical Analysis of the Interaction Between Pores and Inclusions During the Continuous Casting of Steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nick, Arash Safavi; Vynnycky, Michael; Fredriksson, Hasse

2016-06-01

A mathematical model is derived to predict the trajectories of pores and inclusions that are nucleated in the interdendritic region during the continuous casting of steel. Using basic fluid mechanics and heat transfer, scaling analysis, and asymptotic methods, the model accounts for the possible lateral drift of the pores as a result of the dependence of the surface tension on temperature and sulfur concentration. Moreover, the soluto-thermocapillary drift of such pores prior to final solidification, coupled to the fact that any inclusions present can only have a vertical trajectory, can help interpret recent experimental observations of pore-inclusion clusters in solidified steel castings.

Multiple scaling behaviour and nonlinear traits in music scores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González-Espinoza, Alfredo; Larralde, Hernán; Martínez-Mekler, Gustavo; Müller, Markus

2017-12-01

We present a statistical analysis of music scores from different composers using detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). We find different fluctuation profiles that correspond to distinct autocorrelation structures of the musical pieces. Further, we reveal evidence for the presence of nonlinear autocorrelations by estimating the DFA of the magnitude series, a result validated by a corresponding study of appropriate surrogate data. The amount and the character of nonlinear correlations vary from one composer to another. Finally, we performed a simple experiment in order to evaluate the pleasantness of the musical surrogate pieces in comparison with the original music and find that nonlinear correlations could play an important role in the aesthetic perception of a musical piece.

Coercivity degradation caused by inhomogeneous grain boundaries in sintered Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Hansheng; Yun, Fan; Qu, Jiangtao; Li, Yingfei; Cheng, Zhenxiang; Fang, Ruhao; Ye, Zhixiao; Ringer, Simon P.; Zheng, Rongkun

2018-05-01

Quantitative correlation between intrinsic coercivity and grain boundaries in three dimensions is critical to further improve the performance of sintered Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets. Here, we quantitatively reveal the local composition variation across and especially along grain boundaries using the powerful atomic-scale analysis technique known as atom probe tomography. We also estimate the saturation magnetization, magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant, and exchange stiffness of the grain boundaries on the basis of the experimentally determined structure and composition. Finally, using micromagnetic simulations, we quantify the intrinsic coercivity degradation caused by inhomogeneous grain boundaries. This approach can be applied to other magnetic materials for the analysis and optimization of magnetic properties.

Disputed climate science in the media: do countries matter?

PubMed

Grundmann, Reiner; Scott, Mike

2014-02-01

This article presents findings from a large-scale newspaper analysis of climate change discourses in four developed countries, using corpus linguistics methodology. We map the discourse over time, showing peaks and troughs of attention and explaining their causes. Different connotations of common terms such as global warming and climate change in different countries are analysed. Cluster and key-word analysis show the relative salience of specific words and word combinations during crucial periods. We identify main claims makers and the relative visibility of advocates and sceptics. The main finding is that former are far more prominent in all countries. We also look at the coverage of 'climategate'. Finally, we make reference to existing theoretical frameworks.

Multi-scale functional mapping of tidal marsh vegetation for restoration monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuxen Bettman, Karin

2007-12-01

Nearly half of the world's natural wetlands have been destroyed or degraded, and in recent years, there have been significant endeavors to restore wetland habitat throughout the world. Detailed mapping of restoring wetlands can offer valuable information about changes in vegetation and geomorphology, which can inform the restoration process and ultimately help to improve chances of restoration success. I studied six tidal marshes in the San Francisco Estuary, CA, US, between 2003 and 2004 in order to develop techniques for mapping tidal marshes at multiple scales by incorporating specific restoration objectives for improved longer term monitoring. I explored a "pixel-based" remote sensing image analysis method for mapping vegetation in restored and natural tidal marshes, describing the benefits and limitations of this type of approach (Chapter 2). I also performed a multi-scale analysis of vegetation pattern metrics for a recently restored tidal marsh in order to target the metrics that are consistent across scales and will be robust measures of marsh vegetation change (Chapter 3). Finally, I performed an "object-based" image analysis using the same remotely sensed imagery, which maps vegetation type and specific wetland functions at multiple scales (Chapter 4). The combined results of my work highlight important trends and management implications for monitoring wetland restoration using remote sensing, and will better enable restoration ecologists to use remote sensing for tidal marsh monitoring. Several findings important for tidal marsh restoration monitoring were made. Overall results showed that pixel-based methods are effective at quantifying landscape changes in composition and diversity in recently restored marshes, but are limited in their use for quantifying smaller, more fine-scale changes. While pattern metrics can highlight small but important changes in vegetation composition and configuration across years, scientists should exercise caution when using metrics in their studies or to validate restoration management decisions, and multi-scale analyses should be performed before metrics are used in restoration science for important management decisions. Lastly, restoration objectives, ecosystem function, and scale can each be integrated into monitoring techniques using remote sensing for improved restoration monitoring.

77 FR 37653 - Utility Scale Wind Towers From the People's Republic of China: Alignment of Final Countervailing...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-22

... From the People's Republic of China: Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty Determination With Final... People's Republic of China (PRC) with the final determination in the companion antidumping duty (AD..., 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 202-482-4793 and 202-482-1503...

Clinical examiners, simulated patients, and student self-assessed empathy in medical students during a psychiatry objective structured clinical examination.

PubMed

O'Connor, Karen; King, Romaine; Malone, Kevin M; Guerandel, Allys

2014-08-01

This study aims to assess and compare objective and subjective scores of empathy in final-year medical students by using firstly a validated student self-assessment just prior to the psychiatry objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), and then comparing this to clinical examiner's and simulated patient's (SP's) assessments of empathy of students using a Global Rating of Empathy scale (GRE) during a psychiatry OSCE. In 2011, all final-year medical students in the University College Dublin were invited to complete a subjective, self-assessed empathy questionnaire (The Jefferson scale of physician empathy-student version (JSPE-S)). They were also assessed for empathy in four OSCEs by the clinical examiner and the SP acting in that OSCE scenario. Included in the analysis were 163 of 184 final-year students JSPE-S (88.6%) questionnaires. The female students scores on the JSPE-S were significantly higher than those of their male peers (t=3.34, p=0.001). Concurrent validity was greater between the SPs' assessments of empathy in the OSCE and the JSPE-S score than between the clinical examiners assessments of empathy and the JSPE-S score (r=0.23, p<0.005; r=0.14, p<0.08). Inter-rater reliability of SP's and clinical examiner's using the GRE was found to be high (F=0.868 (df=171, 171), p value<0.001). SPs may be valid assessors of empathy in medical students during an OSCE.

Organochlorine contaminants in double-crested cormorants from Green Bay, WI: I. Large-scale extraction and isolation from eggs using semi-permeable membrane dialysis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Meadows, J.C.; Tillitt, D.E.; Schwartz, T.R.; Schroeder, D.J.; Echols, K.R.; Gale, R.W.; Powell, D.C.; Bursian, S.J.

1996-01-01

A 41.3-kg sample of double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) egg contents was extracted, yielding over 2 L of egg lipid. The double-crested cormorant (DCC) egg extract, after clean-up and concentration, was intended for use in egg injection studies to determine the embryotoxicity of the organic contaminants found within the eggs. Large-scale dialysis was used as a preliminary treatment to separate the extracted contaminants from the co-extracted sample lipids. The lipid was dialyzed in 80×5 cm semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) in 50-ml aliquants. After the removal of 87 g of cholesterol by freeze-fractionation, the remaining lipid carryover (56 g) was removed by 100 routine gel permeation chromatography (GPC) operations. A 41,293-g sample was thus extracted and purified to the extent that it could easily be placed at a volume of 5 ml, the volume calculated to be necessary for the egg injection study. Analyses were performed comparing contaminant concentrations in the final purified extract to those present in the original egg material, in the extract after dialysis and cholesterol removal, and in the excluded materials. Recoveries of organochlorine pesticides through dialysis and cholesterol ranged from 96% to 135%. Total polychlorinated biphenyls in the final extract were 96% of those measured in the original egg material. Analysis of excluded lipid and cholesterol indicated that 92% of the polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins and-furans were separated into the final extract.

Dimensional analysis of detrimental ozone generation by positive wire-to-plate corona discharge in air

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bo, Z.; Chen, J. H.

2010-02-01

The dimensional analysis technique is used to formulate a correlation between ozone generation rate and various parameters that are important in the design and operation of positive wire-to-plate corona discharges in indoor air. The dimensionless relation is determined by linear regression analysis based on the results from 36 laboratory-scale experiments. The derived equation is validated by experimental data and a numerical model published in the literature. Applications of such derived equation are illustrated through an example selection of the appropriate set of operating conditions in the design/operation of a photocopier to follow the federal regulations of ozone emission. Finally, a new current-voltage characteristic equation is proposed for positive wire-to-plate corona discharges based on the derived dimensionless equation.

Local Geographic Variation of Public Services Inequality: Does the Neighborhood Scale Matter?

PubMed Central

Wei, Chunzhu; Cabrera-Barona, Pablo; Blaschke, Thomas

2016-01-01

This study aims to explore the effect of the neighborhood scale when estimating public services inequality based on the aggregation of social, environmental, and health-related indicators. Inequality analyses were carried out at three neighborhood scales: the original census blocks and two aggregated neighborhood units generated by the spatial “k”luster analysis by the tree edge removal (SKATER) algorithm and the self-organizing map (SOM) algorithm. Then, we combined a set of health-related public services indicators with the geographically weighted principal components analyses (GWPCA) and the principal components analyses (PCA) to measure the public services inequality across all multi-scale neighborhood units. Finally, a statistical test was applied to evaluate the scale effects in inequality measurements by combining all available field survey data. We chose Quito as the case study area. All of the aggregated neighborhood units performed better than the original census blocks in terms of the social indicators extracted from a field survey. The SKATER and SOM algorithms can help to define the neighborhoods in inequality analyses. Moreover, GWPCA performs better than PCA in multivariate spatial inequality estimation. Understanding the scale effects is essential to sustain a social neighborhood organization, which, in turn, positively affects social determinants of public health and public quality of life. PMID:27706072

Scene-Aware Adaptive Updating for Visual Tracking via Correlation Filters

PubMed Central

Zhang, Sirou; Qiao, Xiaoya

2017-01-01

In recent years, visual object tracking has been widely used in military guidance, human-computer interaction, road traffic, scene monitoring and many other fields. The tracking algorithms based on correlation filters have shown good performance in terms of accuracy and tracking speed. However, their performance is not satisfactory in scenes with scale variation, deformation, and occlusion. In this paper, we propose a scene-aware adaptive updating mechanism for visual tracking via a kernel correlation filter (KCF). First, a low complexity scale estimation method is presented, in which the corresponding weight in five scales is employed to determine the final target scale. Then, the adaptive updating mechanism is presented based on the scene-classification. We classify the video scenes as four categories by video content analysis. According to the target scene, we exploit the adaptive updating mechanism to update the kernel correlation filter to improve the robustness of the tracker, especially in scenes with scale variation, deformation, and occlusion. We evaluate our tracker on the CVPR2013 benchmark. The experimental results obtained with the proposed algorithm are improved by 33.3%, 15%, 6%, 21.9% and 19.8% compared to those of the KCF tracker on the scene with scale variation, partial or long-time large-area occlusion, deformation, fast motion and out-of-view. PMID:29140311

Assessment of Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS): the dimension of anhedonia in Italian healthy sample.

PubMed

Martino, Iolanda; Santangelo, Gabriella; Moschella, Daniela; Marino, Luana; Servidio, Rocco; Augimeri, Antonio; Costabile, Angela; Capoderose, Giovanni; Cerasa, Antonio

2018-04-01

The Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS) is a rapid screening battery created for assessing the presence of anhedonia, namely the inability to experience pleasure. Although, this symptom has widely been investigated in clinical settings, individual differences in anhedonia are also present in healthy population. The aim of present study was to validate the translated Italian version of this test. One thousand six hundred ninety-seven consecutive healthy subjects (55% female) of different ages (age 18-82 years) underwent SHAPS. Participants who showed mild level of anhedonia also completed the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS), Mood Disorders Insight Scale (MDIS), and Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS). The SHAPS showed good internal consistency and discriminant validity; moreover, the factorial analysis highlighted that SHAPS had a three-factor structure for explaining the anhedonic construct. 14.9% showed a significant reduction of hedonic tone (SHAPS ≥ 3). Finally, the degree of anhedonia was significantly correlated with BDI and BHS scores, but not with age or gender. Although anhedonia is a prominent feature of many psychiatric and neurological disorders, the presence of this symptom in the healthy population highlighted the importance to develop reliable tool. SHAPS shows good psychometric properties to assess multidimensional anhedonia symptoms also in Italian healthy population.

Some psychometric properties of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ Version 4.0 Generic Core Scales (PedsQL™) in the general Serbian population.

PubMed

Stevanović, Dejan; Lakić, Aneta; Damnjanović, Maja

2011-08-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the general measurement properties of the Serbian version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ Version 4.0 Generic Core Scales (PedsQL™) self-report versions for children and adolescents (8-18 years). The PedsQL™ was completed by 238 children and adolescents. The version was descriptively analyzed first. Afterward, internal consistency and construct and convergent validity were analyzed using the classic test theory psychometrical procedures. The PedsQL™ scale score means ranged 70.65-88.34, with the total score was 80.74. Scale internal consistency reliability determined by Cronbach's coefficient was above 0.7 for all except the School, 0.65, and Emotional Functioning Scale, 0.69. The statistics assessing the adequacy of the model in confirmatory factor analysis revealed poor model fit for the current structure of the PedsQL™. Finally, the PedsQL™ total and psychosocial health showed convincing negative correlations with emotional and conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, and peer relationship problems. The Serbian PedsQL™ scales have appropriate internal consistency reliability, sufficient for group evaluations, and good convergent validity against psychological constructs. However, there are problems regarding its current construct validity (factorial validity).

Mapping of land cover in northern California with simulated hyperspectral satellite imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, Matthew L.; Kilham, Nina E.

2016-09-01

Land-cover maps are important science products needed for natural resource and ecosystem service management, biodiversity conservation planning, and assessing human-induced and natural drivers of land change. Analysis of hyperspectral, or imaging spectrometer, imagery has shown an impressive capacity to map a wide range of natural and anthropogenic land cover. Applications have been mostly with single-date imagery from relatively small spatial extents. Future hyperspectral satellites will provide imagery at greater spatial and temporal scales, and there is a need to assess techniques for mapping land cover with these data. Here we used simulated multi-temporal HyspIRI satellite imagery over a 30,000 km2 area in the San Francisco Bay Area, California to assess its capabilities for mapping classes defined by the international Land Cover Classification System (LCCS). We employed a mapping methodology and analysis framework that is applicable to regional and global scales. We used the Random Forests classifier with three sets of predictor variables (reflectance, MNF, hyperspectral metrics), two temporal resolutions (summer, spring-summer-fall), two sample scales (pixel, polygon) and two levels of classification complexity (12, 20 classes). Hyperspectral metrics provided a 16.4-21.8% and 3.1-6.7% increase in overall accuracy relative to MNF and reflectance bands, respectively, depending on pixel or polygon scales of analysis. Multi-temporal metrics improved overall accuracy by 0.9-3.1% over summer metrics, yet increases were only significant at the pixel scale of analysis. Overall accuracy at pixel scales was 72.2% (Kappa 0.70) with three seasons of metrics. Anthropogenic and homogenous natural vegetation classes had relatively high confidence and producer and user accuracies were over 70%; in comparison, woodland and forest classes had considerable confusion. We next focused on plant functional types with relatively pure spectra by removing open-canopy shrublands, woodlands and mixed forests from the classification. This 12-class map had significantly improved accuracy of 85.1% (Kappa 0.83) and most classes had over 70% producer and user accuracies. Finally, we summarized important metrics from the multi-temporal Random Forests to infer the underlying chemical and structural properties that best discriminated our land-cover classes across seasons.

IDS contribution to ITRF2008

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valette, Jean-Jacques; Lemoine, Frank G.; Ferrage, Pascale; Yaya, Philippe; Altamimi, Zuheir; Willis, Pascal; Soudarin, Laurent

2010-12-01

For the first time, the International DORIS Service (IDS) has produced a technique level combination based on the contributions of seven analysis centers (ACs), including the European Space Operations Center (ESOC), Geodetic Observatory Pecny (GOP), Geoscience Australia (GAU), the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), the Institut Géographique National (IGN), the Institute of Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences (INASAN, named as INA), and CNES/CLS (named as LCA). The ACs used five different software packages to process the DORIS data from 1992 to 2008, including NAPEOS (ESA), Bernese (GOP), GEODYN (GAU, GSC), GIPSY/OASIS (INA), and GINS (LCA). The data from seven DORIS satellites, TOPEX/Poseidon, SPOT-2, SPOT-3, SPOT-4, SPOT-5, Envisat and Jason-1 were processed and all the analysis centers produced weekly SINEX files in either variance-covariance or normal equation format. The processing by the analysis centers used the latest GRACE-derived gravity models, forward modelling of atmospheric gravity, updates to the radiation pressure modelling to improve the DORIS geocenter solutions, denser parameterization of empirically determined drag coefficients to improve station and EOP solutions, especially near the solar maximum in 2001-2002, updated troposphere mapping functions, and an ITRF2005-derived station set for orbit determination, DPOD2005. The CATREF software was used to process the weekly AC solutions, and produce three iterations of an IDS global weekly combination. Between the development of the initial solution IDS-1, and the final solution, IDS-3, the ACs improved their analysis strategies and submitted updated solutions to eliminate troposphere-derived biases in the solution scale, to reduce drag-related degradations in station positioning, and to refine the estimation strategy to improve the combination geocenter solution. An analysis of the frequency content of the individual AC geocenter and scale solutions was used as the basis to define the scale and geocenter of the IDS-3 combination. The final IDS-3 combination has an internal position consistency (WRMS) that is 15 to 20 mm before 2002 and 8 to 10 mm after 2002, when 4 or 5 satellites contribute to the weekly solutions. The final IDS-3 combination includes solutions for 130 DORIS stations on 67 different sites of which 35 have occupations over 16 years (1993.0-2009.0). The EOPs from the IDS-3 combination were compared with the IERS 05 C04 time series and the RMS agreement was 0.24 mas and 0.35 mas for the X and Y components of polar motion. The comparison to ITRF2005 in station position shows an agreement of 6 to 8 mm RMS in horizontal and 10.3 mm in height. The RMS comparison to ITRF2005 in station velocity is at 1.8 mm/year on the East component, to 1.2 mm/year in North component and 1.6 mm/year in height.

Final Technical Report for Collaborative Research: Regional climate-change projections through next-generation empirical and dynamical models, DE-FG02-07ER64429

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

Smyth, Padhraic

2013-07-22

This is the final report for a DOE-funded research project describing the outcome of research on non-homogeneous hidden Markov models (NHMMs) and coupled ocean-atmosphere (O-A) intermediate-complexity models (ICMs) to identify the potentially predictable modes of climate variability, and to investigate their impacts on the regional-scale. The main results consist of extensive development of the hidden Markov models for rainfall simulation and downscaling specifically within the non-stationary climate change context together with the development of parallelized software; application of NHMMs to downscaling of rainfall projections over India; identification and analysis of decadal climate signals in data and models; and, studies ofmore » climate variability in terms of the dynamics of atmospheric flow regimes.« less

Statistical properties of a folded elastic rod

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bayart, Elsa; Deboeuf, Stéphanie; Boué, Laurent; Corson, Francis; Boudaoud, Arezki; Adda-Bedia, Mokhtar

2010-03-01

A large variety of elastic structures naturally seem to be confined into environments too small to accommodate them; the geometry of folded structures span a wide range of length-scales. The elastic properties of these confined systems are further constrained by self-avoidance as well as by the dimensionality of both structures and container. To mimic crumpled paper, we devised an experimental setup to study the packing of a dimensional elastic object in 2D geometries: an elastic rod is folded at the center of a circular Hele-Shaw cell by a centripetal force. The initial configuration of the rod and the acceleration of the rotating disk allow to span different final folded configurations while the final rotation speed controls the packing intensity. Using image analysis we measure geometrical and mechanical properties of the folded configurations, focusing on length, curvature and energy distributions.

Lightweight and Statistical Techniques for Petascale Debugging: Correctness on Petascale Systems (CoPS) Preliminry Report

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

de Supinski, B R; Miller, B P; Liblit, B

2011-09-13

Petascale platforms with O(10{sup 5}) and O(10{sup 6}) processing cores are driving advancements in a wide range of scientific disciplines. These large systems create unprecedented application development challenges. Scalable correctness tools are critical to shorten the time-to-solution on these systems. Currently, many DOE application developers use primitive manual debugging based on printf or traditional debuggers such as TotalView or DDT. This paradigm breaks down beyond a few thousand cores, yet bugs often arise above that scale. Programmers must reproduce problems in smaller runs to analyze them with traditional tools, or else perform repeated runs at scale using only primitive techniques.more » Even when traditional tools run at scale, the approach wastes substantial effort and computation cycles. Continued scientific progress demands new paradigms for debugging large-scale applications. The Correctness on Petascale Systems (CoPS) project is developing a revolutionary debugging scheme that will reduce the debugging problem to a scale that human developers can comprehend. The scheme can provide precise diagnoses of the root causes of failure, including suggestions of the location and the type of errors down to the level of code regions or even a single execution point. Our fundamentally new strategy combines and expands three relatively new complementary debugging approaches. The Stack Trace Analysis Tool (STAT), a 2011 R&D 100 Award Winner, identifies behavior equivalence classes in MPI jobs and highlights behavior when elements of the class demonstrate divergent behavior, often the first indicator of an error. The Cooperative Bug Isolation (CBI) project has developed statistical techniques for isolating programming errors in widely deployed code that we will adapt to large-scale parallel applications. Finally, we are developing a new approach to parallelizing expensive correctness analyses, such as analysis of memory usage in the Memgrind tool. In the first two years of the project, we have successfully extended STAT to determine the relative progress of different MPI processes. We have shown that the STAT, which is now included in the debugging tools distributed by Cray with their large-scale systems, substantially reduces the scale at which traditional debugging techniques are applied. We have extended CBI to large-scale systems and developed new compiler based analyses that reduce its instrumentation overhead. Our results demonstrate that CBI can identify the source of errors in large-scale applications. Finally, we have developed MPIecho, a new technique that will reduce the time required to perform key correctness analyses, such as the detection of writes to unallocated memory. Overall, our research results are the foundations for new debugging paradigms that will improve application scientist productivity by reducing the time to determine which package or module contains the root cause of a problem that arises at all scales of our high end systems. While we have made substantial progress in the first two years of CoPS research, significant work remains. While STAT provides scalable debugging assistance for incorrect application runs, we could apply its techniques to assertions in order to observe deviations from expected behavior. Further, we must continue to refine STAT's techniques to represent behavioral equivalence classes efficiently as we expect systems with millions of threads in the next year. We are exploring new CBI techniques that can assess the likelihood that execution deviations from past behavior are the source of erroneous execution. Finally, we must develop usable correctness analyses that apply the MPIecho parallelization strategy in order to locate coding errors. We expect to make substantial progress on these directions in the next year but anticipate that significant work will remain to provide usable, scalable debugging paradigms.« less

Hybrid reduced order modeling for assembly calculations

DOE PAGES

Bang, Youngsuk; Abdel-Khalik, Hany S.; Jessee, Matthew A.; ...

2015-08-14

While the accuracy of assembly calculations has greatly improved due to the increase in computer power enabling more refined description of the phase space and use of more sophisticated numerical algorithms, the computational cost continues to increase which limits the full utilization of their effectiveness for routine engineering analysis. Reduced order modeling is a mathematical vehicle that scales down the dimensionality of large-scale numerical problems to enable their repeated executions on small computing environment, often available to end users. This is done by capturing the most dominant underlying relationships between the model's inputs and outputs. Previous works demonstrated the usemore » of the reduced order modeling for a single physics code, such as a radiation transport calculation. This paper extends those works to coupled code systems as currently employed in assembly calculations. Finally, numerical tests are conducted using realistic SCALE assembly models with resonance self-shielding, neutron transport, and nuclides transmutation/depletion models representing the components of the coupled code system.« less

Incomplete coexistence systems and international food trade impacts.

PubMed

Smyth, Stuart J; Phillips, Peter W B

2015-12-01

Trade disruptions have been both common and costly for the few GM crops that are produced and marketed. We use a range of adoption studies (compiled by Smyth et al. in Handbook on Agriculture, Biotechnology and Development, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, Cheltenham, 2014a), regulatory data and production and trade data to quantify the scale for low level presence incidents. To gain a full perspective on the potential scale of this problem in coming years, we use a combination of recent GM trait commercialization studies and corporate pipeline analysis to identify which traits are planned for which products and the countries in which the technology is likely to be commercialized. Their potential impact will be a result of the intended markets, the regulatory process (especially asynchronous decisions) and the scale and scope of trade in those products. Finally, the article examines the potential for some existing trade and industry institutions to manage the inherent risks of uncertain markets and market impacts.

Results of Small-scale Solid Rocket Combustion Simulator testing at Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldberg, Benjamin E.; Cook, Jerry

1993-01-01

The Small-scale Solid Rocket Combustion Simulator (SSRCS) program was established at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), and used a government/industry team consisting of Hercules Aerospace Corporation, Aerotherm Corporation, United Technology Chemical Systems Division, Thiokol Corporation and MSFC personnel to study the feasibility of simulating the combustion species, temperatures and flow fields of a conventional solid rocket motor (SRM) with a versatile simulator system. The SSRCS design is based on hybrid rocket motor principles. The simulator uses a solid fuel and a gaseous oxidizer. Verification of the feasibility of a SSRCS system as a test bed was completed using flow field and system analyses, as well as empirical test data. A total of 27 hot firings of a subscale SSRCS motor were conducted at MSFC. Testing of the Small-scale SSRCS program was completed in October 1992. This paper, a compilation of reports from the above team members and additional analysis of the instrumentation results, will discuss the final results of the analyses and test programs.

Relationship between positive self-recognition of maternal role and psychosocial factors in Japanese mothers with severe mental illness.

PubMed

Ueno, Rie; Kamibeppu, Kiyoko

2011-10-01

Mothers with mental illness have positive self-recognition of maternal role (PM), and it is important for parenting. The purpose of this study was to determine the psychosocial factors related to the PM. We recruited a total of 74 women diagnosed as having schizophrenia or mood disorders according to the DSM-IV-TR and who had minor children. Participant completed devaluation-discrimination measure, The social support questionnaire, self-efficacy for community life scale (SECL), parenting stress-short form scale (PS-SF), and Acceptance of maternal role scale. To identify factors predicting the PM, we utilized hierarchical regression analysis. The variables in all blocks explained 53% of the variance in the PM. In the final model, 'hard' living conditions (β = -0.31, P < 0.05), SECL (β = 0.34, P < 0.01) and PS-SF (β = -0.45, P < 0.01) were significant predictors of the PM. Our result indicates that psychosocial approach could enhance the PM.

The VolturnUS 1:8 Floating Wind Turbine: Design, Construction, Deployment, Testing, Retrieval, and Inspection of the First Grid-Connected Offshore Wind Turbine in US

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

Dagher, Habib; Viselli, Anthony; Goupee, Andrew

Volume II of the Final Report for the DeepCwind Consortium National Research Program funded by US Department of Energy Award Number: DE-EE0003278.001 summarizes the design, construction, deployment, testing, numerical model validation, retrieval, and post-deployment inspection of the VolturnUS 1:8-scale floating wind turbine prototype deployed off Castine, Maine on June 2nd, 2013. The 1:8 scale VolturnUS design served as a de-risking exercise for a commercial multi-MW VolturnUS design. The American Bureau of Shipping Guide for Building and Classing Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Installations was used to design the prototype. The same analysis methods, design methods, construction techniques, deployment methods, mooring, andmore » anchoring planned for full-scale were used. A commercial 20kW grid-connected turbine was used and was the first offshore wind turbine in the US.« less

Topology assisted self-organization of colloidal nanoparticles: application to 2D large-scale nanomastering

PubMed Central

Kostcheev, Serguei; Turover, Daniel; Salas-Montiel, Rafael; Nomenyo, Komla; Gokarna, Anisha; Lerondel, Gilles

2014-01-01

Summary Our aim was to elaborate a novel method for fully controllable large-scale nanopatterning. We investigated the influence of the surface topology, i.e., a pre-pattern of hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) posts, on the self-organization of polystyrene beads (PS) dispersed over a large surface. Depending on the post size and spacing, long-range ordering of self-organized polystyrene beads is observed wherein guide posts were used leading to single crystal structure. Topology assisted self-organization has proved to be one of the solutions to obtain large-scale ordering. Besides post size and spacing, the colloidal concentration and the nature of solvent were found to have a significant effect on the self-organization of the PS beads. Scanning electron microscope and associated Fourier transform analysis were used to characterize the morphology of the ordered surfaces. Finally, the production of silicon molds is demonstrated by using the beads as a template for dry etching. PMID:25161854

Safer Conception Methods and Counseling: Psychometric Evaluation of New Measures of Attitudes and Beliefs Among HIV Clients and Providers.

PubMed

Woldetsadik, Mahlet Atakilt; Goggin, Kathy; Staggs, Vincent S; Wanyenze, Rhoda K; Beyeza-Kashesya, Jolly; Mindry, Deborah; Finocchario-Kessler, Sarah; Khanakwa, Sarah; Wagner, Glenn J

2016-06-01

With data from 400 HIV clients with fertility intentions and 57 HIV providers in Uganda, we evaluated the psychometrics of new client and provider scales measuring constructs related to safer conception methods (SCM) and safer conception counselling (SCC). Several forms of validity (i.e., content, face, and construct validity) were examined using standard methods including exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Internal consistency was established using Cronbach's alpha correlation coefficient. The final scales consisted of measures of attitudes towards use of SCM and delivery of SCC, including measures of self-efficacy and motivation to use SCM, and perceived community stigma towards childbearing. Most client and all provider measures had moderate to high internal consistency (alphas 0.60-0.94), most had convergent validity (associations with other SCM or SCC-related measures), and client measures had divergent validity (poor associations with depression). These findings establish preliminary psychometric properties of these scales and should facilitate future studies of SCM and SCC.

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.

Relationship between self-focused attention, mindfulness and distress in individuals with auditory verbal hallucinations.

PubMed

Úbeda-Gómez, J; León-Palacios, M G; Escudero-Pérez, S; Barros-Albarrán, M D; López-Jiménez, A M; Perona-Garcelán, S

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among self-focused attention, mindfulness and distress caused by the voices in psychiatric patients. Fifty-one individuals with a psychiatric diagnosis participated in this study. The Psychotic Symptom Rating Scale (PSYRATS) emotional factor was applied to measure the distress caused by the voices, the Self-Absorption Scale (SAS) was given for measuring the levels of self-focused attention, and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) was used to measure mindfulness. The results showed that distress caused by the voices correlated positively with self-focused attention (private and public) and negatively with mindfulness. A negative correlation was also found between mindfulness and self-focused attention (private and public). Finally, multiple linear regression analysis showed that public self-focus was the only factor predicting distress caused by the voices. Intervention directed at diminishing public self-focused attention and increasing mindfulness could improve distress caused by the voices.

Mapping and navigating mammalian conservation: from analysis to action

PubMed Central

Redford, Kent H.; Ray, Justina C.; Boitani, Luigi

2011-01-01

Although mammals are often seen as important objects of human interest and affection, many are threatened with extinction. A range of efforts have been proposed and much work has been done to try to conserve mammals, but there is little overall understanding of what has worked and why. As a result, there is no global-scale, coordinated approach to conserving all mammals. Rather, conservation efforts are usually focused at jurisdictional levels where relevant legislation and policies are in force. To help build the framework for a global-scale approach, in this paper we review the many ways that have been proposed for conserving mammals. First, we examine the overall pattern of threat faced by mammals at the global level. Secondly, we look at the major structuring issues in prioritizing and planning mammal conservation, examining in particular the roles of values and scale and a set of approaches to conservation, each of which varies along a continuum. Finally, we lay out the steps necessary to move from planning to implementing mammalian conservation. PMID:21844050

What drives the formation of massive stars and clusters?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ochsendorf, Bram; Meixner, Margaret; Roman-Duval, Julia; Evans, Neal J., II; Rahman, Mubdi; Zinnecker, Hans; Nayak, Omnarayani; Bally, John; Jones, Olivia C.; Indebetouw, Remy

2018-01-01

Galaxy-wide surveys allow to study star formation in unprecedented ways. In this talk, I will discuss our analysis of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Milky Way, and illustrate how studying both the large and small scale structure of galaxies are critical in addressing the question: what drives the formation of massive stars and clusters?I will show that ‘turbulence-regulated’ star formation models do not reproduce massive star formation properties of GMCs in the LMC and Milky Way: this suggests that theory currently does not capture the full complexity of star formation on small scales. I will also report on the discovery of a massive star forming complex in the LMC, which in many ways manifests itself as an embedded twin of 30 Doradus: this may shed light on the formation of R136 and 'Super Star Clusters' in general. Finally, I will highlight what we can expect in the next years in the field of star formation with large-scale sky surveys, ALMA, and our JWST-GTO program.

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

Statistical characteristics of austral summer cyclones in Southern Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Na; Fu, Gang; Kuo, Ying-Hwa

2012-06-01

Characteristics of cyclones and explosively developing cyclones (or `bombs') over the Southern Ocean in austral summer (December, January and February) from 2004 to 2008 are analyzed by using the Final Analysis (FNL) data produced by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) of the United States. Statistical results show that both cyclones and explosively developing cyclones frequently develop in January, and most of them occur within the latitudinal zone between 55°S and 70°S. These cyclones gradually approach the Antarctic Continent from December to February. Generally cyclones and bombs move east-southeastward with some exceptions of northeastward movement. The lifetime of cyclones is around 2-6 d, and the horizontal scale is about 1000 km. Explosive cyclones have the lifetime of about 1 week with the horizontal scale reaching up to 3000 km. Compared with cyclones developed in the Northern Hemisphere, cyclones over the southern ocean have much higher occurrence frequency, lower central pressure and larger horizontal scale, which may be caused by the unique geographical features of the Southern Hemisphere.

Hybrid function projective synchronization in complex dynamical networks

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

Wei, Qiang; Wang, Xing-yuan, E-mail: wangxy@dlut.edu.cn; Hu, Xiao-peng

2014-02-15

This paper investigates hybrid function projective synchronization in complex dynamical networks. When the complex dynamical networks could be synchronized up to an equilibrium or periodic orbit, a hybrid feedback controller is designed to realize the different component of vector of node could be synchronized up to different desired scaling function in complex dynamical networks with time delay. Hybrid function projective synchronization (HFPS) in complex dynamical networks with constant delay and HFPS in complex dynamical networks with time-varying coupling delay are researched, respectively. Finally, the numerical simulations show the effectiveness of theoretical analysis.

Modeling and simulation of high dimensional stochastic multiscale PDE systems at the exascale

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

Zabaras, Nicolas J.

2016-11-08

Predictive Modeling of multiscale and Multiphysics systems requires accurate data driven characterization of the input uncertainties, and understanding of how they propagate across scales and alter the final solution. This project develops a rigorous mathematical framework and scalable uncertainty quantification algorithms to efficiently construct realistic low dimensional input models, and surrogate low complexity systems for the analysis, design, and control of physical systems represented by multiscale stochastic PDEs. The work can be applied to many areas including physical and biological processes, from climate modeling to systems biology.

Substructured multibody molecular dynamics.

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

Grest, Gary Stephen; Stevens, Mark Jackson; Plimpton, Steven James

2006-11-01

We have enhanced our parallel molecular dynamics (MD) simulation software LAMMPS (Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator, lammps.sandia.gov) to include many new features for accelerated simulation including articulated rigid body dynamics via coupling to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute code POEMS (Parallelizable Open-source Efficient Multibody Software). We use new features of the LAMMPS software package to investigate rhodopsin photoisomerization, and water model surface tension and capillary waves at the vapor-liquid interface. Finally, we motivate the recipes of MD for practitioners and researchers in numerical analysis and computational mechanics.

The Danish Barriers Questionnaire-II: preliminary validation in cancer pain patients.

PubMed

Jacobsen, Ramune; Møldrup, Claus; Christrup, Lona; Sjøgren, Per; Hansen, Ole Bo

2009-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Danish version of the Barriers Questionnaire-II (DBQ-II). The validated Norwegian version of the DBQ-II was translated into Danish. Cancer patients for the study were recruited from specialized pain management facilities. Thirty-three patients responded to the DBQ-II, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Brief Pain Inventory pain severity scale. A factor analysis of the DBQ-II resulted in six scales. Scale one, Fatalism, consisted of three items addressing fatalistic beliefs regarding cancer pain management. Scale two, Immune System, consisted of three items addressing the belief that pain medications harm the immune system. Scale three, Monitor, consisted of three items addressing the fear that pain medicine masks changes in one's body. Scale four, Communication, consisted of five items addressing the concern that reports of pain distract the physician from treating the cancer, and the belief that "good" patients do not complain. Scale five, Addiction, consisted of two items addressing the fear of becoming addicted to pain medication. Finally, scale six, Tolerance, consisted of three items addressing the fear of getting tolerant to analgesic effect of pain medicine. Items related to medication side effects were analyzed as separate units. The DBQ-II total had an internal consistency of 0.87. The DBQ-II total score was related to measures of pain relief and anxiety. The DBQ-II seems to be a reliable and valid measure of the barriers to pain management among Danish cancer patients.

Collaborative simulations and experiments for a novel yield model of coal devolatilization in oxy-coal combustion conditions

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

Iavarone, Salvatore; Smith, Sean T.; Smith, Philip J.

Oxy-coal combustion is an emerging low-cost “clean coal” technology for emissions reduction and Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS). The use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools is crucial for the development of cost-effective oxy-fuel technologies and the minimization of environmental concerns at industrial scale. The coupling of detailed chemistry models and CFD simulations is still challenging, especially for large-scale plants, because of the high computational efforts required. The development of scale-bridging models is therefore necessary, to find a good compromise between computational efforts and the physical-chemical modeling precision. This paper presents a procedure for scale-bridging modeling of coal devolatilization, inmore » the presence of experimental error, that puts emphasis on the thermodynamic aspect of devolatilization, namely the final volatile yield of coal, rather than kinetics. The procedure consists of an engineering approach based on dataset consistency and Bayesian methodology including Gaussian-Process Regression (GPR). Experimental data from devolatilization tests carried out in an oxy-coal entrained flow reactor were considered and CFD simulations of the reactor were performed. Jointly evaluating experiments and simulations, a novel yield model was validated against the data via consistency analysis. In parallel, a Gaussian-Process Regression was performed, to improve the understanding of the uncertainty associated to the devolatilization, based on the experimental measurements. Potential model forms that could predict yield during devolatilization were obtained. The set of model forms obtained via GPR includes the yield model that was proven to be consistent with the data. Finally, the overall procedure has resulted in a novel yield model for coal devolatilization and in a valuable evaluation of uncertainty in the data, in the model form, and in the model parameters.« less

Collaborative simulations and experiments for a novel yield model of coal devolatilization in oxy-coal combustion conditions

DOE PAGES

Iavarone, Salvatore; Smith, Sean T.; Smith, Philip J.; ...

2017-06-03

Oxy-coal combustion is an emerging low-cost “clean coal” technology for emissions reduction and Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS). The use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools is crucial for the development of cost-effective oxy-fuel technologies and the minimization of environmental concerns at industrial scale. The coupling of detailed chemistry models and CFD simulations is still challenging, especially for large-scale plants, because of the high computational efforts required. The development of scale-bridging models is therefore necessary, to find a good compromise between computational efforts and the physical-chemical modeling precision. This paper presents a procedure for scale-bridging modeling of coal devolatilization, inmore » the presence of experimental error, that puts emphasis on the thermodynamic aspect of devolatilization, namely the final volatile yield of coal, rather than kinetics. The procedure consists of an engineering approach based on dataset consistency and Bayesian methodology including Gaussian-Process Regression (GPR). Experimental data from devolatilization tests carried out in an oxy-coal entrained flow reactor were considered and CFD simulations of the reactor were performed. Jointly evaluating experiments and simulations, a novel yield model was validated against the data via consistency analysis. In parallel, a Gaussian-Process Regression was performed, to improve the understanding of the uncertainty associated to the devolatilization, based on the experimental measurements. Potential model forms that could predict yield during devolatilization were obtained. The set of model forms obtained via GPR includes the yield model that was proven to be consistent with the data. Finally, the overall procedure has resulted in a novel yield model for coal devolatilization and in a valuable evaluation of uncertainty in the data, in the model form, and in the model parameters.« less

Global drought outlook by means of seasonal forecasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ziese, Markus; Fröhlich, Kristina; Rustemeier, Elke; Becker, Andreas

2017-04-01

Droughts are naturally occurring phenomena which are caused by a shortage of available water due to lower than normal precipitation and/or above normal evaporation. Depending on the length of the droughts, several sectors are affected starting with agriculture, then river and ground water levels and finally socio-economic losses at the long end of the spectrum of drought persistence. Droughts are extreme events that affect much larger areas and last much longer than floods, but are less geared towards media than floods being more short-scale in persistence and impacts. Finally the slow onset of droughts make the detection and early warning of their beginning difficult and time is lost for preparatory measures. Drought indices are developed to detect and classify droughts based on (meteorological) observations and possible additional information tailored to specific user needs, e.g. in agriculture, hydrology and other sectors. Not all drought indices can be utilized for global applications as not all input parameters are available at this scale. Therefore the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) developed a drought index as combination of the Standardized Drought Index (SPI) and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), the GPCC-DI. The GPCC-DI is applied to drought monitoring and retrospective analyses on a global scale. As the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) operates a seasonal forecast system in cooperation with Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology Hamburg and University of Hamburg, these data are also used for an outlook of drought conditions by means of the GPCC-DI. The reliability of seasonal precipitation forecasts is limited, so the drought outlook is available only for forecast months two to four. Based on the GPCC-DI, DWD provides a retrospective analysis, near-real-time monitoring and outlook of drought conditions on a global scale and regular basis.

The Development of the Sexual Assertiveness Questionnaire (SAQ): A Comprehensive Measure of Sexual Assertiveness for Women.

PubMed

Loshek, Eevett; Terrell, Heather K

2015-01-01

Sexual assertiveness has been defined in a number of ways by many researchers, with different aspects of sexual assertiveness emphasized in different measures. Most previous measures have included condom insistence as an important aspect of sexual assertiveness, but this may not translate well to women at all life stages or in varied types of relationships. The goal of the current study was to develop a comprehensive measure of sexual assertiveness that encompasses the aspects of sexual assertiveness that have been emphasized by previous researchers, with the exception of condom insistence. Items were generated based on previous measures and definitions, and an exploratory factor analysis was conducted (Study 1) to better understand the dimensions of sexual assertiveness. The proposed scale was revised and further refined using both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis in Study 2. The final scale consisted of 18 items that seem to capture three dimensions of sexual assertiveness: the ability to initiate and communicate about desired sex, the ability to refuse unwanted sex, and the ability to communicate about sexual history and risk. Model fit indices indicate that this three-factor solution fits the data well. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Instrument to measure psychological contract violation in pharmacy students.

PubMed

Spies, Alan R; Wilkin, Noel E; Bentley, John P; Bouldin, Alicia S; Wilson, Marvin C; Holmes, Erin R

2010-08-10

To adapt and evaluate an instrument that measures perceived psychological contract violations in pharmacy students by schools and colleges of pharmacy. A psychological contract violations measure was developed from existing literature and the 1997 ACPE Guidelines and pilot-tested with second-year pharmacy students at 2 schools of pharmacy. A revised measure then was administered to second-year pharmacy students at 6 schools of pharmacy. Using a 5-point Likert-type scale, participants were asked to indicate the level of obligations they received compared to what was promised by the school of pharmacy. Exploratory factor analysis on the psychological contract violations measure was conducted using principal components analysis resulting in 7 factors, which led to a revised measure with 26 items. Using a sample of 339 students, the proposed 7-factor measurement model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. In general, the results supported the hypothesized model. The final 23-item scale demonstrated both reliability and validity. Some students perceived certain aspects of the psychological contract that exists with their school of pharmacy were being violated. The psychological contract violations measure may serve as a valuable tool in helping to identify areas where their students believe that schools/colleges of pharmacy have not fulfilled promised obligations.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage achievements in low and middle-income countries 2007-2016.

PubMed

Gallagher, Katherine E; Howard, Natasha; Kabakama, Severin; Mounier-Jack, Sandra; Burchett, Helen E D; LaMontagne, D Scott; Watson-Jones, Deborah

2017-12-01

Since 2007, HPV vaccine has been available to low and middle income countries (LAMIC) for small-scale 'demonstration projects', or national programmes. We analysed coverage achieved in HPV vaccine demonstration projects and national programmes that had completed at least 6 months of implementation between January 2007-2016. A mapping exercise identified 45 LAMICs with HPV vaccine delivery experience. Estimates of coverage and factors influencing coverage were obtained from 56 key informant interviews, a systematic published literature search of 5 databases that identified 61 relevant full texts and 188 solicited unpublished documents, including coverage surveys. Coverage achievements were analysed descriptively against country or project/programme characteristics. Heterogeneity in data, funder requirements, and project/programme design precluded multivariate analysis. Estimates of uptake, schedule completion rates and/or final dose coverage were available from 41 of 45 LAMICs included in the study. Only 17 estimates from 13 countries were from coverage surveys, most were administrative data. Final dose coverage estimates were all over 50% with most between 70% and 90%, and showed no trend over time. The majority of delivery strategies included schools as a vaccination venue. In countries with school enrolment rates below 90%, inclusion of strategies to reach out-of-school girls contributed to obtaining high coverage compared to school-only strategies. There was no correlation between final dose coverage and estimated recurrent financial costs of delivery from cost analyses. Coverage achieved during joint delivery of HPV vaccine combined with another intervention was variable with little/no evaluation of the correlates of success. This is the most comprehensive descriptive analysis of HPV vaccine coverage in LAMICs to date. It is possible to deliver HPV vaccine with excellent coverage in LAMICs. Further good quality data are needed from health facility based delivery strategies and national programmes to aid policymakers to effectively and sustainably scale-up HPV vaccination. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dictionaries and distributions: Combining expert knowledge and large scale textual data content analysis : Distributed dictionary representation.

PubMed

Garten, Justin; Hoover, Joe; Johnson, Kate M; Boghrati, Reihane; Iskiwitch, Carol; Dehghani, Morteza

2018-02-01

Theory-driven text analysis has made extensive use of psychological concept dictionaries, leading to a wide range of important results. These dictionaries have generally been applied through word count methods which have proven to be both simple and effective. In this paper, we introduce Distributed Dictionary Representations (DDR), a method that applies psychological dictionaries using semantic similarity rather than word counts. This allows for the measurement of the similarity between dictionaries and spans of text ranging from complete documents to individual words. We show how DDR enables dictionary authors to place greater emphasis on construct validity without sacrificing linguistic coverage. We further demonstrate the benefits of DDR on two real-world tasks and finally conduct an extensive study of the interaction between dictionary size and task performance. These studies allow us to examine how DDR and word count methods complement one another as tools for applying concept dictionaries and where each is best applied. Finally, we provide references to tools and resources to make this method both available and accessible to a broad psychological audience.

Electrocoagulation efficiency of the tannery effluent treatment using aluminium electrodes.

PubMed

Espinoza-Quiñones, Fernando R; Fornari, Marilda M T; Módenes, Aparecido N; Palácio, Soraya M; Trigueros, Daniela E G; Borba, Fernando H; Kroumov, Alexander D

2009-01-01

An electro-coagulation laboratory scale system using aluminium plates electrodes was studied for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants as a by-product from leather finishing industrial process. A fractional factorial 2(3) experimental design was applied in order to obtain optimal values of the system state variables. The electro-coagulation (EC) process efficiency was based on the chemical oxygen demand (COD), turbidity, total suspended solid, total fixed solid, total volatile solid, and chemical element concentration values. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for final pH, total fixed solid (TFS), turbidity and Ca concentration have confirmed the predicted models by the experimental design within a 95% confidence level. The reactor working conditions close to real effluent pH (7.6) and electrolysis time in the range 30-45 min were enough to achieve the cost effective reduction factors of organic and inorganic pollutants' concentrations. An appreciable improvement in COD removal efficiency was obtained for electro-coagulation treatment. Finally, the technical-economical analysis results have clearly shown that the electro-coagulation method is very promising for industrial application.

Chromosome evolution in the Thermotogales: large-scale inversions and strain diversification of CRISPR sequences.

PubMed

DeBoy, Robert T; Mongodin, Emmanuel F; Emerson, Joanne B; Nelson, Karen E

2006-04-01

In the present study, the chromosomes of two members of the Thermotogales were compared. A whole-genome alignment of Thermotoga maritima MSB8 and Thermotoga neapolitana NS-E has revealed numerous large-scale DNA rearrangements, most of which are associated with CRISPR DNA repeats and/or tRNA genes. These DNA rearrangements do not include the putative origin of DNA replication but move within the same replichore, i.e., the same replicating half of the chromosome (delimited by the replication origin and terminus). Based on cumulative GC skew analysis, both the T. maritima and T. neapolitana lineages contain one or two major inverted DNA segments. Also, based on PCR amplification and sequence analysis of the DNA joints that are associated with the major rearrangements, the overall chromosome architecture was found to be conserved at most DNA joints for other strains of T. neapolitana. Taken together, the results from this analysis suggest that the observed chromosomal rearrangements in the Thermotogales likely occurred by successive inversions after their divergence from a common ancestor and before strain diversification. Finally, sequence analysis shows that size polymorphisms in the DNA joints associated with CRISPRs can be explained by expansion and possibly contraction of the DNA repeat and spacer unit, providing a tool for discerning the relatedness of strains from different geographic locations.

Development of a checklist of short-term and long-term psychological symptoms associated with ketamine use.

PubMed

Fan, Ni; Xu, Ke; Ning, Yuping; Wang, Daping; Ke, Xiaoyin; Ding, Yi; Sun, Bin; Zhou, Chao; Deng, Xuefeng; Rosenheck, Robert; He, Hongbo

2015-06-25

Ketamine is an increasingly popular drug of abuse in China but there is currently no method for classifying the psychological effects of ketamine in individuals with ketamine dependence. Develop a scale that characterizes the acute and long-term psychological effects of ketamine use among persons with ketamine dependence. We developed a preliminary symptom checklist with 35 dichotomous ('yes' or 'no') items about subjective feelings immediately after ketamine use and about perceived long-term effects of ketamine use that was administered to 187 inpatients with ketamine dependence recruited from two large hospitals in Guangzhou, China. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on a randomly selected half of thesample to reduce the items and to identify underlying constructs. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on the second half of the sample to assess the robustness of the identified factor structure. Among the 35 symptoms, the most-reported acute effects were 'floating or circling' (94%), 'euphoric when listening to rousing music' (86%), and 'feeling excited, talkative, and full of energy' (67%). The mostreported long-term symptoms were 'memory impairment' (93%), 'personality changes' (86%), and 'slowed reactions' (81%). EFA resulted in a final 22-item scale best modelled by a four-factor model: two factors representing chronic symptoms (social withdrawal and sleep disturbances), one about acute psychoticlike symptoms, and one that combined acute drug-related euphoria and longer-term decreased libido. CFA showed that these 4 factors accounted for 50% of the total variance of the final 22-item scale and that the model fit was fair (Goodness of Fit Index, GIF=83.3%; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation, RMSEA=0.072). A four-factor model including social withdrawal, sleep disturbance, psychotic-like symptoms, and euphoria at the time of drug use provides a fair description of the short-term and long-term psychological symptoms associated with ketamine use. Future work on the 22-item version of the scale with larger samples is needed to confirm the validity of this 4-factor structure, to assess the scale's test-retest reliability, and to determine whether or not it can be useful in the differential diagnosis and monitoring of treatment of individuals with ketamine dependence.

Analysis of the impacts of horizontal translation and scaling on wavefront approximation coefficients with rectangular pupils for Chebyshev and Legendre polynomials.

PubMed

Sun, Wenqing; Chen, Lei; Tuya, Wulan; He, Yong; Zhu, Rihong

2013-12-01

Chebyshev and Legendre polynomials are frequently used in rectangular pupils for wavefront approximation. Ideally, the dataset completely fits with the polynomial basis, which provides the full-pupil approximation coefficients and the corresponding geometric aberrations. However, if there are horizontal translation and scaling, the terms in the original polynomials will become the linear combinations of the coefficients of the other terms. This paper introduces analytical expressions for two typical situations after translation and scaling. With a small translation, first-order Taylor expansion could be used to simplify the computation. Several representative terms could be selected as inputs to compute the coefficient changes before and after translation and scaling. Results show that the outcomes of the analytical solutions and the approximated values under discrete sampling are consistent. With the computation of a group of randomly generated coefficients, we contrasted the changes under different translation and scaling conditions. The larger ratios correlate the larger deviation from the approximated values to the original ones. Finally, we analyzed the peak-to-valley (PV) and root mean square (RMS) deviations from the uses of the first-order approximation and the direct expansion under different translation values. The results show that when the translation is less than 4%, the most deviated 5th term in the first-order 1D-Legendre expansion has a PV deviation less than 7% and an RMS deviation less than 2%. The analytical expressions and the computed results under discrete sampling given in this paper for the multiple typical function basis during translation and scaling in the rectangular areas could be applied in wavefront approximation and analysis.

Psychometric testing of the properties of the spiritual health scale short form.

PubMed

Hsiao, Ya-Chu; Chiang, Yi-Chien; Lee, Hsiang-Chun; Han, Chin-Yen

2013-11-01

To further examine the psychometric properties of the spiritual health scale short form, including its reliability and validity. Spirituality is one of the main factors associated with good health outcomes. A reliable and valid instrument to measure spirituality is essential to identify the spiritual needs of an individual and to evaluate the effect of spiritual care. A cross-sectional study design was used. The study was conducted in six nursing schools in northern, central and southern Taiwan. The inclusion criterion for participants was nursing students with clinical practice experience. Initially, 1141 participants were recruited for the study, but 67 were absent and 48 did not complete the questionnaires. A total of 1026 participants were finally recruited, indicating a response rate of 89·9%. The psychometric testing of the spiritual health scale short form included construct validity with confirmatory factor analysis, known-group validity and internal consistency reliability. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the five-factor model as an acceptable model fit. In the known-group validity, the results indicated that people who are in the category of primary religious affiliation have better spiritual health than people in the category of secondary religious affiliation and atheism. The result also indicated that the 24-item spiritual health scale short form achieved an acceptable internal consistency coefficient. The findings suggest that the spiritual health scale short form is a valid and reliable instrument for the appraisal of individual spiritual health. The spiritual health scale short form could provide useful information to guide clinical practice in assessing and managing people's spiritual health in Taiwan. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Primary Health Care Engagement (PHCE) Scale: a pilot survey of rural and remote nurses.

PubMed

Kosteniuk, Julie G; Wilson, Erin C; Penz, Kelly L; MacLeod, Martha L P; Stewart, Norma J; Kulig, Judith C; Karunanayake, Chandima P; Kilpatrick, Kelley

2016-01-01

To report the development and psychometric evaluation of a scale to measure rural and remote (rural/remote) nurses' perceptions of the engagement of their workplaces in key dimensions of primary health care (PHC). Amidst ongoing PHC reforms, a comprehensive instrument is needed to evaluate the degree to which rural/remote health care settings are involved in the key dimensions that characterize PHC delivery, particularly from the perspective of professionals delivering care. This study followed a three-phase process of instrument development and psychometric evaluation. A literature review and expert consultation informed instrument development in the first phase, followed by an iterative process of content evaluation in the second phase. In the final phase, a pilot survey was undertaken and item discrimination analysis employed to evaluate the internal consistency reliability of each subscale in the preliminary 60-item Primary Health Care Engagement (PHCE) Scale. The 60-item scale was subsequently refined to a 40-item instrument. The pilot survey sample included 89 nurses in current practice who had experience in rural/remote practice settings. Participants completed either a web-based or paper survey from September to December, 2013. Following item discrimination analysis, the 60-item instrument was refined to a 40-item PHCE Scale consisting of 10 subscales, each including three to five items. Alpha estimates of the 10 refined subscales ranged from 0.61 to 0.83, with seven of the subscales demonstrating acceptable reliability (α ⩾ 0.70). The refined 40-item instrument exhibited good internal consistency reliability (α=0.91). The 40-item PHCE Scale may be considered for use in future studies regardless of locale, to measure the extent to which health care professionals perceive their workplaces to be engaged in key dimensions of PHC.

Quantifying the scale- and process- dependent reorganization of landscape under climatic change: inferences from an experimental landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, A.; Tejedor, A.; Grimaud, J. L.; Zaliapin, I. V.; Foufoula-Georgiou, E.

2016-12-01

Knowledge of the dynamics of evolving landscapes in terms of their geomorphic and topologic re-organization in response to changing climatic or tectonic forcing is of scientific and practical interest. Although several studies have addressed the large-scale response (e.g., change in mean relief), studies on the smaller-scale drainage pattern re-organization and quantification of landscape vulnerability to the timing, magnitude, and frequency of changing forcing are lacking. The reason is the absence of data for such an analysis. To that goal, a series of controlled laboratory experiments were conducted at the St. Anthony Falls laboratory of the University of Minnesota to study the effect of changing precipitation patterns on landscape evolution at the short and long-time scales. High resolution digital elevation (DEM) both in space and time were measured for a range of rainfall patterns and uplift rates. Results from our study show a distinct signature of the precipitation increase on the probabilistic and geometrical structure of landscape features, evident in widening and deepening of channels and valleys, change in drainage patterns within sub-basins and change in the space-time structure of erosional and depositional events. A spatially explicit analysis of the locus of these erosional and depositional events suggests a regime shift, during the onset of the transient state, from supply-limited to transport-limited fluvial channels. We document a characteristic scale-dependent signature of erosion at steady state (which we term the "E50-area curve") and show that during reorganization, its evolving shape reflects process and scales of geomorphic change. Finally, we document changes in the longitudinal river profiles, in response to increased precipitation rate, with the formation of abrupt gradient (knickpoints) that migrate upstream as time proceeds.

Development of a Drug Use Resistance Self-Efficacy (DURSE) Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carpenter, Carrie M.; Howard, Donna

2009-01-01

Objectives: To develop and evaluate psychometric properties of a new instrument, the drug use resistance self-efficacy (DURSE) scale, designed for young adolescents. Methods: Scale construction occurred in 3 phases: (1) initial development, (2) pilot testing of preliminary items, and (3) final scale administration among a sample of seventh graders…

Large-scale weakly supervised object localization via latent category learning.

PubMed

Chong Wang; Kaiqi Huang; Weiqiang Ren; Junge Zhang; Maybank, Steve

2015-04-01

Localizing objects in cluttered backgrounds is challenging under large-scale weakly supervised conditions. Due to the cluttered image condition, objects usually have large ambiguity with backgrounds. Besides, there is also a lack of effective algorithm for large-scale weakly supervised localization in cluttered backgrounds. However, backgrounds contain useful latent information, e.g., the sky in the aeroplane class. If this latent information can be learned, object-background ambiguity can be largely reduced and background can be suppressed effectively. In this paper, we propose the latent category learning (LCL) in large-scale cluttered conditions. LCL is an unsupervised learning method which requires only image-level class labels. First, we use the latent semantic analysis with semantic object representation to learn the latent categories, which represent objects, object parts or backgrounds. Second, to determine which category contains the target object, we propose a category selection strategy by evaluating each category's discrimination. Finally, we propose the online LCL for use in large-scale conditions. Evaluation on the challenging PASCAL Visual Object Class (VOC) 2007 and the large-scale imagenet large-scale visual recognition challenge 2013 detection data sets shows that the method can improve the annotation precision by 10% over previous methods. More importantly, we achieve the detection precision which outperforms previous results by a large margin and can be competitive to the supervised deformable part model 5.0 baseline on both data sets.

A new quality of life scale for teenagers with food hypersensitivity.

PubMed

Mackenzie, Heather; Roberts, Graham; Van Laar, Darren; Dean, Taraneh

2012-08-01

A disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQL) scale enables the impact of current and new interventions on the HRQL of teenagers with food hypersensitivity (FHS) to be evaluated. No such scale exists for teenagers with FHS living in the U.K. This research aimed to develop and validate a disease-specific HRQL scale for this group, thus facilitating HRQL measurement in this population. A preliminary 51-item questionnaire was generated from interviews with 21 teenagers with FHS, the coverage and acceptability of which was refined in pre- and pilot testing (N = 102). On the basis of the field test data (N = 299), principal components analysis identified those items best measuring HRQL. The final 34-item You and Your Food Allergy scale covered five domains: social well-being and independence, support, day-to-day activities, family relations and emotional well-being. The whole scale displayed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.92) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.87). The scale correlated as hypothesised with a generic HRQL scale (PedsQL) and discriminated by disease severity, providing evidence for its construct validity. The You and Your Food Allergy scale is the first HRQL scale to have been developed and validated with U.K. teenagers with FHS. Subject to further evaluation of its psychometric properties, its development has important applications in future research into the HRQL of teenagers with FHS. Short and easy-to-complete, the scale has been designed to appeal to teenagers and is likely to be useful to facilitate discussion of HRQL issues. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Nanotechnologies for Composite Structures- From Nanocomposites to Multifunctional Nano-Enabled Fibre Reinforced Composites for Spacecrafts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kostopoulos, Vassilis; Vavouliotis, Antonios; Baltopoulos, Athanasios; Sotiririadis, George; Masouras, Athanasios; Pambaguian, Laurent

2014-06-01

The past decade, extensive efforts have been invested in understanding the nano-scale and revealing the capabilities offered by nanotechnology products to structural materials. Nevertheless, a major issue faced lately more seriously due to the interest of industry is on how to incorporate these nano-species into the final composite structure through existing manufacturing processes and infrastructure. In this work, we present the experience obtained from the latest nanotechnology research activities supported by ESA. The paper focuses on prepreg composite manufacturing technology and addresses:- Approaches for nano-enabling of composites- Up-scaling strategies towards final structures- Latest results on performance of nano-enabledfiber reinforced compositesSeveral approaches for the utilization of nanotechnology products in structural composite structures have been proposed and are reviewed, in short along with respective achieved results. A variety of nano-fillers has been proposed and employed, individually or in combination in hybrid forms, to approach the desired performance. A major part of the work deals with the up-scaling routes of these technologies to reach final products and industrial scales and processes while meeting end-user performance.

Validity evidence for the measurement of the strength of motivation for medical school.

PubMed

Kusurkar, Rashmi; Croiset, Gerda; Kruitwagen, Cas; ten Cate, Olle

2011-05-01

The Strength of Motivation for Medical School (SMMS) questionnaire is designed to determine the strength of motivation of students particularly for medical study. This research was performed to establish the validity evidence for measuring strength of motivation for medical school. Internal structure and relations to other variables were used as the sources of validity evidence. The SMMS questionnaire was filled out by 1,494 medical students in different years of medical curriculum. The validity evidence for the internal structure was analyzed by principal components analysis with promax rotation. Validity evidence for relations to other variables was tested by comparing the SMMS scores with scores on the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) and the exhaustion scale of Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS) for measuring study stress. Evidence for internal consistency was determined through the Cronbach's alpha for reliability. The analysis showed that the SMMS had a 3-factor structure. The validity in relations to other variables was established as both, the subscales and full scale scores significantly correlated positively with the intrinsic motivation scores and with the more autonomous forms of extrinsic motivation, the correlation decreasing and finally becoming negative towards the extrinsic motivation end of the spectrum. They also had significant negative correlations with amotivation scale of the AMS and exhaustion scale of MBI-SS. The Cronbach's alpha for reliability of the three subscales and full SMMS scores was 0.70, 0.67, 0.55 and 0.79. The strength of motivation for medical school has a three factor structure and acceptable validity evidence was found in our study.

Scan-To Output Validation: Towards a Standardized Geometric Quality Assessment of Building Information Models Based on Point Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonduel, M.; Bassier, M.; Vergauwen, M.; Pauwels, P.; Klein, R.

2017-11-01

The use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) for existing buildings based on point clouds is increasing. Standardized geometric quality assessment of the BIMs is needed to make them more reliable and thus reusable for future users. First, available literature on the subject is studied. Next, an initial proposal for a standardized geometric quality assessment is presented. Finally, this method is tested and evaluated with a case study. The number of specifications on BIM relating to existing buildings is limited. The Levels of Accuracy (LOA) specification of the USIBD provides definitions and suggestions regarding geometric model accuracy, but lacks a standardized assessment method. A deviation analysis is found to be dependent on (1) the used mathematical model, (2) the density of the point clouds and (3) the order of comparison. Results of the analysis can be graphical and numerical. An analysis on macro (building) and micro (BIM object) scale is necessary. On macro scale, the complete model is compared to the original point cloud and vice versa to get an overview of the general model quality. The graphical results show occluded zones and non-modeled objects respectively. Colored point clouds are derived from this analysis and integrated in the BIM. On micro scale, the relevant surface parts are extracted per BIM object and compared to the complete point cloud. Occluded zones are extracted based on a maximum deviation. What remains is classified according to the LOA specification. The numerical results are integrated in the BIM with the use of object parameters.

Optimization of miRNA-seq data preprocessing.

PubMed

Tam, Shirley; Tsao, Ming-Sound; McPherson, John D

2015-11-01

The past two decades of microRNA (miRNA) research has solidified the role of these small non-coding RNAs as key regulators of many biological processes and promising biomarkers for disease. The concurrent development in high-throughput profiling technology has further advanced our understanding of the impact of their dysregulation on a global scale. Currently, next-generation sequencing is the platform of choice for the discovery and quantification of miRNAs. Despite this, there is no clear consensus on how the data should be preprocessed before conducting downstream analyses. Often overlooked, data preprocessing is an essential step in data analysis: the presence of unreliable features and noise can affect the conclusions drawn from downstream analyses. Using a spike-in dilution study, we evaluated the effects of several general-purpose aligners (BWA, Bowtie, Bowtie 2 and Novoalign), and normalization methods (counts-per-million, total count scaling, upper quartile scaling, Trimmed Mean of M, DESeq, linear regression, cyclic loess and quantile) with respect to the final miRNA count data distribution, variance, bias and accuracy of differential expression analysis. We make practical recommendations on the optimal preprocessing methods for the extraction and interpretation of miRNA count data from small RNA-sequencing experiments. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

Super massive black hole in galactic nuclei with tidal disruption of stars

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

Zhong, Shiyan; Berczik, Peter; Spurzem, Rainer

Tidal disruption of stars by super massive central black holes from dense star clusters is modeled by high-accuracy direct N-body simulation. The time evolution of the stellar tidal disruption rate, the effect of tidal disruption on the stellar density profile, and, for the first time, the detailed origin of tidally disrupted stars are carefully examined and compared with classic papers in the field. Up to 128k particles are used in simulation to model the star cluster around a super massive black hole, and we use the particle number and the tidal radius of the black hole as free parameters formore » a scaling analysis. The transition from full to empty loss-cone is analyzed in our data, and the tidal disruption rate scales with the particle number, N, in the expected way for both cases. For the first time in numerical simulations (under certain conditions) we can support the concept of a critical radius of Frank and Rees, which claims that most stars are tidally accreted on highly eccentric orbits originating from regions far outside the tidal radius. Due to the consumption of stars moving on radial orbits, a velocity anisotropy is found inside the cluster. Finally we estimate the real galactic center based on our simulation results and the scaling analysis.« less

Super Massive Black Hole in Galactic Nuclei with Tidal Disruption of Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Shiyan; Berczik, Peter; Spurzem, Rainer

2014-09-01

Tidal disruption of stars by super massive central black holes from dense star clusters is modeled by high-accuracy direct N-body simulation. The time evolution of the stellar tidal disruption rate, the effect of tidal disruption on the stellar density profile, and, for the first time, the detailed origin of tidally disrupted stars are carefully examined and compared with classic papers in the field. Up to 128k particles are used in simulation to model the star cluster around a super massive black hole, and we use the particle number and the tidal radius of the black hole as free parameters for a scaling analysis. The transition from full to empty loss-cone is analyzed in our data, and the tidal disruption rate scales with the particle number, N, in the expected way for both cases. For the first time in numerical simulations (under certain conditions) we can support the concept of a critical radius of Frank & Rees, which claims that most stars are tidally accreted on highly eccentric orbits originating from regions far outside the tidal radius. Due to the consumption of stars moving on radial orbits, a velocity anisotropy is found inside the cluster. Finally we estimate the real galactic center based on our simulation results and the scaling analysis.

Multiscale analysis of the CMB temperature derivatives

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

Marcos-Caballero, A.; Martínez-González, E.; Vielva, P., E-mail: marcos@ifca.unican.es, E-mail: martinez@ifca.unican.es, E-mail: vielva@ifca.unican.es

2017-02-01

We study the Planck CMB temperature at different scales through its derivatives up to second order, which allows one to characterize the local shape and isotropy of the field. The problem of having an incomplete sky in the calculation and statistical characterization of the derivatives is addressed in the paper. The analysis confirms the existence of a low variance in the CMB at large scales, which is also noticeable in the derivatives. Moreover, deviations from the standard model in the gradient, curvature and the eccentricity tensor are studied in terms of extreme values on the data. As it is expected,more » the Cold Spot is detected as one of the most prominent peaks in terms of curvature, but additionally, when the information of the temperature and its Laplacian are combined, another feature with similar probability at the scale of 10{sup o} is also observed. However, the p -value of these two deviations increase above the 6% when they are referred to the variance calculated from the theoretical fiducial model, indicating that these deviations can be associated to the low variance anomaly. Finally, an estimator of the directional anisotropy for spinorial quantities is introduced, which is applied to the spinors derived from the field derivatives. An anisotropic direction whose probability is <1% is detected in the eccentricity tensor.« less

Trend assessment: applications for hydrology and climate research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kallache, M.; Rust, H. W.; Kropp, J.

2005-02-01

The assessment of trends in climatology and hydrology still is a matter of debate. Capturing typical properties of time series, like trends, is highly relevant for the discussion of potential impacts of global warming or flood occurrences. It provides indicators for the separation of anthropogenic signals and natural forcing factors by distinguishing between deterministic trends and stochastic variability. In this contribution river run-off data from gauges in Southern Germany are analysed regarding their trend behaviour by combining a deterministic trend component and a stochastic model part in a semi-parametric approach. In this way the trade-off between trend and autocorrelation structure can be considered explicitly. A test for a significant trend is introduced via three steps: First, a stochastic fractional ARIMA model, which is able to reproduce short-term as well as long-term correlations, is fitted to the empirical data. In a second step, wavelet analysis is used to separate the variability of small and large time-scales assuming that the trend component is part of the latter. Finally, a comparison of the overall variability to that restricted to small scales results in a test for a trend. The extraction of the large-scale behaviour by wavelet analysis provides a clue concerning the shape of the trend.

Mean-field behavior as a result of noisy local dynamics in self-organized criticality: Neuroscience implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moosavi, S. Amin; Montakhab, Afshin

2014-05-01

Motivated by recent experiments in neuroscience which indicate that neuronal avalanches exhibit scale invariant behavior similar to self-organized critical systems, we study the role of noisy (nonconservative) local dynamics on the critical behavior of a sandpile model which can be taken to mimic the dynamics of neuronal avalanches. We find that despite the fact that noise breaks the strict local conservation required to attain criticality, our system exhibits true criticality for a wide range of noise in various dimensions, given that conservation is respected on the average. Although the system remains critical, exhibiting finite-size scaling, the value of critical exponents change depending on the intensity of local noise. Interestingly, for a sufficiently strong noise level, the critical exponents approach and saturate at their mean-field values, consistent with empirical measurements of neuronal avalanches. This is confirmed for both two and three dimensional models. However, the addition of noise does not affect the exponents at the upper critical dimension (D =4). In addition to an extensive finite-size scaling analysis of our systems, we also employ a useful time-series analysis method to establish true criticality of noisy systems. Finally, we discuss the implications of our work in neuroscience as well as some implications for the general phenomena of criticality in nonequilibrium systems.

Modeling Stand-Scale Patterns in Evapotranspiration and Soil Moisture in a Heterogeneous Plant Canopy: A Coupled Subsurface-Land Surface Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, G. R.; Gou, S.; Ferguson, I. M.; Maxwell, R. M.

2011-12-01

Savanna ecosystems present a well-known modeling challenge; understory grasses and overstory woody vegetation combine to form an open, heterogeneous canopy that creates strong spatial differences in soil moisture and evapotranspiration rates. In this analysis, we used ParFlow.CLM to create a stand-scale model of the Tonzi Ranch oak savanna, based on extensive topography, vegetation, soil, and hydrogeology data collected at the site. Measurements included canopy distribution and ground surface elevation from airborne Lidar, depth to groundwater from deep piezometers, soil and rock hydraulic conductivity, and leaf area index. We then compared the results to the site's long-term data records of radiative flux partitioning, obtained using the eddy-covariance method, and soil moisture, collected via a distributed network of capacitance probes. In order to obtain good agreement between the measured and modeled values, we identified several necessary modifications to the current CLM parameterization. These changes included the addition of a "winter grass" type and the alteration of the root structure and water stress functions to accommodate uptake of groundwater by deep roots. Finally, we compared variograms of site parameters and response variables and performed a scaling analysis relating ET and soil moisture variance to sampling size.

Adaptation of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) to dental students.

PubMed

Laurence, Brian; Bertera, Elizabeth M; Feimster, Tawana; Hollander, Roberta; Stroman, Carolyn

2012-12-01

The purpose of this study was to adapt the twenty-six-item Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) developed for medical students for use among dental students and to test the psychometric properties of the modified instrument. The sample consisted of 250 students (an 80.1 percent response rate) in years D1 to D4 at a dental school in Washington, DC. The mean age of participants was 26.6 years with a range from twenty-one to forty-two years. Slightly more than half of the participants were female (52.4 percent) and were African American or of African descent (51.7 percent). Principal components analysis was used to test the psychometric properties of the instrument. The index that resulted measured both positive and negative attitudes toward learning communications skills. The final twenty-four-item scale had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.87), and the study obtained four important factors-Learning, Importance, Quality, and Success-that explained a significant portion of the variance (49.1 percent). Stratified analysis by demographic variables suggested that there may be gender and ethnic differences in the students' attitudes towards learning communication skills. The authors conclude that the CSAS modified for dental students, or DCSAS, is a useful tool to assess attitudes towards learning communication skills among dental students.

Development & standardization of a scale to measure socio-economic status in urban & rural communities in India.

PubMed

Tiwari, S C; Kumar, Aditya; Kumar, Ambrish

2005-10-01

The commonly used available scales for measurement of socio-economic status (SES) with some cross regional applicability are old and have lost their relevance. There is a need for the development of a valid and reliable instrument for measurement of SES in rural and urban communities in India. The present study was undertaken to develop a cross regionally applicable scale for the purpose of enlisting true measures of socio-economic items applicable in multilingual, multicultural, multireligious, setting of the country. For developing the scale, seven indicators (house, materials possession, education, occupation, monthly income, land, social participation and understanding), presumably determining the socioeconomic status were selected. These indicators were named as profiles. Thus, initially the scale had seven profiles and every profile contained five alternatives. This instrument was prepared on a 10-point scale. Weightage system of scoring (varying from 2 to 10) was followed from first to sixth profile while the additive pattern of scoring was followed in seventh profile. The final version of the scale was arrived at through three trial administrations on rural and urban families. The basis of selection of the families for the first two trials was stratified random. The validity and reliability of the scale was established through a defined visual analogue scale (VAS) and test-retest methods. Both the initial version as well as the final version of the scale for the measurement of SES of incumbents had seven profiles. The difference between the two versions was in terms of contents and range of items in different categories of SES. The final version was arrived at through field trials and suggestions of the experts. The reliability of the scale was high with a correlation coefficient of 0.998. The new scale appears to be a valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of socio-economic status of the families/individuals from urban as well as rural areas in India.

Analysis of cyclical behavior in time series of stock market returns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stratimirović, Djordje; Sarvan, Darko; Miljković, Vladimir; Blesić, Suzana

2018-01-01

In this paper we have analyzed scaling properties and cyclical behavior of the three types of stock market indexes (SMI) time series: data belonging to stock markets of developed economies, emerging economies, and of the underdeveloped or transitional economies. We have used two techniques of data analysis to obtain and verify our findings: the wavelet transform (WT) spectral analysis to identify cycles in the SMI returns data, and the time-dependent detrended moving average (tdDMA) analysis to investigate local behavior around market cycles and trends. We found cyclical behavior in all SMI data sets that we have analyzed. Moreover, the positions and the boundaries of cyclical intervals that we found seam to be common for all markets in our dataset. We list and illustrate the presence of nine such periods in our SMI data. We report on the possibilities to differentiate between the level of growth of the analyzed markets by way of statistical analysis of the properties of wavelet spectra that characterize particular peak behaviors. Our results show that measures like the relative WT energy content and the relative WT amplitude of the peaks in the small scales region could be used to partially differentiate between market economies. Finally, we propose a way to quantify the level of development of a stock market based on estimation of local complexity of market's SMI series. From the local scaling exponents calculated for our nine peak regions we have defined what we named the Development Index, which proved, at least in the case of our dataset, to be suitable to rank the SMI series that we have analyzed in three distinct groups.

Development of the Final Version of the Classification and Assessment of Occupational Dysfunction Scale

PubMed Central

Teraoka, Mutsumi; Kyougoku, Makoto

2015-01-01

Occupational therapy is involved in disability prevention and health enhancement through the prevention of occupational dysfunction. Although many occupational dysfunction scales exist, no standard method is available for the assessment and classification of occupational dysfunction, which may include occupational imbalance, occupational deprivation, occupational alienation, and occupational marginalization. The purpose of this study was to develop the final version of Classification and Assessment of Occupational Dysfunction (CAOD). Our study demonstrated the validity and reliability of CAOD in a group of undergraduate students. The CAOD scale includes 16 items and addresses the following 4 domains: occupational imbalance, occupational deprivation, occupational alienation, and occupational marginalization. PMID:26263375

Turkish translation and adaptation of Champion's Health Belief Model Scales for breast cancer mammography screening.

PubMed

Yilmaz, Meryem; Sayin, Yazile Yazici

2014-07-01

To examine the translation and adaptation process from English to Turkish and the validity and reliability of the Champion's Health Belief Model Scales for Mammography Screening. Its aim (1) is to provide data about and (2) to assess Turkish women's attitudes and behaviours towards mammography. The proportion of women who have mammography is lower in Turkey. The Champion's Health Belief Model Scales for Mammography Screening-Turkish version can be helpful to determine Turkish women's health beliefs, particularly about mammography. Cross-sectional design was used to collect survey data from Turkish women: classical measurement method. The Champion's Health Belief Model Scales for Mammography Screening was translated from English to Turkish. Again, it was back translated into English. Later, the meaning and clarity of the scale items were evaluated by a bilingual group representing the culture of the target population. Finally, the tool was evaluated by two bilingual professional researchers in terms of content validity, translation validity and psychometric estimates of the validity and reliability. The analysis included a total of 209 Turkish women. The validity of the scale was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis and criterion-related validity testing. The Champion's Health Belief Model Scales for Mammography Screening aligned to four factors that were coherent and relatively independent of each other. There was a statistically significant relationship among all of the subscale items: the positive and high correlation of the total item test score and high Cronbach's α. The scale has a strong stability over time: the Champion's Health Belief Model Scales for Mammography Screening demonstrated acceptable preliminary values of reliability and validity. The Champion's Health Belief Model Scales for Mammography Screening is both a reliable and valid instrument that can be useful in measuring the health beliefs of Turkish women. It can be used to provide data about healthcare practices required for mammography screening and breast cancer prevention. This scale will show nurses that nursing intervention planning is essential for increasing Turkish women's participation in mammography screening. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Fine-Scale Structure Design for 3D Printing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panetta, Francis Julian

Modern additive fabrication technologies can manufacture shapes whose geometric complexities far exceed what existing computational design tools can analyze or optimize. At the same time, falling costs have placed these fabrication technologies within the average consumer's reach. Especially for inexpert designers, new software tools are needed to take full advantage of 3D printing technology. This thesis develops such tools and demonstrates the exciting possibilities enabled by fine-tuning objects at the small scales achievable by 3D printing. The thesis applies two high-level ideas to invent these tools: two-scale design and worst-case analysis. The two-scale design approach addresses the problem that accurately simulating--let alone optimizing--the full-resolution geometry sent to the printer requires orders of magnitude more computational power than currently available. However, we can decompose the design problem into a small-scale problem (designing tileable structures achieving a particular deformation behavior) and a macro-scale problem (deciding where to place these structures in the larger object). This separation is particularly effective, since structures for every useful behavior can be designed once, stored in a database, then reused for many different macroscale problems. Worst-case analysis refers to determining how likely an object is to fracture by studying the worst possible scenario: the forces most efficiently breaking it. This analysis is needed when the designer has insufficient knowledge or experience to predict what forces an object will undergo, or when the design is intended for use in many different scenarios unknown a priori. The thesis begins by summarizing the physics and mathematics necessary to rigorously approach these design and analysis problems. Specifically, the second chapter introduces linear elasticity and periodic homogenization. The third chapter presents a pipeline to design microstructures achieving a wide range of effective isotropic elastic material properties on a single-material 3D printer. It also proposes a macroscale optimization algorithm placing these microstructures to achieve deformation goals under prescribed loads. The thesis then turns to worst-case analysis, first considering the macroscale problem: given a user's design, the fourth chapter aims to determine the distribution of pressures over the surface creating the highest stress at any point in the shape. Solving this problem exactly is difficult, so we introduce two heuristics: one to focus our efforts on only regions likely to concentrate stresses and another converting the pressure optimization into an efficient linear program. Finally, the fifth chapter introduces worst-case analysis at the microscopic scale, leveraging the insight that the structure of periodic homogenization enables us to solve the problem exactly and efficiently. Then we use this worst-case analysis to guide a shape optimization, designing structures with prescribed deformation behavior that experience minimal stresses in generic use.