Rasch Analysis of the Geriatric Depression Scale--Short Form

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiang, Karl S.; Green, Kathy E.; Cox, Enid O.

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine scale dimensionality, reliability, invariance, targeting, continuity, cutoff scores, and diagnostic use of the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form (GDS-SF) over time with a sample of 177 English-speaking U.S. elders. Design and Methods: An item response theory, Rasch analysis, was conducted with…

Thoughts on Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schoenfeld, Alan H.

2015-01-01

This essay reflects on the challenges of thinking about scale--of making sense of phenomena such as continuous professional development (CPD) at the system level, while holding on to detail at the finer grain size(s) of implementation. The stimuli for my reflections are three diverse studies of attempts at scale--an attempt to use ideas related to…

Continuous wireless pressure monitoring and mapping with ultra-small passive sensors for health monitoring and critical care

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Lisa Y.; Tee, Benjamin C.-K.; Chortos, Alex L.; Schwartz, Gregor; Tse, Victor; J. Lipomi, Darren; Wong, H.-S. Philip; McConnell, Michael V.; Bao, Zhenan

2014-10-01

Continuous monitoring of internal physiological parameters is essential for critical care patients, but currently can only be practically achieved via tethered solutions. Here we report a wireless, real-time pressure monitoring system with passive, flexible, millimetre-scale sensors, scaled down to unprecedented dimensions of 1 × 1 × 0.1 cubic millimeters. This level of dimensional scaling is enabled by novel sensor design and detection schemes, which overcome the operating frequency limits of traditional strategies and exhibit insensitivity to lossy tissue environments. We demonstrate the use of this system to capture human pulse waveforms wirelessly in real time as well as to monitor in vivo intracranial pressure continuously in proof-of-concept mice studies using sensors down to 2.5 × 2.5 × 0.1 cubic millimeters. We further introduce printable wireless sensor arrays and show their use in real-time spatial pressure mapping. Looking forward, this technology has broader applications in continuous wireless monitoring of multiple physiological parameters for biomedical research and patient care.

Continuous wireless pressure monitoring and mapping with ultra-small passive sensors for health monitoring and critical care.

PubMed

Chen, Lisa Y; Tee, Benjamin C-K; Chortos, Alex L; Schwartz, Gregor; Tse, Victor; Lipomi, Darren J; Wong, H-S Philip; McConnell, Michael V; Bao, Zhenan

2014-10-06

Continuous monitoring of internal physiological parameters is essential for critical care patients, but currently can only be practically achieved via tethered solutions. Here we report a wireless, real-time pressure monitoring system with passive, flexible, millimetre-scale sensors, scaled down to unprecedented dimensions of 1 × 1 × 0.1 cubic millimeters. This level of dimensional scaling is enabled by novel sensor design and detection schemes, which overcome the operating frequency limits of traditional strategies and exhibit insensitivity to lossy tissue environments. We demonstrate the use of this system to capture human pulse waveforms wirelessly in real time as well as to monitor in vivo intracranial pressure continuously in proof-of-concept mice studies using sensors down to 2.5 × 2.5 × 0.1 cubic millimeters. We further introduce printable wireless sensor arrays and show their use in real-time spatial pressure mapping. Looking forward, this technology has broader applications in continuous wireless monitoring of multiple physiological parameters for biomedical research and patient care.

An introduction to mixture item response theory models.

PubMed

De Ayala, R J; Santiago, S Y

2017-02-01

Mixture item response theory (IRT) allows one to address situations that involve a mixture of latent subpopulations that are qualitatively different but within which a measurement model based on a continuous latent variable holds. In this modeling framework, one can characterize students by both their location on a continuous latent variable as well as by their latent class membership. For example, in a study of risky youth behavior this approach would make it possible to estimate an individual's propensity to engage in risky youth behavior (i.e., on a continuous scale) and to use these estimates to identify youth who might be at the greatest risk given their class membership. Mixture IRT can be used with binary response data (e.g., true/false, agree/disagree, endorsement/not endorsement, correct/incorrect, presence/absence of a behavior), Likert response scales, partial correct scoring, nominal scales, or rating scales. In the following, we present mixture IRT modeling and two examples of its use. Data needed to reproduce analyses in this article are available as supplemental online materials at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2016.01.002. Copyright © 2016 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Discretization of Continuous Time Discrete Scale Invariant Processes: Estimation and Spectra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rezakhah, Saeid; Maleki, Yasaman

2016-07-01

Imposing some flexible sampling scheme we provide some discretization of continuous time discrete scale invariant (DSI) processes which is a subsidiary discrete time DSI process. Then by introducing some simple random measure we provide a second continuous time DSI process which provides a proper approximation of the first one. This enables us to provide a bilateral relation between covariance functions of the subsidiary process and the new continuous time processes. The time varying spectral representation of such continuous time DSI process is characterized, and its spectrum is estimated. Also, a new method for estimation time dependent Hurst parameter of such processes is provided which gives a more accurate estimation. The performance of this estimation method is studied via simulation. Finally this method is applied to the real data of S & P500 and Dow Jones indices for some special periods.

Consensus for linear multi-agent system with intermittent information transmissions using the time-scale theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taousser, Fatima; Defoort, Michael; Djemai, Mohamed

2016-01-01

This paper investigates the consensus problem for linear multi-agent system with fixed communication topology in the presence of intermittent communication using the time-scale theory. Since each agent can only obtain relative local information intermittently, the proposed consensus algorithm is based on a discontinuous local interaction rule. The interaction among agents happens at a disjoint set of continuous-time intervals. The closed-loop multi-agent system can be represented using mixed linear continuous-time and linear discrete-time models due to intermittent information transmissions. The time-scale theory provides a powerful tool to combine continuous-time and discrete-time cases and study the consensus protocol under a unified framework. Using this theory, some conditions are derived to achieve exponential consensus under intermittent information transmissions. Simulations are performed to validate the theoretical results.

Fluid limit of nonintegrable continuous-time random walks in terms of fractional differential equations.

PubMed

Sánchez, R; Carreras, B A; van Milligen, B Ph

2005-01-01

The fluid limit of a recently introduced family of nonintegrable (nonlinear) continuous-time random walks is derived in terms of fractional differential equations. In this limit, it is shown that the formalism allows for the modeling of the interaction between multiple transport mechanisms with not only disparate spatial scales but also different temporal scales. For this reason, the resulting fluid equations may find application in the study of a large number of nonlinear multiscale transport problems, ranging from the study of self-organized criticality to the modeling of turbulent transport in fluids and plasmas.

Midwifery students׳ experiences of an innovative clinical placement model embedded within midwifery continuity of care in Australia.

PubMed

Carter, Amanda G; Wilkes, Elizabeth; Gamble, Jenny; Sidebotham, Mary; Creedy, Debra K

2015-08-01

midwifery continuity of care experiences can provide high quality clinical learning for students but can be challenging to implement. The Rural and Private Midwifery Education Project (RPMEP) is a strategic government funded initiative to (1) grow the midwifery workforce within private midwifery practice and rural midwifery, by (2) better preparing new graduates to work in private midwifery and rural continuity of care models. this study evaluated midwifery students׳ experience of an innovative continuity of care clinical placement model in partnership with private midwifery practice and rural midwifery group practices. a descriptive cohort design was used. All students in the RPMEP were invited to complete an online survey about their experiences of clinical placement within midwifery continuity models of care. Responses were analysed using descriptive statistics. Correlations between total scale scores were examined. Open-ended responses were analysed using content analysis. Internal reliability of the scales was assessed using Cronbach׳s alpha. sixteen out of 17 completed surveys were received (94% response rate). Scales included in the survey demonstrated good internal reliability. The majority of students felt inspired by caseload approaches to care, expressed overall satisfaction with the mentoring received and reported a positive learning environment at their placement site. Some students reported stress related to course expectations and demands in the clinical environment (e.g. skill acquisition and hours required for continuity of care). There were significant correlations between scales on perceptions of caseload care and learning culture (r=.87 p<.001) and assessment (r=.87 p<.001). Scores on the clinical learning environment scale were significantly correlated with perceptions of the caseload model (rho=.86 p<.001), learning culture (rho=.94 p<.001) and assessment (rho=.65 p<.01) scales. embedding students within midwifery continuity of care models was perceived to be highly beneficial to learning, developed partnerships with women, and provided appropriate clinical skills development required for registration, while promoting students׳ confidence and competence. The flexible academic programme enabled students to access learning at any time and prioritise continuity of care experiences. Strategies are needed to better support students achieve a satisfactory work-life balance. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic image quality in gynaecological ultrasound: Who should measure it, what should we measure and how?

PubMed Central

Knapp, Karen

2013-01-01

Assessment of diagnostic image quality in gynaecological ultrasound is an important aspect of imaging department quality assurance. This may be addressed through audit, but who should undertake the audit, what should be measured and how, remains contentious. The aim of this study was to identify whether peer audit is a suitable method of assessing the diagnostic quality of gynaecological ultrasound images. Nineteen gynaecological ultrasound studies were independently assessed by six sonographers utilising a pilot version of an audit tool. Outcome measures were levels of inter-rater agreement using different data collection methods (binary scores, Likert scale, continuous scale), effect of ultrasound study difficulty on study score and whether systematic differences were present between reviewers of different clinical grades and length of experience. Inter-rater agreement ranged from moderate to good depending on the data collection method. A continuous scale gave the highest level of inter-rater agreement with an intra-class correlation coefficient of 0.73. A strong correlation (r = 0.89) between study difficulty and study score was yielded. Length of clinical experience between reviewers had no effect on the audit scores, but individuals of a higher clinical grade gave significantly lower scores than those of a lower grade (p = 0.04). Peer audit is a promising tool in the assessment of ultrasound image quality. Continuous scales seem to be the best method of data collection implying a strong element of heuristically driven decision making by reviewing ultrasound practitioners. PMID:27433192

Cross-validation of clinical characteristics and treatment patterns associated with phenotypes for lithium response defined by the Alda scale.

PubMed

Scott, Jan; Geoffroy, Pierre Alexis; Sportiche, Sarah; Brichant-Petit-Jean, Clara; Gard, Sebastien; Kahn, Jean-Pierre; Azorin, Jean-Michel; Henry, Chantal; Etain, Bruno; Bellivier, Frank

2017-01-15

It is increasingly recognised that reliable and valid assessments of lithium response are needed in order to target more efficiently the use of this medication in bipolar disorders (BD) and to identify genotypes, endophenotypes and biomarkers of response. In a large, multi-centre, clinically representative sample of 300 cases of BD, we assess external clinical validators of lithium response phenotypes as defined using three different recommended approaches to scoring the Alda lithium response scale. The scale comprises an A scale (rating lithium response) and a B scale (assessing confounders). Analysis of the two continuous scoring methods (A scale score minus the B scale score, or A scale score in those with a low B scale score) demonstrated that 21-23% of the explained variance in lithium response was accounted for by a positive family history of BD I and the early introduction of lithium. Categorical definitions of response suggest poor response is also associated with a positive history of alcohol and/or substance use comorbidities. High B scale scores were significantly associated with longer duration of illness prior to receiving lithium and the presence of psychotic symptoms. The original sample was not recruited specifically to study lithium response. The Alda scale is designed to assess response retrospectively. This cross-validation study identifies different clinical phenotypes of lithium response when defined by continuous or categorical measures. Future clinical, genetic and biomarker studies should report both the findings and the method employed to assess lithium response according to the Alda scale. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Adaptation and validation of the CCAENA(©) scale for the measurement of continuity of care between healthcare levels in Colombia and Brazil].

PubMed

Garcia-Subirats, Irene; Aller, Marta Beatriz; Vargas Lorenzo, Ingrid; Vázquez Navarrete, María Luisa

2015-01-01

To adapt and to validate the scale of the questionnaire Continuity of Care between Care Levels (CCAENA(©)) in the context of the Colombian and Brazilian health systems. The study consisted of two phases: 1) adaptation of the CCAENA(©) scale to the context of each country, which was tested by two pretests and a pilot test, and 2) validation by means of application of the scale in a population survey in Colombia and Brazil. The following psychometric properties were analyzed: construct validity (exploratory factor analysis), internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha and item-rest correlations), the multidimensionality of the scales (Spearman correlation coefficients), and known group validity (chi-square test). Of the 21 items of the original scale, 14 were selected and reformulated based on a statement with response options of agreement to a question with frequency response options. Factor analysis showed that items could be grouped into three factors: continuity across healthcare levels, the patient-primary care provider relationship, and the patient-secondary care provider relationship. Cronbach's alpha indicated good internal consistency (>0.80 in all the scales). The correlation coefficients suggest that the three factors could be interpreted as separated scales (<0.70) and had adequate ability to differentiate between groups. The adapted version of the CCAENA(©) shows adequate validity and reliability in both countries, maintaining a high equivalence with the original version. It is a useful and feasible tool to assess the continuity of care between healthcare levels from the users' perspective in both contexts. Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Continuous quantum error correction for non-Markovian decoherence

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

Oreshkov, Ognyan; Brun, Todd A.; Communication Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089

2007-08-15

We study the effect of continuous quantum error correction in the case where each qubit in a codeword is subject to a general Hamiltonian interaction with an independent bath. We first consider the scheme in the case of a trivial single-qubit code, which provides useful insights into the workings of continuous error correction and the difference between Markovian and non-Markovian decoherence. We then study the model of a bit-flip code with each qubit coupled to an independent bath qubit and subject to continuous correction, and find its solution. We show that for sufficiently large error-correction rates, the encoded state approximatelymore » follows an evolution of the type of a single decohering qubit, but with an effectively decreased coupling constant. The factor by which the coupling constant is decreased scales quadratically with the error-correction rate. This is compared to the case of Markovian noise, where the decoherence rate is effectively decreased by a factor which scales only linearly with the rate of error correction. The quadratic enhancement depends on the existence of a Zeno regime in the Hamiltonian evolution which is absent in purely Markovian dynamics. We analyze the range of validity of this result and identify two relevant time scales. Finally, we extend the result to more general codes and argue that the performance of continuous error correction will exhibit the same qualitative characteristics.« less

Behavior analytic approaches to problem behavior in intellectual disabilities.

PubMed

Hagopian, Louis P; Gregory, Meagan K

2016-03-01

The purpose of the current review is to summarize recent behavior analytic research on problem behavior in individuals with intellectual disabilities. We have focused our review on studies published from 2013 to 2015, but also included earlier studies that were relevant. Behavior analytic research on problem behavior continues to focus on the use and refinement of functional behavioral assessment procedures and function-based interventions. During the review period, a number of studies reported on procedures aimed at making functional analysis procedures more time efficient. Behavioral interventions continue to evolve, and there were several larger scale clinical studies reporting on multiple individuals. There was increased attention on the part of behavioral researchers to develop statistical methods for analysis of within subject data and continued efforts to aggregate findings across studies through evaluative reviews and meta-analyses. Findings support continued utility of functional analysis for guiding individualized interventions and for classifying problem behavior. Modifications designed to make functional analysis more efficient relative to the standard method of functional analysis were reported; however, these require further validation. Larger scale studies on behavioral assessment and treatment procedures provided additional empirical support for effectiveness of these approaches and their sustainability outside controlled clinical settings.

Large-scale derived flood frequency analysis based on continuous simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dung Nguyen, Viet; Hundecha, Yeshewatesfa; Guse, Björn; Vorogushyn, Sergiy; Merz, Bruno

2016-04-01

There is an increasing need for spatially consistent flood risk assessments at the regional scale (several 100.000 km2), in particular in the insurance industry and for national risk reduction strategies. However, most large-scale flood risk assessments are composed of smaller-scale assessments and show spatial inconsistencies. To overcome this deficit, a large-scale flood model composed of a weather generator and catchments models was developed reflecting the spatially inherent heterogeneity. The weather generator is a multisite and multivariate stochastic model capable of generating synthetic meteorological fields (precipitation, temperature, etc.) at daily resolution for the regional scale. These fields respect the observed autocorrelation, spatial correlation and co-variance between the variables. They are used as input into catchment models. A long-term simulation of this combined system enables to derive very long discharge series at many catchment locations serving as a basic for spatially consistent flood risk estimates at the regional scale. This combined model was set up and validated for major river catchments in Germany. The weather generator was trained by 53-year observation data at 528 stations covering not only the complete Germany but also parts of France, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Australia with the aggregated spatial scale of 443,931 km2. 10.000 years of daily meteorological fields for the study area were generated. Likewise, rainfall-runoff simulations with SWIM were performed for the entire Elbe, Rhine, Weser, Donau and Ems catchments. The validation results illustrate a good performance of the combined system, as the simulated flood magnitudes and frequencies agree well with the observed flood data. Based on continuous simulation this model chain is then used to estimate flood quantiles for the whole Germany including upstream headwater catchments in neighbouring countries. This continuous large scale approach overcomes the several drawbacks reported in traditional approaches for the derived flood frequency analysis and therefore is recommended for large scale flood risk case studies.

Semantic features of 'stepped' versus 'continuous' contours in German intonation.

PubMed

Dombrowski, Ernst

2013-01-01

This study analyses the meaning spaces of German pitch contours using two modes of melodic movement: continuous or in steps of sustained pitch. Both the continuous and stepped movements are represented by a set of five basic patterns, the latter being derived from the former. Thirty-six German native speakers judged the pattern sets on a 12-scale semantic differential. The semantic profiles confirm that stepped contours can be conceived of as stylized intonation, in a formal as well as in a functional sense. On the one hand, continuous (non-stylized) and stepped (stylized) contours are assigned different overall meanings (especially on the scales astonished - commonplace and interested - not interested). On the other hand, listeners organize the two contour sets in a similar fashion, which speaks in favour of parallel pattern inventories of continuous and stepped movement, respectively. However, the meaning space of the stylized patterns is affected by formal restrictions, for instance in the step transformation of continuous rises. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Changing of the Guard: Interpretive Continuity of the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bailey, Donna C.; Larson, Lisa M.; Borgen, Fred H.; Gasser, Courtney E.

2008-01-01

This study is the first to examine the equivalence of the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory with the 1994 Strong. The authors examine the parallel content scales of the two versions for female and male college students separately (n = 622). The scales include the six General Occupational Themes (GOTs), 22 of the 25 Basic Interest Scales (BISs) of the…

Interfacial adsorption in two-dimensional pure and random-bond Potts models.

PubMed

Fytas, Nikolaos G; Theodorakis, Panagiotis E; Malakis, Anastasios

2017-03-01

We use Monte Carlo simulations to study the finite-size scaling behavior of the interfacial adsorption of the two-dimensional square-lattice q-states Potts model. We consider the pure and random-bond versions of the Potts model for q=3,4,5,8, and 10, thus probing the interfacial properties at the originally continuous, weak, and strong first-order phase transitions. For the pure systems our results support the early scaling predictions for the size dependence of the interfacial adsorption at both first- and second-order phase transitions. For the disordered systems, the interfacial adsorption at the (disordered induced) continuous transitions is discussed, applying standard scaling arguments and invoking findings for bulk critical properties. The self-averaging properties of the interfacial adsorption are also analyzed by studying the infinite limit-size extrapolation of properly defined signal-to-noise ratios.

Observational and modeling studies of heat, moisture, precipitation, and global-scale circulation patterns

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vincent, Dayton G.; Robertson, Franklin

1993-01-01

The research sponsored by this grant is a continuation and an extension of the work conducted under a previous contract, 'South Pacific Convergence Zone and Global-Scale Circulations'. In the prior work, we conducted a detailed investigation of the South Pacific convergence zone (SPCZ), and documented many of its significant features and characteristics. We also conducted studies of its interaction with global-scale circulation features through the use of both observational and modeling studies. The latter was accomplished toward the end of the contract when Dr. James Hurrell, then a Ph.D. candidate, successfully ported the NASA GLA general circulation model (GCM) to Purdue University. In our present grant, we have expanded our previous research to include studies of other convectively-driven circulation systems in the tropics besides the SPCZ. Furthermore, we have continued to examine the relationship between these convective systems and global-scale circulation patterns. Our recent research efforts have focused on three objectives: (1) determining the periodicity of large-scale bands of organized convection in the tropics, primarily synoptic to intraseasonal time scales in the Southern Hemisphere; (2) examining the relative importance of tropical versus mid-latitude forcing for Southern Hemisphere summertime subtropical jets, particularly over the Pacific Ocean; and (3) estimating tropical precipitation, especially over oceans, using observational and budget methods. A summary list of our most significant accomplishments in the past year is given.

Validity Issues in Standard-Setting Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pant, Hans A.; Rupp, Andre A.; Tiffin-Richards, Simon P.; Koller, Olaf

2009-01-01

Standard-setting procedures are a key component within many large-scale educational assessment systems. They are consensual approaches in which committees of experts set cut-scores on continuous proficiency scales, which facilitate communication of proficiency distributions of students to a wide variety of stakeholders. This communicative function…

Large-scale production of lipoplexes with long shelf-life.

PubMed

Clement, Jule; Kiefer, Karin; Kimpfler, Andrea; Garidel, Patrick; Peschka-Süss, Regine

2005-01-01

The instability of lipoplex formulations is a major obstacle to overcome before their commercial application in gene therapy. In this study, a continuous mixing technique for the large-scale preparation of lipoplexes followed by lyophilisation for increased stability and shelf-life has been developed. Lipoplexes were analysed for transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity in human aorta smooth muscle cells (HASMC) and a rat smooth muscle cell line (A-10 SMC). Homogeneity of lipid/DNA-products was investigated by photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) and cryotransmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). Studies have been undertaken with DAC-30, a composition of 3beta-[N-(N,N'-dimethylaminoethane)-carbamoyl]-cholesterol (DAC-Chol) and dioleylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) and a green fluorescent protein (GFP) expressing marker plasmid. A continuous mixing technique was compared to the small-scale preparation of lipoplexes by pipetting. Individual steps of the continuous mixing process were evaluated in order to optimise the manufacturing technique: lipid/plasmid ratio, composition of transfection medium, pre-treatment of the lipid, size of the mixing device, mixing procedure and the influence of the lyophilisation process. It could be shown that the method developed for production of lipoplexes on a large scale under sterile conditions led to lipoplexes with good transfection efficiencies combined with low cytotoxicity, improved characteristics and long shelf-life.

Development of Crystallizer for Advanced Aqueous Reprocessing Process

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

Tadahiro Washiya; Atsuhiro Shibata; Toshiaki Kikuchi

2006-07-01

Crystallization is one of the remarkable technologies for future fuel reprocessing process that has safety and economical advantages. Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) (former Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute), Mitsubishi Material Corporation and Saitama University have been developing the crystallization process. In previous study, we carried out experimental studies with uranium, MOX and spent fuel conditions, and flowsheet analysis was considered. In association with these studies, an innovative continuous crystallizer and its system was developed to ensure high process performance. From the design study, an annular type continuous crystallizer was selected as the most promising design, and performance was confirmedmore » by small-scale test and engineering scale demonstration at uranium crystallization conditions. In this paper, the design study and the demonstration test results are described. (authors)« less

Recovery in bipolar depression: Post-hoc analysis of a placebo-controlled lurasidone trial followed by a long-term continuation study.

PubMed

Loebel, Antony; Siu, Cynthia; Rajagopalan, Krithika; Pikalov, Andrei; Cucchiaro, Josephine; Ketter, Terence A

2015-11-01

In this post-hoc analysis, rates of remission and recovery were evaluated in patients with bipolar depression treated with lurasidone. Outpatients meeting DSM-IV-TR criteria for bipolar I depression, were randomized to 6 weeks of once-daily, double-blind treatment with lurasidone 20-60mg, lurasidone 80-120mg or placebo, followed by a 6-month, open-label, flexible-dose, lurasidone continuation study. Recovery was defined as meeting criteria for combined symptomatic remission (Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale total score ≤12) and functional remission (all Sheehan Disability Scale domain scores ≤3) sustained for at least 3 months in the 6-month continuation study. A significantly higher proportion of lurasidone-treated patients met criteria for combined symptomatic remission and functional remission (33.3%, 91/273) compared to the placebo group (21.0%, 30/143, p<0.05, NNT=9) at the 6-week study endpoint. In the 6-month continuation study, the proportion of lurasidone-treated patients achieving sustained recovery was 60.7% (85/140) and 44.9% (31/69), for patients who continued lurasidone treatment and who switched from placebo to lurasidone, respectively. The definition of recovery used has not been previously validated and the analysis was post hoc. Lack of a control group in the continuation study limits data interpretation. Recovery in patients with bipolar depression was assessed based on rates of combined symptomatic and functional remission sustained over time. A majority of patients initially treated with lurasidone in the acute phase achieved recovery status in the continuation study. Treatment with lurasidone (vs. placebo) earlier in the course of the bipolar depressive episode increased the likelihood of subsequent recovery. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Design study of a continuously variable roller cone traction CVT for electric vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccoin, D. K.; Walker, R. D.

1980-01-01

Continuously variable ratio transmissions (CVT) featuring cone and roller traction elements and computerized controls are studied. The CVT meets or exceeds all requirements set forth in the design criteria. Further, a scalability analysis indicates the basic concept is applicable to lower and higher power units, with upward scaling for increased power being more readily accomplished.

A Numeric Scorecard Assessing the Mental Health Preparedness for Large-Scale Crises at College and University Campuses: A Delphi Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burgin, Rick A.

2012-01-01

Large-scale crises continue to surprise, overwhelm, and shatter college and university campuses. While the devastation to physical plants and persons is often evident and is addressed with crisis management plans, the number of emotional casualties left in the wake of these large-scale crises may not be apparent and are often not addressed with…

Scaling in Theropod Dinosaurs: Femoral Bone Strength and Locomotion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Scott

2015-01-01

In our first article on scaling in theropod dinosaurs, the longitudinal stress in the leg bones due to supporting the weight of the animal was studied and found not to control the dimensions of the femur. As a continuation of our study of elasticity in dinosaur bones, we now examine the transverse stress in the femur due to locomotion and find…

Effects of Organizational Role and Culture on Participation in Continuing Professional Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grzyb, Stanley W.; And Others

This study extends the investigation of professionals' reasons for participation in continuing education beyond personal and practice-based factors into the arena of organizational structure and culture. The Participation Reasons Scale (PRS) and the Respondent Information Form (RIF) were used to examine the motives influencing Army Engineers…

How Mathematics Propels the Development of Physical Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwartz, Daniel L.; Martin, Taylor; Pfaffman, Jay

2005-01-01

Three studies examined whether mathematics can propel the development of physical understanding. In Experiment 1, 10-year-olds solved balance scale problems that used easy-to-count discrete quantities or hard-to-count continuous quantities. Discrete quantities led to age typical performances. Continuous quantities caused performances like those of…

Annual Adult Education Research Conference (AERC) Proceedings (31st, Athens, Georgia, May 18-20, 1990).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kleiber, Pam, Comp.; Tisdell, Libby, Comp.

The proceedings contains: "Extending Equality" (Armstrong); "Phenomenology of Emergent Meaning from Dialectical Questioning and Answering in Adult Learning (AL)" (Xue-Ming Bao); "Study of Structural Dimensions and Predictive Capability of Adult Attitudes toward Continuing Education Scale and Education Participation Scale" (Blunt); "Ideological and…

Outcomes and Process in Reading Tutoring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Topping, K. J.; Thurston, A.; McGavock, K.; Conlin, N.

2012-01-01

Background: Large-scale randomised controlled trials are relatively rare in education. The present study approximates to, but is not exactly, a randomised controlled trial. It was an attempt to scale up previous small peer tutoring projects, while investing only modestly in continuing professional development for teachers. Purpose: A two-year…

A design study for a medium-scale field demonstration of the viscous barrier technology

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

Moridis, G.; Yen, P.; Persoff, P.

1996-09-01

This report is the design study for a medium-scale field demonstration of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory`s new subsurface containment technology for waste isolation using a new generation of barrier liquids. The test site is located in central California in a quarry owned by the Los Banos Gravel Company in Los Banos, California, in heterogeneous unsaturated deposits of sand, silt, and -ravel typical of many of the and DOE cleanup sites and particularly analogous to the Hanford site. The coals of the field demonstration are (a) to demonstrate the ability to create a continuous subsurface barrier isolating a medium-scale volume (30more » ft long by 30 ft wide by 20 ft deep, i.e. 1/10th to 1/8th the size of a buried tank at the Hanford Reservation) in the subsurface, and (b) to demonstrate the continuity, performance, and integrity of the barrier.« less

An automated laboratory-scale methodology for the generation of sheared mammalian cell culture samples.

PubMed

Joseph, Adrian; Goldrick, Stephen; Mollet, Michael; Turner, Richard; Bender, Jean; Gruber, David; Farid, Suzanne S; Titchener-Hooker, Nigel

2017-05-01

Continuous disk-stack centrifugation is typically used for the removal of cells and cellular debris from mammalian cell culture broths at manufacturing-scale. The use of scale-down methods to characterise disk-stack centrifugation performance enables substantial reductions in material requirements and allows a much wider design space to be tested than is currently possible at pilot-scale. The process of scaling down centrifugation has historically been challenging due to the difficulties in mimicking the Energy Dissipation Rates (EDRs) in typical machines. This paper describes an alternative and easy-to-assemble automated capillary-based methodology to generate levels of EDRs consistent with those found in a continuous disk-stack centrifuge. Variations in EDR were achieved through changes in capillary internal diameter and the flow rate of operation through the capillary. The EDRs found to match the levels of shear in the feed zone of a pilot-scale centrifuge using the experimental method developed in this paper (2.4×10 5 W/Kg) are consistent with those obtained through previously published computational fluid dynamic (CFD) studies (2.0×10 5 W/Kg). Furthermore, this methodology can be incorporated into existing scale-down methods to model the process performance of continuous disk-stack centrifuges. This was demonstrated through the characterisation of culture hold time, culture temperature and EDRs on centrate quality. © 2017 The Authors. Biotechnology Journal published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Patient-Clinician Ethnic Concordance and Communication in Mental Health Intake Visits

PubMed Central

Alegría, Margarita; Roter, Debra L.; Valentine, Anne; Chen, Chih-nan; Li, Xinliang; Lin, Julia; Rosen, Daniel; Lapatin, Sheri; Normand, Sharon-Lise; Larson, Susan; Shrout, Patrick E.

2013-01-01

Objective This study examines how communication patterns vary across racial and ethnic patient-clinician dyads in mental health intake sessions and its relation to continuance in treatment, defined as attending the next scheduled appointment. Methods Observational study of communication patterns among ethnically/racially concordant and discordant patient-clinician dyads. Primary analysis included 93 patients with 38 clinicians in race/ethnic concordant and discordant dyads. Communication was coded using the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS) and the Working Alliance Inventory Observer (WAI-O) bond scale; continuance in care was derived from chart reviews. Results Latino concordant dyad patients were more verbally dominant (p<.05), engaged in more patient-centered communication (p<.05) and scored higher on the (WAI-O) bond scale (all p<.05) than other groups. Latino patients had higher continuance rates than other patients in models that adjusted for non-communication variables. When communication, global affect, and therapeutic process variables were adjusted for, differences were reversed and white dyad patients had higher continuance in care rates than other dyad patients. Conclusion Communication patterns seem to explain the role of ethnic concordance for continuance in care. Practice Implications Improve intercultural communication in cross cultural encounters appears significant for retaining minorities in care. PMID:23896127

Parameterization of Small-Scale Processes

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-09-01

1989, Honolulu, Hawaii !7 COSATI CODES 18 SUBJECT TERMS (Continue on reverse if necessary and identify by block number) FELD GROUP SIJB- GROUP general...detailed sensitivit. studies to assess the dependence of results on the edd\\ viscosities and diffusivities by a direct comparison with certain observations...better sub-grid scale parameterization is to mount a concerted s .arch for model fits to observations. These would require exhaustive sensitivity studies

Evaluation of a Specialized Yoga Program for Persons Admitted to a Complex Continuing Care Hospital: A Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Kuluski, Kerry; Bechsgaard, Gitte; Ridgway, Jennifer; Katz, Joel

2016-01-01

Introduction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a specialized yoga intervention for inpatients in a rehabilitation and complex continuing care hospital. Design. Single-cohort repeated measures design. Methods. Participants (N = 10) admitted to a rehabilitation and complex continuing care hospital were recruited to participate in a 50–60 min Hatha Yoga class (modified for wheelchair users/seated position) once a week for eight weeks, with assigned homework practice. Questionnaires on pain (pain, pain interference, and pain catastrophizing), psychological variables (depression, anxiety, and experiences with injustice), mindfulness, self-compassion, and spiritual well-being were collected at three intervals: pre-, mid-, and post-intervention. Results. Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed a significant main effect of time indicating improvements over the course of the yoga program on the (1) anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, F(2,18) = 4.74, p < .05, and η p 2 = .35, (2) Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form, F(2,18) = 3.71, p < .05, and η p 2 = .29, and (3) Magnification subscale of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale, F(2,18) = 3. 66, p < .05, and η p 2 = .29. Discussion. The results suggest that an 8-week Hatha Yoga program improves pain-related factors and psychological experiences in individuals admitted to a rehabilitation and complex continuing care hospital. PMID:28115969

Methods for assessing reliability and validity for a measurement tool: a case study and critique using the WHO haemoglobin colour scale.

PubMed

White, Sarah A; van den Broek, Nynke R

2004-05-30

Before introducing a new measurement tool it is necessary to evaluate its performance. Several statistical methods have been developed, or used, to evaluate the reliability and validity of a new assessment method in such circumstances. In this paper we review some commonly used methods. Data from a study that was conducted to evaluate the usefulness of a specific measurement tool (the WHO Colour Scale) is then used to illustrate the application of these methods. The WHO Colour Scale was developed under the auspices of the WHO to provide a simple portable and reliable method of detecting anaemia. This Colour Scale is a discrete interval scale, whereas the actual haemoglobin values it is used to estimate are on a continuous interval scale and can be measured accurately using electrical laboratory equipment. The methods we consider are: linear regression, correlation coefficients, paired t-tests plotting differences against mean values and deriving limits of agreement; kappa and weighted kappa statistics, sensitivity and specificity, an intraclass correlation coefficient and the repeatability coefficient. We note that although the definition and properties of each of these methods is well established inappropriate methods continue to be used in medical literature for assessing reliability and validity, as evidenced in the context of the evaluation of the WHO Colour Scale. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Bayesian inference for joint modelling of longitudinal continuous, binary and ordinal events.

PubMed

Li, Qiuju; Pan, Jianxin; Belcher, John

2016-12-01

In medical studies, repeated measurements of continuous, binary and ordinal outcomes are routinely collected from the same patient. Instead of modelling each outcome separately, in this study we propose to jointly model the trivariate longitudinal responses, so as to take account of the inherent association between the different outcomes and thus improve statistical inferences. This work is motivated by a large cohort study in the North West of England, involving trivariate responses from each patient: Body Mass Index, Depression (Yes/No) ascertained with cut-off score not less than 8 at the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Pain Interference generated from the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short-form health survey with values returned on an ordinal scale 1-5. There are some well-established methods for combined continuous and binary, or even continuous and ordinal responses, but little work was done on the joint analysis of continuous, binary and ordinal responses. We propose conditional joint random-effects models, which take into account the inherent association between the continuous, binary and ordinal outcomes. Bayesian analysis methods are used to make statistical inferences. Simulation studies show that, by jointly modelling the trivariate outcomes, standard deviations of the estimates of parameters in the models are smaller and much more stable, leading to more efficient parameter estimates and reliable statistical inferences. In the real data analysis, the proposed joint analysis yields a much smaller deviance information criterion value than the separate analysis, and shows other good statistical properties too. © The Author(s) 2014.

Compliant Robotic Structures. Part 2

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-07-01

Nonaxially Homogeneous Stresses and Strains 44 Parametric Studies 52 % References 65 III. LARGE DEFLECTIONS OF CONTINUOUS ELASTIC ’- STRUCTURES 66...APPENDIX C: Computer Program for the Element String 133 -° SUMMARY This is the second year report which is a part of a three- year study on compliant...ratios as high as 10/1 for laboratory-scale models and up to 3/1 for full-scale prototype arms. The first two years of this study have involved the

You Have One Hour: Developing a Standardized Library Orientation and Evaluating Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

Library orientations continue to excite, or plague, instruction librarians everywhere. Reaching first year students early can preempt academic heartache and research woes, yet the question of "what students really need" continues to evolve. This article presents a case study of a large-scale implementation of library orientations. The…

Six decades of industrial water treatment (1915-1975)

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

Maguire, J.J.

1976-01-01

An extensive account of water treatment beginning with the internal treatment of boiler water used for steam generation in the teens to the later treatment of cooling water and industrial process water. In the teens external softening of boiler makeup water was recommended by various processes. In the twenties water problems intensified and research on boiler water scaling began and continued through the thirties. The mechanism of scale formation was studied, and a new Navy boiler compound was adopted. Langelier's Saturation Index work in 1936 served as a basis for early control of scaling by cooling water. In the fortiesmore » other controls and removers were recommended, and antifoam patents issued. In 1950 Berk proved nitrate an effective inhibitor, and in 1951 influence of boiler design and operation on steam contamination was presented. Internal chemical treatment programs continued to be refined in the sixties with synthetic dispersing agents, and Chelant treatments continued to dominate the seventies, with inspection times extended 2-3 years by their use. Besides treatment of industrial waters, evaluation of results also demanded attention and water quality standards were of concern. Research continues to develop more effective synthetic and naturally-occurring organic agents.« less

Outcomes in a Randomised Controlled Trial of Mathematics Tutoring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Topping, K. J.; Miller, D.; Murray, P.; Henderson, S.; Fortuna, C.; Conlin, N.

2011-01-01

Background: Large-scale randomised controlled trials (RCT) are relatively rare in education. The present study was an attempt to scale up previous small peer tutoring projects, while investing only modestly in continuing professional development for teachers. Purpose: A two-year RCT of peer tutoring in mathematics was undertaken in one local…

K-12 Non-Instructional Service Consolidation: Spending Changes and Scale Economies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeLuca, Thomas A.

2013-01-01

Educational policy makers (e.g., legislators, state and local school boards) continue to promote inter-district service consolidation as one method to reduce operating expenditures citing economies of scale as the source of any savings. This study uses survey data to identify the extent of non-instructional service consolidation in Michigan, with…

Subjective and psychological well-being of students of a University of the Third Age: Benefits of continuing education for psychological adjustment in the elderly

PubMed Central

Ordonez, Tiago Nascimento; Lima-Silva, Thaís Bento; Cachioni, Meire

2011-01-01

Objectives The present study sought to characterize the degree of general satisfaction with life and degree of satisfaction on four domains: health, physical capacity, mental capacity and social involvement, and to determine the characteristics of self-reports of individuals enrolled on the program in relation to their psychological well-being focusing on the dimensions: autonomy, personal growth, control, positive relationships with others, purpose, personal acceptance and generativity, and to analyse the effect of time studying on level of well-being. Method A total of 140 elderly students of a University for the Third Age took part in the study. The Global Satisfaction With Life Scale and the Self Development Scale (with six psychological well-being subscales) were applied. Continuous variables for the two groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney test. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used to analyze the relationship among numeric variables. Internal consistency of the instrument scales was analysed by calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Results Results showed that students who had attended the University of the Third Age for six months or longer had a higher level of satisfaction with life and greater psychological adjustment compared with new entrants to the same institution. Conclusion The study results confirmed the positive effects of continuing education on the well-being of elderly and its contribution to successful aging. PMID:29213747

Mechanical property characterization of polymeric composites reinforced by continuous microfibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zubayar, Ali

Innumerable experimental works have been conducted to study the effect of polymerization on the potential properties of the composites. Experimental techniques are employed to understand the effects of various fibers, their volume fractions and matrix properties in polymer composites. However, these experiments require fabrication of various composites which are time consuming and cost prohibitive. Advances in computational micromechanics allow us to study the various polymer based composites by using finite element simulations. The mechanical properties of continuous fiber composite strands are directional. In traditional continuous fiber laminated composites, all fibers lie in the same plane. This provides very desirable increases in the in-plane mechanical properties, but little in the transverse mechanical properties. The effect of different fiber/matrix combinations with various orientations is also available. Overall mechanical properties of different micro continuous fiber reinforced composites with orthogonal geometry are still unavailable in the contemporary research field. In this research, the mechanical properties of advanced polymeric composite reinforced by continuous micro fiber will be characterized based on analytical investigation and FE computational modeling. Initially, we have chosen IM7/PEEK, Carbon Fiber/Nylon 6, and Carbon Fiber/Epoxy as three different case study materials for analysis. To obtain the equivalent properties of the micro-hetero structures, a concept of micro-scale representative volume elements (RVEs) is introduced. Five types of micro scale RVEs (3 square and 2 hexagonal) containing a continuous micro fiber in the polymer matrix were designed. Uniaxial tensile, lateral expansion and transverse shear tests on each RVE were designed and conducted by the finite element computer modeling software ANSYS. The formulae based on elasticity theory were derived for extracting the equivalent mechanical properties (Young's moduli, shear moduli, and Poisson's ratios) from the numerical solutions of the RVEs undergone these three load tests. Validation of the obtained micro-scale mechanical properties will be performed using rule of mixture (ROM), 1st, and 2nd order of the mathematical model and experimental data.

Bench-Scale Testing and Process Performance Projections of CO2 Capture by CO2–Binding Organic Liquids (CO2BOLs) With and Without Polarity-Swing-Assisted Regeneration

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

Zheng, Feng; Heldebrant, David J.; Mathias, Paul M.

This manuscript provides a detailed analysis of a continuous flow, bench scale study of the CO2BOL solvent platform with and without its Polarity Swing Assisted Regeneration (PSAR). This study encompassed four months of continuous flow testing of a candidate CO2BOL with a thermal regeneration and PSAR regeneration using decane antisolvent. In both regeneration schemes, steady state capture of >90 %CO2 was achieved using simulated flue gas at acceptable L/G ratios. Aspen Plus™ modeling was performed to assess process performance compared to previous equilibrium performance projections. This paper also includes net power projections, and comparisons to DOE’s Case 10 amine baseline.

Various Numerical Applications on Tropical Convective Systems Using a Cloud Resolving Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shie, C.-L.; Tao, W.-K.; Simpson, J.

2003-01-01

In recent years, increasing attention has been given to cloud resolving models (CRMs or cloud ensemble models-CEMs) for their ability to simulate the radiative-convective system, which plays a significant role in determining the regional heat and moisture budgets in the Tropics. The growing popularity of CRM usage can be credited to its inclusion of crucial and physically relatively realistic features such as explicit cloud-scale dynamics, sophisticated microphysical processes, and explicit cloud-radiation interaction. On the other hand, impacts of the environmental conditions (for example, the large-scale wind fields, heat and moisture advections as well as sea surface temperature) on the convective system can also be plausibly investigated using the CRMs with imposed explicit forcing. In this paper, by basically using a Goddard Cumulus Ensemble (GCE) model, three different studies on tropical convective systems are briefly presented. Each of these studies serves a different goal as well as uses a different approach. In the first study, which uses more of an idealized approach, the respective impacts of the large-scale horizontal wind shear and surface fluxes on the modeled tropical quasi-equilibrium states of temperature and water vapor are examined. In this 2-D study, the imposed large-scale horizontal wind shear is ideally either nudged (wind shear maintained strong) or mixed (wind shear weakened), while the minimum surface wind speed used for computing surface fluxes varies among various numerical experiments. For the second study, a handful of real tropical episodes (TRMM Kwajalein Experiment - KWAJEX, 1999; TRMM South China Sea Monsoon Experiment - SCSMEX, 1998) have been simulated such that several major atmospheric characteristics such as the rainfall amount and its associated stratiform contribution, the Qlheat and Q2/moisture budgets are investigated. In this study, the observed large-scale heat and moisture advections are continuously applied to the 2-D model. The modeled cloud generated from such an approach is termed continuously forced convection or continuous large-scale forced convection. A third study, which focuses on the respective impact of atmospheric components on upper Ocean heat and salt budgets, will be presented in the end. Unlike the two previous 2-D studies, this study employs the 3-D GCE-simulated diabatic source terms (using TOGA COARE observations) - radiation (longwave and shortwave), surface fluxes (sensible and latent heat, and wind stress), and precipitation as input for the Ocean mixed-layer (OML) model.

Actigraphy in the critically ill: correlation with activity, agitation, and sedation.

PubMed

Grap, Mary Jo; Borchers, C Todd; Munro, Cindy L; Elswick, R K; Sessler, Curtis N

2005-01-01

To determine the feasibility of continuous measurement of limb movement via wrist and ankle actigraphy (an activity measure) in critically ill patients and to compare actigraphy measurements with observed activity, subjective scores on sedation-agitation scales, and heart rate and blood pressure of patients. In a prospective, descriptive, correlational study, all activity of 20 adult patients in medical and coronary care units in a university medical center were observed for 2 hours and documented. Wrist and ankle actigraphy, heart rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure data were collected every minute. The Comfort Scale and the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale were completed at the beginning of the observation period and 1 and 2 hours later. Wrist actigraphy data correlated with scores on the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (r = 0.58) and the Comfort Scale (r = 0.62) and with observed stimulation and activity events of patients (r = 0.45). Correlations with systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressures were weaker. Wrist and ankle actigraphy data were significantly correlated (r = 0.69; P < .001); however, their mean values (wrist, 418; ankle, 147) were significantly different (t = 5.77; P < .001). Actigraphy provides a continuous recording of patients' limb movement. Actigraphy measurements correlate well with patients' observed activity and with subjective scores on agitation and sedation scales. Actigraphy may become particularly important as a continuous measurement of activity for use in behavioral research and may enhance early recognition and management of the excessive activity that characterizes agitation.

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

Sword, Charles Keith

A scanner system and method for acquisition of position-based ultrasonic inspection data are described. The scanner system includes an inspection probe and a first non-contact linear encoder having a first sensor and a first scale to track inspection probe position. The first sensor is positioned to maintain a continuous non-contact interface between the first sensor and the first scale and to maintain a continuous alignment of the first sensor with the inspection probe. The scanner system may be used to acquire two-dimensional inspection probe position data by including a second non-contact linear encoder having a second sensor and a secondmore » scale, the second sensor positioned to maintain a continuous non-contact interface between the second sensor and the second scale and to maintain a continuous alignment of the second sensor with the first sensor.« less

On generic obstructions to recovering correct statistics from climate simulations: Homogenization for deterministic maps and multiplicative noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gottwald, Georg; Melbourne, Ian

2013-04-01

Whereas diffusion limits of stochastic multi-scale systems have a long and successful history, the case of constructing stochastic parametrizations of chaotic deterministic systems has been much less studied. We present rigorous results of convergence of a chaotic slow-fast system to a stochastic differential equation with multiplicative noise. Furthermore we present rigorous results for chaotic slow-fast maps, occurring as numerical discretizations of continuous time systems. This raises the issue of how to interpret certain stochastic integrals; surprisingly the resulting integrals of the stochastic limit system are generically neither of Stratonovich nor of Ito type in the case of maps. It is shown that the limit system of a numerical discretisation is different to the associated continuous time system. This has important consequences when interpreting the statistics of long time simulations of multi-scale systems - they may be very different to the one of the original continuous time system which we set out to study.

Patient-clinician ethnic concordance and communication in mental health intake visits.

PubMed

Alegría, Margarita; Roter, Debra L; Valentine, Anne; Chen, Chih-nan; Li, Xinliang; Lin, Julia; Rosen, Daniel; Lapatin, Sheri; Normand, Sharon-Lise; Larson, Susan; Shrout, Patrick E

2013-11-01

This study examines how communication patterns vary across racial and ethnic patient-clinician dyads in mental health intake sessions and its relation to continuance in treatment, defined as attending the next scheduled appointment. Observational study of communication patterns among ethnically/racially concordant and discordant patient-clinician dyads. Primary analysis included 93 patients with 38 clinicians in race/ethnic concordant and discordant dyads. Communication was coded using the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS) and the Working Alliance Inventory Observer (WAI-O) bond scale; continuance in care was derived from chart reviews. Latino concordant dyad patients were more verbally dominant (p<.05), engaged in more patient-centered communication (p<.05) and scored higher on the (WAI-O) bond scale (all p<.05) than other groups. Latino patients had higher continuance rates than other patients in models that adjusted for non-communication variables. When communication, global affect, and therapeutic process variables were adjusted for, differences were reversed and white dyad patients had higher continuance in care rates than other dyad patients. Communication patterns seem to explain the role of ethnic concordance for continuance in care. Improve intercultural communication in cross cultural encounters appears significant for retaining minorities in care. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation of hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae in a continuous plug-flow reactor.

PubMed

Ranganathan, Panneerselvam; Savithri, Sivaraman

2018-06-01

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique is used in this work to simulate the hydrothermal liquefaction of Nannochloropsis sp. microalgae in a lab-scale continuous plug-flow reactor to understand the fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and reaction kinetics in a HTL reactor under hydrothermal condition. The temperature profile in the reactor and the yield of HTL products from the present simulation are obtained and they are validated with the experimental data available in the literature. Furthermore, the parametric study is carried out to study the effect of slurry flow rate, reactor temperature, and external heat transfer coefficient on the yield of products. Though the model predictions are satisfactory in comparison with the experimental results, it still needs to be improved for better prediction of the product yields. This improved model will be considered as a baseline for design and scale-up of large-scale HTL reactor. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multilayer neural networks with extensively many hidden units.

PubMed

Rosen-Zvi, M; Engel, A; Kanter, I

2001-08-13

The information processing abilities of a multilayer neural network with a number of hidden units scaling as the input dimension are studied using statistical mechanics methods. The mapping from the input layer to the hidden units is performed by general symmetric Boolean functions, whereas the hidden layer is connected to the output by either discrete or continuous couplings. Introducing an overlap in the space of Boolean functions as order parameter, the storage capacity is found to scale with the logarithm of the number of implementable Boolean functions. The generalization behavior is smooth for continuous couplings and shows a discontinuous transition to perfect generalization for discrete ones.

Continuous formation of N-chloro-N,N-dialkylamine solutions in well-mixed meso-scale flow reactors

PubMed Central

Jolley, Katherine E

2015-01-01

Summary The continuous flow synthesis of a range of organic solutions of N,N-dialkyl-N-chloramines is described using either a bespoke meso-scale tubular reactor with static mixers or a continuous stirred tank reactor. Both reactors promote the efficient mixing of a biphasic solution of N,N-dialkylamine in organic solvent, and aqueous sodium hypochlorite to achieve near quantitative conversions, in 72–100% in situ yields, and useful productivities of around 0.05 mol/h with residence times from 3 to 20 minutes. Initial calorimetric studies have been carried out to inform on reaction exotherms, rates and safe operation. Amines which partition mainly in the organic phase require longer reaction times, provided by the CSTR, to compensate for low mass transfer rates in the biphasic system. The green metrics of the reaction have been assessed and compared to existing procedures and have shown the continuous process is improved over previous procedures. The organic solutions of N,N-dialkyl-N-chloramines produced continuously will enable their use in tandem flow reactions with a range of nucleophilic substrates. PMID:26734089

Modelling utility-scale wind power plants. Part 1: Economics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milligan, Michael R.

1999-10-01

As the worldwide use of wind turbine generators continues to increase in utility-scale applications, it will become increasingly important to assess the economic and reliability impact of these intermittent resources. Although the utility industry in the United States appears to be moving towards a restructured environment, basic economic and reliability issues will continue to be relevant to companies involved with electricity generation. This article is the first of two which address modelling approaches and results obtained in several case studies and research projects at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). This first article addresses the basic economic issues associated with electricity production from several generators that include large-scale wind power plants. An important part of this discussion is the role of unit commitment and economic dispatch in production cost models. This paper includes overviews and comparisons of the prevalent production cost modelling methods, including several case studies applied to a variety of electric utilities. The second article discusses various methods of assessing capacity credit and results from several reliability-based studies performed at NREL.

Finite-Time and -Size Scalings in the Evaluation of Large Deviation Functions. Numerical Analysis in Continuous Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guevara Hidalgo, Esteban; Nemoto, Takahiro; Lecomte, Vivien

Rare trajectories of stochastic systems are important to understand because of their potential impact. However, their properties are by definition difficult to sample directly. Population dynamics provide a numerical tool allowing their study, by means of simulating a large number of copies of the system, which are subjected to a selection rule that favors the rare trajectories of interest. However, such algorithms are plagued by finite simulation time- and finite population size- effects that can render their use delicate. Using the continuous-time cloning algorithm, we analyze the finite-time and finite-size scalings of estimators of the large deviation functions associated to the distribution of the rare trajectories. We use these scalings in order to propose a numerical approach which allows to extract the infinite-time and infinite-size limit of these estimators.

Use of prescribed fire to reduce wildfire potential

Treesearch

Robert E. Martin; J. Boone Kauffman

1989-01-01

Fires were a part of our wildlands prehistorically. Prescribed burning reduces fire hazard and potential fire behavior primarily by reducing fuel quantity and continuity. Fuel continuity should be considered on the micro scale within stands, the mid-scale among, and the macro-scale among watersheds or entire forests. Prescribed fire is only one of the tools which can...

Nutrient Regulation by Continuous Feeding Removes Limitations on Cell Yield in the Large-Scale Expansion of Mammalian Cell Spheroids

PubMed Central

Weegman, Bradley P.; Nash, Peter; Carlson, Alexandra L.; Voltzke, Kristin J.; Geng, Zhaohui; Jahani, Marjan; Becker, Benjamin B.; Papas, Klearchos K.; Firpo, Meri T.

2013-01-01

Cellular therapies are emerging as a standard approach for the treatment of several diseases. However, realizing the promise of cellular therapies across the full range of treatable disorders will require large-scale, controlled, reproducible culture methods. Bioreactor systems offer the scale-up and monitoring needed, but standard stirred bioreactor cultures do not allow for the real-time regulation of key nutrients in the medium. In this study, β-TC6 insulinoma cells were aggregated and cultured for 3 weeks as a model of manufacturing a mammalian cell product. Cell expansion rates and medium nutrient levels were compared in static, stirred suspension bioreactors (SSB), and continuously fed (CF) SSB. While SSB cultures facilitated increased culture volumes, no increase in cell yields were observed, partly due to limitations in key nutrients, which were consumed by the cultures between feedings, such as glucose. Even when glucose levels were increased to prevent depletion between feedings, dramatic fluctuations in glucose levels were observed. Continuous feeding eliminated fluctuations and improved cell expansion when compared with both static and SSB culture methods. Further improvements in growth rates were observed after adjusting the feed rate based on calculated nutrient depletion, which maintained physiological glucose levels for the duration of the expansion. Adjusting the feed rate in a continuous medium replacement system can maintain the consistent nutrient levels required for the large-scale application of many cell products. Continuously fed bioreactor systems combined with nutrient regulation can be used to improve the yield and reproducibility of mammalian cells for biological products and cellular therapies and will facilitate the translation of cell culture from the research lab to clinical applications. PMID:24204645

Use of SCALE Continuous-Energy Monte Carlo Tools for Eigenvalue Sensitivity Coefficient Calculations

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

Perfetti, Christopher M; Rearden, Bradley T

2013-01-01

The TSUNAMI code within the SCALE code system makes use of eigenvalue sensitivity coefficients for an extensive number of criticality safety applications, such as quantifying the data-induced uncertainty in the eigenvalue of critical systems, assessing the neutronic similarity between different critical systems, and guiding nuclear data adjustment studies. The need to model geometrically complex systems with improved fidelity and the desire to extend TSUNAMI analysis to advanced applications has motivated the development of a methodology for calculating sensitivity coefficients in continuous-energy (CE) Monte Carlo applications. The CLUTCH and Iterated Fission Probability (IFP) eigenvalue sensitivity methods were recently implemented in themore » CE KENO framework to generate the capability for TSUNAMI-3D to perform eigenvalue sensitivity calculations in continuous-energy applications. This work explores the improvements in accuracy that can be gained in eigenvalue and eigenvalue sensitivity calculations through the use of the SCALE CE KENO and CE TSUNAMI continuous-energy Monte Carlo tools as compared to multigroup tools. The CE KENO and CE TSUNAMI tools were used to analyze two difficult models of critical benchmarks, and produced eigenvalue and eigenvalue sensitivity coefficient results that showed a marked improvement in accuracy. The CLUTCH sensitivity method in particular excelled in terms of efficiency and computational memory requirements.« less

SCALE Continuous-Energy Eigenvalue Sensitivity Coefficient Calculations

DOE PAGES

Perfetti, Christopher M.; Rearden, Bradley T.; Martin, William R.

2016-02-25

Sensitivity coefficients describe the fractional change in a system response that is induced by changes to system parameters and nuclear data. The Tools for Sensitivity and UNcertainty Analysis Methodology Implementation (TSUNAMI) code within the SCALE code system makes use of eigenvalue sensitivity coefficients for an extensive number of criticality safety applications, including quantifying the data-induced uncertainty in the eigenvalue of critical systems, assessing the neutronic similarity between different critical systems, and guiding nuclear data adjustment studies. The need to model geometrically complex systems with improved fidelity and the desire to extend TSUNAMI analysis to advanced applications has motivated the developmentmore » of a methodology for calculating sensitivity coefficients in continuous-energy (CE) Monte Carlo applications. The Contributon-Linked eigenvalue sensitivity/Uncertainty estimation via Tracklength importance CHaracterization (CLUTCH) and Iterated Fission Probability (IFP) eigenvalue sensitivity methods were recently implemented in the CE-KENO framework of the SCALE code system to enable TSUNAMI-3D to perform eigenvalue sensitivity calculations using continuous-energy Monte Carlo methods. This work provides a detailed description of the theory behind the CLUTCH method and describes in detail its implementation. This work explores the improvements in eigenvalue sensitivity coefficient accuracy that can be gained through the use of continuous-energy sensitivity methods and also compares several sensitivity methods in terms of computational efficiency and memory requirements.« less

Predictive validity of the Braden Scale, Norton Scale, and Waterlow Scale in the Czech Republic.

PubMed

Šateková, Lenka; Žiaková, Katarína; Zeleníková, Renáta

2017-02-01

The aim of this study was to determine the predictive validity of the Braden, Norton, and Waterlow scales in 2 long-term care departments in the Czech Republic. Assessing the risk for developing pressure ulcers is the first step in their prevention. At present, many scales are used in clinical practice, but most of them have not been properly validated yet (for example, the Modified Norton Scale in the Czech Republic). In the Czech Republic, only the Braden Scale has been validated so far. This is a prospective comparative instrument testing study. A random sample of 123 patients was recruited. The predictive validity of the pressure ulcer risk assessment scales was evaluated based on sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. The data were collected from April to August 2014. In the present study, the best predictive validity values were observed for the Norton Scale, followed by the Braden Scale and the Waterlow Scale, in that order. We recommended that the above 3 pressure ulcer risk assessment scales continue to be evaluated in the Czech clinical setting. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Enhancing a Short Measure of Big Five Personality Traits with Bayesian Scaling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, W. Paul

2014-01-01

A study in a university clinic/laboratory investigated adaptive Bayesian scaling as a supplement to interpretation of scores on the Mini-IPIP. A "probability of belonging" in categories of low, medium, or high on each of the Big Five traits was calculated after each item response and continued until all items had been used or until a…

Dammed in Region Six. The Nez Perce Tribe, Agricultural Development, and the Inequality of Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colombi, Benedict J.

2005-01-01

This essay quantifies the rise and development of agriculture on the Nez Perce reservation and the surrounding watershed. Included in this study is an analysis of Nez Perce pre-contact economy, society, and environment and how the Nez Perces continue to operate from a collective and communal past. Social power and cultural scale provide a…

Laboratory Scale Prototype of a Low-Speed Electrodynamic Levitation System Based on a Halbach Magnet Array

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iniguez, J.; Raposo, V.

2009-01-01

In this paper we analyse the behaviour of a small-scale model of a magnetic levitation system based on the Inductrack concept. Drag and lift forces acting on our prototype, moving above a continuous copper track, are studied analytically following a simple low-speed approach. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical…

Getting to Scale with Moral Education: The Demands of Reproducibility and The Case of The Chicago Manual Training School, 1884-1904

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCamant, Jane

2018-01-01

Background: Getting educational reforms "to scale" continues to be a primary preoccupation of scholars, but such studies tend to remain focused on the organizational or other characteristics of the school(s) receiving a given innovation. Purpose: This article brackets the organizational elements of reform dissemination to consider the…

Modeling the Downstream Processing of Monoclonal Antibodies Reveals Cost Advantages for Continuous Methods for a Broad Range of Manufacturing Scales.

PubMed

Hummel, Jonathan; Pagkaliwangan, Mark; Gjoka, Xhorxhi; Davidovits, Terence; Stock, Rick; Ransohoff, Thomas; Gantier, Rene; Schofield, Mark

2018-01-17

The biopharmaceutical industry is evolving in response to changing market conditions, including increasing competition and growing pressures to reduce costs. Single-use (SU) technologies and continuous bioprocessing have attracted attention as potential facilitators of cost-optimized manufacturing for monoclonal antibodies. While disposable bioprocessing has been adopted at many scales of manufacturing, continuous bioprocessing has yet to reach the same level of implementation. In this study, the cost of goods of Pall Life Science's integrated, continuous bioprocessing (ICB) platform is modeled, along with that of purification processes in stainless-steel and SU batch formats. All three models include costs associated with downstream processing only. Evaluation of the models across a broad range of clinical and commercial scenarios reveal that the cost savings gained by switching from stainless-steel to SU batch processing are often amplified by continuous operation. The continuous platform exhibits the lowest cost of goods across 78% of all scenarios modeled here, with the SU batch process having the lowest costs in the rest of the cases. The relative savings demonstrated by the continuous process are greatest at the highest feed titers and volumes. These findings indicate that existing and imminent continuous technologies and equipment can become key enablers for more cost effective manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Control of occupational exposure to phenol in industrial wastewater treatment plant of a petroleum refinery in Alexandria, Egypt: An intervention application case study.

PubMed

Zaki, Gehan R; El-Marakby, Fadia A; Ramadan, Alaa El-Din K; Issa, Ahmed I; Nofal, Faten H

2016-11-01

Phenol exposure is one of the hazards in the industrial wastewater treatment basin of any refinery. It additively interacts with hydrogen sulfide emitted from the wastewater basin. Consequently, its concentration should be greatly lower than its threshold limit value. The present study aimed at controlling occupational exposure to phenol in the work environment of wastewater treatment plant in a refinery by reducing phenolic compounds in the industrial wastewater basin. This study was conducted on both laboratory and refinery scales. The first was completed by dividing each wastewater sample from the outlets of different refinery units into three portions; the first was analyzed for phenolic compounds. The second and third were for laboratory scale charcoal and bacterial treatments. The two methods were compared regarding their simplicities, design, and removal efficiencies. Accordingly, bacterial treatment by continuous flow of sewage water containing Pseudomonas Aeruginosa was used for refinery scale treatment. Laboratory scale treatment of phenolic compounds revealed higher removal efficiency of charcoal [100.0(0.0) %] than of bacteria [99.9(0.013) %]. The refinery scale bacterial treatment was [99.8(0.013) %] efficient. Consequently, level of phenol in the work environment after refinery-scale treatment [0.069(0.802) mg/m(3)] was much lower than that before [5.700(26.050) mg/m(3)], with removal efficiency of [99.125(2.335) %]. From the present study, we can conclude that bacterial treatment of phenolic compounds in industrial wastewater of the wastewater treatment plant using continuous flow of sewage water containing Pseudomonas Aeruginosa reduces the workers' exposure to phenol.

Catchment-scale snow depth monitoring with balloon photogrammetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durand, M. T.; Li, D.; Wigmore, O.; Vanderjagt, B. J.; Molotch, N. P.; Bales, R. C.

2016-12-01

Field campaigns and permanent in-situ facilities provide extensive measurements of snowpack properties at catchment (or smaller) scales, and have consistently improved our understanding of snow processes and the estimation of snow water resources. However, snow depth, one of the most important snow states, has been measured almost entirely with discrete point-scale samplings in field measurements; spatiotemporally continuous snow depth measurements are nearly nonexistent, mainly due to the high cost of airborne flights and the ban of Unmanned Aerial Systems in many areas (e.g. in all the national parks). In this study, we estimate spatially continuous snow depth from photogrammetric reconstruction of aerial photos taken from a weather balloon. The study was conducted in a 0.2 km2 watershed in Wolverton, Sequoia National Park, California. We tied a point-and-shoot camera on a helium-inflated weather balloon to take aerial images; the camera was scripted to automatically capture images every 3 seconds and to record the camera position and orientation at the imaging times using a built-in GPS. With the 2D images of the snow-covered ground and the camera position and orientation data, the 3D coordinates of the snow surface were reconstructed at 10 cm resolution using photogrammetry software PhotoScan. Similar measurements were taken for the snow-free ground after snowmelt, and the snow depth was estimated from the difference between the snow-on and snow-off measurements. Comparing the photogrammetric-estimated snow depths with the 32 manually measured depths, taken at the same time as the snow-on balloon flight, we find the RMSE of the photogrammetric snow depth is 7 cm, which is 2% of the long-term peak snow depth in the study area. This study suggests that the balloon photogrammetry is a repeatable, economical, simple, and environmental-friendly method to continuously monitor snow at small-scales. Spatiotemporally continuous snow depth could be regularly measured in future field measurements to supplement traditional snow property observations. In addition, since the process of collecting and processing balloon photogrammetry data is straightforward, the photogrammetric snow depth could be shared with the public in real time using our cloud platform that is currently under development.

Gradient perception of children's productions of /s/ and /θ/: A comparative study of rating methods.

PubMed

Schellinger, Sarah K; Munson, Benjamin; Edwards, Jan

2017-01-01

Past studies have shown incontrovertible evidence for the existence of covert contrasts in children's speech, i.e. differences between target productions that are nonetheless transcribed with the same phonetic symbol. Moreover, there is evidence that these are relevant to forming prognoses and tracking progress in children with speech sound disorder. A challenge remains to determine the most efficient and reliable methods for assessing covert contrasts. This study investigates how readily listeners can identify covert contrasts in children's speech when using a continuous rating scale in the form of a visual analogue scale (VAS) to denote children's productions. Individual listeners' VAS responses were found to correlate statistically significantly with a variety of continuous measures of children's production accuracy, including judgements of binary accuracy pooled over a large set of listeners. These findings reinforce the growing body of evidence that VAS judgements are potentially useful clinical measures of covert contrast.

Intercultural Competence in Short-Term Study Abroad

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nguyen, Annie

2017-01-01

Assessment is growing for short-term study abroad as the majority of students (63.1%) continue to choose this option (Institute of International Education, 2016). This study uses the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES) to examine the impact of short-term study abroad programs on students' overall intercultural competency and the connections…

Continual training of attentional bias in social anxiety.

PubMed

Li, Songwei; Tan, Jieqing; Qian, Mingyi; Liu, Xinghua

2008-08-01

Using the dot-probe paradigm, it has been shown that high social anxiety is associated with an attentional bias toward negative information. In the present study, individuals with high social anxiety were divided into two groups randomly. One group was the attentional bias training group (Group T), and the other was the control group (Group C). For Group T, 7 days' continuous training of attentional bias was conducted using the dot-probe paradigm to make socially anxious individuals focus more on positive face pictures. The results showed that the training was effective in changing attentional bias in Group T. Scores of the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) in Group T were reduced compared to Group C, while the scores of Social Phobia Scale (SPS) and scores of Negative Evaluation Scale (FNE) showed no difference between the two groups, which suggested a limited reduction of social anxiety.

Flow Chemistry on Multigram Scale: Continuous Synthesis of Boronic Acids within 1 s.

PubMed

Hafner, Andreas; Meisenbach, Mark; Sedelmeier, Joerg

2016-08-05

The benefits and limitations of a simple continuous flow setup for handling and performing of organolithium chemistry on the multigram scale is described. The developed metalation platform embodies a valuable complement to existing methodologies, as it combines the benefits of Flash Chemistry (chemical synthesis on a time scale of <1 s) with remarkable throughput (g/min) while mitigating the risk of blockages.

EOP and scale from continuous VLBI observing: CONT campaigns to future VGOS networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacMillan, D. S.

2017-07-01

Continuous (CONT) VLBI campaigns have been carried out about every 3 years since 2002. The basic idea of these campaigns is to acquire state-of-the-art VLBI data over a continuous time period of about 2 weeks to demonstrate the highest accuracy of which the current VLBI system is capable. In addition, these campaigns support scientific studies such as investigations of high-resolution Earth rotation, reference frame stability, and daily to sub-daily site motions. The size of the CONT networks and the observing data rate have increased steadily since 1994. Performance of these networks based on reference frame scale precision and polar motion/LOD comparison with global navigation satellite system (GNSS) earth orientation parameters (EOP) has been substantially better than the weekly operational R1 and R4 series. The precisions of CONT EOP and scale have improved by more than a factor of two since 2002. Polar motion precision based on the WRMS difference between VLBI and GNSS for the most recent CONT campaigns is at the 30 μas level, which is comparable to that of GNSS. The CONT campaigns are a natural precursor to the planned future VLBI observing networks, which are expected to observe continuously. We compare the performance of the most recent CONT campaigns in 2011 and 2014 with the expected performance of the future VLBI global observing system network using simulations. These simulations indicate that the expected future precision of scale and EOP will be at least 3 times better than the current CONT precision.

Performance of Sweetpotato for Bioregenerative Life Support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barta, Daniel J.; Henderson, Keith E.; Mortley, Desmond G.; Henninger, Donald L.

2001-01-01

Sweetpotato was successfully grown to harvest maturity in a large-scale atmospherically-closed controlled environment chamber. Yield of edible biomass and capacity for contributing to air revitalization and water recovery were documented. Yield was slightly less than that found in smaller-scale studies, but this is not unusual (Wheeler 1999). Continued work is suggested to improve control of storage root initiation, bulking and vine growth.

Development and psychometric characteristics of a new domain of the stanford faculty development program instrument.

PubMed

Owolabi, Mayowa O

2014-01-01

Teacher's attitude domain, a pivotal aspect of clinical teaching, is missing in the Stanford Faculty Development Program Questionnaire (SFDPQ), the most widely used student-based assessment method of clinical teaching skills. This study was conducted to develop and validate the teacher's attitude domain and evaluate the validity and internal consistency reliability of the augmented SFDPQ. Items generated for the new domain included teacher's enthusiasm, sobriety, humility, thoroughness, empathy, and accessibility. The study involved 20 resident doctors assessed once by 64 medical students using the augmented SFDPQ. Construct validity was explored using correlation among the different domains and a global rating scale. Factor analysis was performed. The response rate was 94%. The new domain had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.89, with 1-factor solution explaining 57.1% of its variance. It showed the strongest correlation to the global rating scale (rho = 0.71). The augmented SFDPQ, which had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.93, correlated better (rho = 0.72, p < 0.00001) to the global rating scale than the original SFDPQ (rho = 0.67, p < 0.00001). The new teacher's attitude domain exhibited good internal consistency and construct and factorial validity. It enhanced the content and construct validity of the SFDPQ. The validated construct of the augmented SFDPQ is recommended for design and evaluation of basic and continuing clinical teaching programs. © 2014 The Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education, and the Council on Continuing Medical Education, Association for Hospital Medical Education.

Informative graphing of continuous safety variables relative to normal reference limits.

PubMed

Breder, Christopher D

2018-05-16

Interpreting graphs of continuous safety variables can be complicated because differences in age, gender, and testing site methodologies data may give rise to multiple reference limits. Furthermore, data below the lower limit of normal are compressed relative to those points above the upper limit of normal. The objective of this study is to develop a graphing technique that addresses these issues and is visually intuitive. A mock dataset with multiple reference ranges is initially used to develop the graphing technique. Formulas are developed for conditions where data are above the upper limit of normal, normal, below the lower limit of normal, and below the lower limit of normal when the data value equals zero. After the formulae are developed, an anonymized dataset from an actual set of trials for an approved drug is evaluated comparing the technique developed in this study to standard graphical methods. Formulas are derived for the novel graphing method based on multiples of the normal limits. The formula for values scaled between the upper and lower limits of normal is a novel application of a readily available scaling formula. The formula for the lower limit of normal is novel and addresses the issue of this value potentially being indeterminate when the result to be scaled as a multiple is zero. The formulae and graphing method described in this study provides a visually intuitive method to graph continuous safety data including laboratory values, vital sign data.

Validation of the replica trick for simple models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shinzato, Takashi

2018-04-01

We discuss the replica analytic continuation using several simple models in order to prove mathematically the validity of the replica analysis, which is used in a wide range of fields related to large-scale complex systems. While replica analysis consists of two analytical techniques—the replica trick (or replica analytic continuation) and the thermodynamical limit (and/or order parameter expansion)—we focus our study on replica analytic continuation, which is the mathematical basis of the replica trick. We apply replica analysis to solve a variety of analytical models, and examine the properties of replica analytic continuation. Based on the positive results for these models we propose that replica analytic continuation is a robust procedure in replica analysis.

Universal scaling function in discrete time asymmetric exclusion processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chia, Nicholas; Bundschuh, Ralf

2005-03-01

In the universality class of the one dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang surface growth, Derrida and Lebowitz conjectured the universality of not only the scaling exponents, but of an entire scaling function. Since Derrida and Lebowitz' original publication this universality has been verified for a variety of continuous time systems in the KPZ universality class. We study the Derrida-Lebowitz scaling function for multi-particle versions of the discrete time Asymmetric Exclusion Process. We find that in this discrete time system the Derrida-Lebowitz scaling function not only properly characterizes the large system size limit, but even accurately describes surprisingly small systems. These results have immediate applications in searching biological sequence databases.

Anomalous dispersion in correlated porous media: a coupled continuous time random walk approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Comolli, Alessandro; Dentz, Marco

2017-09-01

We study the causes of anomalous dispersion in Darcy-scale porous media characterized by spatially heterogeneous hydraulic properties. Spatial variability in hydraulic conductivity leads to spatial variability in the flow properties through Darcy's law and thus impacts on solute and particle transport. We consider purely advective transport in heterogeneity scenarios characterized by broad distributions of heterogeneity length scales and point values. Particle transport is characterized in terms of the stochastic properties of equidistantly sampled Lagrangian velocities, which are determined by the flow and conductivity statistics. The persistence length scales of flow and transport velocities are imprinted in the spatial disorder and reflect the distribution of heterogeneity length scales. Particle transitions over the velocity length scales are kinematically coupled with the transition time through velocity. We show that the average particle motion follows a coupled continuous time random walk (CTRW), which is fully parameterized by the distribution of flow velocities and the medium geometry in terms of the heterogeneity length scales. The coupled CTRW provides a systematic framework for the investigation of the origins of anomalous dispersion in terms of heterogeneity correlation and the distribution of conductivity point values. We derive analytical expressions for the asymptotic scaling of the moments of the spatial particle distribution and first arrival time distribution (FATD), and perform numerical particle tracking simulations of the coupled CTRW to capture the full average transport behavior. Broad distributions of heterogeneity point values and lengths scales may lead to very similar dispersion behaviors in terms of the spatial variance. Their mechanisms, however are very different, which manifests in the distributions of particle positions and arrival times, which plays a central role for the prediction of the fate of dissolved substances in heterogeneous natural and engineered porous materials. Contribution to the Topical Issue "Continuous Time Random Walk Still Trendy: Fifty-year History, Current State and Outlook", edited by Ryszard Kutner and Jaume Masoliver.

GIS-Based Sub-Basin Scale Identification of Dominant Runoff Processes for Soil and Water Management in Anambra Area of Nigeria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fagbohun, Babatunde Joseph; Olabode, Oluwaseun Franklin; Adebola, Abiodun Olufemi; Akinluyi, Francis Omowonuola

2017-12-01

Identifying landscapes having comparable hydrological characteristics is valuable for the determination of dominant runoff process (DRP) and prediction of flood. Several approaches used for DRP-mapping vary in relation to data and time requirement. Manual approaches which are based on field investigation and expert knowledge are time demanding and difficult to implement at regional scale. Automatic GIS-based approach on the other hand require simplification of data but is easier to implement and it is applicable on a regional scale. In this study, GIS-based automated approach was used to identify the DRPs in Anambra area. The result showed that Hortonian overland flow (HOF) has the highest coverage of 1508.3 km2 (33.5%) followed by deep percolation (DP) with coverage of 1455.3 km2 (32.3%). Subsurface flow (SSF) is the third dominant runoff process covering 920.6 km2 (20.4%) while saturated overland flow (SOF) covers the least area of 618.4 km2 (13.7%) of the study area. The result reveal that considerable amount of precipitated water would be infiltrated into the subsurface through deep percolation process contributing to groundwater recharge in the study area. However, it is envisaged that HOF and SOF will continue to increase due to the continuous expansion of built-up area. With the expected increase in HOF and SOF, and the change in rainfall pattern associated with perpetual problem of climate change, it is paramount that groundwater conservation practices should be considered to ensure continued sustainable utilization of groundwater in the study area.

Continuous System-Level Scale for Comparing Laser Gain Media

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

thickness in Yb3+-doped microchip lasers . J. Opt. Soc. Am. B October 2003, 20, 2061–2067. 29. Liu, Q.; Gong, M.; Lu, F.; Gong, W.; Li, C. 520-W...Continuous “System-Level” Scale for Comparing Laser Gain Media by Jeffrey O. White ARL-TR-4682 December 2008...System-Level” Scale for Comparing Laser Gain Media Jeffrey O. White Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate, ARL

One-year symptom trajectories in patients with stable schizophrenia maintained on antipsychotics versus placebo: meta-analysis.

PubMed

Takeuchi, Hiroyoshi; Kantor, Navot; Sanches, Marcos; Fervaha, Gagan; Agid, Ofer; Remington, Gary

2017-09-01

Background As definitions of relapse differ substantially between studies, in investigations involving data aggregation, total scores on clinical rating scales provide a more generalisable outcome. Aims To compare total symptom trajectories for antipsychotic versus placebo treatment over a 1-year period of maintenance treatment in schizophrenia. Method Randomised controlled trials with antipsychotic and placebo treatment arms in patients with stable schizophrenia that reported Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale total scores at more than one time point were included. Meta-regression analyses were employed using a mixed model. Results A total of 11 studies involving 2826 patients were included. Meta-regression analyses revealed significant interactions between group and time ( PS <0.0001); both standardised total scores and per cent score changes remained almost unchanged in patients continuing antipsychotic treatment, whereas symptoms continuously worsened over time in those switching to placebo treatment. Conclusions When considering long-term antipsychotic treatment of schizophrenia, clinicians must balance symptomatic and functional outcomes. © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2017.

Estimating interaction on an additive scale between continuous determinants in a logistic regression model.

PubMed

Knol, Mirjam J; van der Tweel, Ingeborg; Grobbee, Diederick E; Numans, Mattijs E; Geerlings, Mirjam I

2007-10-01

To determine the presence of interaction in epidemiologic research, typically a product term is added to the regression model. In linear regression, the regression coefficient of the product term reflects interaction as departure from additivity. However, in logistic regression it refers to interaction as departure from multiplicativity. Rothman has argued that interaction estimated as departure from additivity better reflects biologic interaction. So far, literature on estimating interaction on an additive scale using logistic regression only focused on dichotomous determinants. The objective of the present study was to provide the methods to estimate interaction between continuous determinants and to illustrate these methods with a clinical example. and results From the existing literature we derived the formulas to quantify interaction as departure from additivity between one continuous and one dichotomous determinant and between two continuous determinants using logistic regression. Bootstrapping was used to calculate the corresponding confidence intervals. To illustrate the theory with an empirical example, data from the Utrecht Health Project were used, with age and body mass index as risk factors for elevated diastolic blood pressure. The methods and formulas presented in this article are intended to assist epidemiologists to calculate interaction on an additive scale between two variables on a certain outcome. The proposed methods are included in a spreadsheet which is freely available at: http://www.juliuscenter.nl/additive-interaction.xls.

Metacommunity versus Biogeography: A Case Study of Two Groups of Neotropical Vegetation-Dwelling Arthropods

PubMed Central

Gonçalves-Souza, Thiago; Romero, Gustavo Q.; Cottenie, Karl

2014-01-01

Biogeography and metacommunity ecology provide two different perspectives on species diversity. Both are spatial in nature but their spatial scales do not necessarily match. With recent boom of metacommunity studies, we see an increasing need for clear discrimination of spatial scales relevant for both perspectives. This discrimination is a necessary prerequisite for improved understanding of ecological phenomena across scales. Here we provide a case study to illustrate some spatial scale-dependent concepts in recent metacommunity studies and identify potential pitfalls. We presented here the diversity patterns of Neotropical lepidopterans and spiders viewed both from metacommunity and biogeographical perspectives. Specifically, we investigated how the relative importance of niche- and dispersal-based processes for community assembly change at two spatial scales: metacommunity scale, i.e. within a locality, and biogeographical scale, i.e. among localities widely scattered along a macroclimatic gradient. As expected, niche-based processes dominated the community assembly at metacommunity scale, while dispersal-based processes played a major role at biogeographical scale for both taxonomical groups. However, we also observed small but significant spatial effects at metacommunity scale and environmental effects at biogeographical scale. We also observed differences in diversity patterns between the two taxonomical groups corresponding to differences in their dispersal modes. Our results thus support the idea of continuity of processes interactively shaping diversity patterns across scales and emphasize the necessity of integration of metacommunity and biogeographical perspectives. PMID:25549332

Continuous Purification of Colloidal Quantum Dots in Large-Scale Using Porous Electrodes in Flow Channel.

PubMed

Lim, Hosub; Woo, Ju Young; Lee, Doh C; Lee, Jinkee; Jeong, Sohee; Kim, Duckjong

2017-02-27

Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) afford huge potential in numerous applications owing to their excellent optical and electronic properties. After the synthesis of QDs, separating QDs from unreacted impurities in large scale is one of the biggest issues to achieve scalable and high performance optoelectronic applications. Thus far, however, continuous purification method, which is essential for mass production, has rarely been reported. In this study, we developed a new continuous purification process that is suitable to the mass production of high-quality QDs. As-synthesized QDs are driven by electrophoresis in a flow channel and captured by porous electrodes and finally separated from the unreacted impurities. Nuclear magnetic resonance and ultraviolet/visible/near-infrared absorption spectroscopic data clearly showed that the impurities were efficiently removed from QDs with the purification yield, defined as the ratio of the mass of purified QDs to that of QDs in the crude solution, up to 87%. Also, we could successfully predict the purification yield depending on purification conditions with a simple theoretical model. The proposed large-scale purification process could be an important cornerstone for the mass production and industrial use of high-quality QDs.

Continuous Purification of Colloidal Quantum Dots in Large-Scale Using Porous Electrodes in Flow Channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Hosub; Woo, Ju Young; Lee, Doh Chang; Lee, Jinkee; Jeong, Sohee; Kim, Duckjong

2017-11-01

Colloidal Quantum dots (QDs) afford huge potential in numerous applications owing to their excellent optical and electronic properties. After the synthesis of QDs, separating QDs from unreacted impurities in large scale is one of the biggest issues to achieve scalable and high performance optoelectronic applications. Thus far, however, continuous purification method, which is essential for mass production, has rarely been reported. In this study, we developed a new continuous purification process that is suitable to the mass production of high-quality QDs. As-synthesized QDs are driven by electrophoresis in a flow channel and captured by porous electrodes and finally separated from the unreacted impurities. Nuclear magnetic resonance and ultraviolet/visible/near-infrared absorption spectroscopic data clearly showed that the impurities were efficiently removed from QDs with the purification yield, defined as the ratio of the mass of purified QDs to that of QDs in the crude solution, up to 87%. Also, we could successfully predict the purification yield depending on purification conditions with a simple theoretical model. The proposed large-scale purification process could be an important cornerstone for the mass production and industrial use of high-quality QDs.

Structural assessment of "d" regions affected by premature concrete deterioration : technical report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-03-01

The current study is a continuation of the earlier study that investigated the effects of Alkali Silica Reaction (ASR) and Delayed : Ettringite Formation (DEF) induced deterioration on the D-Regions of structures. Of the four near full-scale C-Beam s...

Recent (1999-2003) Canadian research on contemporary processes of river erosion and sedimentation, and river mechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Boer, D. H.; Hassan, M. A.; MacVicar, B.; Stone, M.

2005-01-01

Contributions by Canadian fluvial geomorphologists between 1999 and 2003 are discussed under four major themes: sediment yield and sediment dynamics of large rivers; cohesive sediment transport; turbulent flow structure and sediment transport; and bed material transport and channel morphology. The paper concludes with a section on recent technical advances. During the review period, substantial progress has been made in investigating the details of fluvial processes at relatively small scales. Examples of this emphasis are the studies of flow structure, turbulence characteristics and bedload transport, which continue to form central themes in fluvial research in Canada. Translating the knowledge of small-scale, process-related research to an understanding of the behaviour of large-scale fluvial systems, however, continues to be a formidable challenge. Models play a prominent role in elucidating the link between small-scale processes and large-scale fluvial geomorphology, and, as a result, a number of papers describing models and modelling results have been published during the review period. In addition, a number of investigators are now approaching the problem by directly investigating changes in the system of interest at larger scales, e.g. a channel reach over tens of years, and attempting to infer what processes may have led to the result. It is to be expected that these complementary approaches will contribute to an increased understanding of fluvial systems at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Copyright

High-performance recombinant protein production with Escherichia coli in continuously operated cascades of stirred-tank reactors.

PubMed

Schmideder, Andreas; Weuster-Botz, Dirk

2017-07-01

The microbial expression of intracellular, recombinant proteins in continuous bioprocesses suffers from low product concentrations. Hence, a process for the intracellular production of photoactivatable mCherry with Escherichia coli in a continuously operated cascade of two stirred-tank reactors was established to separate biomass formation (first reactor) and protein expression (second reactor) spatially. Cascades of miniaturized stirred-tank reactors were implemented, which enable the 24-fold parallel characterization of cascade processes and the direct scale-up of results to the liter scale. With PAmCherry concentrations of 1.15 g L -1 cascades of stirred-tank reactors improved the process performance significantly compared to production processes in chemostats. In addition, an optimized fed-batch process was outperformed regarding space-time yield (149 mg L -1  h -1 ). This study implicates continuous cascade processes to be a promising alternative to fed-batch processes for microbial protein production and demonstrates that miniaturized stirred-tank reactors can reduce the timeline and costs for cascade process characterization.

Development of an integrated generic model for multi-scale assessment of the impacts of agro-ecosystems on major ecosystem services in West Africa.

PubMed

Belem, Mahamadou; Saqalli, Mehdi

2017-11-01

This paper presents an integrated model assessing the impacts of climate change, agro-ecosystem and demographic transition patterns on major ecosystem services in West-Africa along a partial overview of economic aspects (poverty reduction, food self-sufficiency and income generation). The model is based on an agent-based model associated with a soil model and multi-scale spatial model. The resulting Model for West-Africa Agro-Ecosystem Integrated Assessment (MOWASIA) is ecologically generic, meaning it is designed for all sudano-sahelian environments but may then be used as an experimentation facility for testing different scenarios combining ecological and socioeconomic dimensions. A case study in Burkina Faso is examined to assess the environmental and economic performances of semi-continuous and continuous farming systems. Results show that the semi-continuous system using organic fertilizer and fallowing practices contribute better to environment preservation and food security than the more economically performant continuous system. In addition, this study showed that farmers heterogeneity could play an important role in agricultural policies planning and assessment. In addition, the results showed that MOWASIA is an effective tool for designing, analysing the impacts of agro-ecosystems. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Ejecta- and Size-Scaling Considerations from Impacts of Glass Projectiles into Sand

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson J. L. B.; Cintala, M. J.; Siebenaler, S. A.; Barnouin-Jha, O. S.

2007-01-01

One of the most promising means of learning how initial impact conditions are related to the processes leading to the formation of a planetary-scale crater is through scaling relationships.1,2,3 The first phase of deriving such relationships has led to great insight into the cratering process and has yielded predictive capabilities that are mathematically rigorous and internally consistent. Such derivations typically have treated targets as continuous media; in many, cases, however, planetary materials represent irregular and discontinuous targets, the effects of which on the scaling relationships are still poorly understood.4,5 We continue to examine the effects of varying impact conditions on the excavation and final dimensions of craters formed in sand. Along with the more commonly treated variables such as impact speed, projectile size and material, and impact angle,6 such experiments also permit the study of changing granularity and friction angle of the target materials. This contribution presents some of the data collected during and after the impact of glass spheres into a medium-grained sand.

Birthdate psychology: a new look at some old data.

PubMed

Pellegrini, R J

1975-03-01

This brief note deals with the development of alternative perspectives on the provocative, and as yet unexplained result of an earlier study in which groups of people born under different astrological zodiac signs were found to differ markedly in their scores on the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) scale described as a measure of "Femininity." Attention is focused on (a) discrepancies between the observed pattern of high and low scores on the CPI Femininity scale, and classification of sun signs as "masculine" or "feminine" by astrologers; (b) the trend in the data indicating that the six sun sign categories for which the highest scores were obtained on the Femininity scale correspond to birthdates running continuously from July 24 to January 20, while the six sun sign categories for which the lowest scores were obtained on that scale correspond to birthdates running continuously from January 21 to July 23; and (c) speculative consideration of the kinds of climatic, dietary, and/or cyclical geomagnetic events that might affect reproduction and prenatal and/or neonatal development in such a way as to influence adult personality.

Nonlinear dynamics of global atmospheric and earth system processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, Taiping; Verbitsky, Mikhail; Saltzman, Barry; Mann, Michael E.; Park, Jeffrey; Lall, Upmanu

1995-01-01

During the grant period, the authors continued ongoing studies aimed at enhancing their understanding of the operation of the atmosphere as a complex nonlinear system interacting with the hydrosphere, biosphere, and cryosphere in response to external radiative forcing. Five papers were completed with support from the grant, representing contributions in three main areas of study: (1) theoretical studies of the interactive atmospheric response to changed biospheric boundary conditions measurable from satellites; (2) statistical-observational studies of global-scale temperature variability on interannual to century time scales; and (3) dynamics of long-term earth system changes associated with ice sheet surges.

Effects on aquatic and human health due to large scale bioenergy crop expansion.

PubMed

Love, Bradley J; Einheuser, Matthew D; Nejadhashemi, A Pouyan

2011-08-01

In this study, the environmental impacts of large scale bioenergy crops were evaluated using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Daily pesticide concentration data for a study area consisting of four large watersheds located in Michigan (totaling 53,358 km²) was estimated over a six year period (2000-2005). Model outputs for atrazine, bromoxynil, glyphosate, metolachlor, pendimethalin, sethoxydim, triflualin, and 2,4-D model output were used to predict the possible long-term implications that large-scale bioenergy crop expansion may have on the bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) and humans. Threshold toxicity levels were obtained for the bluegill and for human consumption for all pesticides being evaluated through an extensive literature review. Model output was compared to each toxicity level for the suggested exposure time (96-hour for bluegill and 24-hour for humans). The results suggest that traditional intensive row crops such as canola, corn and sorghum may negatively impact aquatic life, and in most cases affect the safe drinking water availability. The continuous corn rotation, the most representative rotation for current agricultural practices for a starch-based ethanol economy, delivers the highest concentrations of glyphosate to the stream. In addition, continuous canola contributed to a concentration of 1.11 ppm of trifluralin, a highly toxic herbicide, which is 8.7 times the 96-hour ecotoxicity of bluegills and 21 times the safe drinking water level. Also during the period of study, continuous corn resulted in the impairment of 541,152 km of stream. However, there is promise with second-generation lignocellulosic bioenergy crops such as switchgrass, which resulted in a 171,667 km reduction in total stream length that exceeds the human threshold criteria, as compared to the base scenario. Results of this study may be useful in determining the suitability of bioenergy crop rotations and aid in decision making regarding the adaptation of large-scale bioenergy cropping systems. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Large scale in vivo recordings to study neuronal biophysics.

PubMed

Giocomo, Lisa M

2015-06-01

Over the last several years, technological advances have enabled researchers to more readily observe single-cell membrane biophysics in awake, behaving animals. Studies utilizing these technologies have provided important insights into the mechanisms generating functional neural codes in both sensory and non-sensory cortical circuits. Crucial for a deeper understanding of how membrane biophysics control circuit dynamics however, is a continued effort to move toward large scale studies of membrane biophysics, in terms of the numbers of neurons and ion channels examined. Future work faces a number of theoretical and technical challenges on this front but recent technological developments hold great promise for a larger scale understanding of how membrane biophysics contribute to circuit coding and computation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ensuring IT service continuity in the face of increasing threats.

PubMed

Nair, Vishwanath

2014-01-01

How is IT service continuity related to business continuity management? Is it just a glorified disaster recovery procedure? Will IT service continuity help increase the assurance of IT services from the business owner to the customer? This paper is an attempt at answering these and many such questions. It is presented as a case study of IT service continuity management implementation at Emirates Group IT, Dubai. It takes the reader through the need for the process as felt by the business, through the learning acquired during implementation, to the practices deployed for managing the process on an ongoing basis. It provides a detailed view of the kind of pitfalls that could be encountered during implementation of the IT service continuity management process in a large-scale enterprise.

Kinetic Study of Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol Fermentation in Continuous Culture

PubMed Central

Buehler, Edward A.; Mesbah, Ali

2016-01-01

Acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation by clostridia has shown promise for industrial-scale production of biobutanol. However, the continuous ABE fermentation suffers from low product yield, titer, and productivity. Systems analysis of the continuous ABE fermentation will offer insights into its metabolic pathway as well as into optimal fermentation design and operation. For the ABE fermentation in continuous Clostridium acetobutylicum culture, this paper presents a kinetic model that includes the effects of key metabolic intermediates and enzymes as well as culture pH, product inhibition, and glucose inhibition. The kinetic model is used for elucidating the behavior of the ABE fermentation under the conditions that are most relevant to continuous cultures. To this end, dynamic sensitivity analysis is performed to systematically investigate the effects of culture conditions, reaction kinetics, and enzymes on the dynamics of the ABE production pathway. The analysis provides guidance for future metabolic engineering and fermentation optimization studies. PMID:27486663

SCALING-UP INFORMATION IN LAND-COVER DATA FOR LARGE-SCALE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS

EPA Science Inventory

The NLCD project provides national-scope land-cover data for the conterminous United States. The first land-cover data set was completed in 2000, and the continuing need for recent land-cover information has motivated continuation of the project to provide current and change info...

State of the art of aerobic granulation in continuous flow bioreactors.

PubMed

Kent, Timothy R; Bott, Charles B; Wang, Zhi-Wu

In the wake of the success of aerobic granulation in sequential batch reactors (SBRs) for treating wastewater, attention is beginning to turn to continuous flow applications. This is a necessary step given the advantages of continuous flow treatment processes and the fact that the majority of full-scale wastewater treatment plants across the world are operated with aeration tanks and clarifiers in a continuous flow mode. As in SBRs, applying a selection pressure, based on differences in either settling velocity or the size of the biomass, is essential for successful granulation in continuous flow reactors (CFRs). CFRs employed for aerobic granulation come in multiple configurations, each with their own means of achieving such a selection pressure. Other factors, such as bioaugmentation and hydraulic shear force, also contribute to aerobic granulation to some extent. Besides the formation of aerobic granules, long-term stability of aerobic granules is also a critical issue to be addressed. Inorganic precipitation, special inocula, and various operational optimization strategies have been used to improve granule long-term structural integrity. Accumulated studies reviewed in this work demonstrate that aerobic granulation in CFRs is capable of removing a wide spectrum of contaminants and achieving properties generally comparable to those in SBRs. Despite the notable research progress made toward successful aerobic granulation in lab-scale CFRs, to the best of our knowledge, there are only three full-scale tests of the technique, two being seeded with anammox-supported aerobic granules and the other with conventional aerobic granules; two other process alternatives are currently in development. Application of settling- or size-based selection pressures and feast/famine conditions are especially difficult to implement to these and similar mainstream systems. Future research efforts needs to be focused on the optimization of the granule-to-floc ratio, enhancement of granule activity, improvement of long-term granule stability, and a better understanding of aerobic granulation mechanisms in CFRs, especially in full-scale applications. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Catalytic multi-stage liquefaction of coal at HTI: Bench-scale studies in coal/waste plastics coprocessing

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

Pradhan, V.R.; Lee, L.K.; Stalzer, R.H.

1995-12-31

The development of Catalytic Multi-Stage Liquefaction (CMSL) at HTI has focused on both bituminous and sub-bituminous coals using laboratory, bench and PDU scale operations. The crude oil equivalent cost of liquid fuels from coal has been curtailed to about $30 per barrel, thus achieving over 30% reduction in the price that was evaluated for the liquefaction technologies demonstrated in the late seventies and early eighties. Contrary to the common belief, the new generation of catalytic multistage coal liquefaction process is environmentally very benign and can produce clean, premium distillates with a very low (<10ppm) heteroatoms content. The HTI Staff hasmore » been involved over the years in process development and has made significant improvements in the CMSL processing of coals. A 24 month program (extended to September 30, 1995) to study novel concepts, using a continuous bench scale Catalytic Multi-Stage unit (30kg coal/day), has been initiated since December, 1992. This program consists of ten bench-scale operations supported by Laboratory Studies, Modelling, Process Simulation and Economic Assessments. The Catalytic Multi-Stage Liquefaction is a continuation of the second generation yields using a low/high temperature approach. This paper covers work performed between October 1994- August 1995, especially results obtained from the microautoclave support activities and the bench-scale operations for runs CMSL-08 and CMSL-09, during which, coal and the plastic components for municipal solid wastes (MSW) such as high density polyethylene (HDPE)m, polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polythylene terphthlate (PET) were coprocessed.« less

Examining the relationship between recreational sport participation and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and amotivation.

PubMed

Tsorbatzoudis, Haralambos; Alexandris, Konstantinos; Zahariadis, Panagiotis; Grouios, George

2006-10-01

This study aimed at investigating the effect of motivational dimensions proposed by Pelletier, et al. in 1995, both on sport participation levels and on intention for continuing participation among adult recreational sport participants. Two hundred and fifty-seven adult individuals, who reported participation in some type of sport and physical activity, completed the Sport Motivation Scale and a scale measuring intention. The study provided evidence to suggest that increased motivation leads to increased participation. Amotivation significantly decreased from the least to the most frequent participant groups, while both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation followed the reverse pattern. The results also indicated that increased intrinsic motivation to gain knowledge and accomplishment and extrinsic motivation (introjected regulation) are positively correlated with individuals' intentions to continue participation, while amotivation is negatively related. These results provide limited support for the self-determination theory. Implications for sport participation promotion are discussed.

Immobilized lysozyme for the continuous lysis of lactic bacteria in wine: Bench-scale fluidized-bed reactor study.

PubMed

Cappannella, Elena; Benucci, Ilaria; Lombardelli, Claudio; Liburdi, Katia; Bavaro, Teodora; Esti, Marco

2016-11-01

Lysozyme from hen egg white (HEWL) was covalently immobilized on spherical supports based on microbial chitosan in order to develop a system for the continuous, efficient and food-grade enzymatic lysis of lactic bacteria (Oenococcus oeni) in white and red wine. The objective is to limit the sulfur dioxide dosage required to control malolactic fermentation, via a cell concentration typical during this process. The immobilization procedure was optimized in batch mode, evaluating the enzyme loading, the specific activity, and the kinetic parameters in model wine. Subsequently, a bench-scale fluidized-bed reactor was developed, applying the optimized process conditions. HEWL appeared more effective in the immobilized form than in the free one, when the reactor was applied in real white and red wine. This preliminary study suggests that covalent immobilization renders the enzyme less sensitive to the inhibitory effect of wine flavans. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the Efficacy of Nocturnal Continuous Subcutaneous Apomorphine Infusion in Sleep Disorders in Advanced Parkinson's Disease: The APO-NIGHT Study.

PubMed

Fernández-Pajarín, Gustavo; Sesar, Ángel; Ares, Begoña; Castro, Alfonso

2016-10-19

There are not many data about the beneficial effect of nocturnal continuous subcutaneous apomorphine infusion (NCSAI) over sleep disturbances in advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). Evaluate the effect of the NCSAI in sleeping problems and insomnia due to nocturnal hypokinesia inadvanced PD. We assessed 17 advanced PD patients with several sleep disturbances measured by SCOPA-SLEEP and PDSS scales. All the patients were on apomorphine infusion during daytime. This therapy was extended to nighttime. We evaluated the patients before the onset and after six weeks with NCSAI. NCSAI allowed highly significant improvements in SCOPA-SLEEP and PDSS scales (p<0.0001), and daytime somnolence. NCSAI was well tolerated with no major adverse effects were noticed. This study shows and confirms the efficacy of NCSAI on the sleep disturbances related to advanced PD. We provide an easy protocol to start this therapy.

Study on Thermal Decomposition Characteristics of Ammonium Nitrate Emulsion Explosive in Different Scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Qiujie; Tan, Liu; Xu, Sen; Liu, Dabin; Min, Li

2018-04-01

Numerous accidents of emulsion explosive (EE) are attributed to uncontrolled thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate emulsion (ANE, the intermediate of EE) and EE in large scale. In order to study the thermal decomposition characteristics of ANE and EE in different scales, a large-scale test of modified vented pipe test (MVPT), and two laboratory-scale tests of differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and accelerating rate calorimeter (ARC) were applied in the present study. The scale effect and water effect both play an important role in the thermal stability of ANE and EE. The measured decomposition temperatures of ANE and EE in MVPT are 146°C and 144°C, respectively, much lower than those in DSC and ARC. As the size of the same sample in DSC, ARC, and MVPT successively increases, the onset temperatures decrease. In the same test, the measured onset temperature value of ANE is higher than that of EE. The water composition of the sample stabilizes the sample. The large-scale test of MVPT can provide information for the real-life operations. The large-scale operations have more risks, and continuous overheating should be avoided.

Rural to Urban Population Density Scaling of Crime and Property Transactions in English and Welsh Parliamentary Constituencies.

PubMed

Hanley, Quentin S; Lewis, Dan; Ribeiro, Haroldo V

2016-01-01

Urban population scaling of resource use, creativity metrics, and human behaviors has been widely studied. These studies have not looked in detail at the full range of human environments which represent a continuum from the most rural to heavily urban. We examined monthly police crime reports and property transaction values across all 573 Parliamentary Constituencies in England and Wales, finding that scaling models based on population density provided a far superior framework to traditional population scaling. We found four types of scaling: i) non-urban scaling in which a single power law explained the relationship between the metrics and population density from the most rural to heavily urban environments, ii) accelerated scaling in which high population density was associated with an increase in the power-law exponent, iii) inhibited scaling where the urban environment resulted in a reduction in the power-law exponent but remained positive, and iv) collapsed scaling where transition to the high density environment resulted in a negative scaling exponent. Urban scaling transitions, when observed, took place universally between 10 and 70 people per hectare. This study significantly refines our understanding of urban scaling, making clear that some of what has been previously ascribed to urban environments may simply be the high density portion of non-urban scaling. It also makes clear that some metrics undergo specific transitions in urban environments and these transitions can include negative scaling exponents indicative of collapse. This study gives promise of far more sophisticated scale adjusted metrics and indicates that studies of urban scaling represent a high density subsection of overall scaling relationships which continue into rural environments.

Rural to Urban Population Density Scaling of Crime and Property Transactions in English and Welsh Parliamentary Constituencies

PubMed Central

Hanley, Quentin S.; Lewis, Dan; Ribeiro, Haroldo V.

2016-01-01

Urban population scaling of resource use, creativity metrics, and human behaviors has been widely studied. These studies have not looked in detail at the full range of human environments which represent a continuum from the most rural to heavily urban. We examined monthly police crime reports and property transaction values across all 573 Parliamentary Constituencies in England and Wales, finding that scaling models based on population density provided a far superior framework to traditional population scaling. We found four types of scaling: i) non-urban scaling in which a single power law explained the relationship between the metrics and population density from the most rural to heavily urban environments, ii) accelerated scaling in which high population density was associated with an increase in the power-law exponent, iii) inhibited scaling where the urban environment resulted in a reduction in the power-law exponent but remained positive, and iv) collapsed scaling where transition to the high density environment resulted in a negative scaling exponent. Urban scaling transitions, when observed, took place universally between 10 and 70 people per hectare. This study significantly refines our understanding of urban scaling, making clear that some of what has been previously ascribed to urban environments may simply be the high density portion of non-urban scaling. It also makes clear that some metrics undergo specific transitions in urban environments and these transitions can include negative scaling exponents indicative of collapse. This study gives promise of far more sophisticated scale adjusted metrics and indicates that studies of urban scaling represent a high density subsection of overall scaling relationships which continue into rural environments. PMID:26886219

Observing a scale anomaly and a universal quantum phase transition in graphene.

PubMed

Ovdat, O; Mao, Jinhai; Jiang, Yuhang; Andrei, E Y; Akkermans, E

2017-09-11

One of the most interesting predictions resulting from quantum physics, is the violation of classical symmetries, collectively referred to as anomalies. A remarkable class of anomalies occurs when the continuous scale symmetry of a scale-free quantum system is broken into a discrete scale symmetry for a critical value of a control parameter. This is an example of a (zero temperature) quantum phase transition. Such an anomaly takes place for the quantum inverse square potential known to describe 'Efimov physics'. Broken continuous scale symmetry into discrete scale symmetry also appears for a charged and massless Dirac fermion in an attractive 1/r Coulomb potential. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the universality of this quantum phase transition and to present convincing experimental evidence of its existence for a charged and massless fermion in an attractive Coulomb potential as realized in graphene.When the continuous scale symmetry of a quantum system is broken, anomalies occur which may lead to quantum phase transitions. Here, the authors provide evidence for such a quantum phase transition in the attractive Coulomb potential of vacancies in graphene, and further envision its universality for diverse physical systems.

Patterns of change in withdrawal symptoms, desire to smoke, reward motivation and response inhibition across 3 months of smoking abstinence.

PubMed

Dawkins, Lynne; Powell, Jane H; Pickering, Alan; Powell, John; West, Robert

2009-05-01

We have demonstrated previously that acute smoking abstinence is associated with lowered reward motivation and impaired response inhibition. This prospective study explores whether these impairments, along with withdrawal-related symptoms, recover over 3 months of sustained abstinence. Participants completed a 12-hour abstinent baseline assessment and were then allocated randomly to quit unaided or continue smoking. All were re-tested after 7 days, 1 month and 3 months. Successful quitters' scores were compared with those of continuing smokers, who were tested after ad libitum smoking. Goldsmiths, University of London. A total of 33 smokers who maintained abstinence to 3 months, and 31 continuing smokers. Indices demonstrated previously in this cohort of smokers to be sensitive to the effect of nicotine versus acute abstinence: reward motivation [Snaith-Hamilton pleasure scale (SHAPS), Card Arranging Reward Responsivity Objective Test (CARROT), Stroop], tasks of response inhibition [anti-saccade task; Continuous Performance Task (CPT)], clinical indices of mood [Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)], withdrawal symptoms [Mood and Physical Symptoms Scale (MPSS)] and desire to smoke. SHAPS anhedonia and reward responsivity (CARROT) showed significant improvement and plateaued after a month of abstinence, not differing from the scores of continuing smokers tested in a satiated state. Mood, other withdrawal symptoms and desire to smoke all declined from acute abstinence to 1 month of cessation and were equivalent to, or lower than, the levels reported by continuing, satiated smokers. Neither group showed a change in CPT errors over time while continuing smokers, but not abstainers, showed improved accuracy on the anti-saccade task at 3 months. Appetitive processes and related affective states appear to improve in smokers who remain nicotine-free for 3 months, whereas response inhibition does not. Although in need of replication, the results suggest tentatively that poor inhibitory control may constitute a long-term risk factor for relapse and could be a target for intervention.

Acute and long-term treatment of late-life major depressive disorder: duloxetine versus placebo.

PubMed

Robinson, Michael; Oakes, Tina Myers; Raskin, Joel; Liu, Peng; Shoemaker, Scarlett; Nelson, J Craig

2014-01-01

To compare the efficacy of duloxetine with placebo on depression in elderly patients with major depressive disorder. Multicenter, 24-week (12-week short-term and 12-week continuation), randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. United States, France, Mexico, Puerto Rico. Age 65 years or more with major depressive disorder diagnosis (one or more previous episode); Mini-Mental State Examination score ≥20; Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale total score ≥20. Duloxetine 60 or 120 mg/day or placebo; placebo rescue possible. Primary-Maier subscale of the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) at week 12. Secondary-Geriatric Depression Scale, HAMD-17 total score, cognitive measures, Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), Numeric Rating Scales (NRS) for pain, Clinical Global Impression-Severity scale, Patient Global Impression of Improvement in acute phase and acute plus continuation phase of treatment. Compared with placebo, duloxetine did not show significantly greater improvement from baseline on Maier subscale at 12 weeks, but did show significantly greater improvement at weeks 4, 8, 16, and 20. Similar patterns for Geriatric Depression Scale and Clinical Global Impression-Severity scale emerged, with significance also seen at week 24. There was a significant treatment effect for all BPI items and 4 of 6 NRS pain measures in the acute phase, most BPI items and half of the NRS measures in the continuation phase. More duloxetine-treated patients completed the study (63% versus 55%). A significantly higher percentage of duloxetine-treated patients versus placebo discontinued due to adverse event (15.3% versus 5.8%). Although the antidepressant efficacy of duloxetine was not confirmed by the primary outcome, several secondary measures at multiple time points suggested efficacy. Duloxetine had significant and meaningful beneficial effects on pain. Copyright © 2014 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) in depressed clinical samples.

PubMed

Page, Andrew C; Hooke, Geoffrey R; Morrison, David L

2007-09-01

The psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995a) were examined in depressed psychiatric hospital samples. Three studies administered the DASS and other symptom measures at admission and discharge to consecutive adult hospital patients with a primary diagnosis of depression. Study 3 aimed to address problems with the DASS by extending the response options. Study 1 found that the DASS had good reliability and validity, was moderately sensitive to change, but the Depression Scale exhibited a ceiling effect. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure and the DASS continued to demonstrate good psychometric properties, but the ceiling effect was replicated. Study 3 found that by extending the response scale to include an additional option, the factor structure of the instrument as a whole was maintained, the sensitivity to treatment was increased, but the ceiling effect was only marginally reduced. The psychometric properties of the DASS were sound in clinically depressed samples, but the Depression Scale exhibited a ceiling effect that could not be resolved with minor changes to the scale. Suggestions for revisions of the DASS are made.

Continuous roll-to-roll growth of graphene films by chemical vapor deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hesjedal, Thorsten

2011-03-01

Few-layer graphene is obtained in atmospheric chemical vapor deposition on polycrystalline copper in a roll-to-roll process. Raman and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were employed to confirm the few-layer nature of the graphene film, to map the inhomogeneities, and to study and optimize the growth process. This continuous growth process can be easily scaled up and enables the low-cost fabrication of graphene films for industrial applications.

The Dynamics of Smoking-Related Disturbed Methylation: A Two Time-Point Study of Methylation Change in Smokers, Non-Smokers and Former Smokers

EPA Science Inventory

BACKGROUND: The evidence for epigenome-wide associations between smoking and DNA methylation continues to grow through cross-sectional studies. However, few large­ scale investigations have explored the associations using observations for individuals at multiple time-points. ...

The Effects of Low Dose Buccal Administered Caffeine on RPE and Pain during an Upper Body Muscle Endurance Test and Lower Body Anaerobic Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bellar, David M.; Judge, Lawrence W.; Kamimori, Gary H.; Glickman, Ellen L.

2012-01-01

To date there have been a number of studies that have assessed the effects of caffeine on Rated Perceived Exertion (RPE) and Pain Scale scores during continuous exercise. Presently there is little information about the effects of caffeine on RPE and Pain Scale scores during short term, anaerobic and muscle endurance activity. The purpose of the…

Studies of regional-scale climate variability and change. Hidden Markov models and coupled ocean-atmosphere modes

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

Ghil, M.; Kravtsov, S.; Robertson, A. W.

2008-10-14

This project was a continuation of previous work under DOE CCPP funding, in which we had developed a twin approach of probabilistic network (PN) models (sometimes called dynamic Bayesian networks) and intermediate-complexity coupled ocean-atmosphere models (ICMs) to identify the predictable modes of climate variability and to investigate their impacts on the regional scale. We had developed a family of PNs (similar to Hidden Markov Models) to simulate historical records of daily rainfall, and used them to downscale GCM seasonal predictions. Using an idealized atmospheric model, we had established a novel mechanism through which ocean-induced sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies might influencemore » large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns on interannual and longer time scales; we had found similar patterns in a hybrid coupled ocean-atmosphere-sea-ice model. The goal of the this continuation project was to build on these ICM results and PN model development to address prediction of rainfall and temperature statistics at the local scale, associated with global climate variability and change, and to investigate the impact of the latter on coupled ocean-atmosphere modes. Our main results from the grant consist of extensive further development of the hidden Markov models for rainfall simulation and downscaling together with the development of associated software; new intermediate coupled models; a new methodology of inverse modeling for linking ICMs with observations and GCM results; and, observational studies of decadal and multi-decadal natural climate results, informed by ICM results.« less

Scaling in Theropod Dinosaurs: Femoral Bone Strength and Locomotion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Scott

2015-02-01

In our first article1 on scaling in theropod dinosaurs, the longitudinal stress in the leg bones due to supporting the weight of the animal was studied and found not to control the dimensions of the femur. As a continuation of our study of elasticity in dinosaur bones, we now examine the transverse stress in the femur due to locomotion and find that this effect is important for the geometry of the bone. We find that larger theropods (including Tyrannosaurus rex) were less athletic than smaller theropods.

COBI (COntinuous hyperosmolar therapy for traumatic Brain-Injured patients) trial protocol: a multicentre randomised open-label trial with blinded adjudication of primary outcome.

PubMed

Roquilly, Antoine; Lasocki, Sigismond; Moyer, Jean Denis; Huet, Olivier; Perrigault, Pierre François; Dahyot-Fizelier, Claire; Seguin, Philippe; Sharshar, Tarek; Geeraerts, Thomas; Remerand, Francis; Feuillet, Fanny; Asehnoune, Karim

2017-09-24

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and severe prolonged disability. Intracranial hypertension (ICH) is a critical risk factor of bad outcomes after TBI. Continuous infusion of hyperosmolar therapy has been proposed for the prevention and the treatment of ICH. Whether an early administration of continuous hyperosmolar therapy improves long-term outcomes of patients with TBI is uncertain. The aim of the COBI study (number clinicaltrial.gov 03143751, pre-results stage) is to assess the efficiency and the safety of continuous hyperosmolar therapy in patients with TBI. The COBI (COntinuous hyperosmolar therapy in traumatic Brain-Injured patients) trial is a multicentre, randomised, controlled, open-label, two-arms study with blinded adjudication of primary outcome. Three hundred and seventy patients hospitalised in intensive care unit with a TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale ≤12 and abnormal brain CT scan) are randomised in the first 24 hours following trauma to standard care or continuous hyperosmolar therapy (20% NaCl) plus standard care. Continuous hyperosmolar therapy is maintained for at least 48 hours in the treatment group and continued for as long as is necessary to prevent ICH. The primary outcome is the score on the Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale at 6 months. The treatment effect is estimated with ordinal logistic regression adjusted for prespecified prognostic factors and expressed as a common OR. The COBI trial protocol has been approved by the ethics committee of Paris Ile de France VIII and will be carried out according to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and the Good Clinical Practice guidelines. The results of this study will be disseminated through presentation at scientific conferences and publication in peer-reviewed journals. The COBI trial is the first randomised controlled trial powered to investigate whether continuous hyperosmolar therapy in patients with TBI improve long-term recovery. Trial registration number is NCT03143751. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment to the Organization: A Meta-analysis of Antecedents, Correlates, and Consequences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyer, John P.; Stanley, David J.; Herscovitch, Lynne; Topolnytsky, Laryssa

2002-01-01

Meta-analysis of 155 research reports that used one of three commitment scales (affective, continuance, or normative) found strong correlations between the scales and correlates of jobs satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment. All three were negatively related to withdrawal and turnover. Perceived organizational support had…

The family assessment device: an update.

PubMed

Mansfield, Abigail K; Keitner, Gabor I; Dealy, Jennifer

2015-03-01

The current study set out to describe family functioning scores of a contemporary community sample, using the Family Assessment Device (FAD), and to compare this to a currently help-seeking sample. The community sample consisted of 151 families who completed the FAD. The help-seeking sample consisted of 46 families who completed the FAD at their first family therapy appointment as part of their standard care at an outpatient family therapy clinic at an urban hospital. Findings suggest that FAD means from the contemporary community sample indicate satisfaction with family functioning, while FAD scores from the help-seeking sample indicate dissatisfaction with family functioning. In addition, the General Functioning scale of the FAD continues to correlate highly with all other FAD scales, except Behavior Control. The cut-off scores for the FAD indicating satisfaction or dissatisfaction by family members with their family functioning continue to be relevant and the FAD continues to be a useful tool to assess family functioning in both clinical and research contexts. © 2014 Family Process Institute.

Culture modes and financial evaluation of two oleaginous microalgae for biodiesel production in desert area with open raceway pond.

PubMed

He, Qiaoning; Yang, Haijian; Hu, Chunxiang

2016-10-01

Cultivation modes of autotrophic microalgae for biodiesel production utilizing open raceway pond were analyzed in this study. Five before screened good microalgae were tested their lipid productivity and biodiesel quality again in outdoor 1000L ORP. Then, Chlorella sp. L1 and Monoraphidium dybowskii Y2 were selected due to their stronger environmental adaptability, higher lipid productivity and better biodiesel properties. Further scale up cultivation for two species with batch and semi-continuous culture was conducted. In 40,000L ORP, higher lipid productivity (5.15 versus 4.06gm(-2)d(-1) for Chlorella sp. L1, 5.35 versus 3.00gm(-2)d(-1) for M. dybowskii Y2) was achieved in semi-continuous mode. Moreover, the financial costs of 14.18$gal(-1) and 13.31$gal(-1) for crude biodiesel in two microalgae with semi-continuous mode were more economically feasible for commercial production on large scale outdoors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pilot-scale study on the acid-catalyzed steam explosion of rice straw using a continuous pretreatment system.

PubMed

Chen, Wen-Hua; Tsai, Chia-Chin; Lin, Chih-Feng; Tsai, Pei-Yuan; Hwang, Wen-Song

2013-01-01

A continuous acid-catalyzed steam explosion pretreatment process and system to produce cellulosic ethanol was developed at the pilot-scale. The effects of the following parameters on the pretreatment efficiency of rice straw feedstocks were investigated: the acid concentration, the reaction temperature, the residence time, the feedstock size, the explosion pressure and the screw speed. The optimal presteaming horizontal reactor conditions for the pretreatment process are as follows: 1.7 rpm and 100-110 °C with an acid concentration of 1.3% (w/w). An acid-catalyzed steam explosion is then performed in the vertical reactor at 185 °C for 2 min. Approximately 73% of the total saccharification yield was obtained after the rice straw was pretreated under optimal conditions and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis at a combined severity factor of 0.4-0.7. Moreover, good long-term stability and durability of the pretreatment system under continuous operation was observed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Two-time scale subordination in physical processes with long-term memory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanislavsky, Aleksander; Weron, Karina

2008-03-01

We describe dynamical processes in continuous media with a long-term memory. Our consideration is based on a stochastic subordination idea and concerns two physical examples in detail. First we study a temporal evolution of the species concentration in a trapping reaction in which a diffusing reactant is surrounded by a sea of randomly moving traps. The analysis uses the random-variable formalism of anomalous diffusive processes. We find that the empirical trapping-reaction law, according to which the reactant concentration decreases in time as a product of an exponential and a stretched exponential function, can be explained by a two-time scale subordination of random processes. Another example is connected with a state equation for continuous media with memory. If the pressure and the density of a medium are subordinated in two different random processes, then the ordinary state equation becomes fractional with two-time scales. This allows one to arrive at the Bagley-Torvik type of state equation.

Curvature, metric and parametrization of origami tessellations: theory and application to the eggbox pattern.

PubMed

Nassar, H; Lebée, A; Monasse, L

2017-01-01

Origami tessellations are particular textured morphing shell structures. Their unique folding and unfolding mechanisms on a local scale aggregate and bring on large changes in shape, curvature and elongation on a global scale. The existence of these global deformation modes allows for origami tessellations to fit non-trivial surfaces thus inspiring applications across a wide range of domains including structural engineering, architectural design and aerospace engineering. The present paper suggests a homogenization-type two-scale asymptotic method which, combined with standard tools from differential geometry of surfaces, yields a macroscopic continuous characterization of the global deformation modes of origami tessellations and other similar periodic pin-jointed trusses. The outcome of the method is a set of nonlinear differential equations governing the parametrization, metric and curvature of surfaces that the initially discrete structure can fit. The theory is presented through a case study of a fairly generic example: the eggbox pattern. The proposed continuous model predicts correctly the existence of various fittings that are subsequently constructed and illustrated.

Curvature, metric and parametrization of origami tessellations: theory and application to the eggbox pattern

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nassar, H.; Lebée, A.; Monasse, L.

2017-01-01

Origami tessellations are particular textured morphing shell structures. Their unique folding and unfolding mechanisms on a local scale aggregate and bring on large changes in shape, curvature and elongation on a global scale. The existence of these global deformation modes allows for origami tessellations to fit non-trivial surfaces thus inspiring applications across a wide range of domains including structural engineering, architectural design and aerospace engineering. The present paper suggests a homogenization-type two-scale asymptotic method which, combined with standard tools from differential geometry of surfaces, yields a macroscopic continuous characterization of the global deformation modes of origami tessellations and other similar periodic pin-jointed trusses. The outcome of the method is a set of nonlinear differential equations governing the parametrization, metric and curvature of surfaces that the initially discrete structure can fit. The theory is presented through a case study of a fairly generic example: the eggbox pattern. The proposed continuous model predicts correctly the existence of various fittings that are subsequently constructed and illustrated.

Global Observation of Planetary-Scale Waves in UARS HRDI and WINDII MLT Winds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lieberman, Ruth

1999-01-01

The purpose of this study is to use examine planetary-scale motions in the UARS mesosphere and lower thermospheric data. The actual study was confined to HRDI winds and temperatures, since these observations were more continuous, and spanned the 60-120 km range. Three classes of waves were studied: fast equatorial Kelvin waves, nonmigrating tides, and the midlatitude 2-day wave. The purpose of the Kelvin wave and the 2-day wave studies was to test whether the waves significantly affect the mean flow. Such studies require high-quality spectral definitions in order to derive the wave heat and momentum flux divergence which can act in comination to drive the mean flow. Accordingly, HRDI winds from several special observing campaigns were used for analyses of fast (periods under 5 days) waves. The campaigns are characterized by continuous viewing by HRDI in 2 viewing directions, for periods of 10-12 days. Data sampled in this manner lend themselves quite well to "asynoptic spectral analysis", from which motions with periods as low as one day can be retrieved with relatively minimal aliasing.

Seasonal and within-canopy variation in shoot-scale resource-use efficiency trade-offs in a Norway spruce stand.

PubMed

Tarvainen, Lasse; Räntfors, Mats; Wallin, Göran

2015-11-01

Previous leaf-scale studies of carbon assimilation describe short-term resource-use efficiency (RUE) trade-offs where high use efficiency of one resource requires low RUE of another. However, varying resource availabilities may cause long-term RUE trade-offs to differ from the short-term patterns. This may have important implications for understanding canopy-scale resource use and allocation. We used continuous gas exchange measurements collected at five levels within a Norway spruce, Picea abies (L.) karst., canopy over 3 years to assess seasonal differences in the interactions between shoot-scale resource availability (light, water and nitrogen), net photosynthesis (An ) and the use efficiencies of light (LUE), water (WUE) and nitrogen (NUE) for carbon assimilation. The continuous data set was used to develop and evaluate multiple regression models for predicting monthly shoot-scale An . These models showed that shoot-scale An was strongly dependent on light availability and was generally well described with simple one- or two-parameter models. WUE peaked in spring, NUE in summer and LUE in autumn. However, the relative importance of LUE for carbon assimilation increased with canopy depth at all times. Our results suggest that accounting for seasonal and within-canopy trade-offs may be important for RUE-based modelling of canopy carbon uptake. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Continuous-flow cold therapy for outpatient anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

PubMed

Barber, F A; McGuire, D A; Click, S

1998-03-01

This prospective, randomized study evaluated continuous-flow cold therapy for postoperative pain in outpatient arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions. In group 1, cold therapy was constant for 3 days then as needed in days 4 through 7. Group 2 had no cold therapy. Evaluations and diaries were kept at 1, 2, and 8 hours after surgery, and then daily. Pain was assessed using the VAS and Likert scales. There were 51 cold and 49 noncold patients included. Continuous passive movement (CPM) use averaged 54 hours for cold and 41 hours for noncold groups (P=.003). Prone hangs were done for 192 minutes in the cold group and 151 minutes in the noncold group. Motion at 1 week averaged 5/88 for the cold group and 5/79 the noncold group. The noncold group average visual analog scale (VAS) pain and Likert pain scores were always greater than the cold group. The noncold group average Vicodin use (Knoll, Mt. Olive, NJ) was always greater than the cold group use (P=.001). Continuous-flow cold therapy lowered VAS and Likert scores, reduced Vicodin use, increased prone hangs, CPM, and knee flexion. Continuous-flow cold therapy is safe and effective for outpatient ACL reconstruction reducing pain medication requirements.

Economics of recombinant antibody production processes at various scales: Industry-standard compared to continuous precipitation.

PubMed

Hammerschmidt, Nikolaus; Tscheliessnig, Anne; Sommer, Ralf; Helk, Bernhard; Jungbauer, Alois

2014-06-01

Standard industry processes for recombinant antibody production employ protein A affinity chromatography in combination with other chromatography steps and ultra-/diafiltration. This study compares a generic antibody production process with a recently developed purification process based on a series of selective precipitation steps. The new process makes two of the usual three chromatographic steps obsolete and can be performed in a continuous fashion. Cost of Goods (CoGs) analyses were done for: (i) a generic chromatography-based antibody standard purification; (ii) the continuous precipitation-based purification process coupled to a continuous perfusion production system; and (iii) a hybrid process, coupling the continuous purification process to an upstream batch process. The results of this economic analysis show that the precipitation-based process offers cost reductions at all stages of the life cycle of a therapeutic antibody, (i.e. clinical phase I, II and III, as well as full commercial production). The savings in clinical phase production are largely attributed to the fact that expensive chromatographic resins are omitted. These economic analyses will help to determine the strategies that are best suited for small-scale production in parallel fashion, which is of importance for antibody production in non-privileged countries and for personalized medicine. Copyright © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Ultimate limits for quantum magnetometry via time-continuous measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albarelli, Francesco; Rossi, Matteo A. C.; Paris, Matteo G. A.; Genoni, Marco G.

2017-12-01

We address the estimation of the magnetic field B acting on an ensemble of atoms with total spin J subjected to collective transverse noise. By preparing an initial spin coherent state, for any measurement performed after the evolution, the mean-square error of the estimate is known to scale as 1/J, i.e. no quantum enhancement is obtained. Here, we consider the possibility of continuously monitoring the atomic environment, and conclusively show that strategies based on time-continuous non-demolition measurements followed by a final strong measurement may achieve Heisenberg-limited scaling 1/{J}2 and also a monitoring-enhanced scaling in terms of the interrogation time. We also find that time-continuous schemes are robust against detection losses, as we prove that the quantum enhancement can be recovered also for finite measurement efficiency. Finally, we analytically prove the optimality of our strategy.

Dual-scale Galerkin methods for Darcy flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Guoyin; Scovazzi, Guglielmo; Nouveau, Léo; Kees, Christopher E.; Rossi, Simone; Colomés, Oriol; Main, Alex

2018-02-01

The discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method has found widespread application in elliptic problems with rough coefficients, of which the Darcy flow equations are a prototypical example. One of the long-standing issues of DG approximations is the overall computational cost, and many different strategies have been proposed, such as the variational multiscale DG method, the hybridizable DG method, the multiscale DG method, the embedded DG method, and the Enriched Galerkin method. In this work, we propose a mixed dual-scale Galerkin method, in which the degrees-of-freedom of a less computationally expensive coarse-scale approximation are linked to the degrees-of-freedom of a base DG approximation. We show that the proposed approach has always similar or improved accuracy with respect to the base DG method, with a considerable reduction in computational cost. For the specific definition of the coarse-scale space, we consider Raviart-Thomas finite elements for the mass flux and piecewise-linear continuous finite elements for the pressure. We provide a complete analysis of stability and convergence of the proposed method, in addition to a study on its conservation and consistency properties. We also present a battery of numerical tests to verify the results of the analysis, and evaluate a number of possible variations, such as using piecewise-linear continuous finite elements for the coarse-scale mass fluxes.

Shock propagation in locally driven granular systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joy, Jilmy P.; Pathak, Sudhir N.; Das, Dibyendu; Rajesh, R.

2017-09-01

We study shock propagation in a system of initially stationary hard spheres that is driven by a continuous injection of particles at the origin. The disturbance created by the injection of energy spreads radially outward through collisions between particles. Using scaling arguments, we determine the exponent characterizing the power-law growth of this disturbance in all dimensions. The scaling functions describing the various physical quantities are determined using large-scale event-driven simulations in two and three dimensions for both elastic and inelastic systems. The results are shown to describe well the data from two different experiments on granular systems that are similarly driven.

Shock propagation in locally driven granular systems.

PubMed

Joy, Jilmy P; Pathak, Sudhir N; Das, Dibyendu; Rajesh, R

2017-09-01

We study shock propagation in a system of initially stationary hard spheres that is driven by a continuous injection of particles at the origin. The disturbance created by the injection of energy spreads radially outward through collisions between particles. Using scaling arguments, we determine the exponent characterizing the power-law growth of this disturbance in all dimensions. The scaling functions describing the various physical quantities are determined using large-scale event-driven simulations in two and three dimensions for both elastic and inelastic systems. The results are shown to describe well the data from two different experiments on granular systems that are similarly driven.

Cascade model for fluvial geomorphology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newman, W. I.; Turcotte, D. L.

1990-01-01

Erosional landscapes are generally scale invariant and fractal. Spectral studies provide quantitative confirmation of this statement. Linear theories of erosion will not generate scale-invariant topography. In order to explain the fractal behavior of landscapes a modified Fourier series has been introduced that is the basis for a renormalization approach. A nonlinear dynamical model has been introduced for the decay of the modified Fourier series coefficients that yield a fractal spectra. It is argued that a physical basis for this approach is that a fractal (or nearly fractal) distribution of storms (floods) continually renews erosional features on all scales.

Real-time gray-scale photolithography for fabrication of continuous microstructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Qinjun; Guo, Yongkang; Liu, Shijie; Cui, Zheng

2002-10-01

A novel real-time gray-scale photolithography technique for the fabrication of continuous microstructures that uses a LCD panel as a real-time gray-scale mask is presented. The principle of design of the technique is explained, and computer simulation results based on partially coherent imaging theory are given for the patterning of a microlens array and a zigzag grating. An experiment is set up, and a microlens array and a zigzag grating on panchromatic silver halide sensitized gelatin with trypsinase etching are obtained.

Physical time scale in kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of continuous-time Markov chains.

PubMed

Serebrinsky, Santiago A

2011-03-01

We rigorously establish a physical time scale for a general class of kinetic Monte Carlo algorithms for the simulation of continuous-time Markov chains. This class of algorithms encompasses rejection-free (or BKL) and rejection (or "standard") algorithms. For rejection algorithms, it was formerly considered that the availability of a physical time scale (instead of Monte Carlo steps) was empirical, at best. Use of Monte Carlo steps as a time unit now becomes completely unnecessary.

Comparing continuous and dichotomous scoring of the balanced inventory of desirable responding.

PubMed

Stöber, Joachim; Dette, Dorothea E; Musch, Jochen

2002-04-01

The Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR; Paulhus, 1994) is a widely used instrument to measure the 2 components of social desirability: self-deceptive enhancement and impression management. With respect to scoring of the BIDR, Paulhus (1994) authorized 2 methods, namely continuous scoring (all answers on the continuous answer scale are counted) and dichotomous scoring (only extreme answers are counted). In this article, we report 3 studies with student samples, and continuous and dichotomous scoring of BIDR subscales are compared with respect to reliability, convergent validity, sensitivity to instructional variations, and correlations with personality. Across studies, the scores from continuous scoring (continuous scores) showed higher Cronbach's alphas than those from dichotomous scoring (dichotomous scores). Moreover, continuous scores showed higher convergent correlations with other measures of social desirability and more consistent effects with self-presentation instructions (fake-good vs. fake-bad instructions). Finally, continuous self-deceptive enhancement scores showed higher correlations with those traits of the Five-factor model for which substantial correlations were expected (i.e., Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness). Consequently, these findings indicate that continuous scoring may be preferable to dichotomous scoring when assessing socially desirable responding with the BIDR.

Comparison of halocarbon measurements in an atmospheric dry whole air sample.

PubMed

Rhoderick, George C; Hall, Bradley D; Harth, Christina M; Kim, Jin Seog; Lee, Jeongsoon; Montzka, Stephen A; Mühle, Jens; Reimann, Stefan; Vollmer, Martin K; Weiss, Ray F

The growing awareness of climate change/global warming, and continuing concerns regarding stratospheric ozone depletion, will require continued measurements and standards for many compounds, in particular halocarbons that are linked to these issues. In order to track atmospheric mole fractions and assess the impact of policy on emission rates, it is necessary to demonstrate measurement equivalence at the highest levels of accuracy for assigned values of standards. Precise measurements of these species aid in determining small changes in their atmospheric abundance. A common source of standards/scales and/or well-documented agreement of different scales used to calibrate the measurement instrumentation are key to understanding many sets of data reported by researchers. This report describes the results of a comparison study among National Metrology Institutes and atmospheric research laboratories for the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12), trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11), and 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane (CFC-113); the hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) and 1-chloro-1,1-difluoroethane (HCFC-142b); and the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a), all in a dried whole air sample. The objective of this study is to compare calibration standards/scales and the measurement capabilities of the participants for these halocarbons at trace atmospheric levels. The results of this study show agreement among four independent calibration scales to better than 2.5% in almost all cases, with many of the reported agreements being better than 1.0%.

Comparison of halocarbon measurements in an atmospheric dry whole air sample

PubMed Central

Hall, Bradley D.; Harth, Christina M.; Kim, Jin Seog; Lee, Jeongsoon; Montzka, Stephen A.; Mühle, Jens; Reimann, Stefan; Vollmer, Martin K.; Weiss, Ray F.

2015-01-01

The growing awareness of climate change/global warming, and continuing concerns regarding stratospheric ozone depletion, will require continued measurements and standards for many compounds, in particular halocarbons that are linked to these issues. In order to track atmospheric mole fractions and assess the impact of policy on emission rates, it is necessary to demonstrate measurement equivalence at the highest levels of accuracy for assigned values of standards. Precise measurements of these species aid in determining small changes in their atmospheric abundance. A common source of standards/scales and/or well-documented agreement of different scales used to calibrate the measurement instrumentation are key to understanding many sets of data reported by researchers. This report describes the results of a comparison study among National Metrology Institutes and atmospheric research laboratories for the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12), trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11), and 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane (CFC-113); the hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) and 1-chloro-1,1-difluoroethane (HCFC-142b); and the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a), all in a dried whole air sample. The objective of this study is to compare calibration standards/scales and the measurement capabilities of the participants for these halocarbons at trace atmospheric levels. The results of this study show agreement among four independent calibration scales to better than 2.5% in almost all cases, with many of the reported agreements being better than 1.0%. PMID:26753167

Latino Immigrant Family Socialization Scale: Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Ethnic-Racial Socialization Measurement.

PubMed

Ayón, Cecilia

2018-04-26

The study describes multiple steps taken to develop and test the Latino Immigrant Family Socialization (LIFS) scale. Scale items were developed based on qualitative interviews, and feedback on the items was solicited from content experts including an academic, practitioner, and a group of promotoras (or lay health workers). The scale was completed by 300 Latino immigrant parents in the state of Arizona. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a six-factor model. The six factors ware cultural socialization, adapt, advocate, value diversity, promote mistrust, and educate about nativity and documentation. Follow-up studies are needed to continue the measurement validation process and assess how strategies are used in conjunction with each other, the application of the six strategies across different policy contexts, and how the ethnic-racial socialization process supports children's health and well-being.

Adaptation and initial psychometric study of the self-report version of Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS-SR).

PubMed

Dos Santos, Larissa Forni; Loureiro, Sonia Regina; Crippa, José Alexandre S; de Lima Osório, Flávia

2013-06-01

The objectives of the present study were to adapt the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale from the clinician administered to the self-report version (LSAS-SR) and to perform the initial psychometric studies concerning internal consistency and item analysis. The phase of adaptation was performed by two specialists in the Mental Health area and the face validity was tested by a group of 30 university students. As part of the psychometric study of the LSAS-SR, the internal consistency was assessed and the items were analyzed by applying the scale to 682 university students. The LSAS-SR proved to be easy to understand by the group studied, with no need to make any changes in the instructions for application. The scale showed adequate internal consistency (α = 0.96) as well as an acceptable correlation between items and total score (0.38-0.72). The initial psychometric studies of the LSAS-SR presented adequate indicators, stimulating the continuation of studies involving the validation and reliability of the scale not only when applied to a sample of the general population, but also when applied to clinical groups.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of an early-initiated, continuous chain of rehabilitation after severe traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Andelic, Nada; Ye, Jiajia; Tornas, Sveinung; Roe, Cecilie; Lu, Juan; Bautz-Holter, Erik; Moger, Tron; Sigurdardottir, Solrun; Schanke, Anne-Kristine; Aas, Eline

2014-07-15

The aim of this study is to estimate the long-term cost-effectiveness of two different rehabilitation trajectories after severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI). A decision tree model compared hospitalization costs, health effects, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) of a continuous chain versus a broken chain of rehabilitation. The expected costs were estimated by the reimbursement system using diagnosis-related group and based on point estimates of the Disability Rating Scale (DRS); the health effects were measured by means of area under the curve (AUC). The incremental health benefit was estimated as the difference in the AUCs between the chains. Lower values on the DRS scale indicate better health; thus, smaller AUCs were preferred. The modeled population was a cohort of 59 patients with sTBI (30 in continuous chain; 29 in broken chain) with 6-weeks, 1-year, and 5-year post-injury follow-ups. Regarding the DRS estimates, 5-year AUCs were 19.40 (continuous chain) and 23.46 (broken chain). Across 5 years, the continuous chain of rehabilitation had lower costs and better health effects. By replacing the broken chain with the continuous chain, NOK 37.000 could be saved and 4.06 DRS points gained. By means of probabilistic sensitivity analysis, the majority of ICER estimates (67% of the Monte Carlo simulations) indicated that a continuous chain of rehabilitation was less costly and more effective. These findings indicate that the trajectory of continuous rehabilitation represents a dominant strategy in that it reduces costs and improves outcomes after sTBI under reasonable assumptions.

A holistic approach for large-scale derived flood frequency analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dung Nguyen, Viet; Apel, Heiko; Hundecha, Yeshewatesfa; Guse, Björn; Sergiy, Vorogushyn; Merz, Bruno

2017-04-01

Spatial consistency, which has been usually disregarded because of the reported methodological difficulties, is increasingly demanded in regional flood hazard (and risk) assessments. This study aims at developing a holistic approach for deriving flood frequency at large scale consistently. A large scale two-component model has been established for simulating very long-term multisite synthetic meteorological fields and flood flow at many gauged and ungauged locations hence reflecting the spatially inherent heterogeneity. The model has been applied for the region of nearly a half million km2 including Germany and parts of nearby countries. The model performance has been multi-objectively examined with a focus on extreme. By this continuous simulation approach, flood quantiles for the studied region have been derived successfully and provide useful input for a comprehensive flood risk study.

Length-Scale-Dependent Phase Transformation of LiFePO4 : An In situ and Operando Study Using Micro-Raman Spectroscopy and XRD.

PubMed

Siddique, N A; Salehi, Amir; Wei, Zi; Liu, Dong; Sajjad, Syed D; Liu, Fuqiang

2015-08-03

The charge and discharge of lithium ion batteries are often accompanied by electrochemically driven phase-transformation processes. In this work, two in situ and operando methods, that is, micro-Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD), have been combined to study the phase-transformation process in LiFePO4 at two distinct length scales, namely, particle-level scale (∼1 μm) and macroscopic scale (∼several cm). In situ Raman studies revealed a discrete mode of phase transformation at the particle level. Besides, the preferred electrochemical transport network, particularly the carbon content, was found to govern the sequence of phase transformation among particles. In contrast, at the macroscopic level, studies conducted at four different discharge rates showed a continuous but delayed phase transformation. These findings uncovered the intricate phase transformation in LiFePO4 and potentially offer valuable insights into optimizing the length-scale-dependent properties of battery materials. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Hydrocarbon fuels from brown grease: Moving from the research laboratory toward an industrial process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pratt, Lawrence M.; Strothers, Joel; Pinnock, Travis; Hilaire, Dickens Saint; Bacolod, Beatrice; Cai, Zhuo Biao; Sim, Yoke-Leng

2017-04-01

Brown grease is a generic term for the oily solids and semi-solids that accumulate in the sewer system and in sewage treatment plants. It has previously been shown that brown grease undergoes pyrolysis to form a homologous series of alkanes and 1-alkenes between 7 and 17 carbon atoms, with smaller amounts of higher hydrocarbons and ketones up to about 30 carbon atoms. The initial study was performed in batch mode on a scale of up to 50 grams of starting material. However, continuous processes are usually more efficient for large scale production of fuels and commodity chemicals. This work describes the research and development of a continuous process. The first step was to determine the required reactor temperature. Brown grease consists largely of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, and they react at different rates, and produce different products and intermediates. Intermediates include ketones, alcohols, and aldehydes, and Fe(III) ion catalyzes at least some of the reactions. By monitoring the pyrolysis of brown grease, its individual components, and intermediates, it was determined that a reactor temperature of at least 340 °C is required. A small scale (1 L) continuous stirred tank reactor was built and its performance is described.

Process engineering and scale-up of autotrophic Clostridium strain P11 syngas fermentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kundiyana, Dimple Kumar Aiyanna

Scope and Method of Study. Biomass gasification followed by fermentation of syngas to ethanol is a potential process to produce bioenergy. The process is currently being researched under laboratory- and pilot-scale in an effort to optimize the process conditions and make the process feasible for commercial production of ethanol and other biofuels such as butanol and propanol. The broad research objectives for the research were to improve ethanol yields during syngas fermentation and to design a economical fermentation process. The research included four statistically designed experimental studies in serum bottles, bench-scale and pilot-scale fermentors to screen alternate fermentation media components, to determine the effect of process parameters such as pH, temperature and buffer on syngas fermentation, to determine the effect of key limiting nutrients of the acetyl-CoA pathway in a continuous series reactor design, and to scale-up the syngas fermentation in a 100-L pilot scale fermentor. Findings and Conclusions. The first experimental study identified cotton seed extract (CSE) as a feasible medium for Clostridium strain P11 fermentation. The study showed that CSE at 0.5 g L-1 can potentially replace all the standard Clostridium strain P11 fermentation media components while using a media buffer did not significantly improve the ethanol production when used in fermentation with CSE. Scale-up of the CSE fermentation in 2-L and 5-L stirred tank fermentors showed 25% increase in ethanol yield. The second experimental study showed that syngas fermentation at 32°C without buffer was associated with higher ethanol concentration and reduced lag time in switching to solventogenesis. Conducting fermentation at 40°C or by lowering incubation pH to 5.0 resulted in reduced cell growth and no production of ethanol or acetic acid. The third experiment studied the effect of three limiting nutrients, calcium pantothenate, vitamin B12 and CoCl2 on syngas fermentation. Results indicated that it is possible to modulate the product formation by limiting key nutrients of acetyl-CoA pathway and using a continuous fermentation in two-stage fermentor design to improve ethanol yields. The last experimental study was conducted to commission a pilot scale fermentor, and subsequently scale-up the Clostridium strain P11 fermentation from a bench-scale to a pilot scale 100-L fermentor. Results indicated a six-fold improvement in ethanol concentration (25.3 g L-1 at the end of 59 d) compared to previous Clostridium strain P11 and Clostridium carboxidivorans fermentations plus the formation of other compounds such as isopropyl alcohol, acetic acid and butanol, which are of commercial importance.

Medication persistence in Turkish children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Ayaz, Muhammed; Ayaz, Ayşe Burcu; Soylu, Nusret; Yüksel, Serhat

2014-10-01

The aim of this study was to investigate medication persistence in Turkish children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The effects of sociodemographic characteristics, symptom severity of ADHD, comorbidity, and treatment-related factors influencing medication persistence in children diagnosed with ADHD were studied. Medication persistence over a continuous 12 month period was evaluated for 877 children and adolescents between 6 and 18 years of age, who were diagnosed with ADHD for the first time and started to receive medication. Medication persistence was determined according to whether or not taking the prescribed medication continued for 12 months after the initiation of treatment. Whereas the symptom severity of ADHD was assessed by using the Turgay Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV)-based Child and Adolescent Behaviour Disorders Screening and Rating Scale-Parents Form (T-DSM-IV-S), perceived medication efficacy after the first treatment was evaluated by the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement Scale (CGI-I). In this study, medication persistence over a continuous 12 month period occurred at a rate of 30.2% (n=265) in the subjects studied. The hierarchical regression analysis conducted in this research revealed that younger age, higher hyperactivity/impulsivity symptom severity, use of long-acting methylphenidate, addition of another ADHD medication, addition of other psychotropic medications, absence of side effects, and perceived medication efficacy were associated with successful medication persistence over a continuous 12 month period. Understanding the factors that affect medication persistence in ADHD may improve treatment efficacy and symptom control, while minimizing future risks.

Coronal hole boundaries evolution at small scales. I. EIT 195 Å  and TRACE 171 Å view

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madjarska, M. S.; Wiegelmann, T.

2009-09-01

Aims: We aim to study the small-scale evolution at the boundaries of an equatorial coronal hole connected with a channel of open magnetic flux to the polar region and an “isolated” one in the extreme-ultraviolet spectral range. We determine the spatial and temporal scale of these changes. Methods: Imager data from TRACE in the Fe ix/x 171 Å passband and EIT on-board Solar and Heliospheric Observatory in the Fe xii 195 Å passband were analysed. Results: We found that small-scale loops known as bright points play an essential role in coronal hole boundary evolution at small scales. Their emergence and disappearance continuously expand or contract coronal holes. The changes appear to be random on a time scale comparable to the lifetime of the loops seen at these temperatures. No signature was found for a major energy release during the evolution of the loops. Conclusions: Although coronal holes seem to maintain their general shape during a few solar rotations, a closer look at their day-by-day and even hour-by-hour evolution demonstrates significant dynamics. The small-scale loops (10´´-40´´ and smaller) which are abundant along coronal hole boundaries contribute to the small-scale evolution of coronal holes. Continuous magnetic reconnection of the open magnetic field lines of the coronal hole and the closed field lines of the loops in the quiet Sun is more likely to take place. Movies are only available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

Integrated Graduate and Continuing Education in Protein Chromatography for Bioprocess Development and Scale-Up

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carta, Jungbauer

2011-01-01

We describe an intensive course that integrates graduate and continuing education focused on the development and scale-up of chromatography processes used for the recovery and purification of proteins with special emphasis on biotherapeutics. The course includes lectures, laboratories, teamwork, and a design exercise and offers a complete view of…

Recovery dynamics and climate change effects to future New England forests

Treesearch

Matthew J. Duveneck; Jonathan R. Thompson; Eric J. Gustafson; Yu Liang; Arjan M. G. de Bruijn

2017-01-01

Context. Forests throughout eastern North America continue to recover from broad-scale intensive land use that peaked in the nineteenth century. These forests provide essential goods and services at local to global scales. It is uncertain how recovery dynamics, the processes by which forests respond to past forest land use, will continue to...

A Continuity Principle for Calibration of Scores within Mastery Assessment Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tucker, Ledyard R.

A continuity principle is suggested for scaling of assessment scores from different levels of a multilevel mastery training program. In such training programs students are self-paced and work at levels of tasks appropriate for their levels of performance. The problem addressed in this report concerns the scaling of assessment scores at different…

General practitioners' continuing education: a review of policies, strategies and effectiveness, and their implications for the future.

PubMed

Smith, F; Singleton, A; Hilton, S

1998-10-01

The accreditation and provision of continuing education for general practitioners (GPs) is set to change with new proposals from the General Medical Council, the Government, and the Chief Medical Officer. To review the theories, policies, strategies, and effectiveness in GP continuing education in the past 10 years. A systematic review of the literature by computerized and manual searches of relevant journals and books. Educational theory suggests that continuing education (CE) should be work-based and use the learner's experiences. Audit can play an important role in determining performance and needs assessment, but at present is largely a separate activity. Educational and professional support, such as through mentors or co-tutors, has been successfully piloted but awaits larger scale evaluation. Most accredited educational events are still the postgraduate centre lecture, and GP Tutors have a variable role in CE management and provision. Controlled trials of CE strategies suggest effectiveness is enhanced by personal feedback and work prompts. Qualitative studies have demonstrated that education plays only a small part in influencing doctors' behavior. Maintaining good clinical practice is on many stakeholders' agendas. A variety of methods may be effective in CE, and larger scale trials or evaluations are needed.

Returns to Scale and Economies of Scale: Further Observations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gelles, Gregory M.; Mitchell, Douglas W.

1996-01-01

Maintains that most economics textbooks continue to repeat past mistakes concerning returns to scale and economies of scale under assumptions of constant and nonconstant input prices. Provides an adaptation for a calculus-based intermediate microeconomics class that demonstrates the pointwise relationship between returns to scale and economies of…

Thinking big: Towards ideal strains and processes for large-scale aerobic biofuels production

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

McMillan, James D.; Beckham, Gregg T.

In this study, global concerns about anthropogenic climate change, energy security and independence, and environmental consequences of continued fossil fuel exploitation are driving significant public and private sector interest and financing to hasten development and deployment of processes to produce renewable fuels, as well as bio-based chemicals and materials, towards scales commensurate with current fossil fuel-based production. Over the past two decades, anaerobic microbial production of ethanol from first-generation hexose sugars derived primarily from sugarcane and starch has reached significant market share worldwide, with fermentation bioreactor sizes often exceeding the million litre scale. More recently, industrial-scale lignocellulosic ethanol plants aremore » emerging that produce ethanol from pentose and hexose sugars using genetically engineered microbes and bioreactor scales similar to first-generation biorefineries.« less

Thinking big: Towards ideal strains and processes for large-scale aerobic biofuels production

DOE PAGES

McMillan, James D.; Beckham, Gregg T.

2016-12-22

In this study, global concerns about anthropogenic climate change, energy security and independence, and environmental consequences of continued fossil fuel exploitation are driving significant public and private sector interest and financing to hasten development and deployment of processes to produce renewable fuels, as well as bio-based chemicals and materials, towards scales commensurate with current fossil fuel-based production. Over the past two decades, anaerobic microbial production of ethanol from first-generation hexose sugars derived primarily from sugarcane and starch has reached significant market share worldwide, with fermentation bioreactor sizes often exceeding the million litre scale. More recently, industrial-scale lignocellulosic ethanol plants aremore » emerging that produce ethanol from pentose and hexose sugars using genetically engineered microbes and bioreactor scales similar to first-generation biorefineries.« less

Continuously distributed magnetization profile for millimeter-scale elastomeric undulatory swimming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diller, Eric; Zhuang, Jiang; Zhan Lum, Guo; Edwards, Matthew R.; Sitti, Metin

2014-04-01

We have developed a millimeter-scale magnetically driven swimming robot for untethered motion at mid to low Reynolds numbers. The robot is propelled by continuous undulatory deformation, which is enabled by the distributed magnetization profile of a flexible sheet. We demonstrate control of a prototype device and measure deformation and speed as a function of magnetic field strength and frequency. Experimental results are compared with simple magnetoelastic and fluid propulsion models. The presented mechanism provides an efficient remote actuation method at the millimeter scale that may be suitable for further scaling down in size for micro-robotics applications in biotechnology and healthcare.

Motor Acquisition Rate in Brazilian Infants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lopes, Virlaine Bardella; de Lima, Carolina Daniel; Tudella, Eloisa

2009-01-01

This study used the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) with the aim of characterizing motor acquisition rate in 70 healthy 0-6-month-old Brazilian infants, as well as comparing both emergence (initial age) and establishment (final age) of each skill between the study sample and the AIMS normative data. New motor skills were continuously acquired…

Studying long-term, large-scale grassland restoration outcomes to improve seeding methods and reveal knowledge gaps

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

1) Considerable research is currently focused on restoring the World’s degraded grasslands by introducing species from seed. The research is continually providing valuable new insights into early seeded plant establishment, but more emphasis on longer, larger studies is needed to better quantify s...

Differences in intermittent and continuous fecal shedding patterns between natural and experimental Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis infections in cattle

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The objective of this paper is to study shedding patterns of cows infected with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). While multiple single farm studies of MAP dynamics were reported, there is not large-scale meta-analysis of both natural and experimental infections. Large difference...

Application of stochastic processes in random growth and evolutionary dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oikonomou, Panagiotis

We study the effect of power-law distributed randomness on the dynamical behavior of processes such as stochastic growth patterns and evolution. First, we examine the geometrical properties of random shapes produced by a generalized stochastic Loewner Evolution driven by a superposition of a Brownian motion and a stable Levy process. The situation is defined by the usual stochastic Loewner Evolution parameter, kappa, as well as alpha which defines the power-law tail of the stable Levy distribution. We show that the properties of these patterns change qualitatively and singularly at critical values of kappa and alpha. It is reasonable to call such changes "phase transitions". These transitions occur as kappa passes through four and as alpha passes through one. Numerical simulations are used to explore the global scaling behavior of these patterns in each "phase". We show both analytically and numerically that the growth continues indefinitely in the vertical direction for alpha greater than 1, goes as logarithmically with time for alpha equals to 1, and saturates for alpha smaller than 1. The probability density has two different scales corresponding to directions along and perpendicular to the boundary. Scaling functions for the probability density are given for various limiting cases. Second, we study the effect of the architecture of biological networks on their evolutionary dynamics. In recent years, studies of the architecture of large networks have unveiled a common topology, called scale-free, in which a majority of the elements are poorly connected except for a small fraction of highly connected components. We ask how networks with distinct topologies can evolve towards a pre-established target phenotype through a process of random mutations and selection. We use networks of Boolean components as a framework to model a large class of phenotypes. Within this approach, we find that homogeneous random networks and scale-free networks exhibit drastically different evolutionary paths. While homogeneous random networks accumulate neutral mutations and evolve by sparse punctuated steps, scale-free networks evolve rapidly and continuously towards the target phenotype. Moreover, we show that scale-free networks always evolve faster than homogeneous random networks; remarkably, this property does not depend on the precise value of the topological parameter. By contrast, homogeneous random networks require a specific tuning of their topological parameter in order to optimize their fitness. This model suggests that the evolutionary paths of biological networks, punctuated or continuous, may solely be determined by the network topology.

Intercomparison of Multiscale Modeling Approaches in Simulating Subsurface Flow and Transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, X.; Mehmani, Y.; Barajas-Solano, D. A.; Song, H. S.; Balhoff, M.; Tartakovsky, A. M.; Scheibe, T. D.

2016-12-01

Hybrid multiscale simulations that couple models across scales are critical to advance predictions of the larger system behavior using understanding of fundamental processes. In the current study, three hybrid multiscale methods are intercompared: multiscale loose-coupling method, multiscale finite volume (MsFV) method and multiscale mortar method. The loose-coupling method enables a parallel workflow structure based on the Swift scripting environment that manages the complex process of executing coupled micro- and macro-scale models without being intrusive to the at-scale simulators. The MsFV method applies microscale and macroscale models over overlapping subdomains of the modeling domain and enforces continuity of concentration and transport fluxes between models via restriction and prolongation operators. The mortar method is a non-overlapping domain decomposition approach capable of coupling all permutations of pore- and continuum-scale models with each other. In doing so, Lagrange multipliers are used at interfaces shared between the subdomains so as to establish continuity of species/fluid mass flux. Subdomain computations can be performed either concurrently or non-concurrently depending on the algorithm used. All the above methods have been proven to be accurate and efficient in studying flow and transport in porous media. However, there has not been any field-scale applications and benchmarking among various hybrid multiscale approaches. To address this challenge, we apply all three hybrid multiscale methods to simulate water flow and transport in a conceptualized 2D modeling domain of the hyporheic zone, where strong interactions between groundwater and surface water exist across multiple scales. In all three multiscale methods, fine-scale simulations are applied to a thin layer of riverbed alluvial sediments while the macroscopic simulations are used for the larger subsurface aquifer domain. Different numerical coupling methods are then applied between scales and inter-compared. Comparisons are drawn in terms of velocity distributions, solute transport behavior, algorithm-induced numerical error and computing cost. The intercomparison work provides support for confidence in a variety of hybrid multiscale methods and motivates further development and applications.

Continuously-stirred anaerobic digester to convert organic wastes into biogas: system setup and basic operation.

PubMed

Usack, Joseph G; Spirito, Catherine M; Angenent, Largus T

2012-07-13

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a bioprocess that is commonly used to convert complex organic wastes into a useful biogas with methane as the energy carrier. Increasingly, AD is being used in industrial, agricultural, and municipal waste(water) treatment applications. The use of AD technology allows plant operators to reduce waste disposal costs and offset energy utility expenses. In addition to treating organic wastes, energy crops are being converted into the energy carrier methane. As the application of AD technology broadens for the treatment of new substrates and co-substrate mixtures, so does the demand for a reliable testing methodology at the pilot- and laboratory-scale. Anaerobic digestion systems have a variety of configurations, including the continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR), plug flow (PF), and anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) configurations. The CSTR is frequently used in research due to its simplicity in design and operation, but also for its advantages in experimentation. Compared to other configurations, the CSTR provides greater uniformity of system parameters, such as temperature, mixing, chemical concentration, and substrate concentration. Ultimately, when designing a full-scale reactor, the optimum reactor configuration will depend on the character of a given substrate among many other nontechnical considerations. However, all configurations share fundamental design features and operating parameters that render the CSTR appropriate for most preliminary assessments. If researchers and engineers use an influent stream with relatively high concentrations of solids, then lab-scale bioreactor configurations cannot be fed continuously due to plugging problems of lab-scale pumps with solids or settling of solids in tubing. For that scenario with continuous mixing requirements, lab-scale bioreactors are fed periodically and we refer to such configurations as continuously stirred anaerobic digesters (CSADs). This article presents a general methodology for constructing, inoculating, operating, and monitoring a CSAD system for the purpose of testing the suitability of a given organic substrate for long-term anaerobic digestion. The construction section of this article will cover building the lab-scale reactor system. The inoculation section will explain how to create an anaerobic environment suitable for seeding with an active methanogenic inoculum. The operating section will cover operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting. The monitoring section will introduce testing protocols using standard analyses. The use of these measures is necessary for reliable experimental assessments of substrate suitability for AD. This protocol should provide greater protection against a common mistake made in AD studies, which is to conclude that reactor failure was caused by the substrate in use, when really it was improper user operation.

Selective Neurocognitive Impairments in Adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, Georges; Klimes-Dougan, Bonnie; Jepsen, Susie; Ballard, Kristin; Nelson, Megan; Houri, Alaa; Kumra, Sanjiv; Cullen, Kathryn

2012-01-01

This study investigated whether major depression in adolescence is characterized by neurocognitive deficits in attention, affective decision making, and cognitive control of emotion processing. Neuropsychological tests including the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, the Continuous Performance Test-Identical Pairs, the Attention Network…

Multiscale functions, scale dynamics, and applications to partial differential equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cresson, Jacky; Pierret, Frédéric

2016-05-01

Modeling phenomena from experimental data always begins with a choice of hypothesis on the observed dynamics such as determinism, randomness, and differentiability. Depending on these choices, different behaviors can be observed. The natural question associated to the modeling problem is the following: "With a finite set of data concerning a phenomenon, can we recover its underlying nature? From this problem, we introduce in this paper the definition of multi-scale functions, scale calculus, and scale dynamics based on the time scale calculus [see Bohner, M. and Peterson, A., Dynamic Equations on Time Scales: An Introduction with Applications (Springer Science & Business Media, 2001)] which is used to introduce the notion of scale equations. These definitions will be illustrated on the multi-scale Okamoto's functions. Scale equations are analysed using scale regimes and the notion of asymptotic model for a scale equation under a particular scale regime. The introduced formalism explains why a single scale equation can produce distinct continuous models even if the equation is scale invariant. Typical examples of such equations are given by the scale Euler-Lagrange equation. We illustrate our results using the scale Newton's equation which gives rise to a non-linear diffusion equation or a non-linear Schrödinger equation as asymptotic continuous models depending on the particular fractional scale regime which is considered.

Optimising the design and operation of semi-continuous affinity chromatography for clinical and commercial manufacture.

PubMed

Pollock, James; Bolton, Glen; Coffman, Jon; Ho, Sa V; Bracewell, Daniel G; Farid, Suzanne S

2013-04-05

This paper presents an integrated experimental and modelling approach to evaluate the potential of semi-continuous chromatography for the capture of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) in clinical and commercial manufacture. Small-scale single-column experimental breakthrough studies were used to derive design equations for the semi-continuous affinity chromatography system. Verification runs with the semi-continuous 3-column and 4-column periodic counter current (PCC) chromatography system indicated the robustness of the design approach. The product quality profiles and step yields (after wash step optimisation) achieved were comparable to the standard batch process. The experimentally-derived design equations were incorporated into a decisional tool comprising dynamic simulation, process economics and sizing optimisation. The decisional tool was used to evaluate the economic and operational feasibility of whole mAb bioprocesses employing PCC affinity capture chromatography versus standard batch chromatography across a product's lifecycle from clinical to commercial manufacture. The tool predicted that PCC capture chromatography would offer more significant savings in direct costs for early-stage clinical manufacture (proof-of-concept) (∼30%) than for late-stage clinical (∼10-15%) or commercial (∼5%) manufacture. The evaluation also highlighted the potential facility fit issues that could arise with a capture resin (MabSelect) that experiences losses in binding capacity when operated in continuous mode over lengthy commercial campaigns. Consequently, the analysis explored the scenario of adopting the PCC system for clinical manufacture and switching to the standard batch process following product launch. The tool determined the PCC system design required to operate at commercial scale without facility fit issues and with similar costs to the standard batch process whilst pursuing a process change application. A retrofitting analysis established that the direct cost savings obtained by 8 proof-of-concept batches would be sufficient to pay back the investment cost of the pilot-scale semi-continuous chromatography system. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of color coding and subtraction on the accuracy of contrast echocardiography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pasquet, A.; Greenberg, N.; Brunken, R.; Thomas, J. D.; Marwick, T. H.

1999-01-01

BACKGROUND: Contrast echocardiography may be used to assess myocardial perfusion. However, gray scale assessment of myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) is difficult because of variations in regional backscatter intensity, difficulties in distinguishing varying shades of gray, and artifacts or attenuation. We sought to determine whether the assessment of rest myocardial perfusion by MCE could be improved with subtraction and color coding. METHODS AND RESULTS: MCE was performed in 31 patients with previous myocardial infarction with a 2nd generation agent (NC100100, Nycomed AS), using harmonic triggered or continuous imaging and gain settings were kept constant throughout the study. Digitized images were post processed by subtraction of baseline from contrast data and colorized to reflect the intensity of myocardial contrast. Gray scale MCE alone, MCE images combined with baseline and subtracted colorized images were scored independently using a 16 segment model. The presence and severity of myocardial contrast abnormalities were compared with perfusion defined by rest MIBI-SPECT. Segments that were not visualized by continuous (17%) or triggered imaging (14%) after color processing were excluded from further analysis. The specificity of gray scale MCE alone (56%) or MCE combined with baseline 2D (47%) was significantly enhanced by subtraction and color coding (76%, p<0.001) of triggered images. The accuracy of the gray scale approaches (respectively 52% and 47%) was increased to 70% (p<0.001). Similarly, for continuous images, the specificity of gray scale MCE with and without baseline comparison was 23% and 42% respectively, compared with 60% after post processing (p<0.001). The accuracy of colorized images (59%) was also significantly greater than gray scale MCE (43% and 29%, p<0.001). The sensitivity of MCE for both acquisitions was not altered by subtraction. CONCLUSION: Post-processing with subtraction and color coding significantly improves the accuracy and specificity of MCE for detection of perfusion defects.

Lifetime evaluation of large format CMOS mixed signal infrared devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Linder, A.; Glines, Eddie

2015-09-01

New large scale foundry processes continue to produce reliable products. These new large scale devices continue to use industry best practice to screen for failure mechanisms and validate their long lifetime. The Failure-in-Time analysis in conjunction with foundry qualification information can be used to evaluate large format device lifetimes. This analysis is a helpful tool when zero failure life tests are typical. The reliability of the device is estimated by applying the failure rate to the use conditions. JEDEC publications continue to be the industry accepted methods.

A qualitative study examining the sustainability of shared care in the delivery of palliative care services in the community.

PubMed

Demiglio, Lily; Williams, Allison M

2013-08-29

This paper focuses on the sustainability of existing palliative care teams that provide home-based care in a shared care model. For the purposes of this study, following Evashwick and Ory (2003), sustainability is understood and approached as the ability to continue the program over time. Understanding factors that influence the sustainability of teams and ways to mitigate these factors is paramount to improving the longevity and quality of service delivery models of this kind. Using qualitative data collected in interviews, the aim of this study is twofold: (1) to explore the factors that affect the sustainability of the teams at three different scales, and; (2) based on the results of this study, to propose a set of recommendations that will contribute to the sustainability of PC teams. Sustainability was conceptualized from two angles: internal and external. An overview of external sustainability was provided and the merging of data from all participant groups showed that the sustainability of teams was largely dependent on actors and organizations at the local (community), regional (Local Health Integration Network or LHIN) and provincial scales. The three scales are not self-contained or singular entities but rather are connected. Integration and collaboration within and between scales is necessary, as community capacity will inevitably reach its threshold without support of the province, which provides funding to the LHIN. While the community continues to advocate for the teams, in the long-term, they will need additional supports from the LHIN and province. The province has the authority and capacity to engrain its support for teams through a formal strategy. The recommendations are presented based on scale to better illustrate how actors and organizations could move forward. This study may inform program and policy specific to strategic ways to improve the provision of team-based palliative home care using a shared care model, while simultaneously providing direction for team-based program delivery and sustainability for other jurisdictions.

Network-scale spatial and temporal variation in Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) redd distributions: patterns inferred from spatially continuous replicate surveys

Treesearch

Daniel J. Isaak; Russell F. Thurow

2006-01-01

Spatially continuous sampling designs, when temporally replicated, provide analytical flexibility and are unmatched in their ability to provide a dynamic system view. We have compiled such a data set by georeferencing the network-scale distribution of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) redds across a large wilderness basin (7330 km2) in...

Assessment of the Continuous Progress Report for the Early Learning Years (An Examination of Scale Construction).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tuck, Kathy D.

An evaluation was conducted to examine the structure and design of the Continuous Progress Report (CPR), an observation scale used to measure students' early developmental skills in the District of Columbia public schools. Item construction and the relative consistency of measurement constructs in the CPR were the specific focus of the evaluation.…

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

Stershic, Andrew J.; Dolbow, John E.; Moës, Nicolas

The Thick Level-Set (TLS) model is implemented to simulate brittle media undergoing dynamic fragmentation. This non-local model is discretized by the finite element method with damage represented as a continuous field over the domain. A level-set function defines the extent and severity of damage, and a length scale is introduced to limit the damage gradient. Numerical studies in one dimension demonstrate that the proposed method reproduces the rate-dependent energy dissipation and fragment length observations from analytical, numerical, and experimental approaches. In conclusion, additional studies emphasize the importance of appropriate bulk constitutive models and sufficient spatial resolution of the length scale.

Remote sensing of soil organic matter of farmland with hyperspectral image

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Xiaohe; Wang, Lei; Yang, Guijun; Zhang, Liyan

2017-10-01

Monitoring soil organic matter (SOM) of cultivated land quantitively and mastering its spatial change are helpful for fertility adjustment and sustainable development of agriculture. The study aimed to analyze the response between SOM and reflectivity of hyperspectral image with different pixel size and develop the optimal model of estimating SOM with imaging spectral technology. The wavelet transform method was used to analyze the correlation between the hyperspectral reflectivity and SOM. Then the optimal pixel size and sensitive wavelet feature scale were screened to develop the inversion model of SOM. Result showed that wavelet transform of soil hyperspectrum was help to improve the correlation between the wavelet features and SOM. In the visible wavelength range, the susceptible wavelet features of SOM mainly concentrated 460 603 nm. As the wavelength increased, the wavelet scale corresponding correlation coefficient increased maximum and then gradually decreased. In the near infrared wavelength range, the susceptible wavelet features of SOM mainly concentrated 762 882 nm. As the wavelength increased, the wavelet scale gradually decreased. The study developed multivariate model of continuous wavelet transforms by the method of stepwise linear regression (SLR). The CWT-SLR models reached higher accuracies than those of univariate models. With the resampling scale increasing, the accuracies of CWT-SLR models gradually increased, while the determination coefficients (R2) fluctuated from 0.52 to 0.59. The R2 of 5*5 scale reached highest (0.5954), while the RMSE reached lowest (2.41 g/kg). It indicated that multivariate model based on continuous wavelet transform had better ability for estimating SOM than univariate model.

Continuous wind measurement in the tropical Pacific using VHF radars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Balsley, B. B.; Ecklund, W. L.; Carter, D. A.

1986-01-01

Very High Frequency (VHF) Radar Wind Profilers are being installed on Ponape, East Caroline Islands and Christmas Island, Republic of Kiribati to continuously monitor winds aloft. The purpose of this experiment is to study wind fluctuations on time scales between minutes and days, to determine the longitudinal character of these fluctuations, and to examine their relationship to climate variability. Six-hourly wind profiles will be provided via satellite to the scientific community for Project TOGA (Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere).

Task Order 7. Use of activated carbon for treatment of explosives-contaminated groundwater at the Milan Army Ammunition Plant (MAAP). Final report, Apr 89-May 90

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

Dennis, R.M.; Wujcik, W.J.; Lowe, W.L.

1990-05-01

The primary objective of this task was to determine the feasibility of using GAC to treat ground water contaminated by explosives at the Milan Army Ammunition Plant (MAAP) in Milan, Tennessee. Laboratory GAC isotherm studies were conducted and two carbons, Atochem, Inc. GAC 830 and Calgon Filtrasorb 300, were selected for further testing in continuous flow GAC columns. Three pilot scale continuous flow GAC column tests were performed at MAAP using the two carbons selected from the laboratory GAC isotherm studies. The results from the laboratory and pilot studies are presented in this report. They show that concurrent removal ofmore » explosives such as TNT, RDX, HMX, Tetryl, and nitrobenzenes from ground water using continuous flow granular activated carbon is feasible.« less

Symmetry breaking in holographic theories with Lifshitz scaling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Argurio, Riccardo; Hartong, Jelle; Marzolla, Andrea; Naegels, Daniel

2018-02-01

We study holographically Lifshitz-scaling theories with broken symmetries. In order to do this, we set up a bulk action with a complex scalar and a massless vector on a background which consists in a Lifshitz metric and a massive vector. We first study separately the complex scalar and the massless vector, finding a similar pattern in the twopoint functions that we can compute analytically. By coupling the probe complex scalar to the background massive vector we can construct probe actions that are more general than the usual Klein-Gordon action. Some of these actions have Galilean boost symmetry. Finally, in the presence of a symmetry breaking scalar profile in the bulk, we reproduce the expected Ward identities of a Lifshitz-scaling theory with a broken global continuous symmetry. In the spontaneous case, the latter imply the presence of a gapless mode, the Goldstone boson, which will have dispersion relations dictated by the Lifshitz scaling.

Non-stationary dynamics in the bouncing ball: A wavelet perspective

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

Behera, Abhinna K., E-mail: abhinna@iiserkol.ac.in; Panigrahi, Prasanta K., E-mail: pprasanta@iiserkol.ac.in; Sekar Iyengar, A. N., E-mail: ansekar.iyengar@saha.ac.in

2014-12-01

The non-stationary dynamics of a bouncing ball, comprising both periodic as well as chaotic behavior, is studied through wavelet transform. The multi-scale characterization of the time series displays clear signatures of self-similarity, complex scaling behavior, and periodicity. Self-similar behavior is quantified by the generalized Hurst exponent, obtained through both wavelet based multi-fractal detrended fluctuation analysis and Fourier methods. The scale dependent variable window size of the wavelets aptly captures both the transients and non-stationary periodic behavior, including the phase synchronization of different modes. The optimal time-frequency localization of the continuous Morlet wavelet is found to delineate the scales corresponding tomore » neutral turbulence, viscous dissipation regions, and different time varying periodic modulations.« less

Utilization of Preventive Dental Services Before and After Health Insurance Covered Dental Scaling in Korea.

PubMed

Jang, Young-Eun; Kim, Chun-Bae; Kim, Nam-Hee

2017-01-01

Health insurance reduces the economic burden of diseases and enhances access to medical services. This study compared, among social classes, the utilization of preventive dental service before and after health insurance covered dental scaling. We analyzed time-series secondary data for 3  175  584 participants from 253 survey areas nationwide in the Community Health Survey (2009-2014) in Korea. The weighted proportion of participants who underwent dental scaling was defined as the scaling rate. Data regarding demographic and socioeconomic characteristics were collected. Scaling rates continuously increased over the 6-year period, particularly in 2014. College graduates had significantly higher scaling rates. Monthly income and scaling rate were positively related. Differences by education decreased over time. Differences by income were particularly high between 2012 and 2014. For women, the temporal rate was 2 times higher for professionals than for the unemployed. Despite increased dental scaling rates since the health coverage change in 2013, socioeconomic differences persist.

The emotional and professional wellbeing of Australian midwives: A comparison between those providing continuity of midwifery care and those not providing continuity.

PubMed

Fenwick, Jennifer; Sidebotham, Mary; Gamble, Jenny; Creedy, Debra K

2018-02-01

Continuity of midwifery care contributes to significant positive outcomes for women and babies. There is a perception that providing continuity of care may negatively impact on the wellbeing and professional lives of midwives. To compare the emotional and professional wellbeing as well as satisfaction with time off and work-life balance of midwives providing continuity of care with midwives not providing continuity. Online survey. Measures included; Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI); Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21; and Perceptions of Empowerment in Midwifery Scale (PEMS-Revised). The sample (n=862) was divided into two groups; midwives working in continuity (n=214) and those not working in continuity (n=648). Mann Whitney U tests were used to compare the groups. The continuity group had significantly lower scores on each of the burnout subscales (CBI Personal p=.002; CBI Work p<.001; CBI Client p<.001) and Anxiety (p=.007) and Depression (p=.004) sub-scales. Midwives providing continuity reported significantly higher scores on the PEMs Autonomy/Empowerment subscale (p<.001) and the Skills and Resources subscale (p=.002). There was no difference between the groups in terms of satisfaction with time off and work-life balance. Our results indicate that providing continuity of midwifery care is also beneficial for midwives. Conversely, midwives working in shift-based models providing fragmented care are at greater risk of psychological distress. Maternity service managers should feel confident that re-orientating care to align with the evidence is likely to improve workforce wellbeing and is a sustainable way forward. Copyright © 2017 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reasons for starting and continuing to volunteer for hospice.

PubMed

Planalp, Sally; Trost, Melanie

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to find out from hospice volunteers how they first heard of opportunities to volunteer, what motivated them to volunteer when they first began, and why they continue. A total of 351 volunteers from 3 states in the western United States participated in a questionnaire study. Three open-ended questions addressed how they heard of hospice, why they started, and why they continued. Their intentions to continue were also measured on rating scales. Responses to the open-ended questions were coded with acceptable intercoder reliability. Findings were that volunteers heard of opportunities through hospice and health care contacts, personal contacts, print and electronic sources, and other nonhospice organizations. They began volunteering primarily to be of service and because of a personal experience with the death of someone to whom they were close. Most volunteers chose to continue because they found it personally rewarding, helpful to others, or both, but many reported that they continue because of the quality of their own hospice organization and its staff. Demographic influences were noted but were generally small.

A theoretically consistent stochastic cascade for temporal disaggregation of intermittent rainfall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lombardo, F.; Volpi, E.; Koutsoyiannis, D.; Serinaldi, F.

2017-06-01

Generating fine-scale time series of intermittent rainfall that are fully consistent with any given coarse-scale totals is a key and open issue in many hydrological problems. We propose a stationary disaggregation method that simulates rainfall time series with given dependence structure, wet/dry probability, and marginal distribution at a target finer (lower-level) time scale, preserving full consistency with variables at a parent coarser (higher-level) time scale. We account for the intermittent character of rainfall at fine time scales by merging a discrete stochastic representation of intermittency and a continuous one of rainfall depths. This approach yields a unique and parsimonious mathematical framework providing general analytical formulations of mean, variance, and autocorrelation function (ACF) for a mixed-type stochastic process in terms of mean, variance, and ACFs of both continuous and discrete components, respectively. To achieve the full consistency between variables at finer and coarser time scales in terms of marginal distribution and coarse-scale totals, the generated lower-level series are adjusted according to a procedure that does not affect the stochastic structure implied by the original model. To assess model performance, we study rainfall process as intermittent with both independent and dependent occurrences, where dependence is quantified by the probability that two consecutive time intervals are dry. In either case, we provide analytical formulations of main statistics of our mixed-type disaggregation model and show their clear accordance with Monte Carlo simulations. An application to rainfall time series from real world is shown as a proof of concept.

Length scale effects of friction in particle compaction using atomistic simulations and a friction scaling model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stone, T. W.; Horstemeyer, M. F.

2012-09-01

The objective of this study is to illustrate and quantify the length scale effects related to interparticle friction under compaction. Previous studies have shown as the length scale of a specimen decreases, the strength of a single crystal metal or ceramic increases. The question underlying this research effort continues the thought—If there is a length scale parameter related to the strength of a material, is there a length scale parameter related to friction? To explore the length scale effects of friction, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using an embedded atom method potential were performed to analyze the compression of two spherical FCC nickel nanoparticles at different contact angles. In the MD model study, we applied a macroscopic plastic contact formulation to determine the normal plastic contact force at the particle interfaces and used the average shear stress from the MD simulations to determine the tangential contact forces. Combining this information with the Coulomb friction law, we quantified the MD interparticle coefficient of friction and showed good agreement with experimental studies and a Discrete Element Method prediction as a function of contact angle. Lastly, we compared our MD simulation friction values to the tribological predictions of Bhushan and Nosonovsky (BN), who developed a friction scaling model based on strain gradient plasticity and dislocation-assisted sliding that included a length scale parameter. The comparison revealed that the BN elastic friction scaling model did a much better job than the BN plastic scaling model of predicting the coefficient of friction values obtained from the MD simulations.

Experimental and finite element study of ultimate strength of continuous composite concrete slabs with steel decking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gholamhoseini, Alireza

2018-03-01

Composite one-way concrete slabs with profiled steel decking as permanent formwork are commonly used in the construction industry. The steel decking supports the wet concrete of a cast in situ reinforced or post-tensioned concrete slab and, after the concrete sets, acts as external reinforcement. In this type of slab, longitudinal shear failure between the concrete and the steel decking is the most common type of failure at the ultimate load stage. Design codes require the experimental evaluation of the ultimate load capacity and longitudinal shear strength of each type of steel decking using full-scale tests on simple-span slabs. There is also no procedure in current design codes to evaluate the ultimate load capacity and longitudinal shear strength of continuous composite slabs and this is often assessed experimentally by full-scale tests. This paper presents the results of three full-scale tests up to failure on continuous composite concrete slabs cast with trapezoidal steel decking profile (KF70) that is widely used in Australia. Slab specimens were tested in four-point bending at each span with shear spans of span/4. The longitudinal shear failure of each slab is evaluated and the measured mid-span deflection, the end slip and the mid-span steel and concrete strains are also presented and discussed. Redistribution of bending moment in each slab is presented and discussed. A finite element model is proposed and verified by experimental data using interface element to model the bond properties between steel decking and concrete slab and investigate the ultimate strength of continuous composite concrete slabs.

Chimpanzee Social Responsiveness Scale (CSRS) Detects Individual Variation in Social Responsiveness for Captive Chimpanzees

PubMed Central

Faughn, Carley; Marrus, Natasha; Pruett, John R.; Shuman, Jeremy; Ross, Stephen R.; Constantino, John N.; Povinelli, Daniel J.

2017-01-01

Comparative studies of social responsiveness, a core impairment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), will enhance our understanding of typical and atypical social behavior. We previously reported a quantitative, cross-species (human–chimpanzee) social responsiveness measure, which included the development of the Chimpanzee Social Responsiveness Scale (CSRS). Here, we augment our prior CSRS sample with 25 zoo chimpanzees at three sites: combined N = 54. The CSRS demonstrated strong interrater reliability, and low-ranked chimpanzees, on average, displayed higher CSRS scores. The CSRS continues to discriminate variation in chimpanzee social responsiveness, and the association of higher scores with lower chimpanzee social standing has implications for the relationship between autistic traits and human social status. Continued comparative investigations of social responsiveness will enhance our understanding of underlying impairments in ASD, improve early diagnosis, and inform future therapies. PMID:25312279

Brief Report: Chimpanzee Social Responsiveness Scale (CSRS) Detects Individual Variation in Social Responsiveness for Captive Chimpanzees.

PubMed

Faughn, Carley; Marrus, Natasha; Shuman, Jeremy; Ross, Stephen R; Constantino, John N; Pruett, John R; Povinelli, Daniel J

2015-05-01

Comparative studies of social responsiveness, a core impairment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), will enhance our understanding of typical and atypical social behavior. We previously reported a quantitative, cross-species (human-chimpanzee) social responsiveness measure, which included the development of the Chimpanzee Social Responsiveness Scale (CSRS). Here, we augment our prior CSRS sample with 25 zoo chimpanzees at three sites: combined N = 54. The CSRS demonstrated strong interrater reliability, and low-ranked chimpanzees, on average, displayed higher CSRS scores. The CSRS continues to discriminate variation in chimpanzee social responsiveness, and the association of higher scores with lower chimpanzee social standing has implications for the relationship between autistic traits and human social status. Continued comparative investigations of social responsiveness will enhance our understanding of underlying impairments in ASD, improve early diagnosis, and inform future therapies.

A scheme for recording a fast process at nanosecond scale by using digital holographic interferometry with continuous wave laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jun; Zhao, Jianlin; Di, Jianglei; Jiang, Biqiang

2015-04-01

A scheme for recording fast process at nanosecond scale by using digital holographic interferometry with continuous wave (CW) laser is described and demonstrated experimentally, which employs delayed-time fibers and angular multiplexing technique and can realize the variable temporal resolution at nanosecond scale and different measured depths of object field at certain temporal resolution. The actual delay-time is controlled by two delayed-time fibers with different lengths. The object field information in two different states can be simultaneously recorded in a composite hologram. This scheme is also suitable for recording fast process at picosecond scale, by using an electro-optic modulator.

Hope, self-efficacy, spiritual well-being and job satisfaction.

PubMed

Duggleby, Wendy; Cooper, Dan; Penz, Kelly

2009-11-01

Hope, self-efficacy, spiritual well-being and job satisfaction. This paper is a report of a study of the relations of spiritual well-being, global job satisfaction, and general self-efficacy to hope in Continuing Care Assistants. Healthcare providers have described their hope as an important part of their work and a form of work motivation. Hope may be an important factor in preventing burnout and improving job satisfaction. A concurrent triangulation mixed method design was used. Sixty-four Continuing Care Assistants (personal care aides) who registered for a 'Living with Hope' Conference completed a demographic form, Herth Hope Index, Global Job Satisfaction Questionnaire, Spiritual Well-Being Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale, and a hope questionnaire. Data were collected in 2007. The response rate was 58%. Using linear regression, 29.9% of the variance in Herth Hope Index score was accounted for by scores from the General Self-Efficacy Scale and Spiritual Well-Being Scale. General Self-efficacy scores (positive relationship) and Spiritual Well-Being scores (negative relationship) accounted for a significant part of the variance. Qualitative data supported all findings, with the exception of the negative relationship between hope and spiritual well-being; participants wrote that faith, relationships, helping others and positive thinking helped them to have hope. They also wrote that hope had a positive influence on their job satisfaction and performance. Hope is an important concept in the work life of Continuing Care Assistants. Supportive relationships, adequate resources, encouragement by others, and improving perceptions of self-efficacy (ability to achieve goals in their workplace) may foster their hope.

Solar oxidation and removal of arsenic--Key parameters for continuous flow applications.

PubMed

Gill, L W; O'Farrell, C

2015-12-01

Solar oxidation to remove arsenic from water has previously been investigated as a batch process. This research has investigated the kinetic parameters for the design of a continuous flow solar reactor to remove arsenic from contaminated groundwater supplies. Continuous flow recirculated batch experiments were carried out under artificial UV light to investigate the effect of different parameters on arsenic removal efficiency. Inlet water arsenic concentrations of up to 1000 μg/L were reduced to below 10 μg/L requiring 12 mg/L iron after receiving 12 kJUV/L radiation. Citrate however was somewhat surprisingly found to promote a detrimental effect on the removal process in the continuous flow reactor studies which is contrary to results found in batch scale tests. The impact of other typical water groundwater quality parameters (phosphate and silica) on the process due to their competition with arsenic for photooxidation products revealed a much higher sensitivity to phosphate ions compared to silicate. Other results showed no benefit from the addition of TiO2 photocatalyst but enhanced arsenic removal at higher temperatures up to 40 °C. Overall, these results have indicated the kinetic envelope from which a continuous flow SORAS single pass system could be more confidently designed for a full-scale community groundwater application at a village level. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Habitat continuity and stepping-stone oceanographic distances explain population genetic connectivity of the brown alga Cystoseira amentacea.

PubMed

Buonomo, Roberto; Assis, Jorge; Fernandes, Francisco; Engelen, Aschwin H; Airoldi, Laura; Serrão, Ester A

2017-02-01

Effective predictive and management approaches for species occurring in a metapopulation structure require good understanding of interpopulation connectivity. In this study, we ask whether population genetic structure of marine species with fragmented distributions can be predicted by stepping-stone oceanographic transport and habitat continuity, using as model an ecosystem-structuring brown alga, Cystoseira amentacea var. stricta. To answer this question, we analysed the genetic structure and estimated the connectivity of populations along discontinuous rocky habitat patches in southern Italy, using microsatellite markers at multiple scales. In addition, we modelled the effect of rocky habitat continuity and ocean circulation on gene flow by simulating Lagrangian particle dispersal based on ocean surface currents allowing multigenerational stepping-stone dynamics. Populations were highly differentiated, at scales from few metres up to thousands of kilometres. The best possible model fit to explain the genetic results combined current direction, rocky habitat extension and distance along the coast among rocky sites. We conclude that a combination of variable suitable habitat and oceanographic transport is a useful predictor of genetic structure. This relationship provides insight into the mechanisms of dispersal and the role of life-history traits. Our results highlight the importance of spatially explicit modelling of stepping-stone dynamics and oceanographic directional transport coupled with habitat suitability, to better describe and predict marine population structure and differentiation. This study also suggests the appropriate spatial scales for the conservation, restoration and management of species that are increasingly affected by habitat modifications. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cannabis use and first-episode psychosis: relationship with manic and psychotic symptoms, and with age at presentation.

PubMed

Stone, J M; Fisher, H L; Major, B; Chisholm, B; Woolley, J; Lawrence, J; Rahaman, N; Joyce, J; Hinton, M; Johnson, S; Young, A H

2014-02-01

Cannabis use has been reported to be associated with an earlier onset of symptoms in patients with first-episode psychosis, and a worse outcome in those who continue to take cannabis. In general, studies have concentrated on symptoms of psychosis rather than mania. In this study, using a longitudinal design in a large naturalistic cohort of patients with first-episode psychosis, we investigated the relationship between cannabis use, age of presentation to services, daily functioning, and positive, negative and manic symptoms. Clinical data on 502 patients with first-episode psychosis were collected using the MiData audit database from seven London-based Early Intervention in psychosis teams. Individuals were assessed at two time points--at entry to the service and after 1 year. On each occasion, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, Young Mania Rating Scale and Global Assessment of Functioning Scale disability subscale were rated. At both time points, the use of cannabis and other drugs of abuse in the 6 months preceding each assessment was recorded. Level of cannabis use was associated with a younger age at presentation, and manic symptoms and conceptual disorganization, but not with delusions, hallucinations, negative symptoms or daily functioning. Cannabis users who reduced or stopped their use following contact with services had the greatest improvement in symptoms at 1 year compared with continued users and non-users. Continued users remained more symptomatic than non-users at follow-up. Effective interventions for reducing cannabis use may yield significant health benefits for patients with first-episode psychosis.

A Continuous Measure of Gross Primary Production for the Conterminous U.S. Derived from MODIS and AmeriFlux Data

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

Xia, Jingfeng; Zhuang, Qianlai; Law, Beverly E.

The quantification of carbon fluxes between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere is of scientific importance and also relevant to climate-policy making. Eddy covariance flux towers provide continuous measurements of ecosystem-level exchange of carbon dioxide spanning diurnal, synoptic, seasonal, and interannual time scales. However, these measurements only represent the fluxes at the scale of the tower footprint. Here we used remotely-sensed data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to upscale gross primary productivity (GPP) data from eddy covariance flux towers to the continental scale. We first combined GPP and MODIS data for 42 AmeriFlux towers encompassing a wide rangemore » of ecosystem and climate types to develop a predictive GPP model using a regression tree approach. The predictive model was trained using observed GPP over the period 2000-2004, and was validated using observed GPP over the period 2005-2006 and leave-one-out cross-validation. Our model predicted GPP fairly well at the site level. We then used the model to estimate GPP for each 1 km x 1 km cell across the U.S. for each 8-day interval over the period from February 2000 to December 2006 using MODIS data. Our GPP estimates provide a spatially and temporally continuous measure of gross primary production for the U.S. that is a highly constrained by eddy covariance flux data. Our study demonstrated that our empirical approach is effective for upscaling eddy flux GPP data to the continental scale and producing continuous GPP estimates across multiple biomes. With these estimates, we then examined the patterns, magnitude, and interannual variability of GPP. We estimated a gross carbon uptake between 6.91 and 7.33 Pg C yr{sup -1} for the conterminous U.S. Drought, fires, and hurricanes reduced annual GPP at regional scales and could have a significant impact on the U.S. net ecosystem carbon exchange. The sources of the interannual variability of U.S. GPP were dominated by these extreme climate events and disturbances.« less

An observational study of the effectiveness of alternative care providers in the management of obstructive sleep apnea.

PubMed

Pendharkar, Sachin R; Dechant, Anthony; Bischak, Diane P; Tsai, Willis H; Stevenson, Ann-Marie; Hanly, Patrick J

2016-04-01

Alternative care providers have been proposed as a substitute for physician-based management of obstructive sleep apnea. The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical course of patients with a new diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea who were treated with continuous positive airway pressure and followed by alternative care providers at a tertiary care sleep clinic. It was hypothesized that care by alternative care providers would result in improvement of daytime sleepiness and satisfactory treatment adherence, and that a specific number of follow-up visits could be identified after which clinical outcomes no longer improved. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale score was measured for each patient at baseline and at each alternative care provider visit. Patients were discharged when they demonstrated a significant improvement in sleepiness and were adherent to therapy. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale score decreased by 3.9 points from baseline to discharge. Patients with three or more visits required more follow-up time to achieve the same clinical improvement as those with only two visits. Continuous positive airway pressure adherence was comparable to previous studies of physician-led care and improved with ongoing alternative care provider follow-up. The current results suggest that clinical care by alternative care providers leads to continued improvements in sleepiness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea who are treated with continuous positive airway pressure, and that a minority of patients require longer follow-up to achieve a satisfactory clinical response to therapy. © 2015 European Sleep Research Society.

Moon-based Earth Observation for Large Scale Geoscience Phenomena

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Huadong; Liu, Guang; Ding, Yixing

2016-07-01

The capability of Earth observation for large-global-scale natural phenomena needs to be improved and new observing platform are expected. We have studied the concept of Moon as an Earth observation in these years. Comparing with manmade satellite platform, Moon-based Earth observation can obtain multi-spherical, full-band, active and passive information,which is of following advantages: large observation range, variable view angle, long-term continuous observation, extra-long life cycle, with the characteristics of longevity ,consistency, integrity, stability and uniqueness. Moon-based Earth observation is suitable for monitoring the large scale geoscience phenomena including large scale atmosphere change, large scale ocean change,large scale land surface dynamic change,solid earth dynamic change,etc. For the purpose of establishing a Moon-based Earth observation platform, we already have a plan to study the five aspects as follows: mechanism and models of moon-based observing earth sciences macroscopic phenomena; sensors' parameters optimization and methods of moon-based Earth observation; site selection and environment of moon-based Earth observation; Moon-based Earth observation platform; and Moon-based Earth observation fundamental scientific framework.

Continuity of character neurosis from childhood to adulthood. A prospective longitudinal study.

PubMed

Parnas, J; Teasdale, T W; Schulsinger, H

1982-12-01

In a prospective longitudinal study, stability of personality traits was examined between the age of 15 and the age of 25. Scales, derived from an Adjective Check List, intending to predict obsessive-compulsive character neurosis, anti-aggressive character neurosis and non-neurotic personality have been utilized. Temporal stability of the examined personality traits was demonstrated.

A cross-syndrome evaluation of a new attention rating scale: The Scale of Attention in Intellectual Disability.

PubMed

Freeman, Nerelie C; Gray, Kylie M; Taffe, John R; Cornish, Kim M

2016-10-01

Whilst neuropsychological research has enhanced our understanding of inattentive and hyperactive behaviours among children with intellectual disability (ID), the absence of rating scales developed for this group continues to be a gap in knowledge. This study examined these behaviours in 176 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Down Syndrome (DS), or idiopathic ID using a newly developed teacher rating scale, the Scale of Attention in Intellectual Disability. Findings suggested that children with ASD had a significantly greater breadth of hyperactive/impulsive behaviours than those with DS or idiopathic ID. These findings support existing research suggesting differing profiles of attention and activity across groups. Understanding disorder-specific profiles has implications for developing strategies to support students with ID in the classroom. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An examination of scale of assessment, logging and ENSO-induced fires on butterfly diversity in Borneo.

PubMed

Cleary, Daniel F R

2003-04-01

The impact of disturbance on species diversity may be related to the spatial scales over which it occurs. Here I assess the impact of logging and ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) -induced burning and forest isolation on the species richness (477 species out of more than 28,000 individuals) and community composition of butterflies and butterfly guilds using small (0.9 ha) plots nested within large (450 ha) landscapes. The landscapes were located in three habitat classes: (1) continuous, unburned forest; (2) unburned isolates surrounded by burned forest; and (3) burned forest. Plots with different logging histories were sampled within the two unburned habitat classes, allowing for independent assessment of the two disturbance factors (logging and burning). Disturbance within habitat classes (logging) had a very different impact on butterfly diversity than disturbance among habitat classes (due to ENSO-induced burning and isolation). Logging increased species richness, increased evenness, and lowered dominance. Among guilds based on larval food plants, the species richness of tree and herb specialists was higher in logged areas but their abundance was lower. Both generalist species richness and abundance was higher in logged areas. Among habitat classes, species richness was lower in burned forest and isolates than continuous forest but there was no overall difference in evenness or dominance. Among guilds, generalist species richness was significantly lower in burned forest and isolates than continuous forest. Generalist abundance was also very low in the isolates. There was no difference among disturbance classes in herb specialist species richness but abundance was significantly higher in the isolates and burned forest than in continuous forest. Tree specialist species richness was lower in burned forest than continuous forest but did not differ between continuous forest and isolates. The scale of assessment proved important in estimating the impact of disturbance on species richness. Within disturbance classes, the difference in species richness between primary and logged forest was more pronounced at the smaller spatial scale. Among disturbance classes, the difference in species richness between continuous forest and isolates or burned forest was more pronounced at the larger spatial scale. The lower levels of species richness in ENSO-affected areas and at the larger (landscape) spatial scale indicate that future severe ENSO events may prove one of the most serious threats to extant biodiversity.

Characterizing multi-scale self-similar behavior and non-statistical properties of fluctuations in financial time series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Sayantan; Manimaran, P.; Panigrahi, Prasanta K.

2011-11-01

We make use of wavelet transform to study the multi-scale, self-similar behavior and deviations thereof, in the stock prices of large companies, belonging to different economic sectors. The stock market returns exhibit multi-fractal characteristics, with some of the companies showing deviations at small and large scales. The fact that, the wavelets belonging to the Daubechies’ (Db) basis enables one to isolate local polynomial trends of different degrees, plays the key role in isolating fluctuations at different scales. One of the primary motivations of this work is to study the emergence of the k-3 behavior [X. Gabaix, P. Gopikrishnan, V. Plerou, H. Stanley, A theory of power law distributions in financial market fluctuations, Nature 423 (2003) 267-270] of the fluctuations starting with high frequency fluctuations. We make use of Db4 and Db6 basis sets to respectively isolate local linear and quadratic trends at different scales in order to study the statistical characteristics of these financial time series. The fluctuations reveal fat tail non-Gaussian behavior, unstable periodic modulations, at finer scales, from which the characteristic k-3 power law behavior emerges at sufficiently large scales. We further identify stable periodic behavior through the continuous Morlet wavelet.

Continuous alkaline pretreatment of Miscanthus sacchariflorus using a bench-scale single screw reactor.

PubMed

Cha, Young-Lok; Yang, Jungwoo; Park, Yuri; An, Gi Hong; Ahn, Jong-Woong; Moon, Youn-Ho; Yoon, Young-Mi; Yu, Gyeong-Dan; Choi, In-Hu

2015-04-01

Miscanthus sacchariflorus 'Goedae-Uksae 1' (GU) was developed as an energy crop of high productivity in Korea. For the practical use of GU for bioethanol production, a bench-scale continuous pretreatment system was developed. The reactor performed screw extrusion, soaking and thermochemical pretreatment at the following operating conditions: 3 mm particle size, 22% moisture content, 140 °C reaction temperature, 8 min residence time, 15 g/min biomass feeding and 120 mL/min NaOH input. As a result of minimizing NaOH concentration and enzyme dosage, 90.8±0.49% glucose yield was obtained from 0.5 M NaOH-pretreated GU containing 3% glucan with 10 FPU cellulase/g cellulose at 50 °C for 72 h. The separate hydrolysis and fermentation of 0.5 M NaOH-pretreated GU containing 10% glucan with 10-30 FPU for 102 h produced 43.0-49.6 g/L bioethanol (theoretical yield, 75.8-87.6%). Thus, this study demonstrated that continuous pretreatment using a single screw reactor is effective for bioethanol production from Miscanthus biomass. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Potential of integrated continuous surveys and quality management to support monitoring, evaluation, and the scale-up of health interventions in developing countries.

PubMed

Rowe, Alexander K

2009-06-01

Well-funded initiatives are challenging developing countries to increase health intervention coverage and show impact. Despite substantial resources, however, major obstacles include weak health systems, a lack of reasonably accurate monitoring data, and inadequate use of data for managing programs. This report discusses how integrated continuous surveys and quality management (I-Q), which are well-recognized approaches in wealthy countries, could support intervention scale-up, monitoring and evaluation, quality control for commodities, capacity building, and implementation research in low-resource settings. Integrated continuous surveys are similar to existing national cross-sectional surveys of households and health facilities, except data are collected over several years by permanent teams, and most results are reported monthly at the national, province, and district levels. Quality management involves conceptualizing work as processes, involving all workers in quality improvement, monitoring quality, and teams that improve quality with "plan-do-study-act" cycles. Implementing and evaluating I-Q in a low-income country would provide critical information on the value of this approach.

A general theory of effect size, and its consequences for defining the benchmark response (BMR) for continuous endpoints.

PubMed

Slob, Wout

2017-04-01

A general theory on effect size for continuous data predicts a relationship between maximum response and within-group variation of biological parameters, which is empirically confirmed by results from dose-response analyses of 27 different biological parameters. The theory shows how effect sizes observed in distinct biological parameters can be compared and provides a basis for a generic definition of small, intermediate and large effects. While the theory is useful for experimental science in general, it has specific consequences for risk assessment: it solves the current debate on the appropriate metric for the Benchmark response in continuous data. The theory shows that scaling the BMR expressed as a percent change in means to the maximum response (in the way specified) automatically takes "natural variability" into account. Thus, the theory supports the underlying rationale of the BMR 1 SD. For various reasons, it is, however, recommended to use a BMR in terms of a percent change that is scaled to maximum response and/or within group variation (averaged over studies), as a single harmonized approach.

[A first step towards safer sedation and analgesia: A systematic evaluation of outcomes and level of sedation and analgesia in the mechanically ventilated critically ill patient].

PubMed

Frade-Mera, M J; Regueiro-Díaz, N; Díaz-Castellano, L; Torres-Valverde, L; Alonso-Pérez, L; Landívar-Redondo, M M; Muñoz-Pasín, R; Terceros-Almanza, L J; Temprano-Vázquez, S; Sánchez-Izquierdo-Riera, J Á

Safe analgesia and sedation strategies are necessary in order to avoid under or over sedation, as well as improving the comfort and safety of critical care patients. To compare and contrast a multidisciplinary protocol of systematic evaluation and management of analgesia and sedation in a group of critical care patients on mechanical ventilation with the usual procedures. A cohort study with contemporary series was conducted in a tertiary care medical-surgical ICU February to November during 2013 and 2014. The inclusion criteria were mechanical ventilation ≥ 24h and use of sedation by continuous infusion. Sedation was monitored using the Richmond agitation-sedation scale or bispectral index, and analgesia were measured using the numeric rating scale, or behavioural indicators of pain scale. The study variables included; mechanical ventilation time, weaning time, ventilation support time, artificial airway time, continuous sedative infusion time, daily dose and frequency of analgesic and sedative drug use, hospital stay, and ICU and hospital mortality, Richmond agitation-sedation scale, bispectral index, numeric rating scale, and behavioural indicators of pain scale measurements. Kruskal Wallis and Chi 2 , and a significance of p<.05 were used. The study included 153 admissions, 75 pre-intervention and 78 post-intervention, with a mean age of 55.7±13 years old, and 67% men. Both groups showed similarities in age, reason for admission, and APACHE. There were non-significant decreases in mechanical ventilation time 4 (1.4-9.2) and 3.2 (1.4-8.1) days, respectively; p= 0.7, continuous sedative infusion time 6 (3-11) and 5 (3-11) days; p= 0.9, length of hospital stay 29 (18-52); 25 (14-41) days; p= 0.1, ICU mortality (8 vs. 5%; p= 0.4), and hospital mortality (10.6 vs. 9.4%: p= 0.8). Daily doses of midazolam and remifentanil decreased 347 (227-479) mg/day; 261 (159-358) mg/day; p= 0.02 and 2175 (1427-3285) mcg/day; 1500 (715-2740) mcg/day; p= 0.02, respectively. There were increases in the use of remifentanil (32% vs. 51%; p= 0.01), dexmedetomidine (0 vs.6%; p= 0.02), dexketoprofen (60 vs. 76%; p= 0.03), and haloperidol (15 vs.28%; p= 0.04). The use of morphine decreased (71 vs. 54%; p= 0.03). There was an increase in the number of measurements and Richmond agitation-sedation scale scores 6 (3-17); 21 (9-39); p< 0.0001, behavioural indicators of pain scale 6 (3-18); 19(8-33); p< 0.001 and numeric rating scale 4 (2-6); 8 (6-17); p< 0.0001. The implementation of a multidisciplinary protocol of systematic evaluation of analgesia and sedation management achieved an improvement in monitoring and adequacy of dose to patient needs, leading to improved outcomes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y SEEIUC. All rights reserved.

Monthly streamflow forecasting using continuous wavelet and multi-gene genetic programming combination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hadi, Sinan Jasim; Tombul, Mustafa

2018-06-01

Streamflow is an essential component of the hydrologic cycle in the regional and global scale and the main source of fresh water supply. It is highly associated with natural disasters, such as droughts and floods. Therefore, accurate streamflow forecasting is essential. Forecasting streamflow in general and monthly streamflow in particular is a complex process that cannot be handled by data-driven models (DDMs) only and requires pre-processing. Wavelet transformation is a pre-processing technique; however, application of continuous wavelet transformation (CWT) produces many scales that cause deterioration in the performance of any DDM because of the high number of redundant variables. This study proposes multigene genetic programming (MGGP) as a selection tool. After the CWT analysis, it selects important scales to be imposed into the artificial neural network (ANN). A basin located in the southeast of Turkey is selected as case study to prove the forecasting ability of the proposed model. One month ahead downstream flow is used as output, and downstream flow, upstream, rainfall, temperature, and potential evapotranspiration with associated lags are used as inputs. Before modeling, wavelet coherence transformation (WCT) analysis was conducted to analyze the relationship between variables in the time-frequency domain. Several combinations were developed to investigate the effect of the variables on streamflow forecasting. The results indicated a high localized correlation between the streamflow and other variables, especially the upstream. In the models of the standalone layout where the data were entered to ANN and MGGP without CWT, the performance is found poor. In the best-scale layout, where the best scale of the CWT identified as the highest correlated scale is chosen and enters to ANN and MGGP, the performance increased slightly. Using the proposed model, the performance improved dramatically particularly in forecasting the peak values because of the inclusion of several scales in which seasonality and irregularity can be captured. Using hydrological and meteorological variables also improved the ability to forecast the streamflow.

Towards effective payoffs in the prisoner’s dilemma game on scale-free networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szolnoki, Attila; Perc, Matjaž; Danku, Zsuzsa

2008-03-01

We study the transition towards effective payoffs in the prisoner's dilemma game on scale-free networks by introducing a normalization parameter guiding the system from accumulated payoffs to payoffs normalized with the connectivity of each agent. We show that during this transition the heterogeneity-based ability of scale-free networks to facilitate cooperative behavior deteriorates continuously, eventually collapsing with the results obtained on regular graphs. The strategy donations and adaptation probabilities of agents with different connectivities are studied. Results reveal that strategies generally spread from agents with larger towards agents with smaller degree. However, this strategy adoption flow reverses sharply in the fully normalized payoff limit. Surprisingly, cooperators occupy the hubs even if the averaged cooperation level due to partly normalized payoffs is moderate.

Multi-Scale Computational Models for Electrical Brain Stimulation

PubMed Central

Seo, Hyeon; Jun, Sung C.

2017-01-01

Electrical brain stimulation (EBS) is an appealing method to treat neurological disorders. To achieve optimal stimulation effects and a better understanding of the underlying brain mechanisms, neuroscientists have proposed computational modeling studies for a decade. Recently, multi-scale models that combine a volume conductor head model and multi-compartmental models of cortical neurons have been developed to predict stimulation effects on the macroscopic and microscopic levels more precisely. As the need for better computational models continues to increase, we overview here recent multi-scale modeling studies; we focused on approaches that coupled a simplified or high-resolution volume conductor head model and multi-compartmental models of cortical neurons, and constructed realistic fiber models using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Further implications for achieving better precision in estimating cellular responses are discussed. PMID:29123476

Using PAT to accelerate the transition to continuous API manufacturing.

PubMed

Gouveia, Francisca F; Rahbek, Jesper P; Mortensen, Asmus R; Pedersen, Mette T; Felizardo, Pedro M; Bro, Rasmus; Mealy, Michael J

2017-01-01

Significant improvements can be realized by converting conventional batch processes into continuous ones. The main drivers include reduction of cost and waste, increased safety, and simpler scale-up and tech transfer activities. Re-designing the process layout offers the opportunity to incorporate a set of process analytical technologies (PAT) embraced in the Quality-by-Design (QbD) framework. These tools are used for process state estimation, providing enhanced understanding of the underlying variability in the process impacting quality and yield. This work describes a road map for identifying the best technology to speed-up the development of continuous processes while providing the basis for developing analytical methods for monitoring and controlling the continuous full-scale reaction. The suitability of in-line Raman, FT-infrared (FT-IR), and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for real-time process monitoring was investigated in the production of 1-bromo-2-iodobenzene. The synthesis consists of three consecutive reaction steps including the formation of an unstable diazonium salt intermediate, which is critical to secure high yield and avoid formation of by-products. All spectroscopic methods were able to capture critical information related to the accumulation of the intermediate with very similar accuracy. NIR spectroscopy proved to be satisfactory in terms of performance, ease of installation, full-scale transferability, and stability to very adverse process conditions. As such, in-line NIR was selected to monitor the continuous full-scale production. The quantitative method was developed against theoretical concentration values of the intermediate since representative sampling for off-line reference analysis cannot be achieved. The rapid and reliable analytical system allowed the following: speeding up the design of the continuous process and a better understanding of the manufacturing requirements to ensure optimal yield and avoid unreacted raw materials and by-products in the continuous reactor effluent. Graphical Abstract Using PAT to accelerate the transition to continuous API manufacturing.

Toward industrial scale synthesis of ultrapure singlet nanoparticles with controllable sizes in a continuous gas-phase process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Jicheng; Biskos, George; Schmidt-Ott, Andreas

2015-10-01

Continuous gas-phase synthesis of nanoparticles is associated with rapid agglomeration, which can be a limiting factor for numerous applications. In this report, we challenge this paradigm by providing experimental evidence to support that gas-phase methods can be used to produce ultrapure non-agglomerated “singlet” nanoparticles having tunable sizes at room temperature. By controlling the temperature in the particle growth zone to guarantee complete coalescence of colliding entities, the size of singlets in principle can be regulated from that of single atoms to any desired value. We assess our results in the context of a simple analytical model to explore the dependence of singlet size on the operating conditions. Agreement of the model with experimental measurements shows that these methods can be effectively used for producing singlets that can be processed further by many alternative approaches. Combined with the capabilities of up-scaling and unlimited mixing that spark ablation enables, this study provides an easy-to-use concept for producing the key building blocks for low-cost industrial-scale nanofabrication of advanced materials.

A Novel Strategy for Continuation ECT in Geriatric Depression: Phase 2 of the PRIDE Study.

PubMed

Kellner, Charles H; Husain, Mustafa M; Knapp, Rebecca G; McCall, W Vaughn; Petrides, Georgios; Rudorfer, Matthew V; Young, Robert C; Sampson, Shirlene; McClintock, Shawn M; Mueller, Martina; Prudic, Joan; Greenberg, Robert M; Weiner, Richard D; Bailine, Samuel H; Rosenquist, Peter B; Raza, Ahmad; Kaliora, Styliani; Latoussakis, Vassilios; Tobias, Kristen G; Briggs, Mimi C; Liebman, Lauren S; Geduldig, Emma T; Teklehaimanot, Abeba A; Dooley, Mary; Lisanby, Sarah H

2016-11-01

The randomized phase (phase 2) of the Prolonging Remission in Depressed Elderly (PRIDE) study evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of continuation ECT plus medication compared with medication alone in depressed geriatric patients after a successful course of ECT (phase 1). PRIDE was a two-phase multisite study. Phase 1 was an acute course of right unilateral ultrabrief pulse ECT, augmented with venlafaxine. Phase 2 compared two randomized treatment arms: a medication only arm (venlafaxine plus lithium, over 24 weeks) and an ECT plus medication arm (four continuation ECT treatments over 1 month, plus additional ECT as needed, using the Symptom-Titrated, Algorithm-Based Longitudinal ECT [STABLE] algorithm, while continuing venlafaxine plus lithium). The intent-to-treat sample comprised 120 remitters from phase 1. The primary efficacy outcome measure was score on the 24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), and the secondary efficacy outcome was score on the Clinical Global Impressions severity scale (CGI-S). Tolerability as measured by neurocognitive performance (reported elsewhere) was assessed using an extensive test battery; global cognitive functioning as assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is reported here. Longitudinal mixed-effects repeated-measures modeling was used to compare ECT plus medication and medication alone for efficacy and global cognitive function outcomes. At 24 weeks, the ECT plus medication group had statistically significantly lower HAM-D scores than the medication only group. The difference in adjusted mean HAM-D scores at study end was 4.2 (95% CI=1.6, 6.9). Significantly more patients in the ECT plus medication group were rated "not ill at all" on the CGI-S compared with the medication only group. There was no statistically significant difference between groups in MMSE score. Additional ECT after remission (here operationalized as four continuation ECT treatments followed by further ECT only as needed) was beneficial in sustaining mood improvement for most patients.

Predictors of Sustainability of Social Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Savaya, Riki; Spiro, Shimon E.

2012-01-01

This article presents the findings of a large scale study that tested a comprehensive model of predictors of three manifestations of sustainability: continuation, institutionalization, and duration. Based on the literature the predictors were arrayed in four groups: variables pertaining to the project, the auspice organization, the community, and…

The Dimensionality of Supervisor Roles: Counselor Trainees' Perceptions of Supervision.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellis, Michael V.; And Others

A study was conducted which continued the investigation of the underlying structure of supervision by empirically testing Bernard's (1979) model of supervision using a confirmatory multidimensional scaling paradigm. To accomplish this, counselor trainees' perceptions of the underlying structure (dimensionality or cognitive map) of supervision were…

Rice rhizosphere soil and root surface bacterial community response to water management changes

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Different water management practices could affect microbial populations in the rice rhizosphere. A field-scale study was conducted to evaluate microbial populations in the root plaque and rhizosphere of rice in response to continuous and intermittent flooding conditions. Microbial populations in rhi...

Bacteria transport simulation using apex model in the toenepi watershed, New Zealand

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) model is a distributed, continuous, daily-timestep small watershed-scale hydrologic and water quality model. In this study, the newly developed fecal-derived bacteria fate and transport subroutine was applied and validated using APEX model. The ...

Multiphysics numerical modeling of the continuous flow microwave-assisted transesterification process.

PubMed

Muley, Pranjali D; Boldor, Dorin

2012-01-01

Use of advanced microwave technology for biodiesel production from vegetable oil is a relatively new technology. Microwave dielectric heating increases the process efficiency and reduces reaction time. Microwave heating depends on various factors such as material properties (dielectric and thermo-physical), frequency of operation and system design. Although lab scale results are promising, it is important to study these parameters and optimize the process before scaling up. Numerical modeling approach can be applied for predicting heating and temperature profiles including at larger scale. The process can be studied for optimization without actually performing the experiments, reducing the amount of experimental work required. A basic numerical model of continuous electromagnetic heating of biodiesel precursors was developed. A finite element model was built using COMSOL Multiphysics 4.2 software by coupling the electromagnetic problem with the fluid flow and heat transfer problem. Chemical reaction was not taken into account. Material dielectric properties were obtained experimentally, while the thermal properties were obtained from the literature (all the properties were temperature dependent). The model was tested for the two different power levels 4000 W and 4700 W at a constant flow rate of 840ml/min. The electric field, electromagnetic power density flow and temperature profiles were studied. Resulting temperature profiles were validated by comparing to the temperatures obtained at specific locations from the experiment. The results obtained were in good agreement with the experimental data.

Engineered catalytic biofilms for continuous large scale production of n-octanol and (S)-styrene oxide.

PubMed

Gross, Rainer; Buehler, Katja; Schmid, Andreas

2013-02-01

This study evaluates the technical feasibility of biofilm-based biotransformations at an industrial scale by theoretically designing a process employing membrane fiber modules as being used in the chemical industry and compares the respective process parameters to classical stirred-tank studies. To our knowledge, catalytic biofilm processes for fine chemicals production have so far not been reported on a technical scale. As model reactions, we applied the previously studied asymmetric styrene epoxidation employing Pseudomonas sp. strain VLB120ΔC biofilms and the here-described selective alkane hydroxylation. Using the non-heme iron containing alkane hydroxylase system (AlkBGT) from P. putida Gpo1 in the recombinant P. putida PpS81 pBT10 biofilm, we were able to continuously produce 1-octanol from octane with a maximal productivity of 1.3 g L ⁻¹(aq) day⁻¹ in a single tube micro reactor. For a possible industrial application, a cylindrical membrane fiber module packed with 84,000 polypropylene fibers is proposed. Based on the here presented calculations, 59 membrane fiber modules (of 0.9 m diameter and 2 m length) would be feasible to realize a production process of 1,000 tons/year for styrene oxide. Moreover, the product yield on carbon can at least be doubled and over 400-fold less biomass waste would be generated compared to classical stirred-tank reactor processes. For the octanol process, instead, further intensification in biological activity and/or surface membrane enlargement is required to reach production scale. By taking into consideration challenges such as biomass growth control and maintaining a constant biological activity, this study shows that a biofilm process at an industrial scale for the production of fine chemicals is a sustainable alternative in terms of product yield and biomass waste production. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The changing of coastal landform at Chikou barrier island and lagoon coast, Tainan, Southwestern Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jen, C.-H.; Chyi, S.-J.; Hsiao, L.-L.; Wu, M.-S.; Lei, H.-F.

2012-04-01

The coast of southwestern Taiwan is mainly made of barriers and lagoons, which are prone to erosional and depositional processes. By using a serial maps, historical survey data, and RTK-GPS survey data, the changes of coast landforms are depicted. The maps being used in this study include (1) 1904 map(1:50000 scale), (2) 1920 map (1:50000 scale), (3) 1921 map (1:25000 scale), (4) 1924 map (1:25000 scale), (5) 1956 map (1:25000 scale), (6) 1975 map with ortho-rectified image (1:5000 scale), (7) 1983 map with ortho-rectified image (1:5000 scale), (8) 1989 map with ortho-rectified image (1:5000 scale), (9) 1992 map with ortho-rectified image (1:5000 scale), (10) 2001 map with ortho-rectified image (1:5000 scale). All maps are scanned and georeferenced to build a GIS archive for digitizing and further analysis. The results show that this coast was made of continuous sand barriers and lagoons. While lagoons were gradually shrinking, the sand barriers had remained stable from 1904 to 1924. After that, lagoons substantially deposited in the southern part and sand barriers became landward. In 1975 map, lagoons vanished and replaced with a tidal flat and tidal creeks. The following maps show that lagoons start to form again and sand barriers moving landward continuously. It is a significant sign of serious erosion in the coast. The RTK-GPS survey data in recent years show more detail of coast erosion and landform changes. The post-typhoon investigation results show that the seaward side of barrier island is eroded largely, especially for the two segments of the central part of the barrier island. Some depositions were found on the top of northern and central part of barrier dune, as well as washovers. In the southern barrier island, the depositions were carried to backshore and were obstructed in front of the bamboo piles and marine solid bags. The survey indicated the areas eroded by storm surge were gradually accumulating except for the beaches separate with plastic sheet piles and marine solid bags, especially the northern section-north, after the Typhoon Megi happened two month. In late February of 2011, there are some deposition on the top of primary dune, backdune and tidal flat. But the parts of seaward beach which wave can reach are continuously eroded, especially the central segment of the barrier island is mostly vulnerable. In particular, the latter part of southern beach was accumulated, concerning with alongshore current transport. In the late winter monsoon season, elevation changes are smaller than in the medium, corresponding with the wave condition. The latter part of south section begin to be eroded, the sediments may be taken away by the southward current. Area A, located the central of barrier island, attacked by wave continuously, elevation of dune decrease constantly, and then overwashed frequently. Keywords: sand barrier and lagoon coast, archive map analysis, RTK-GPS survey, overwash

JY1 time scale: a new Kalman-filter time scale designed at NIST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Jian; Parker, Thomas E.; Levine, Judah

2017-11-01

We report on a new Kalman-filter hydrogen-maser time scale (i.e. JY1 time scale) designed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The JY1 time scale is composed of a few hydrogen masers and a commercial Cs clock. The Cs clock is used as a reference clock to ease operations with existing data. Unlike other time scales, the JY1 time scale uses three basic time-scale equations, instead of only one equation. Also, this time scale can detect a clock error (i.e. time error, frequency error, or frequency drift error) automatically. These features make the JY1 time scale stiff and less likely to be affected by an abnormal clock. Tests show that the JY1 time scale deviates from the UTC by less than  ±5 ns for ~100 d, when the time scale is initially aligned to the UTC and then is completely free running. Once the time scale is steered to a Cs fountain, it can maintain the time with little error even if the Cs fountain stops working for tens of days. This can be helpful when we do not have a continuously operated fountain or when the continuously operated fountain accidentally stops, or when optical clocks run occasionally.

Reynolds number trend of hierarchies and scale interactions in turbulent boundary layers.

PubMed

Baars, W J; Hutchins, N; Marusic, I

2017-03-13

Small-scale velocity fluctuations in turbulent boundary layers are often coupled with the larger-scale motions. Studying the nature and extent of this scale interaction allows for a statistically representative description of the small scales over a time scale of the larger, coherent scales. In this study, we consider temporal data from hot-wire anemometry at Reynolds numbers ranging from Re τ ≈2800 to 22 800, in order to reveal how the scale interaction varies with Reynolds number. Large-scale conditional views of the representative amplitude and frequency of the small-scale turbulence, relative to the large-scale features, complement the existing consensus on large-scale modulation of the small-scale dynamics in the near-wall region. Modulation is a type of scale interaction, where the amplitude of the small-scale fluctuations is continuously proportional to the near-wall footprint of the large-scale velocity fluctuations. Aside from this amplitude modulation phenomenon, we reveal the influence of the large-scale motions on the characteristic frequency of the small scales, known as frequency modulation. From the wall-normal trends in the conditional averages of the small-scale properties, it is revealed how the near-wall modulation transitions to an intermittent-type scale arrangement in the log-region. On average, the amplitude of the small-scale velocity fluctuations only deviates from its mean value in a confined temporal domain, the duration of which is fixed in terms of the local Taylor time scale. These concentrated temporal regions are centred on the internal shear layers of the large-scale uniform momentum zones, which exhibit regions of positive and negative streamwise velocity fluctuations. With an increasing scale separation at high Reynolds numbers, this interaction pattern encompasses the features found in studies on internal shear layers and concentrated vorticity fluctuations in high-Reynolds-number wall turbulence.This article is part of the themed issue 'Toward the development of high-fidelity models of wall turbulence at large Reynolds number'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Mesoscale mechanics of twisting carbon nanotube yarns.

PubMed

Mirzaeifar, Reza; Qin, Zhao; Buehler, Markus J

2015-03-12

Fabricating continuous macroscopic carbon nanotube (CNT) yarns with mechanical properties close to individual CNTs remains a major challenge. Spinning CNT fibers and ribbons for enhancing the weak interactions between the nanotubes is a simple and efficient method for fabricating high-strength and tough continuous yarns. Here we investigate the mesoscale mechanics of twisting CNT yarns using full atomistic and coarse grained molecular dynamics simulations, considering concurrent mechanisms at multiple length-scales. To investigate the mechanical response of such a complex structure without losing insights into the molecular mechanism, we applied a multiscale strategy. The full atomistic results are used for training a coarse grained model for studying larger systems consisting of several CNTs. The mesoscopic model parameters are updated as a function of the twist angle, based on the full atomistic results, in order to incorporate the atomistic scale deformation mechanisms in larger scale simulations. By bridging across two length scales, our model is capable of accurately predicting the mechanical behavior of twisted yarns while the atomistic level deformations in individual nanotubes are integrated into the model by updating the parameters. Our results focused on studying a bundle of close packed nanotubes provide novel mechanistic insights into the spinning of CNTs. Our simulations reveal how twisting a bundle of CNTs improves the shear interaction between the nanotubes up to a certain level due to increasing the interaction surface. Furthermore, twisting the bundle weakens the intertube interactions due to excessive deformation in the cross sections of individual CNTs in the bundle.

Effect of feeding strategies on pharmaceutical removal by subsurface flow constructed wetlands.

PubMed

Zhang, Dong Qing; Gersberg, Richard M; Hua, Tao; Zhu, Junfei; Nguyen, Anh Tuan; Law, Wing-Keung; Ng, Wun Jern; Tan, Soon Keat

2012-01-01

This study presents findings on an assessment of the effect of continuous and batch feeding strategies on the removal of selected pharmaceuticals from synthetic wastewater. Six mesocosm-scale constructed wetlands, including three horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands and three sand filters, were set up at the campus of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The findings showed that ibuprofen and diclofenac removal in the wetlands was significantly ( < 0.05) enhanced in the batch versus continuous mode. In contrast, naproxen and carbamazepine showed no significant differences ( > 0.05) in elimination under either feeding strategy. Our results also clearly showed that the presence of plants exerts a stimulatory effect on pharmaceutical removal for ibuprofen, diclofenac, and naproxen in batch and continuous mode. Estimation of the quantitative role of this stimulatory effect on pharmaceutical elimination of batch operation as compared with the effect of the presence of the higher plant alone showed that batch operation may account for 40 to 87% of the contribution conferred by the aquatic plant. The findings of this study imply that where maximal removal of pharmaceutical compounds is desired, periodic draining and filling might be the preferred operational strategy for full-scale, subsurface flow constructed wetlands. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Continuous flow nitration in miniaturized devices

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Summary This review highlights the state of the art in the field of continuous flow nitration with miniaturized devices. Although nitration has been one of the oldest and most important unit reactions, the advent of miniaturized devices has paved the way for new opportunities to reconsider the conventional approach for exothermic and selectivity sensitive nitration reactions. Four different approaches to flow nitration with microreactors are presented herein and discussed in view of their advantages, limitations and applicability of the information towards scale-up. Selected recent patents that disclose scale-up methodologies for continuous flow nitration are also briefly reviewed. PMID:24605161

Development of a SCALE Tool for Continuous-Energy Eigenvalue Sensitivity Coefficient Calculations

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

Perfetti, Christopher M; Rearden, Bradley T

2013-01-01

Two methods for calculating eigenvalue sensitivity coefficients in continuous-energy Monte Carlo applications were implemented in the KENO code within the SCALE code package. The methods were used to calculate sensitivity coefficients for several criticality safety problems and produced sensitivity coefficients that agreed well with both reference sensitivities and multigroup TSUNAMI-3D sensitivity coefficients. The newly developed CLUTCH method was observed to produce sensitivity coefficients with high figures of merit and low memory requirements, and both continuous-energy sensitivity methods met or exceeded the accuracy of the multigroup TSUNAMI-3D calculations.

UHE Cosmic Ray Observations Using the Cygnus Water - Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dion, Cynthia L.

1995-01-01

The CYGNUS water-Cerenkov array, consisting of five surface water-Cerenkov detectors, was built in the CYGNUS extensive air shower array at Los Alamos, New Mexico (latitude 36^circ N, longitude 107^circ W, altitude 2310 meters) to search for point sources of ultra-high energy particles (>1014 eV per particle) with the CYGNUS extensive air shower array. The water-Cerenkov detectors are used to improve the angular resolution of the extensive air shower array. This experiment searches for point sources of UHE gamma-radiation that may be of galactic or extra-galactic origin. The data set from December 1991 to January 1994 consists of data from both the water-Cerenkov array and the CYGNUS extensive air shower array. These data are combined, and the angular resolution of this combined data set is measured to be 0.34^circ+0.03 ^circ-0.04^circ. The measurement is made by observing the cosmic-ray shadowing of the Sun and the Moon. Using a subset of these data, three potential sources of UHE emission are studied: the Crab Pulsar, and the active galactic nuclei Markarian 421 and Markarian 501. A search is conducted for continuous emission from these three sources, and emission over shorter time scales. This experiment is particularly sensitive to emission over these shorter time scales. There is no evidence of UHE emission from these three sources over any time scales studied, and upper bounds to the flux of gamma radiation are determined. The flux upper limit for continuous emission from the Crab Pulsar is found to be 1.2times10^ {-13}/rm cm^2/s above 70 TeV. The flux upper limit for continuous emission from Markarian 421 is found to be 1.3times10^ {-13}/rm cm^2/s above 50 TeV. The flux upper limit for continuous emission from Markarian 501 is found to be 3.8times10^ {-13}/rm cm^2/s above 50 TeV.

Continuity and Change in Poor Sleep from Childhood to Early Adolescence

PubMed Central

Pesonen, Anu-Katriina; Martikainen, Silja; Heinonen, Kati; Wehkalampi, Karoliina; Lahti, Jari; Kajantie, Eero; Räikkönen, Katri

2014-01-01

Study Objectives: We examined associations between pubertal maturation and sleep in early adolescence, at age 12 y, and continuity and change in actigraphy-based sleep and parent-reported sleep disorders from age 8 to 12 y. We also explored longitudinal associations between actigraph estimates of sleep and sleep disorders. Design: A cohort study of children born in 1998 and tested at ages 8 y (standard deviation [SD] = 0.3) and 12 y (SD = 0.5). Participants: A total of 348 children participated in cross-sectional analyses. We had longitudinal actigraphy data for 188 children and repeated parent reports of sleep disorders for 229 children. Measurements and Results: At age 8 y, participants wore actigraphs for 7.1 nights (SD = 1.2, range 3-14) on average and at age 12 y for 8.4 nights (SD = 1.7, range 3-11). Sleep disorders were parent-rated based on the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children. Pubertal maturity was self-reported at age 12 y using the continuous Pubertal Development Scale and the picture-assisted categorical Tanner scales. Results: Significant mean-level changes toward shorter but higher quality sleep occurred over time. Sleep variables had low to high rank-order stability over time. Sleep disorders were highly stable from age 8 to 12 y. Actigraphy-based sleep and parent-rated sleep disorders showed no association either in cross-section or longitudinally. Pubertal maturation was not associated with worse sleep. Conclusions: Sleep in early adolescence can be anticipated from childhood sleep patterns and disorders, but is not associated with pubertal maturity. Although sleep duration becomes shorter, sleep quality may improve during early adolescence. Parent-rated sleep disorders are distinct from actigraph estimates of sleep. Citation: Pesonen AK; Martikainen S; Heinonen K; Wehkalampi K; Lahti J; Kajantie E; Räikkönen K. Continuity and change in poor sleep from childhood to early adolescence. SLEEP 2014;37(2):289-297. PMID:24497657

A Dynamical System Approach Explaining the Process of Development by Introducing Different Time-scales.

PubMed

Hashemi Kamangar, Somayeh Sadat; Moradimanesh, Zahra; Mokhtari, Setareh; Bakouie, Fatemeh

2018-06-11

A developmental process can be described as changes through time within a complex dynamic system. The self-organized changes and emergent behaviour during development can be described and modeled as a dynamical system. We propose a dynamical system approach to answer the main question in human cognitive development i.e. the changes during development happens continuously or in discontinuous stages. Within this approach there is a concept; the size of time scales, which can be used to address the aforementioned question. We introduce a framework, by considering the concept of time-scale, in which "fast" and "slow" is defined by the size of time-scales. According to our suggested model, the overall pattern of development can be seen as one continuous function, with different time-scales in different time intervals.

General practitioners' continuing education: a review of policies, strategies and effectiveness, and their implications for the future.

PubMed Central

Smith, F; Singleton, A; Hilton, S

1998-01-01

BACKGROUND: The accreditation and provision of continuing education for general practitioners (GPs) is set to change with new proposals from the General Medical Council, the Government, and the Chief Medical Officer. AIM: To review the theories, policies, strategies, and effectiveness in GP continuing education in the past 10 years. METHOD: A systematic review of the literature by computerized and manual searches of relevant journals and books. RESULTS: Educational theory suggests that continuing education (CE) should be work-based and use the learner's experiences. Audit can play an important role in determining performance and needs assessment, but at present is largely a separate activity. Educational and professional support, such as through mentors or co-tutors, has been successfully piloted but awaits larger scale evaluation. Most accredited educational events are still the postgraduate centre lecture, and GP Tutors have a variable role in CE management and provision. Controlled trials of CE strategies suggest effectiveness is enhanced by personal feedback and work prompts. Qualitative studies have demonstrated that education plays only a small part in influencing doctors' behavior. CONCLUSION: Maintaining good clinical practice is on many stakeholders' agendas. A variety of methods may be effective in CE, and larger scale trials or evaluations are needed. PMID:10071406

Tennessee TCAP Science Scale Scores: Implications for Continuous Improvement and Educational Reform or Is It Possible To Beat the Odds?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller-Whitehead, Marie

Evidence provided by analysis of science scale scores on the McGraw-Hill CTB/4 science test for grades 2 through 8 in Tennessee, part of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP), shows that it is possible for high achieving school systems to show continuous improvement from year to year. These results would tend to offset fears that…

Small scale wind tunnel model investigation of hybrid high lift systems combining upper surface blowing with the internally blown flap

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Waites, W. L.; Chin, Y. T.

1974-01-01

A small-scale wind tunnel test of a two engine hybrid model with upper surface blowing on a simulated expandable duct internally blown flap was accomplished in a two phase program. The low wing Phase I model utilized 0.126c radius Jacobs/Hurkamp flaps and 0.337c radius Coanda flaps. The high wing Phase II model was utilized for continued studies on the Jacobs/Hurkamp flap. Principal study areas included: basic data both engines operative and with an engine out, control flap utilization, horizontal tail effectiveness, spoiler effectiveness, USB nacelle deflector study and USB/IBF pressure ratio effects.

Mapping daily evapotranspiration at field scales over rainfed and irrigated agricultural areas using remote sensing data fusion

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A continuous monitoring of daily evapotranspiration (ET) at field scale can be achieved by combining thermal infrared remote sensing data information from multiple satellite platforms. Here, an integrated approach to field scale ET mapping is described, combining multi-scale surface energy balance e...

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

Survey and analysis for impact factors of psychological distress in HIV-infected pregnant women who continue pregnancy.

PubMed

Qin, Shouxue; Tan, Yanping; Lu, Bingyan; Cheng, Yuqing; Nong, Yanli

2018-05-15

The objective of this study is to explore the psychological distress of HIV-infected pregnant women who continue pregnancy, and analyze the possible influencing factors. A total of 194 HIV-infected pregnant women who continue pregnancy were enrolled for this study by a convenient sampling method during June 2012-August 2016. Participants completed questionnaires including Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Berger HIV Stigma Scale (BHSS), Distress Thermometer (DT) and Problem List (PL), and to determine the cut-off value of DT in the group. The positive detection rate of psychological distress in the HIV-infected pregnant women who continue pregnancy was 69.1%, and the highest frequency of PL was the emotional problems. The positive detection rate of anxiety was 60.8%, the positive detection rate of depression was 54.1%, and the discrimination score was 113.16 ± 19.21. Spearman relevant analysis showed that psychological distress score was positively correlated with anxiety, depression and discrimination score (p < .001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that relationship between husband and wife, family misfortune, Medicaid, chronic disease or high-risk pregnancy, viral load, CD 4 + T cell count, infection and confidentiality could affect the psychological distress (p < .05). The ideal cut-off value of DT in the group was 5. HIV-infected pregnant women who continue pregnancy have higher incidence of psychological distress, and the psychological distress is not inferior to cancer patients. The influencing factors are mainly related to the infection and pregnancy characteristics, and have nothing to do with the general social demographic characteristics. The DT can be used as a screening tool to quickly identify psychological distress of the group.

CONTINUED ASSESSMENT OF A HIGH-VELOCITY FABRIC FILTRATION SYSTEM USED TO CONTROL FLY ASH EMISSIONS

EPA Science Inventory

The report gives results of a full-scale investigation of the performance of a variety of filter media, to provide technical and economic information under high-velocity conditions (high gas/cloth ratio). The fly ash emission studies demonstrated that woven fiberglass fabrics and...

Bacteria transport simulation using APEX model in the Toenepi watershed, New Zealand

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) model is a distributed, continuous, daily-time step small watershed-scale hydrologic and water quality model. In this study, the newly developed fecal-derived bacteria fate and transport subroutine was applied and evalated using APEX model. The e...

DEVELOPMENT AND PEER REVIEW OF TIME-TO-EFFECT MODELS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF NEUROTOXICITY AND OTHER TIME DEPENDENT DATA

EPA Science Inventory

Neurobehavioral studies pose unique challenges for dose-response modeling, including small sample size and relatively large intra-subject variation, repeated measurements over time, multiple endpoints with both continuous and ordinal scales, and time dependence of risk characteri...

Embodied Anticipation: A Neurodevelopmental Interpretation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinsbourne, Marcel; Jordan, J. Scott

2009-01-01

This article proposes an approach to the brain's role in communication that treats the brain as the vehicle of a multi-scale embodiment of anticipation. Instead of conceptualizing anticipation as something a brain is able to do when circumstances seem to require it, this study proposes that anticipation is continuous and ongoing because to…

Characterizing a shallow groundwater system beneath irrigated sugarcane with electrical resistivity and radon (Rn-222), Puunene, Hawaii

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In this study, we use a combination of electrical resistivity profiling and radon (222Rn) measurements to characterize a shallow groundwater system beneath the last remaining, large-scale sugarcane plantation on Maui, Hawaii. Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company has continuously operated a sugarcane...

Evidence for a Multi-Dimensional Latent Structural Model of Externalizing Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Witkiewitz, Katie; King, Kevin; McMahon, Robert J.; Wu, Johnny; Luk, Jeremy; Bierman, Karen L.; Coie, John D.; Dodge, Kenneth A.; Greenberg, Mark T.; Lochman, John E.; Pinderhughes, Ellen E.

2013-01-01

Strong associations between conduct disorder (CD), antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and substance use disorders (SUD) seem to reflect a general vulnerability to externalizing behaviors. Recent studies have characterized this vulnerability on a continuous scale, rather than as distinct categories, suggesting that the revision of the…

The Thick Level-Set model for dynamic fragmentation

DOE PAGES

Stershic, Andrew J.; Dolbow, John E.; Moës, Nicolas

2017-01-04

The Thick Level-Set (TLS) model is implemented to simulate brittle media undergoing dynamic fragmentation. This non-local model is discretized by the finite element method with damage represented as a continuous field over the domain. A level-set function defines the extent and severity of damage, and a length scale is introduced to limit the damage gradient. Numerical studies in one dimension demonstrate that the proposed method reproduces the rate-dependent energy dissipation and fragment length observations from analytical, numerical, and experimental approaches. In conclusion, additional studies emphasize the importance of appropriate bulk constitutive models and sufficient spatial resolution of the length scale.

Appropriate experimental ecosystem warming methods by ecosystem, objective, and practicality

Treesearch

E.L. Aronson; S.G. McNulty

2009-01-01

The temperature of the Earth is rising, and is highly likely to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The study of the effects of sustained heating on the ecosystems of the world is necessary so that wemight predict and respond to coming changes on both large and small spatial scales. To this end, ecosystem warming studies have...

Implementation of Sentinel-2 Data in the M4Land System for the Generation of Continuous Information Products in Agriculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klug, P.; Schlenz, F.; Hank, T.; Migdall, S.; Weiß, I.; Danner, M.; Bach, H.; Mauser, W.

2016-08-01

The analysis system developed in the frame of the M4Land project (Model based, Multi-temporal, Multi scale and Multi sensorial retrieval of continuous land management information) has proven its capabilities of classifying crop type and creating products on the intensity of agricultural production using optical remote sensing data from Landsat and RapidEye. In this study, Sentinel-2 data is used for the first time together with Landsat 7 ETM+ and 8 OLI data within the M4Land analysis system to derive continuously crop type and the agricultural intensity of fields in an area north of Munich, Germany and the year 2015.

Sustaining Visitor Use in Protected Areas: Future Opportunities in Recreation Ecology Research Based on the USA Experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monz, Christopher A.; Cole, David N.; Leung, Yu-Fai; Marion, Jeffrey L.

2010-03-01

Recreation ecology, the study of environmental consequences of outdoor recreation activities and their effective management, is a relatively new field of scientific study having emerged over the last 50 years. During this time, numerous studies have improved our understanding of how use-related, environmental and managerial factors affect ecological conditions and processes. Most studies have focused on vegetation and soil responses to recreation-related trampling on trails and recreation sites using indicators such as percent vegetation cover and exposed mineral soil. This applied approach has and will continue to yield important information for land managers. However, for the field to advance, more attention needs to be given to other ecosystem attributes and to the larger aspects of environmental conservation occurring at landscape scales. This article is an effort at initiating a dialog on needed advances in the field. We begin by reviewing broadly generalizable knowledge of recreation ecology, to separate what is known from research gaps. Then, based on the authors’ perspective of research in the USA and North America, several research directions are suggested as essential for continued progress in this field including theoretical development, broadening scale, integration with other disciplines, and examination of synergistic effects.

Sustaining visitor use in protected areas: Future opportunities in recreation ecology research based on the USA experience

USGS Publications Warehouse

Monz, Christopher A.; Cole, David N.; Leung, Yu-Fai; Marion, Jeffrey L.

2010-01-01

Recreation ecology, the study of environmental consequences of outdoor recreation activities and their effective management, is a relatively new field of scientific study having emerged over the last 50 years. During this time, numerous studies have improved our understanding of how use-related, environmental and managerial factors affect ecological conditions and processes. Most studies have focused on vegetation and soil responses to recreation-related trampling on trails and recreation sites using indicators such as percent vegetation cover and exposed mineral soil. This applied approach has and will continue to yield important information for land managers. However, for the field to advance, more attention needs to be given to other ecosystem attributes and to the larger aspects of environmental conservation occurring at landscape scales. This article is an effort at initiating a dialog on needed advances in the field. We begin by reviewing broadly generalizable knowledge of recreation ecology, to separate what is known from research gaps. Then, based on the authors’ perspective of research in the USA and North America, several research directions are suggested as essential for continued progress in this field including theoretical development, broadening scale, integration with other disciplines, and examination of synergistic effects.

Effects of liquid layers and distribution patterns on three-phase saturation and relative permeability relationships: a micromodel study.

PubMed

Tsai, Jui-Pin; Chang, Liang-Cheng; Hsu, Shao-Yiu; Shan, Hsin-Yu

2017-12-01

In the current study, we used micromodel experiments to study three-phase fluid flow in porous media. In contrast to previous studies, we simultaneously observed and measured pore-scale fluid behavior and three-phase constitutive relationships with digital image acquisition/analysis, fluid pressure control, and permeability assays. Our results showed that the fluid layers significantly influenced pore-scale, three-phase fluid displacement as well as water relative permeability. At low water saturation, water relative permeability not only depended on water saturation but also on the distributions of air and diesel. The results also indicate that the relative permeability-saturation model proposed by Parker et al. (1987) could not completely describe the experimental data from our three-phase flow experiments because these models ignore the effects of phase distribution. A simple bundle-of-tubes model shows that the water relative permeability was proportional to the number of apparently continuous water paths before the critical stage in which no apparently continuous water flow path could be found. Our findings constitute additional information about the essential constitutive relationships involved in both the understanding and the modeling of three-phase flows in porous media.

Translation and psychometric testing of the Korean Versions of the Spiritual Perspective Scale and the Self-transcendence Scale in Korean elders.

PubMed

Kim, Suk Sun; Reed, Pamela G; Kang, Youngmi; Oh, Jina

2012-12-01

The purpose of this study was to translate the Spiritual Perspective Scale (SPS) and Self-transcendence Scale (STS) into Korean and test the psychometric properties of the instruments with Korean elders. A cross-sectional survey design was used to implement the three stages of the study. Stage I consisted of translating and reviewing the scales by six experts. In Stage II, equivalence was tested by comparing the responses between the Korean and English versions among 71 bilingual adults. Stage III established the psychometric properties of the Korean versions SPS-K and STS-K among 154 Korean elders. Cronbach's alpha of the SPS-K and the STS-K .97, and .85 respectively with Korean elders. Factor analysis showed that the SPS-K had one factor; the STS-K had four factors with one factor clearly representing self-transcendence as theorized. Both scales showed good reliability and validity for the translated Korean versions. However, continued study of the construct validity of the STS-K is needed. Study findings indicate that the SPS-K and the STS-K could be useful for nurses and geriatric researchers to assess a broadly defined spirituality, and to conduct research on spirituality and health among Korean elders. Use of these scales within a theory-based study may contribute to further knowledge about the role of spirituality in the health and well-being of Korean people facing health crises.

Modelling utility-scale wind power plants. Part 2: Capacity credit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milligan, Michael R.

2000-10-01

As the worldwide use of wind turbine generators in utility-scale applications continues to increase, it will become increasingly important to assess the economic and reliability impact of these intermittent resources. Although the utility industry appears to be moving towards a restructured environment, basic economic and reliability issues will continue to be relevant to companies involved with electricity generation. This article is the second in a two-part series that addresses modelling approaches and results that were obtained in several case studies and research projects at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). This second article focuses on wind plant capacity credit as measured with power system reliability indices. Reliability-based methods of measuring capacity credit are compared with wind plant capacity factor. The relationship between capacity credit and accurate wind forecasting is also explored. Published in 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Coarsening of stripe patterns: variations with quench depth and scaling.

PubMed

Tripathi, Ashwani K; Kumar, Deepak

2015-02-01

The coarsening of stripe patterns when the system is evolved from random initial states is studied by varying the quench depth ε, which is a measure of distance from the transition point of the stripe phase. The dynamics of the growth of stripe order, which is characterized by two length scales, depends on the quench depth. The growth exponents of the two length scales vary continuously with ε. The decay exponents for free energy, stripe curvature, and densities of defects like grain boundaries and dislocations also show similar variation. This implies a breakdown of the standard picture of nonequilibrium dynamical scaling. In order to understand the variations with ε we propose an additional scaling with a length scale dependent on ε. The main contribution to this length scale comes from the "pinning potential," which is unique to systems where the order parameter is spatially periodic. The periodic order parameter gives rise to an ε-dependent potential, which can pin defects like grain boundaries, dislocations, etc. This additional scaling provides a compact description of variations of growth exponents with quench depth in terms of just one exponent for each of the length scales. The relaxation of free energy, stripe curvature, and the defect densities have also been related to these length scales. The study is done at zero temperature using Swift-Hohenberg equation in two dimensions.

Universality from disorder in the random-bond Blume-Capel model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fytas, N. G.; Zierenberg, J.; Theodorakis, P. E.; Weigel, M.; Janke, W.; Malakis, A.

2018-04-01

Using high-precision Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling we study the effect of quenched disorder in the exchange couplings on the Blume-Capel model on the square lattice. The first-order transition for large crystal-field coupling is softened to become continuous, with a divergent correlation length. An analysis of the scaling of the correlation length as well as the susceptibility and specific heat reveals that it belongs to the universality class of the Ising model with additional logarithmic corrections which is also observed for the Ising model itself if coupled to weak disorder. While the leading scaling behavior of the disordered system is therefore identical between the second-order and first-order segments of the phase diagram of the pure model, the finite-size scaling in the ex-first-order regime is affected by strong transient effects with a crossover length scale L*≈32 for the chosen parameters.

Digital signal processing techniques for pitch shifting and time scaling of audio signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buś, Szymon; Jedrzejewski, Konrad

2016-09-01

In this paper, we present the techniques used for modifying the spectral content (pitch shifting) and for changing the time duration (time scaling) of an audio signal. A short introduction gives a necessary background for understanding the discussed issues and contains explanations of the terms used in the paper. In subsequent sections we present three different techniques appropriate both for pitch shifting and for time scaling. These techniques use three different time-frequency representations of a signal, namely short-time Fourier transform (STFT), continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and constant-Q transform (CQT). The results of simulation studies devoted to comparison of the properties of these methods are presented and discussed in the paper.

Locating Continuing Education Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mason, Robert C.

1986-01-01

Emphasizes program location as an important component of the marketing plan for continuing education. Also discusses relations among program location and quality, costs, supportive services, and economies of scale. (CH)

Probe activities. Annual report, July 1, 1975--June 30, 1976. [Veterinary medicine

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

Sanders, W.M.; Saunders, G.C.; Bartlett, M.L.

1976-12-01

Small-scale experiments and feasibility studies were performed for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Included were computer support for the payment of indemnity for brucellosis in Texas; the measurement of cattle ear canal temperatures and its automation was continued at the Veterinary Services Laboratory (VSL), Ames, IA; and two short serological probes experiments were supported. Also funds were transferred to support the Electronic Identification Project to enable this work to continue without interruption.

Continuous data assimilation for downscaling large-footprint soil moisture retrievals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altaf, Muhammad U.; Jana, Raghavendra B.; Hoteit, Ibrahim; McCabe, Matthew F.

2016-10-01

Soil moisture is a key component of the hydrologic cycle, influencing processes leading to runoff generation, infiltration and groundwater recharge, evaporation and transpiration. Generally, the measurement scale for soil moisture is found to be different from the modeling scales for these processes. Reducing this mismatch between observation and model scales in necessary for improved hydrological modeling. An innovative approach to downscaling coarse resolution soil moisture data by combining continuous data assimilation and physically based modeling is presented. In this approach, we exploit the features of Continuous Data Assimilation (CDA) which was initially designed for general dissipative dynamical systems and later tested numerically on the incompressible Navier-Stokes equation, and the Benard equation. A nudging term, estimated as the misfit between interpolants of the assimilated coarse grid measurements and the fine grid model solution, is added to the model equations to constrain the model's large scale variability by available measurements. Soil moisture fields generated at a fine resolution by a physically-based vadose zone model (HYDRUS) are subjected to data assimilation conditioned upon coarse resolution observations. This enables nudging of the model outputs towards values that honor the coarse resolution dynamics while still being generated at the fine scale. Results show that the approach is feasible to generate fine scale soil moisture fields across large extents, based on coarse scale observations. Application of this approach is likely in generating fine and intermediate resolution soil moisture fields conditioned on the radiometerbased, coarse resolution products from remote sensing satellites.

An evaluation of internal medicine residency continuity clinic redesign to a 50/50 outpatient-inpatient model.

PubMed

Wieland, Mark L; Halvorsen, Andrew J; Chaudhry, Rajeev; Reed, Darcy A; McDonald, Furman S; Thomas, Kris G

2013-08-01

There have been recent calls for improved internal medicine outpatient training, yet assessment of clinical and educational variables within existing models is lacking. To assess the impact of clinic redesign from a traditional weekly clinic model to a 50/50 outpatient-inpatient model on clinical and educational outcomes. Pre-intervention and post-intervention study intervals, comparing the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 academic years. Ninety-six residents in a Primary Care Internal Medicine site of a large academic internal medicine residency program who provide care for > 13,000 patients. Continuity clinic redesign from a traditional weekly clinic model to a 50/50 model characterized by 50 % outpatient and 50 % inpatient experiences scheduled in alternating 1 month blocks, with twice weekly continuity clinic during outpatient months and no clinic during inpatient months. 1) Clinical outcomes (panel size, patient visits, adherence with chronic disease and preventive service guidelines, continuity of care, patient satisfaction, and perceived safety/teamwork in clinic); 2) Educational outcomes (attendance at teaching conference, resident and faculty satisfaction, faculty assessment of resident clinic performance, and residents' perceived preparedness for outpatient management). Redesign was associated with increased mean panel size (120 vs. 137.6; p ≤ 0.001), decreased continuity of care (63 % vs. 48 % from provider perspective; 61 % vs. 51 % from patient perspective; p ≤  0.001 for both; team continuity was preserved), decreased missed appointments (12.5 % vs. 10.9 %; p ≤  0.01), improved perceived safety and teamwork (3.6 vs. 4.1 on 5-point scale; p ≤  0.001), improved mean teaching conference attendance (57.1 vs. 64.4; p ≤  0.001), improved resident clinic performance (3.6 vs. 3.9 on 5-point scale; p ≤  0.001), and little change in other outcomes. Although this model requires further study in other settings, these results suggest that a 50/50 model may allow residents to manage more patients while enhancing the climate of teamwork and safety in the continuity clinic, compared to traditional models. Future work should explore ways to preserve continuity of care within this model.

Fine-scale natal homing and localized movement as shaped by sex and spawning habitat in chinook salmon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Neville, Helen; Isaak, Daniel; Dunham, J.B.; Thurow, Russel; Rieman, B.

2006-01-01

Natal homing is a hallmark of the life history of salmonid fishes, but the spatial scale of homing within local, naturally reproducing salmon populations is still poorly understood. Accurate homing (paired with restricted movement) should lead to the existence of fine-scale genetic structuring due to the spatial clustering of related individuals on spawning grounds. Thus, we explored the spatial resolution of natal homing using genetic associations among individual Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in an interconnected stream network. We also investigated the relationship between genetic patterns and two factors hypothesized to influence natal homing and localized movements at finer scales in this species, localized patterns in the distribution of spawning gravels and sex. Spatial autocorrelation analyses showed that spawning locations in both sub-basins of our study site were spatially clumped, but the upper sub-basin generally had a larger spatial extent and continuity of redd locations than the lower sub-basin, where the distribution of redds and associated habitat conditions were more patchy. Male genotypes were not autocorrelated at any spatial scale in either sub-basin. Female genotypes showed significant spatial autocorrelation and genetic patterns for females varied in the direction predicted between the two sub-basins, with much stronger autocorrelation in the sub-basin with less continuity in spawning gravels. The patterns observed here support predictions about differential constraints and breeding tactics between the two sexes and the potential for fine-scale habitat structure to influence the precision of natal homing and localized movements of individual Chinook salmon on their breeding grounds.

Scale problems in assessment of hydrogeological parameters of groundwater flow models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nawalany, Marek; Sinicyn, Grzegorz

2015-09-01

An overview is presented of scale problems in groundwater flow, with emphasis on upscaling of hydraulic conductivity, being a brief summary of the conventional upscaling approach with some attention paid to recently emerged approaches. The focus is on essential aspects which may be an advantage in comparison to the occasionally extremely extensive summaries presented in the literature. In the present paper the concept of scale is introduced as an indispensable part of system analysis applied to hydrogeology. The concept is illustrated with a simple hydrogeological system for which definitions of four major ingredients of scale are presented: (i) spatial extent and geometry of hydrogeological system, (ii) spatial continuity and granularity of both natural and man-made objects within the system, (iii) duration of the system and (iv) continuity/granularity of natural and man-related variables of groundwater flow system. Scales used in hydrogeology are categorised into five classes: micro-scale - scale of pores, meso-scale - scale of laboratory sample, macro-scale - scale of typical blocks in numerical models of groundwater flow, local-scale - scale of an aquifer/aquitard and regional-scale - scale of series of aquifers and aquitards. Variables, parameters and groundwater flow equations for the three lowest scales, i.e., pore-scale, sample-scale and (numerical) block-scale, are discussed in detail, with the aim to justify physically deterministic procedures of upscaling from finer to coarser scales (stochastic issues of upscaling are not discussed here). Since the procedure of transition from sample-scale to block-scale is physically well based, it is a good candidate for upscaling block-scale models to local-scale models and likewise for upscaling local-scale models to regional-scale models. Also the latest results in downscaling from block-scale to sample scale are briefly referred to.

An assessment of potential weather effects due to operation of the Space Orbiting Light Augmentation Reflector Energy System (SOLARES)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allen, N. C.

1978-01-01

Implementation of SOLARES will input large quantities of heat continuously into a stationary location on the Earth's surface. The quantity of heat released by each of the SOlARES ground receivers, having a reflector orbit height of 6378 km, exceeds by 30 times that released by large power parks which were studied in detail. Using atmospheric models, estimates are presented for the local weather effects, the synoptic scale effects, and the global scale effects from such intense thermal radiation.

Unsteady propulsion by an intermittent swimming gait

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akoz, Emre; Moored, Keith W.

2018-01-01

Inviscid computational results are presented on a self-propelled swimmer modeled as a virtual body combined with a two-dimensional hydrofoil pitching intermittently about its leading edge. Lighthill (1971) originally proposed that this burst-and-coast behavior can save fish energy during swimming by taking advantage of the viscous Bone-Lighthill boundary layer thinning mechanism. Here, an additional inviscid Garrick mechanism is discovered that allows swimmers to control the ratio of their added mass thrust-producing forces to their circulatory drag-inducing forces by decreasing their duty cycle, DC, of locomotion. This mechanism can save intermittent swimmers as much as 60% of the energy it takes to swim continuously at the same speed. The inviscid energy savings are shown to increase with increasing amplitude of motion, increase with decreasing Lighthill number, Li, and switch to an energetic cost above continuous swimming for sufficiently low DC. Intermittent swimmers are observed to shed four vortices per cycle that form into groups that are self-similar with the DC. In addition, previous thrust and power scaling laws of continuous self-propelled swimming are further generalized to include intermittent swimming. The key is that by averaging the thrust and power coefficients over only the bursting period then the intermittent problem can be transformed into a continuous one. Furthermore, the intermittent thrust and power scaling relations are extended to predict the mean speed and cost of transport of swimmers. By tuning a few coefficients with a handful of simulations these self-propelled relations can become predictive. In the current study, the mean speed and cost of transport are predicted to within 3% and 18% of their full-scale values by using these relations.

Continuous Monitoring of Essential Tremor Using a Portable System Based on Smartwatch.

PubMed

Zheng, Xiaochen; Vieira Campos, Alba; Ordieres-Meré, Joaquín; Balseiro, Jose; Labrador Marcos, Sergio; Aladro, Yolanda

2017-01-01

Essential tremor (ET) shows amplitude fluctuations throughout the day, presenting challenges in both clinical and treatment monitoring. Tremor severity is currently evaluated by validated rating scales, which only provide a timely and subjective assessment during a clinical visit. Motor sensors have shown favorable performances in quantifying tremor objectively. A new highly portable system was used to monitor tremor continuously during daily lives. It consists of a smartwatch with a triaxial accelerometer, a smartphone, and a remote server. An experiment was conducted involving eight ET patients. The average effective data collection time per patient was 26 (±6.05) hours. Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Tremor Rating Scale (FTMTRS) was adopted as the gold standard to classify tremor and to validate the performance of the system. Quantitative analysis of tremor severity on different time scales is validated. Significant correlations were observed between neurologist's FTMTRS and patient's FTMTRS auto-assessment scores ( r  = 0.84; p  = 0.009), between the device quantitative measures and the scores from the standardized assessments of neurologists ( r  = 0.80; p  = 0.005) and patient's auto-evaluation ( r  = 0.97; p  = 0.032), and between patient's FTMTRS auto-assessment scores day-to-day ( r  = 0.87; p  < 0.001). A graphical representation of four patients with different degrees of tremor was presented, and a representative system is proposed to summarize the tremor scoring at different time scales. This study demonstrates the feasibility of prolonged and continuous monitoring of tremor severity during daily activities by a highly portable non-restrictive system, a useful tool to analyze efficacy and effectiveness of treatment.

Multiple regression and inverse moments improve the characterization of the spatial scaling behavior of daily streamflows in the Southeast United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Farmer, William H.; Over, Thomas M.; Vogel, Richard M.

2015-01-01

Understanding the spatial structure of daily streamflow is essential for managing freshwater resources, especially in poorly-gaged regions. Spatial scaling assumptions are common in flood frequency prediction (e.g., index-flood method) and the prediction of continuous streamflow at ungaged sites (e.g. drainage-area ratio), with simple scaling by drainage area being the most common assumption. In this study, scaling analyses of daily streamflow from 173 streamgages in the southeastern US resulted in three important findings. First, the use of only positive integer moment orders, as has been done in most previous studies, captures only the probabilistic and spatial scaling behavior of flows above an exceedance probability near the median; negative moment orders (inverse moments) are needed for lower streamflows. Second, assessing scaling by using drainage area alone is shown to result in a high degree of omitted-variable bias, masking the true spatial scaling behavior. Multiple regression is shown to mitigate this bias, controlling for regional heterogeneity of basin attributes, especially those correlated with drainage area. Previous univariate scaling analyses have neglected the scaling of low-flow events and may have produced biased estimates of the spatial scaling exponent. Third, the multiple regression results show that mean flows scale with an exponent of one, low flows scale with spatial scaling exponents greater than one, and high flows scale with exponents less than one. The relationship between scaling exponents and exceedance probabilities may be a fundamental signature of regional streamflow. This signature may improve our understanding of the physical processes generating streamflow at different exceedance probabilities. 

Syngas fermentation in a 100-L pilot scale fermentor: design and process considerations.

PubMed

Kundiyana, Dimple K; Huhnke, Raymond L; Wilkins, Mark R

2010-05-01

Fermentation of syngas offers several advantages compared to chemical catalysts such as higher specificity of biocatalysts, lower energy costs, and higher carbon efficiency. Scale-up of syngas fermentation from a bench scale to a pilot scale fermentor is a critical step leading to commercialization. The primary objective of this research was to install and commission a pilot scale fermentor, and subsequently scale-up the Clostridium strain P11 fermentation from a 7.5-L fermentor to a pilot scale 100-L fermentor. Initial preparation and fermentations were conducted in strictly anaerobic conditions. The fermentation system was maintained in a batch mode with continuous syngas supply. The effect of anaerobic fermentation in a pilot scale fermentor was evaluated. In addition, the impact of improving the syngas mass transfer coefficient on the utilization and product formation was studied. Results indicate a six fold improvement in ethanol concentration compared to serum bottle fermentation, and formation of other compounds such as isopropyl alcohol, acetic acid and butanol, which are of commercial importance. (c) 2009 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Loewenstein communication scale for the minimally responsive patient.

PubMed

Borer-Alafi, Nurit; Gil, Mali; Sazbon, Leon; Korn, Cecilia

2002-07-01

Any sign of communicative ability in patients in vegetative state can provide information about regain of consciousness and conservation of cognitive abilities. The aim of this study was to test the reliability and validity of an instrument designed to measure the degree of communication in minimally responsive patients. The Loewenstein Communication Scale (LCS) measures five hierarchical functions - mobility, respiration, visual responsiveness, auditory comprehension and linguistic skills (verbal or alternative) - which are divided into five parameters and rated in developmental order on a 5-point scale by level of difficulty. Scores for each function are summed to obtain a quantitative communication profile. Forty-two adult patients in vegetative state, as a result of acquired brain injury, were examined with the proposed LCS for the minimally responsive patients by two speech and language clinicians at admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for brain injured patients and, thereafter, at least once weekly. At the end of the ICU stay, 27 patients who showed signs of recovery and were referred for continued rehabilitation were compared to a group of 15 patients who were not referred for continued rehabilitation, for functional and general LCS scores. The predictive power of the LCS in differentiating between these groups was tested. The LCS was found to have very good reliability with good inter-rater agreement. Patients who eventually continued rehabilitation had significantly higher total scores as well as in the motor, visual and auditory sub-scales. Logistic regression results indicated that these parameters successfully differentiated between the two groups of patients, even after adjusting for age and for scores on the Glasgow Coma Scale. The LCS for the minimally responsive patients proved to be reliable and predictive of rehabilitation progress of minimally responsive patients. It may be useful for the interdisciplinary rehabilitation team in planning early individually targeted therapeutic programmes. 2002 Taylor & Francis Ltd

Continuous micron-scaled rope engineering using a rotating multi-nozzle electrospinning emitter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chunchen; Gao, Chengcheng; Chang, Ming-Wei; Ahmad, Zeeshan; Li, Jing-Song

2016-10-01

Electrospinning (ES) enables simple production of fibers for broad applications (e.g., biomedical engineering, energy storage, and electronics). However, resulting structures are predominantly random; displaying significant disordered fiber entanglement, which inevitably gives rise to structural variations and reproducibility on the micron scale. Surface and structural features on this scale are critical for biomaterials, tissue engineering, and pharmaceutical sciences. In this letter, a modified ES technique using a rotating multi-nozzle emitter is developed and utilized to fabricate continuous micron-scaled polycaprolactone (PCL) ropes, providing control on fiber intercalation (twist) and structural order. Micron-scaled ropes comprising 312 twists per millimeter are generated, and rope diameter and pitch length are regulated using polymer concentration and process parameters. Electric field simulations confirm vector and distribution mechanisms, which influence fiber orientation and deposition during the process. The modified fabrication system provides much needed control on reproducibility and fiber entanglement which is crucial for electrospun biomedical materials.

Measuring Acculturation Among Central American Women with the Use of a Brief Language Scale

PubMed Central

Wallen, Gwenyth R.; Feldman, Robert H.; Anliker, Jean

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of a brief language usage scale as a measure of acculturation in 197 Central American immigrant women. This study presents an analysis of cross-sectional survey data collected during face-to-face interviews conducted in Spanish as part of the program evaluation of the Infant Feeding for Hispanic Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Populations a Peer Education Model. The Short Acculturation Scale, a four-item language usage scale exploring the participants’ language preferences, was used as a measure of acculturation. The participant’s age, length of time in the United States, and perceived social support for breastfeeding were used as validation measures. Results demonstrated good internal reliability for the acculturation summary scale. Consistent with previous studies, significant correlations (p < 0.01) were found between acculturation and mother’s age, perceived social support for breastfeeding, and mother’s length of time in the United States. The reliability and validity data from this group of Central American immigrants support the continued use of this brief measure of acculturation in diverse Latino subpopulations when multidimensional measures are neither practical nor feasible. PMID:16228765

Continuous Precipitation of Ceria Nanoparticles from a Continuous Flow Micromixer

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

Tseng, Chih Heng; Paul, Brian; Chang, Chih-hung

2013-01-01

Cerium oxide nanoparticles were continuously precipitated from a solution of cerium(III) nitrate and ammonium hydroxide using a micro-scale T-mixer. Findings show that the method of mixing is important in the ceria precipitation process. In batch mixing and deposition, disintegration and agglomeration dominates the deposited film. In T-mixing and deposition, more uniform nanorod particles are attainable. In addition, it was found that the micromixing approach reduced the exposure of the Ce(OH)3 precipates to oxygen, yielding hydroxide precipates in place of CeO2 precipitates. Advantages of the micro-scale T-mixing approach include shorter mixing times, better control of nanoparticle shape and less agglomeration.

Diels–Alder reactions of myrcene using intensified continuous-flow reactors

PubMed Central

Álvarez-Diéguez, Miguel Á; Kohl, Thomas M; Tsanaktsidis, John

2017-01-01

This work describes the Diels–Alder reaction of the naturally occurring substituted butadiene, myrcene, with a range of different naturally occurring and synthetic dienophiles. The synthesis of the Diels–Alder adduct from myrcene and acrylic acid, containing surfactant properties, was scaled-up in a plate-type continuous-flow reactor with a volume of 105 mL to a throughput of 2.79 kg of the final product per day. This continuous-flow approach provides a facile alternative scale-up route to conventional batch processing, and it helps to intensify the synthesis protocol by applying higher reaction temperatures and shorter reaction times. PMID:28228853

Using Citizen Science Observations to Model Species Distributions Over Space, Through Time, and Across Scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelling, S.

2017-12-01

The goal of Biodiversity research is to identify, explain, and predict why a species' distribution and abundance vary through time, space, and with features of the environment. Measuring these patterns and predicting their responses to change are not exercises in curiosity. Today, they are essential tasks for understanding the profound effects that humans have on earth's natural systems, and for developing science-based environmental policies. To gain insight about species' distribution patterns requires studying natural systems at appropriate scales, yet studies of ecological processes continue to be compromised by inadequate attention to scale issues. How spatial and temporal patterns in nature change with scale often reflects fundamental laws of physics, chemistry, or biology, and we can identify such basic, governing laws only by comparing patterns over a wide range of scales. This presentation will provide several examples that integrate bird observations made by volunteers, with NASA Earth Imagery using Big Data analysis techniques to analyze the temporal patterns of bird occurrence across scales—from hemisphere-wide views of bird distributions to the impact of powerful city lights on bird migration.

Progress towards MODIS and VIIRS Cloud Fraction Data Record Continuity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ackerman, S. A.; Frey, R.; Holz, R.; Platnick, S. E.; Heidinger, A. K.

2016-12-01

Satellite-derived clear-sky vs. cloudy-sky discrimination at the pixel scale is an important input parameter used in many real-time applications. Cloud fractions, resulting from integrating over time and space, are also critical to the study of recent decadal climate changes. The NASA NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) has funded a science team to develop and study the ability to make continuous climate records from MODIS (2000-2020) and VIIRS (2012-2030). The MODAWG project, led by Dr. Steve Platnick of NASA/GSFC, combines elements of the MODIS processing system and the NOAA Algorithm Working Group (AWG) to achieve this goal. This presentation will focus on the cloud masking aspects of MODAWG, derived primarily from the MODIS cloud mask (MOD35). Challenges to continuity of cloud detection due to differences in instrument characteristics will be discussed. Cloud mask results from use of the same (continuity) algorithm will be shown for both MODIS and VIIRS, including comparisons to collocated CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) cloud data.

UV/H2O2 process stability and pilot-scale validation for trace organic chemical removal from wastewater treatment plant effluents.

PubMed

Miklos, David B; Hartl, Rebecca; Michel, Philipp; Linden, Karl G; Drewes, Jörg E; Hübner, Uwe

2018-06-01

This study investigated the removal of 15 trace organic chemicals (TOrCs) occurring at ambient concentrations from municipal wastewater treatment plant effluent by advanced oxidation using UV/H 2 O 2 at pilot-scale. Pseudo first-order rate constants (k obs ) for photolytic as well as combined oxidative and photolytic degradation observed at pilot-scale were validated with results from a bench-scale collimated beam device. No significant difference was determined between pilot- and lab-scale performance. During continuous pilot-scale operation at constant UV fluence of 800 mJ/cm 2 and H 2 O 2 dosage of 10 mg/L, the removal of various TOrCs was investigated. The average observed removal for photo-susceptible (k UV >10 -3  cm 2 /mJ; like diclofenac, iopromide and sulfamethoxazole), moderately photo-susceptible (10 -4

Adapting viral safety assurance strategies to continuous processing of biological products.

PubMed

Johnson, Sarah A; Brown, Matthew R; Lute, Scott C; Brorson, Kurt A

2017-01-01

There has been a recent drive in commercial large-scale production of biotechnology products to convert current batch mode processing to continuous processing manufacturing. There have been reports of model systems capable of adapting and linking upstream and downstream technologies into a continuous manufacturing pipeline. However, in many of these proposed continuous processing model systems, viral safety has not been comprehensively addressed. Viral safety and detection is a highly important and often expensive regulatory requirement for any new biological product. To ensure success in the adaption of continuous processing to large-scale production, there is a need to consider the development of approaches that allow for seamless incorporation of viral testing and clearance/inactivation methods. In this review, we outline potential strategies to apply current viral testing and clearance/inactivation technologies to continuous processing, as well as modifications of existing unit operations to ensure the successful integration of viral clearance into the continuous processing of biological products. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 21-32. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Hydrothermal plumes along the East Pacific Rise, 8 deg 40 min to 11 deg 50 min N: Plume distribution and relationship to the apparent magmatic budget

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, E. T.; Feely, R. A.; Mottl, M. J.; Sansone, F. T.; Wheat, C. G.; Resing, J. A.; Lupton, J. E.

1994-11-01

The interactions between hydrothermal circulation and large-scale geological and geophysical characteristics of the mid-ocean ridge cannot be ascertained without large-scale views of the pattern of hydrothermal venting. Such multi-ridge-segment surveys of venting are accomplished most efficiently by mapping the distribution and intensity of hydrothermal plumes. In November 1991, we mapped hydrothermal temperature (Delta(theta)) and light attenuation (Delta(c)) anomalies above the East Pacific Rise (EPR) continuously from 8 deg 40 min to 11 deg 50 min N, a fast spreading ridge crest portion bisected by the Clipperton Transform Fault. Plume distributions show a precise correlation with the distribution of active vents where video coverage of the axial caldera is exhaustive. Elsewhere in the study area the sketchy knowledge of vent locations gleaned from scattered camera tows predicts only poorly the large-scale hydrothermal pattern revealed by our plume studies. Plumes were most intense between 9 deg 42 min and 9 deg 54 min N, directly over a March/April, 1991, seafloor eruption. These plumes had exceptionally high Delta(c)/Delta(theta) ratios compared to the rest of the study area; we suggest that the phase-separated gas-rich vent fluids discharging here fertilize an abundant population of bacteria. Hydrothermal plume distributions define three categories: intense and continuous, weak and discontinuous and negligible. The location of each category is virtually congruent with areas that are, respectively, magmatically robust, magmatically weak and magmatically starved, as inferred from previous measurements of axial bathymetric undulations, cross-axis inflation and magma chamber depth and continuity. This congruency implies a fine-scale spatial and temporal connection between magmatic fluctuations and hydrothermal venting. We thus speculate that, at least along this fast spreading section of the EPR, cyclic replenishment, eruption and freezing of the thin axial melt lens exerts greater control over hydrothermal venting than the more enduring zones of crystal mush and hot rock. We found intense, and continuous, plumes along 33% of the surveyed ridge crest, an observation implying that any point on the ridge is, on average, hyrothermally active one-third of the time. Combining this result with the 20% plume coverage found along the medium-rate Juan de Fuca Ridge suggests that superfast (approximately 150 mm/yr) spreading rates should support vigorous venting along approximately 50% of their length, if spreading rate and along-axis plume coverage are linearly related.

Laboratory Experiments On Continually Forced 2d Turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wells, M. G.; Clercx, H. J. H.; Van Heijst, G. J. F.

There has been much recent interest in the advection of tracers by 2D turbulence in geophysical flows. While there is a large body of literature on decaying 2D turbulence or forced 2D turbulence in unbounded domains, there have been very few studies of forced turbulence in bounded domains. In this study we present new experimental results from a continuously forced quasi 2D turbulent field. The experiments are performed in a square Perspex tank filled with water. The flow is made quasi 2D by a steady background rotation. The rotation rate of the tank has a small (<8 %) sinusoidal perturbation which leads to the periodic formation of eddies in the corners of the tank. When the oscillation period of the perturbation is greater than an eddy roll-up time-scale, dipole structures are observed to form. The dipoles can migrate away from the walls, and the interior of the tank is continually filled with vortexs. From experimental visualizations the length scale of the vortexs appears to be largely controlled by the initial formation mechanism and large scale structures are not observed to form at large times. Thus the experiments provide a simple way of cre- ating a continuously forced 2D turbulent field. The resulting structures are in contrast with most previous laboratory experiments on 2D turbulence which have investigated decaying turbulence and have observed the formations of large scale structure. In these experiments, decaying turbulence had been produced by a variety of methods such as the decaying turbulence in the wake of a comb of rods (Massen et al 1999), organiza- tion of vortices in thin conducting liquids (Cardoso et al 1994) or in rotating systems where there are sudden changes in angular rotation rate (Konijnenberg et al 1998). Results of dye visualizations, particle tracking experiments and a direct numerical simulation will be presented and discussed in terms of their oceanographic application. Bibliography Cardoso,O. Marteau, D. &Tabeling, P. Quantitative experimental study of the free decay of quasi-two-dimensional turbulence Phys. Rev. E 49, 454 (1994) Maassen, S.R., H.J.H. Clercx &G.J.F. van Heijst - Decaying quasi-2D turbulence in a stratified fluid with circular boundaries. Europhys. Lett. 46, 339-345 (1999). Konijnenberg, J.A. van de, J.B. Flor &G.J.F. van Heijst - Decaying quasi-two- dimensional viscous flow on a square domain. Phys. Fluids 10, 595-606 (1998).

Evaluation of treatment-effect heterogeneity using biomarkers measured on a continuous scale: subpopulation treatment effect pattern plot.

PubMed

Lazar, Ann A; Cole, Bernard F; Bonetti, Marco; Gelber, Richard D

2010-10-10

The discovery of biomarkers that predict treatment effectiveness has great potential for improving medical care, particularly in oncology. These biomarkers are increasingly reported on a continuous scale, allowing investigators to explore how treatment efficacy varies as the biomarker values continuously increase, as opposed to using arbitrary categories of expression levels resulting in a loss of information. In the age of biomarkers as continuous predictors (eg, expression level percentage rather than positive v negative), alternatives to such dichotomized analyses are needed. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of an intuitive statistical approach-the subpopulation treatment effect pattern plot (STEPP)-for evaluating treatment-effect heterogeneity when a biomarker is measured on a continuous scale. STEPP graphically explores the patterns of treatment effect across overlapping intervals of the biomarker values. As an example, STEPP methodology is used to explore patterns of treatment effect for varying levels of the biomarker Ki-67 in the BIG (Breast International Group) 1-98 randomized clinical trial comparing letrozole with tamoxifen as adjuvant therapy for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. STEPP analyses showed patients with higher Ki-67 values who were assigned to receive tamoxifen had the poorest prognosis and may benefit most from letrozole.

Stochastic thermodynamics across scales: Emergent inter-attractoral discrete Markov jump process and its underlying continuous diffusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santillán, Moisés; Qian, Hong

2013-01-01

We investigate the internal consistency of a recently developed mathematical thermodynamic structure across scales, between a continuous stochastic nonlinear dynamical system, i.e., a diffusion process with Langevin and Fokker-Planck equations, and its emergent discrete, inter-attractoral Markov jump process. We analyze how the system’s thermodynamic state functions, e.g. free energy F, entropy S, entropy production ep, free energy dissipation Ḟ, etc., are related when the continuous system is described with coarse-grained discrete variables. It is shown that the thermodynamics derived from the underlying, detailed continuous dynamics gives rise to exactly the free-energy representation of Gibbs and Helmholtz. That is, the system’s thermodynamic structure is the same as if one only takes a middle road and starts with the natural discrete description, with the corresponding transition rates empirically determined. By natural we mean in the thermodynamic limit of a large system, with an inherent separation of time scales between inter- and intra-attractoral dynamics. This result generalizes a fundamental idea from chemistry, and the theory of Kramers, by incorporating thermodynamics: while a mechanical description of a molecule is in terms of continuous bond lengths and angles, chemical reactions are phenomenologically described by a discrete representation, in terms of exponential rate laws and a stochastic thermodynamics.

Serbian translation of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale: psychometric properties and the new methodological approach in translating scales.

PubMed

Trajanović, Nikola N; Djurić, Vladimir; Latas, Milan; Milovanović, Srdjan; Jovanović, Aleksandar A; Djurić, Dusan

2013-01-01

Since inception of the alexithymia construct in 1970's, there has been a continuous effort to improve both its theoretical postulates and the clinical utility through development, standardization and validation of assessment scales. The aim of this study was to validate the Serbian translation of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and to propose a new method of translation of scales with a property of temporal stability. The scale was expertly translated by bilingual medical professionals and a linguist, and given to a sample of bilingual participants from the general population who completed both the English and the Serbian version of the scale one week apart. The findings showed that the Serbian version of the TAS-20 had a good internal consistency reliability regarding total scale (alpha=0.86), and acceptable reliability of the three factors (alpha=0.71-0.79). The analysis confirmed the validity and consistency of the Serbian translation of the scale, with observed weakness of the factorial structure consistent with studies in other languages. The results also showed that the method of utilizing a self-control bilingual subject is a useful alternative to the back-translation method, particularly in cases of linguistically and structurally sensitive scales, or in cases where a larger sample is not available. This method, dubbed as 'forth-translation' could be used to translate psychometric scales measuring properties which have temporal stability over the period of at least several weeks.

Relations of Water Quality to Agricultural Chemical Use and Environmental Setting at Various Scales - Results from Selected Studies of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2008-01-01

In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began studies of 51 major river basins and aquifers across the United States as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program to provide scientifically sound information for managing the Nation's water resources. The major goals of the NAWQA Program are to assess the status and long-term trends of the Nation's surface- and ground-water quality and to understand the natural and human factors that affect it (Gilliom and others, 1995). In 2001, the NAWQA Program began a second decade of intensive water-quality assessments. The 42 study units for this second decade were selected to represent a wide range of important hydrologic environments and potential contaminant sources. These NAWQA studies continue to address the goals of the first decade of the assessments to determine how water-quality conditions are changing over time. In addition to local- and regional-scale studies, NAWQA began to analyze and synthesize water-quality status and trends at the principal aquifer and major river-basin scales. This fact sheet summarizes results from four NAWQA studies that relate water quality to agricultural chemical use and environmental setting at these various scales: * Comparison of ground-water quality in northern and southern High Plains agricultural settings (principal aquifer scale); * Distribution patterns of pesticides and degradates in rain (local scale); * Occurrence of pesticides in shallow ground water underlying four agricultural areas (local and regional scales); and * Trends in nutrients and sediment over time in the Missouri River and its tributaries (major river-basin scale).

Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Behavioral Stability and Change in Children 6-36 months of Age Using Louisville Twin Study Data.

PubMed

Davis, Deborah Winders; Finkel, Deborah; Turkheimer, Eric; Dickens, William

2015-11-01

The Infant Behavior Record (IBR) from the Bayley Scales of Infant Development has been used to study behavioral development since the 1960s. Matheny (1983) examined behavioral development at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months from the Louisville Twin Study (LTS). The extracted temperament scales included Task Orientation, Affect-Extraversion, and Activity. He concluded that monozygotic twins were more similar than same-sex dizygotic twins on these dimensions. Since this seminal work was published, a larger LTS sample and more advanced analytical methods are available. In the current analyses, Choleksy decomposition was applied to behavioral data (n = 1231) from twins 6-36 months. Different patterns of genetic continuity vs genetic innovations were identified for each IBR scale. Single common genetic and shared environmental factors explained cross-age twin similarity in the Activity scale. Multiple shared environmental factors and a single genetic factor coming on line at age 18 months contributed to Affect-Extraversion. A single shared environmental factor and multiple genetic factors explained cross-age twin similarity in Task Orientation.

U.S. Regional Aquifer Analysis Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Ivan

As a result of the severe 1976-1978 drought, Congress in 1978 requested that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) initiate studies of the nation's aquifers on a regional scale. This continuing USGS project, the Regional Aquifer System Analysis (RASA) Program, consists of systematic studies of the quality and quantity of water in the regional groundwater systems that supply a large part of the nation's water.

A qualitative study examining the sustainability of shared care in the delivery of palliative care services in the community

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background This paper focuses on the sustainability of existing palliative care teams that provide home-based care in a shared care model. For the purposes of this study, following Evashwick and Ory (2003), sustainability is understood and approached as the ability to continue the program over time. Understanding factors that influence the sustainability of teams and ways to mitigate these factors is paramount to improving the longevity and quality of service delivery models of this kind. Methods Using qualitative data collected in interviews, the aim of this study is twofold: (1) to explore the factors that affect the sustainability of the teams at three different scales, and; (2) based on the results of this study, to propose a set of recommendations that will contribute to the sustainability of PC teams. Results Sustainability was conceptualized from two angles: internal and external. An overview of external sustainability was provided and the merging of data from all participant groups showed that the sustainability of teams was largely dependent on actors and organizations at the local (community), regional (Local Health Integration Network or LHIN) and provincial scales. The three scales are not self-contained or singular entities but rather are connected. Integration and collaboration within and between scales is necessary, as community capacity will inevitably reach its threshold without support of the province, which provides funding to the LHIN. While the community continues to advocate for the teams, in the long-term, they will need additional supports from the LHIN and province. The province has the authority and capacity to engrain its support for teams through a formal strategy. The recommendations are presented based on scale to better illustrate how actors and organizations could move forward. Conclusions This study may inform program and policy specific to strategic ways to improve the provision of team-based palliative home care using a shared care model, while simultaneously providing direction for team-based program delivery and sustainability for other jurisdictions. PMID:23984638

Students' Attitudes towards Mathematics in Single-Sex and Coeducational Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norton, Stephen J.; Rennie, Leonie J.

1998-01-01

Discusses part of study stimulated by the continuing debate over differences between boys and girls in their attitudes towards mathematics and their participation and performance in this subject at school. Concludes that there were clear differences between boys and girls on the Mathematics as a Male Domain scale with girls being less stereotyped…

Pesticide Environmental Fate Research for the 21st Century: Building Bridges Between Laboratory and Field Studies at Varying Scales

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Accurate determination of predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) is a continuing and often elusive goal of pesticide risk assessment. PECs are typically derived using simulation models that depend on laboratory generated data for key input parameters (t1/2, Koc, etc.). Model flexibility in ...

Pesticide Environmental Fate Research for the 21st Century: Building Bridges Between Laboratory and Field Studies at Varying Scales

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Accurate determination of predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) is a continuing and often elusive goal of pesticide risk assessment. PECs are typically derived using simulation models that depend on laboratory generated data for key input parameters (t1/2, Koc, etc.). Model flexibility in ev...

Genomic structural differences between cattle and river buffalo identified through a combination and genomic and transcriptomic analysis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis L.) is an important livestock species worldwide. Like many other livestock species, water buffalo lacks high quality and continuous reference genome assembly required for fine-scale comparative genomics studies. In this work, we present a dataset, which characterizes g...

Shaping Understanding of HIV through Negotiation and Conflict Resolution during Peer Group Discussion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patel, Vimla L.; Branch, Timothy; Gutnik, Lily; Arocha, Jose F.

2006-01-01

High-risk behavior in youths related to HIV transmission continues to occur despite large-scale efforts to disseminate information about safe sexual practices through education. Our study examined the relationships among knowledge, decision-making strategies, and risk assessment about HIV by youths during peer group focused discussions. Two focus…

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY FOR PRODUCTION OF NATIONAL LAND-COVER DATA (NLCD) FROM THE LANDSAT 7 THEMATIC MAPPER SATELLITE

EPA Science Inventory

As environmental programs within and outside the federal government continue to move away from point-based studies to larger and larger spatial (not cartographic) scale, the need for land-cover and other geographic data have become ineluctable. The national land-cover mapping pr...

Cell Biology and Microbiology: A Continuous Cross-Feeding.

PubMed

Pizarro-Cerdá, Javier; Cossart, Pascale

2016-07-01

Microbiology and cell biology both involve the study of cells, albeit at different levels of complexity and scale. Interactions between both fields during the past 25 years have led to major conceptual and technological advances that have reshaped the whole biology landscape and its biomedical applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Targeted enrichment strategies for next-generation plant biology

Treesearch

Richard Cronn; Brian J. Knaus; Aaron Liston; Peter J. Maughan; Matthew Parks; John V. Syring; Joshua Udall

2012-01-01

The dramatic advances offered by modem DNA sequencers continue to redefine the limits of what can be accomplished in comparative plant biology. Even with recent achievements, however, plant genomes present obstacles that can make it difficult to execute large-scale population and phylogenetic studies on next-generation sequencing platforms. Factors like large genome...

Procurement and Retention of Navy Physicians. Report No. CNS 1030.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Devine, Eugene J.

This study is designed to provide a better understanding of the Navy's health-care system and the impact of a draft-free system in attracting an adequate number of physicians. The medical scholarship, proposed variable incentive, and present continuation pay scales are evaluated from the standpoint of financial attractiveness to the physician…

A Flipped Classroom Redesign in General Chemistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reid, Scott A.

2016-01-01

The flipped classroom continues to attract significant attention in higher education. Building upon our recent parallel controlled study of the flipped classroom in a second-term general chemistry course ("J. Chem. Educ.," 2016, 93, 13-23), here we report on a redesign of the flipped course aimed at scaling up total enrollment while…

Warm dark matter

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

Horiuchi, Shunsaku, E-mail: horiuchi@vt.edu

2016-06-21

The cold dark matter paradigm has been extremely successful in explaining the large-scale structure of the Universe. However, it continues to face issues when confronted by observations on sub-Galactic scales. A major caveat, now being addressed, has been the incomplete treatment of baryon physics. We first summarize the small-scale issues surrounding cold dark matter and discuss the solutions explored by modern state-of-the-art numerical simulations including treatment of baryonic physics. We identify the too big to fail in field galaxies as among the best targets to study modifications to dark matter, and discuss the particular connection with sterile neutrino warm darkmore » matter. We also discuss how the recently detected anomalous 3.55 keV X-ray lines, when interpreted as sterile neutrino dark matter decay, provide a very good description of small-scale observations of the Local Group.« less

Assessment of erosion and sedimentation dynamic in a combined sewer network using online turbidity monitoring.

PubMed

Bersinger, T; Le Hécho, I; Bareille, G; Pigot, T

2015-01-01

Eroded sewer sediments are a significant source of organic matter discharge by combined sewer overflows. Many authors have studied the erosion and sedimentation processes at the scale of a section of sewer pipe and over short time periods. The objective of this study was to assess these processes at the scale of an entire sewer network and over 1 month, to understand whether phenomena observed on a small scale of space and time are still valid on a larger scale. To achieve this objective the continuous monitoring of turbidity was used. First, the study of successive rain events allows observation of the reduction of the available sediment and highlights the widely different erosion resistance for the different sediment layers. Secondly, calculation of daily chemical oxygen demand (COD) fluxes during the entire month was performed showing that sediment storage in the sewer pipe after a rain period is important and stops after 5 days. Nevertheless, during rainfall events, the eroded fluxes are more important than the whole sewer sediment accumulated during a dry weather period. This means that the COD fluxes promoted by runoff are substantial. This work confirms, with online monitoring, most of the conclusions from other studies on a smaller scale.

Applications of NMR and computational methodologies to study protein dynamics.

PubMed

Narayanan, Chitra; Bafna, Khushboo; Roux, Louise D; Agarwal, Pratul K; Doucet, Nicolas

2017-08-15

Overwhelming evidence now illustrates the defining role of atomic-scale protein flexibility in biological events such as allostery, cell signaling, and enzyme catalysis. Over the years, spin relaxation nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has provided significant insights on the structural motions occurring on multiple time frames over the course of a protein life span. The present review article aims to illustrate to the broader community how this technique continues to shape many areas of protein science and engineering, in addition to being an indispensable tool for studying atomic-scale motions and functional characterization. Continuing developments in underlying NMR technology alongside software and hardware developments for complementary computational approaches now enable methodologies to routinely provide spatial directionality and structural representations traditionally harder to achieve solely using NMR spectroscopy. In addition to its well-established role in structural elucidation, we present recent examples that illustrate the combined power of selective isotope labeling, relaxation dispersion experiments, chemical shift analyses, and computational approaches for the characterization of conformational sub-states in proteins and enzymes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Enhanced nonlinearity interval mapping scheme for high-performance simulation-optimization of watershed-scale BMP placement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Rui; Riverson, John; Liu, Yong; Murphy, Ryan; Sim, Youn

2015-03-01

Integrated continuous simulation-optimization models can be effective predictors of a process-based responses for cost-benefit optimization of best management practices (BMPs) selection and placement. However, practical application of simulation-optimization model is computationally prohibitive for large-scale systems. This study proposes an enhanced Nonlinearity Interval Mapping Scheme (NIMS) to solve large-scale watershed simulation-optimization problems several orders of magnitude faster than other commonly used algorithms. An efficient interval response coefficient (IRC) derivation method was incorporated into the NIMS framework to overcome a computational bottleneck. The proposed algorithm was evaluated using a case study watershed in the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. Using a continuous simulation watershed/stream-transport model, Loading Simulation Program in C++ (LSPC), three nested in-stream compliance points (CP)—each with multiple Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) targets—were selected to derive optimal treatment levels for each of the 28 subwatersheds, so that the TMDL targets at all the CP were met with the lowest possible BMP implementation cost. Genetic Algorithm (GA) and NIMS were both applied and compared. The results showed that the NIMS took 11 iterations (about 11 min) to complete with the resulting optimal solution having a total cost of 67.2 million, while each of the multiple GA executions took 21-38 days to reach near optimal solutions. The best solution obtained among all the GA executions compared had a minimized cost of 67.7 million—marginally higher, but approximately equal to that of the NIMS solution. The results highlight the utility for decision making in large-scale watershed simulation-optimization formulations.

Improving catchment scale water quality modelling with continuous high resolution monitoring of metals in runoff

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saari, Markus; Rossi, Pekka; Blomberg von der Geest, Kalle; Mäkinen, Ari; Postila, Heini; Marttila, Hannu

2017-04-01

High metal concentrations in natural waters is one of the key environmental and health problems globally. Continuous in-situ analysis of metals from runoff water is technically challenging but essential for the better understanding of processes which lead to pollutant transport. Currently, typical analytical methods for monitoring elements in liquids are off-line laboratory methods such as ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy) and ICP-MS (ICP combined with a mass spectrometer). Disadvantage of the both techniques is time consuming sample collection, preparation, and off-line analysis at laboratory conditions. Thus use of these techniques lack possibility for real-time monitoring of element transport. We combined a novel high resolution on-line metal concentration monitoring with catchment scale physical hydrological modelling in Mustijoki river in Southern Finland in order to study dynamics of processes and form a predictive warning system for leaching of metals. A novel on-line measurement technique based on micro plasma emission spectroscopy (MPES) is tested for on-line detection of selected elements (e.g. Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Fe, Ni, Cu, Cd and Pb) in runoff waters. The preliminary results indicate that MPES can sufficiently detect and monitor metal concentrations from river water. Water and Soil Assessment Tool (SWAT) catchment scale model was further calibrated with high resolution metal concentration data. We show that by combining high resolution monitoring and catchment scale physical based modelling, further process studies and creation of early warning systems, for example to optimization of drinking water uptake from rivers, can be achieved.

High Fidelity Simulations of Large-Scale Wireless Networks

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

Onunkwo, Uzoma; Benz, Zachary

The worldwide proliferation of wireless connected devices continues to accelerate. There are 10s of billions of wireless links across the planet with an additional explosion of new wireless usage anticipated as the Internet of Things develops. Wireless technologies do not only provide convenience for mobile applications, but are also extremely cost-effective to deploy. Thus, this trend towards wireless connectivity will only continue and Sandia must develop the necessary simulation technology to proactively analyze the associated emerging vulnerabilities. Wireless networks are marked by mobility and proximity-based connectivity. The de facto standard for exploratory studies of wireless networks is discrete event simulationsmore » (DES). However, the simulation of large-scale wireless networks is extremely difficult due to prohibitively large turnaround time. A path forward is to expedite simulations with parallel discrete event simulation (PDES) techniques. The mobility and distance-based connectivity associated with wireless simulations, however, typically doom PDES and fail to scale (e.g., OPNET and ns-3 simulators). We propose a PDES-based tool aimed at reducing the communication overhead between processors. The proposed solution will use light-weight processes to dynamically distribute computation workload while mitigating communication overhead associated with synchronizations. This work is vital to the analytics and validation capabilities of simulation and emulation at Sandia. We have years of experience in Sandia’s simulation and emulation projects (e.g., MINIMEGA and FIREWHEEL). Sandia’s current highly-regarded capabilities in large-scale emulations have focused on wired networks, where two assumptions prevent scalable wireless studies: (a) the connections between objects are mostly static and (b) the nodes have fixed locations.« less

In-utero exposure to DDT and cognitive development among infants and school-aged children

PubMed Central

Jusko, Todd A.; Klebanoff, Mark A.; Brock, John W.; Longnecker, Matthew P.

2012-01-01

Background Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) continues to be used for control of infectious diseases in several countries. In-utero exposure to DDT and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) has been associated with developmental and cognitive impairment among children. We examined this association in an historical cohort in which the level of exposure was greater than in previous studies. Methods The association of in-utero DDT and DDE exposure with infant and child neurodevelopment was examined in approximately 1100 subjects in the Collaborative Perinatal Project, a prospective birth cohort enrolling pregnant women from 12 study centers in the U.S. from 1959 to 1965. Maternal DDT and DDE concentrations were measured in archived serum specimens. Infant mental and motor development was assessed at age 8 months using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, and child cognitive development was assessed at age 7 years using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. Results Although levels of both DDT and DDE were relatively high in this population (median DDT concentration, 8.9 µg/L; DDE, 24.5 µg/L), neither was related to Mental or Psychomotor Development scores on the Bayley Scales or to Full-Scale IQ at 7 years of age. Categorical analyses showed no evidence of dose-response for either maternal DDT or DDE, and estimates of the association between continuous measures of exposure and neurodevelopment were indistinguishable from 0. Conclusions Adverse associations were not observed between maternal serum DDT and DDE concentrations and offspring neurodevelopment at 8 months or 7 years of age in this cohort. PMID:22766752

Quantitative analysis of scale of aeromagnetic data raises questions about geologic-map scale

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nykanen, V.; Raines, G.L.

2006-01-01

A recently published study has shown that small-scale geologic map data can reproduce mineral assessments made with considerably larger scale data. This result contradicts conventional wisdom about the importance of scale in mineral exploration, at least for regional studies. In order to formally investigate aspects of scale, a weights-of-evidence analysis using known gold occurrences and deposits in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt of Finland as training sites provided a test of the predictive power of the aeromagnetic data. These orogenic-mesothermal-type gold occurrences and deposits have strong lithologic and structural controls associated with long (up to several kilometers), narrow (up to hundreds of meters) hydrothermal alteration zones with associated magnetic lows. The aeromagnetic data were processed using conventional geophysical methods of successive upward continuation simulating terrane clearance or 'flight height' from the original 30 m to an artificial 2000 m. The analyses show, as expected, that the predictive power of aeromagnetic data, as measured by the weights-of-evidence contrast, decreases with increasing flight height. Interestingly, the Moran autocorrelation of aeromagnetic data representing differing flight height, that is spatial scales, decreases with decreasing resolution of source data. The Moran autocorrelation coefficient scems to be another measure of the quality of the aeromagnetic data for predicting exploration targets. ?? Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007.

Fine-scale variation of historical fire regimes in sagebrush-steppe and juniper woodland: An example from California, USA

Treesearch

Richard F. Miller; Emily K. Heyerdahl

2008-01-01

Coarse-scale estimates of fire intervals across the mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata spp. vaseyana (Rydb.) Beetle) alliance range from decades to centuries. However, soil depth and texture can affect the abundance and continuity of fine fuels and vary at fine spatial scales, suggesting fire regimes may vary at similar scales. We explored...

Millennial-scale climate variations in western Mediterranean during late Pleistocene-early Holocene: multi-proxy analyses from Padul peatbog (southern Iberian Peninsula)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camuera, Jon; Jiménez-Moreno, Gonzalo; José Ramos-Román, María; García-Alix, Antonio; Jiménez-Espejo, Francisco; Toney, Jaime L.; Anderson, R. Scott; Kaufman, Darrell; Bright, Jordon; Sachse, Dirk

2017-04-01

Padul peatbog, located in southern Iberian Peninsula (western Mediterranean region) is a unique area for palaeoenvironmental studies due to its location, between arid and temperate climates. Previous studies showed that the Padul peatbog contains a continuous record of the last ca. 0.8-1 Ma, so it is an extraordinary site to identify glacial-interglacial phases as well as Heinrich and D-O events, linked to orbital- and suborbital-scale variations. In 2015, a new 42 m long core was taken from this area, providing an excellent sediment record probably for the last ca. 300,000 years. This study is focused on the paleoenvironmental and climatic reconstruction of the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene (ca. from 50,000 to 9,500 cal. yrs BP), using AMS 14C and AAR dating, high-resolution pollen analysis, lithology, continuous XRF-scanning, X-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility and organic geochemistry. These different proxies provide information not only about the regional environment change but also about local changes in the conditions of the Padul lake/peatbog due to variations in water temperature, pH or nutrients.

Prognostic value of continuous electroencephalography monitoring in children with severe brain damage.

PubMed

Lan, Yan-huai; Zhu, Xiao-mei; Zhou, Yuan-feng; Qiu, Peng-ling; Lu, Guo-ping; Sun, Dao-kai; Wang, Yi

2015-06-01

The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a relationship between continuous electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring patterns and prognosis for children with severe brain damage. Patients and The different patterns of EEG were analyzed for 103 children (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score < 8) who were monitored with continuous video-EEG (CVEEG) within 72 hours after the onset of coma. The clinical outcomes were scored and evaluated at hospital discharge by the modified Pediatric Cerebral and Overall Performance Category Scale (PCOPCS). EEG parameters of the different prognosis groups were compared and risk factors for prognosis were identified. Of the 103 children, 36 were in the good prognosis group (PCOPCS scores 1 and 2) and 67 were in the poor prognosis group (PCOPCS scores 3-6). The poor prognosis group had the lower proportion of events in reactive EEG patterns and sleep architecture, and a higher proportion of low-voltage events. Multivariate analyses showed that the lower GCS score and no sleep architecture were significantly associated with poor prognosis. Comatose children with higher GCS score and sleep architecture have better clinical outcomes in terms of morbidity and mortality. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

75 FR 42633 - Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-22

... event of a wide-scale disruption affecting such entities' trading or clearing operations. These proposed... objective, in the event of a wide-scale disruption. The proposed amendments also revise application guidance... overall resilience of the U.S. financial system in the event of a wide-scale disruption, and is the...

7 CFR 800.197 - Approval as a scale testing and certification organization.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

...) Voluntary. A scale testing and certification organization may request cancellation of its approval by... organization. 800.197 Section 800.197 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued... § 800.197 Approval as a scale testing and certification organization. (a) Who may apply. Any State...

7 CFR 800.197 - Approval as a scale testing and certification organization.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

...) Voluntary. A scale testing and certification organization may request cancellation of its approval by... organization. 800.197 Section 800.197 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued... § 800.197 Approval as a scale testing and certification organization. (a) Who may apply. Any State...

7 CFR 800.197 - Approval as a scale testing and certification organization.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

...) Voluntary. A scale testing and certification organization may request cancellation of its approval by... organization. 800.197 Section 800.197 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued... § 800.197 Approval as a scale testing and certification organization. (a) Who may apply. Any State...

USE OF REMOTE SENSING AIR QUALITY INFORMATION IN REGIONAL SCALE AIR POLLUTION MODELING: CURRENT USE AND REQUIREMENTS

EPA Science Inventory

In recent years the applications of regional air quality models are continuously being extended to address atmospheric pollution phenomenon from local to hemispheric spatial scales over time scales ranging from episodic to annual. The need to represent interactions between physic...

Lessons learned in Liberia: preliminary examination of the psychometric properties of trust and teamwork among maternal healthcare workers.

PubMed

Lori, Jody R; Munro, Michelle L; Moore, Jennifer E; Fladger, Jessica

2013-04-11

Post-conflict Liberia has one of the fastest growing populations on the continent and one of the highest maternal mortality rates among the world. However, in the rural regions, less than half of all births are attended by a skilled birth attendant. There is a need to evaluate the relationship between trained traditional healthcare providers and skilled birth attendants to improve maternal health outcomes. This evaluation must also take into consideration the needs and desires of the patients. The purpose of this pilot study was to establish the validity and reliability of a survey tool to evaluate trust and teamwork in the working relationships between trained traditional midwives and certified midwives in a post-conflict country. A previously established scale, the Trust and Teambuilding Scale, was used with non- and low-literate trained traditional midwives (n=48) in rural Liberia to evaluate trust and teamwork with certified midwives in their communities. Initial results indicated that the scale and response keys were culturally inadequate for this population. A revised version of the scale, the Trust and Teamwork Scale - Liberia, was created and administered to an additional group of non- and low-literate, trained traditional midwives (n=42). Exploratory factor analysis using Mplus for dichotomous variables was used to determine the psychometric properties of the revised scale and was then confirmed with the full sample (n=90). Additional analyses included contrast validity, convergent validity, and Kuder-Richardson reliability. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two factors in the revised Trust and Teamwork Scale - Liberia. These two factors, labeled trust and teamwork, included eleven of the original eighteen items used in the Trust and Teamwork Scale and demonstrated contrast and convergent validity and adequate reliability. The revised scale is suitable for use with non- and low-literate, trained traditional midwives in rural Liberia. Continued cross-cultural validation of tools is essential to ensure scale adequacy across populations. Future work should continue to evaluate the use of the Trust and Teamwork Scale - Liberia across cultures and additional work is needed to confirm the factor structure.

Anaerobic Digestion of Laminaria japonica Waste from Industrial Production Residues in Laboratory- and Pilot-Scale.

PubMed

Barbot, Yann Nicolas; Thomsen, Claudia; Thomsen, Laurenz; Benz, Roland

2015-09-18

The cultivation of macroalgae to supply the biofuel, pharmaceutical or food industries generates a considerable amount of organic residue, which represents a potential substrate for biomethanation. Its use optimizes the total resource exploitation by the simultaneous disposal of waste biomaterials. In this study, we explored the biochemical methane potential (BMP) and biomethane recovery of industrial Laminaria japonica waste (LJW) in batch, continuous laboratory and pilot-scale trials. Thermo-acidic pretreatment with industry-grade HCl or industrial flue gas condensate (FGC), as well as a co-digestion approach with maize silage (MS) did not improve the biomethane recovery. BMPs between 172 mL and 214 mL g(-1) volatile solids (VS) were recorded. We proved the feasibility of long-term continuous anaerobic digestion with LJW as sole feedstock showing a steady biomethane production rate of 173 mL g(-1) VS. The quality of fermentation residue was sufficient to serve as biofertilizer, with enriched amounts of potassium, sulfur and iron. We further demonstrated the upscaling feasibility of the process in a pilot-scale system where a CH₄ recovery of 189 L kg(-1) VS was achieved and a biogas composition of 55% CH₄ and 38% CO₂ was recorded.

Characterization of corrosion products of AB{sub 5}-type hydrogen storage alloys for nickel-metal hydride batteries

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

Maurel, F.; Knosp, B.; Backhaus-Ricoult, M.

2000-01-01

To better understand the decrease in storage capacity of AB{sub 5}-type alloys in rechargeable Ni/MH batteries undergoing repeated charge/discharge cycles, the corrosion of a MnNi{sub 3.55}Co{sub 0.75}Mn{sub 0.4}Al{sub 0.3} alloy in aqueous KOH electrolyte was studied. The crystal structure, chemical composition, and distribution of corrosion products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Hollow and filed needles of a mixed rare earth hydroxide Mn(OH){sub 3} were found to cover a continuous nanocrystalline corrosion scale composed of metal (Ni, Co) solid solution, oxide (Ni,Co)O solid solution and rare earth hydroxide, and a Mn-depleted alloy subscale. Corrosionmore » kinetics were measured for three different temperatures. Growth kinetics of the continuous corrosion scale and of the Mm(OH){sub 3} needles obeyed linear and parabolic rate laws, respectively. Models for the corrosion mechanism were developed on the basis of diffusional transport of Mn and OH through the hydroxide needles and subsequent diffusion along grain boundaries through the nanocrystalline scale.« less

Using Low-Frequency Earthquake Families on the San Andreas Fault as Deep Creepmeters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, A. M.; Beeler, N. M.; Bletery, Q.; Burgmann, R.; Shelly, D. R.

2018-01-01

The central section of the San Andreas Fault hosts tectonic tremor and low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs) similar to subduction zone environments. LFEs are often interpreted as persistent regions that repeatedly fail during the aseismic shear of the surrounding fault allowing them to be used as creepmeters. We test this idea by using the recurrence intervals of individual LFEs within LFE families to estimate the timing, duration, recurrence interval, slip, and slip rate associated with inferred slow slip events. We formalize the definition of a creepmeter and determine whether this definition is consistent with our observations. We find that episodic families reflect surrounding creep over the interevent time, while the continuous families and the short time scale bursts that occur as part of the episodic families do not. However, when these families are evaluated on time scales longer than the interevent time these events can also be used to meter slip. A straightforward interpretation of episodic families is that they define sections of the fault where slip is distinctly episodic in well-defined slow slip events that slip 16 times the long-term rate. In contrast, the frequent short-term bursts of the continuous and short time scale episodic families likely do not represent individual creep events but rather are persistent asperities that are driven to failure by quasi-continuous creep on the surrounding fault. Finally, we find that the moment-duration scaling of our inferred creep events are inconsistent with the proposed linear moment-duration scaling. However, caution must be exercised when attempting to determine scaling with incomplete knowledge of scale.

Does an early onset and continuous chain of rehabilitation improve the long-term functional outcome of patients with severe traumatic brain injury?

PubMed

Andelic, Nada; Bautz-Holter, Erik; Ronning, Pal; Olafsen, Kjell; Sigurdardottir, Solrun; Schanke, Anne-Kristine; Sveen, Unni; Tornas, Sveinung; Sandhaug, Maria; Roe, Cecilie

2012-01-01

There are currently no international guidelines regarding treatment in the early rehabilitation phase for persons with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), and only a few studies have investigated the effect of integrating rehabilitation into acute TBI care. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether a continuous chain of rehabilitation that begins with the acute phase could improve the functional outcome of severe TBI patients, compared to a broken chain of rehabilitation that starts in the sub-acute phase of TBI. A total of 61 surviving patients with severe TBI were included in a quasi-experimental study conducted at the Level I trauma center in Eastern Norway. In the study, 31 patients were in the early rehabilitation group (Group A) and 30 patients were in the delayed rehabilitation group (Group B). The functional outcomes were assessed 12 months post-injury with the Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended (GOSE) and the Disability Rating Scale (DRS). A favorable outcome (GOSE 6-8) occurred in 71% of the patients from Group A versus 37% in Group B (p=0.007). The DRS score was significantly better in Group A (p=0.03). The ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to quantify the relationship between the type of rehabilitation chain and the GOSE. A better GOSE outcome was found in patients from Group A (unadjusted OR 3.25 and adjusted OR 2.78, respectively). These results support the hypothesis that better functional outcome occurs in patients who receive early onset and a continuous chain of rehabilitation.

Homotopy-Theoretic Study & Atomic-Scale Observation of Vortex Domains in Hexagonal Manganites

PubMed Central

Li, Jun; Chiang, Fu-Kuo; Chen, Zhen; Ma, Chao; Chu, Ming-Wen; Chen, Cheng-Hsuan; Tian, Huanfang; Yang, Huaixin; Li, Jianqi

2016-01-01

Essential structural properties of the non-trivial “string-wall-bounded” topological defects in hexagonal manganites are studied through homotopy group theory and spherical aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy. The appearance of a “string-wall-bounded” configuration in RMnO3 is shown to be strongly linked with the transformation of the degeneracy space. The defect core regions (~50 Å) mainly adopt the continuous U(1) symmetry of the high-temperature phase, which is essential for the formation and proliferation of vortices. Direct visualization of vortex strings at atomic scale provides insight into the mechanisms and macro-behavior of topological defects in crystalline materials. PMID:27324701

Icing Simulation Research Supporting the Ice-Accretion Testing of Large-Scale Swept-Wing Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yadlin, Yoram; Monnig, Jaime T.; Malone, Adam M.; Paul, Bernard P.

2018-01-01

The work summarized in this report is a continuation of NASA's Large-Scale, Swept-Wing Test Articles Fabrication; Research and Test Support for NASA IRT contract (NNC10BA05 -NNC14TA36T) performed by Boeing under the NASA Research and Technology for Aerospace Propulsion Systems (RTAPS) contract. In the study conducted under RTAPS, a series of icing tests in the Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) have been conducted to characterize ice formations on large-scale swept wings representative of modern commercial transport airplanes. The outcome of that campaign was a large database of ice-accretion geometries that can be used for subsequent aerodynamic evaluation in other experimental facilities and for validation of ice-accretion prediction codes.

The stability properties of cylindrical force-free fields - Effect of an external potential field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chiuderi, C.; Einaudi, G.; Ma, S. S.; Van Hoven, G.

1980-01-01

A large-scale potential field with an embedded smaller-scale force-free structure gradient x B equals alpha B is studied in cylindrical geometry. Cases in which alpha goes continuously from a constant value alpha 0 on the axis to zero at large r are considered. Such a choice of alpha (r) produces fields which are realistic (few field reversals) but not completely stable. The MHD-unstable wavenumber regime is found. Since the considered equilibrium field exhibits a certain amount of magnetic shear, resistive instabilities can arise. The growth rates of the tearing mode in the limited MHD-stable region of k space are calculated, showing time-scales much shorter than the resistive decay time.

Equivalent Porous Media (EPM) Simulation of Groundwater Hydraulics and Contaminant Transport in Karst Aquifers.

PubMed

Ghasemizadeh, Reza; Yu, Xue; Butscher, Christoph; Hellweger, Ferdi; Padilla, Ingrid; Alshawabkeh, Akram

2015-01-01

Karst aquifers have a high degree of heterogeneity and anisotropy in their geologic and hydrogeologic properties which makes predicting their behavior difficult. This paper evaluates the application of the Equivalent Porous Media (EPM) approach to simulate groundwater hydraulics and contaminant transport in karst aquifers using an example from the North Coast limestone aquifer system in Puerto Rico. The goal is to evaluate if the EPM approach, which approximates the karst features with a conceptualized, equivalent continuous medium, is feasible for an actual project, based on available data and the study scale and purpose. Existing National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data and previous hydrogeological U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) studies were used to define the model input parameters. Hydraulic conductivity and specific yield were estimated using measured groundwater heads over the study area and further calibrated against continuous water level data of three USGS observation wells. The water-table fluctuation results indicate that the model can practically reflect the steady-state groundwater hydraulics (normalized RMSE of 12.4%) and long-term variability (normalized RMSE of 3.0%) at regional and intermediate scales and can be applied to predict future water table behavior under different hydrogeological conditions. The application of the EPM approach to simulate transport is limited because it does not directly consider possible irregular conduit flow pathways. However, the results from the present study suggest that the EPM approach is capable to reproduce the spreading of a TCE plume at intermediate scales with sufficient accuracy (normalized RMSE of 8.45%) for groundwater resources management and the planning of contamination mitigation strategies.

Equivalent Porous Media (EPM) Simulation of Groundwater Hydraulics and Contaminant Transport in Karst Aquifers

PubMed Central

Ghasemizadeh, Reza; Yu, Xue; Butscher, Christoph; Hellweger, Ferdi; Padilla, Ingrid; Alshawabkeh, Akram

2015-01-01

Karst aquifers have a high degree of heterogeneity and anisotropy in their geologic and hydrogeologic properties which makes predicting their behavior difficult. This paper evaluates the application of the Equivalent Porous Media (EPM) approach to simulate groundwater hydraulics and contaminant transport in karst aquifers using an example from the North Coast limestone aquifer system in Puerto Rico. The goal is to evaluate if the EPM approach, which approximates the karst features with a conceptualized, equivalent continuous medium, is feasible for an actual project, based on available data and the study scale and purpose. Existing National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data and previous hydrogeological U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) studies were used to define the model input parameters. Hydraulic conductivity and specific yield were estimated using measured groundwater heads over the study area and further calibrated against continuous water level data of three USGS observation wells. The water-table fluctuation results indicate that the model can practically reflect the steady-state groundwater hydraulics (normalized RMSE of 12.4%) and long-term variability (normalized RMSE of 3.0%) at regional and intermediate scales and can be applied to predict future water table behavior under different hydrogeological conditions. The application of the EPM approach to simulate transport is limited because it does not directly consider possible irregular conduit flow pathways. However, the results from the present study suggest that the EPM approach is capable to reproduce the spreading of a TCE plume at intermediate scales with sufficient accuracy (normalized RMSE of 8.45%) for groundwater resources management and the planning of contamination mitigation strategies. PMID:26422202

Cross-cultural validation of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory in Greece: a preliminary study.

PubMed

Diareme, S; Tsiantis, J; Tsitoura, S

1997-11-01

The aim of this study was first, to provide preliminary findings on the reliability and validity of a Greek translation of the CAP Inventory (Milner, 1986), and second, to examine whether there were any differences between Greek and American scores in the CAP Inventory. A convenience sample of 320 Greek parents was recruited from the outpatient unit of a large Children's Hospital in Athens, Greece. Greek scores were compared with American scores taken from the test manual. Internal consistency reliability was high for the Abuse scale (.91), two factor scales (Distress = .93 and Rigidity = .86) and one Validity scale (Inconsistency = .80). The Greek version of the Abuse scale had a similar factorial structure with the American version. Also, 78.1% of Greek parents were classified correctly as nonabusive by the Abuse scale. This rate was increased to 88.6% when invalid questionnaires were excluded from the sample. Comparisons between Greek and American mean scale scores indicated that Greek scores were significantly higher than American scores in all but one scale. Greeks had significantly lower scores than Americans in the Problems with Child and Self scale. Current findings including the high reliability, relatively high correct classification rates and factorial structure of the Greek Abuse scale are promising and support the idea of continuation of research for the development and validation of the Greek CAP Inventory. The difference between Greek and American scores in particular indicates the need for adjustment of cut off scores in the Greek scale.

Groundwater availability of the Denver Basin aquifer system, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Paschke, Suzanne

2011-01-01

The Denver Basin aquifer system is a critical water resource for growing municipal, industrial, and domestic uses along the semiarid Front Range urban corridor of Colorado. The confined bedrock aquifer system is located along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountain Front Range where the mountains meet the Great Plains physiographic province. Continued population growth and the resulting need for additional water supplies in the Denver Basin and throughout the western United States emphasize the need to continually monitor and reassess the availability of groundwater resources. In 2004, the U.S. Geological Survey initiated large-scale regional studies to provide updated groundwater-availability assessments of important principal aquifers across the United States, including the Denver Basin. This study of the Denver Basin aquifer system evaluates the hydrologic effects of continued pumping and documents an updated groundwater flow model useful for appraisal of hydrologic conditions.

Considering Time-Scale Requirements for the Future

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-05-01

geocentric reference frame with the SI second realized on the rotating geoid as the scale unit. It is a continuous atomic time scale that was...the B8lycentric and Geocentric Celestial Reference Systems, two time scales, Barycentric Coor- dinate Time (TCB) and Geocentric Coordinate Time (TCG...defined in 2006 as a linear scaling of TCB having the approximate rate of TT. TCG is the time coordinate for the four dimensional geocentric coordinate

Trends in size of tropical deforestation events signal increasing dominance of industrial-scale drivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Austin, Kemen G.; González-Roglich, Mariano; Schaffer-Smith, Danica; Schwantes, Amanda M.; Swenson, Jennifer J.

2017-05-01

Deforestation continues across the tropics at alarming rates, with repercussions for ecosystem processes, carbon storage and long term sustainability. Taking advantage of recent fine-scale measurement of deforestation, this analysis aims to improve our understanding of the scale of deforestation drivers in the tropics. We examined trends in forest clearings of different sizes from 2000-2012 by country, region and development level. As tropical deforestation increased from approximately 6900 kha yr-1 in the first half of the study period, to >7900 kha yr-1 in the second half of the study period, >50% of this increase was attributable to the proliferation of medium and large clearings (>10 ha). This trend was most pronounced in Southeast Asia and in South America. Outside of Brazil >60% of the observed increase in deforestation in South America was due to an upsurge in medium- and large-scale clearings; Brazil had a divergent trend of decreasing deforestation, >90% of which was attributable to a reduction in medium and large clearings. The emerging prominence of large-scale drivers of forest loss in many regions and countries suggests the growing need for policy interventions which target industrial-scale agricultural commodity producers. The experience in Brazil suggests that there are promising policy solutions to mitigate large-scale deforestation, but that these policy initiatives do not adequately address small-scale drivers. By providing up-to-date and spatially explicit information on the scale of deforestation, and the trends in these patterns over time, this study contributes valuable information for monitoring, and designing effective interventions to address deforestation.

Accessing Stereochemically Rich Sultams via Microwave-Assisted, Continuous Flow Organic Synthesis (MACOS) Scale-out

PubMed Central

Organ, Michael G.; Hanson, Paul R.; Rolfe, Alan; Samarakoon, Thiwanka B.; Ullah, Farman

2011-01-01

The generation of stereochemically-rich benzothiaoxazepine-1,1′-dioxides for enrichment of high-throughput screening collections is reported. Utilizing a microwave-assisted, continuous flow organic synthesis platform (MACOS), scale-out of core benzothiaoxazepine-1,1′-dioxide scaffolds has been achieved on multi-gram scale using an epoxide opening/SNAr cyclization protocol. Diversification of these sultam scaffolds was attained via a microwave-assisted intermolecular SNAr reaction with a variety of amines. Overall, a facile, 2-step protocol generated a collection of benzothiaoxazepine-1,1′-dioxides possessing stereochemical complexity in rapid fashion, where all 8 stereoisomers were accessed from commercially available starting materials. PMID:22116791

Dimensions of integration, continuity and longitudinality in clinical clerkships.

PubMed

Ellaway, Rachel H; Graves, Lisa; Cummings, Beth-Ann

2016-09-01

Over the past few decades, longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs) have been proposed to address many perceived short-coming of traditional block clerkships. This growing interest in LICs has raised broader questions regarding the role of integration, continuity and longitudinality in medical education. A study with complementary theoretical and empirical dimensions was conducted to derive a more precise way of defining these three underlying concepts within the design of medical education curricula. The theoretical dimension involved a thematic review of the literature on integration, continuity and longitudinality in medical education. The empirical dimension surveyed all 17 Canadian medical schools on how they have operationalised integration, continuity and longitudinality in their undergraduate programmes. The two dimensions were iteratively synthesised to explore the meaning and expression of integration, continuity and longitudinality in medical education curriculum design. Integration, continuity and longitudinality were expressed in many ways and forms, including: integration of clinical disciplines, combined horizontal integration and vertical integration, and programme-level integration. Types of continuity included: continuity of patients, continuity of teaching, continuity of location and peer continuity. Longitudinality focused on connected or repeating episodes of training or on connecting activities, such as encounter logging across educational episodes. Twelve of the 17 schools were running an LIC of some kind, although only one school had a mandatory LIC experience. An ordinal scale of uses of integration, continuity and longitudinality during clerkships was developed, and new definitions of these concepts in the clerkship context were generated. Different clerkship designs embodied different forms and levels of integration, continuity and longitudinality. A dichotomous view of LICs and rotation-based clerkships was found not to represent current practices in Canada, which instead tended to fall along a continuum of integration, continuity and longitudinality. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

Biogas Production from Rice Husk Waste by using Solid State Anaerobic Digestion (SSAD) Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matin, Hashfi Hawali Abdul; Hadiyanto

2018-02-01

An effort to obtain alternative energy is still interesting subject to be studied, especially production of biogas from agriculture waste. This paper was an overview of the latest development of biogas researches from rice husk waste by Solid State Anaerobic Digestion (SSAD). The main obstacle of biogas production from rice husk waste was the lignin content which is very difficult degraded by microbes. Various pretreatments have been conducted, either physically, chemically as well as biologically. The SSAD method was an attractive option because of the low water content of rice husk waste. The biogas yield by SSAD method gave more attractive result compared to Liquid Anaerobic Digestion (LAD) method. Various studies were still conducted in batch mode laboratory scale and also has not found optimum operating conditions. Research on a larger scale such as bench and pilot scale with continuous systems will be an increase trend in the future research.

Anaerobic co-digestion of municipal organic wastes and pre-treatment to enhance biogas production from waste.

PubMed

Li, Chenxi; Champagne, Pascale; Anderson, Bruce C

2014-01-01

Co-digestion and pre-treatment have been recognized as effective, low-cost and commercially viable approaches to reduce anaerobic digestion process limitations and improve biogas yields. In our previous batch-scale study, fat, oil, and grease (FOG) was investigated as a suitable potential co-substrate, and thermo-chemical pre-treatment (TCPT) at pH = 10 and 55 °C improved CH4 production from FOG co-digestions. In this project, co-digestions with FOG were studied in bench-scale two-stage thermophilic semi-continuous flow co-digesters with suitable TCPT (pH = 10, 55 °C). Overall, a 25.14 ± 2.14 L/d (70.2 ± 1.4% CH4) biogas production was obtained, which was higher than in the two-stage system without pre-treatment. The results could provide valuable fundamental information to support full-scale investigations of anaerobic co-digestion of municipal organic wastes.

Quantification and scaling of multipartite entanglement in continuous variable systems.

PubMed

Adesso, Gerardo; Serafini, Alessio; Illuminati, Fabrizio

2004-11-26

We present a theoretical method to determine the multipartite entanglement between different partitions of multimode, fully or partially symmetric Gaussian states of continuous variable systems. For such states, we determine the exact expression of the logarithmic negativity and show that it coincides with that of equivalent two-mode Gaussian states. Exploiting this reduction, we demonstrate the scaling of the multipartite entanglement with the number of modes and its reliable experimental estimate by direct measurements of the global and local purities.

The impact of failing to identify suspect effort in patients undergoing adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment.

PubMed

Marshall, Paul S; Hoelzle, James B; Heyerdahl, Danielle; Nelson, Nathaniel W

2016-10-01

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 28(10) of Psychological Assessment (see record 2016-22725-001). In the article, the penultimate sentence of the abstract should read “These results suggest that a significant percentage of those making a suspect effort will be diagnosed with ADHD using the most commonly employed assessment methods: an interview alone (71%); an interview and ADHD behavior rating scales combined (65%); and an interview, behavior rating scales, and most continuous performance tests combined (62%).” All versions of this article have been corrected.] This retrospective study examines how many adult patients would plausibly receive a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) if performance and symptom validity measures were not administered during neuropsychological evaluations. Five hundred fifty-four patients were extracted from an archival clinical dataset. A total of 102 were diagnosed with ADHD based on cognitive testing, behavior rating scales, effort testing, and clinical interview; 115 were identified as putting forth suspect effort in accordance with the Slick, Sherman, and Iverson (1999) criteria. From a clinical decision-making perspective, suspect effort and ADHD groups were nearly indistinguishable on ADHD behavior, executive function, and functional impairment rating scales, as well as on cognitive testing and key clinical interview questions. These results suggest that a significant percentage of those making a suspect effort will be diagnosed with ADHD using the most commonly employed assessment methods: an interview alone (71%); an interview and ADHD behavior rating scales combined (65%); and an interview, behavior rating scales, and most continuous performance tests combined (62%) [corrected]. This research makes clear that it is essential to evaluate task engagement and possible symptom amplification during clinical evaluations. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved

Variable order fractional Fokker-Planck equations derived from Continuous Time Random Walks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Straka, Peter

2018-08-01

Continuous Time Random Walk models (CTRW) of anomalous diffusion are studied, where the anomalous exponent β(x) ∈(0 , 1) varies in space. This type of situation occurs e.g. in biophysics, where the density of the intracellular matrix varies throughout a cell. Scaling limits of CTRWs are known to have probability distributions which solve fractional Fokker-Planck type equations (FFPE). This correspondence between stochastic processes and FFPE solutions has many useful extensions e.g. to nonlinear particle interactions and reactions, but has not yet been sufficiently developed for FFPEs of the "variable order" type with non-constant β(x) . In this article, variable order FFPEs (VOFFPE) are derived from scaling limits of CTRWs. The key mathematical tool is the 1-1 correspondence of a CTRW scaling limit to a bivariate Langevin process, which tracks the cumulative sum of jumps in one component and the cumulative sum of waiting times in the other. The spatially varying anomalous exponent is modelled by spatially varying β(x) -stable Lévy noise in the waiting time component. The VOFFPE displays a spatially heterogeneous temporal scaling behaviour, with generalized diffusivity and drift coefficients whose units are length2/timeβ(x) resp. length/timeβ(x). A global change of the time scale results in a spatially varying change in diffusivity and drift. A consequence of the mathematical derivation of a VOFFPE from CTRW limits in this article is that a solution of a VOFFPE can be approximated via Monte Carlo simulations. Based on such simulations, we are able to confirm that the VOFFPE is consistent under a change of the global time scale.

Dimensions of stereotypical attitudes among older adults: Analysis of two countries.

PubMed

Helmes, Edward; Pachana, Nancy A

2016-11-01

Much research on attitudes towards older adults has used younger adults as participants and identified a range of negative attitudes towards older persons. Comparatively little literature has explored the attitudes of older adults themselves towards their own age cohort. The present study explicitly compared attitudes towards other older adults from samples of 195 older adults in Australia and 172 older Canadians. Attitudinal measures included the Aging Attitudes Questionnaire (assesses older adults' attitudes toward other older adults), Fraboni Scale of Ageism (assesses younger adults' attitudes toward older adults) and the Reactions to Aging Questionnaire (assesses attitudes toward one's own aging), as well as a scale measuring knowledge of aging, the Facts on Aging Quiz, adapted for Australia and Canada. Responses on the three attitudinal measures were subjected to principal components analysis. Two components emerged in both samples, one defined by the Reactions to Aging Questionnaire and Aging Attitudes Questionnaire scales and the second by the Fraboni Scale of Ageism scales. Regression analyses to ascertain prediction of scores on the Facts on Aging Quiz, adapted for Australia and Facts on Aging Quiz, adapted for Canada showed that only the Aging Attitudes Questionnaire scale for Physical Changes predicted scores on the Facts on Aging Quiz, adapted for Australia and no attitudes predicted Facts on Aging Quiz, adapted for Canada scores. It appears that older adults distinguish between their own aging and aging in others. Knowledge of aging appears to be predicted only by attitudes toward physical changes. Given increasing proportions of older adults in the population, as well as increasing access to aging information available to older cohorts, continued research on how older adults view themselves and the aging process is important, and will almost certainly continue to evolve over time. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2016; 16: 1226-1230. © 2015 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Development of a nursing care problems coping scale for male caregivers for people with dementia living at home.

PubMed

Nishio, Midori; Ono, Mitsu

2015-01-01

The number of male caregivers has increased, but male caregivers face several problems that reduce their quality of life and psychological condition. This study focused on the coping problems of men who care for people with dementia at home. It aimed to develop a coping scale for male caregivers so that they can continue caring for people with dementia at home and improve their own quality of life. The study also aimed to verify the reliability and validity of the scale. The subjects were 759 men who care for people with dementia at home. The Care Problems Coping Scale consists of 21 questions based on elements of questions extracted from a pilot study. Additionally, subjects completed three self-administered questionnaires: the Japanese version of the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale, the Depressive Symptoms and the Self-esteem Emotional Scale, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. There were 274 valid responses (36.1% response rate). Regarding the answer distribution, each average value of the 21 items ranged from 1.56 to 2.68. The median answer distribution of the 21 items was 39 (SD = 6.6). Five items had a ceiling effect, and two items had a floor effect. The scale stability was about 50%, and Cronbach's α was 0.49. There were significant correlations between the Care Problems Coping Scale and total scores of the Japanese version of the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale, the Depressive Symptoms and Self-esteem Emotional Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The answers provided on the Care Problems Coping Scale questionnaire indicated that male caregivers experience care problems. In terms of validity, there were significant correlations between the external questionnaires and 19 of the 21 items in this scale. This scale can therefore be used to measure problems with coping for male caregivers who care for people with dementia at home.

Development and Validity of a Scale of Perception of Velocity in Resistance Exercise

PubMed Central

Bautista, Iker J.; Chirosa, Ignacio J.; Chirosa, Luis J.; Martín, Ignacio; González, Andrés; Robertson, Robert J.

2014-01-01

This aims of this study were twofold; 1) to development a new scale of perceived velocity in the bench press exercise and 2) to examine the scales concurrent validity. Twenty one physically active males with mean ±SD age, height and weights of: 27.5 ± 4.7 years, 1.77 ± 0.07 m, and 79.8 ± 10.3 kg respectively, took part in the study. The criterion variable used to test the validity of the new scale was the mean execution velocity (Velreal) of the bench press exercise. Three intensities (light loads [< 40% 1RM], medium loads [40% -70% 1RM] and heavy loads [> 70% 1RM]) were measured randomly during 5 days of testing. Perceived velocity (Velscale) was measured immediately after each exercise set using the new scale. A positive linear correlation (r range = 0.69 to 0.81) was found in all three intensities, analyzed individually, between the Velreal and Velscale. Pearson correlations showed a greater frequency of scale use resulted higher correlation values (range r = 0.88 to 0.96). This study provides evidence of the concurrent validity of a new scale of perceived velocity in the bench press exercise in trained adult males. These results suggest the exercise intensity of the bench press can be quantified quickly and effective using this new scale of perceived velocity, particularly when training for maximum power. Key Points Measurement of perception of velocity can complement other scales of perception such as the 15 category Borg scale or the OMNI-RES. The results obtained in this study show that there was a positive correlation between the perceived velocity measured by the scale and actual velocity Regular use of the new scale of perceived velocity in external resistance training provides athletes with continuous feedback of execution velocity in each repetition and set, especially with high power loads PMID:25177180

Development and validity of a scale of perception of velocity in resistance exercise.

PubMed

Bautista, Iker J; Chirosa, Ignacio J; Chirosa, Luis J; Martín, Ignacio; González, Andrés; Robertson, Robert J

2014-09-01

This aims of this study were twofold; 1) to development a new scale of perceived velocity in the bench press exercise and 2) to examine the scales concurrent validity. Twenty one physically active males with mean ±SD age, height and weights of: 27.5 ± 4.7 years, 1.77 ± 0.07 m, and 79.8 ± 10.3 kg respectively, took part in the study. The criterion variable used to test the validity of the new scale was the mean execution velocity (Velreal) of the bench press exercise. Three intensities (light loads [< 40% 1RM], medium loads [40% -70% 1RM] and heavy loads [> 70% 1RM]) were measured randomly during 5 days of testing. Perceived velocity (Velscale) was measured immediately after each exercise set using the new scale. A positive linear correlation (r range = 0.69 to 0.81) was found in all three intensities, analyzed individually, between the Velreal and Velscale. Pearson correlations showed a greater frequency of scale use resulted higher correlation values (range r = 0.88 to 0.96). This study provides evidence of the concurrent validity of a new scale of perceived velocity in the bench press exercise in trained adult males. These results suggest the exercise intensity of the bench press can be quantified quickly and effective using this new scale of perceived velocity, particularly when training for maximum power. Key PointsMeasurement of perception of velocity can complement other scales of perception such as the 15 category Borg scale or the OMNI-RES.The results obtained in this study show that there was a positive correlation between the perceived velocity measured by the scale and actual velocityRegular use of the new scale of perceived velocity in external resistance training provides athletes with continuous feedback of execution velocity in each repetition and set, especially with high power loads.

Continuous monitoring of dissolved gases with membrane inlet mass spectrometry to fingerprint river biochemical activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vautier, Camille; Chatton, Eliot; Abbott, Benjamin; Harjung, Astrid; Labasque, Thierry; Guillou, Aurélie; Pannard, Alexandrine; Piscart, Christophe; Laverman, Anniet; Kolbe, Tamara; Massé, Stéphanie; de Dreuzy, Jean-Raynald; Thomas, Zahra; Aquilina, Luc; Pinay, Gilles

2017-04-01

Water quality in rivers results from biogeochemical processes in contributing hydrological compartments (soils, aquifers, hyporheic and riparian zones) and biochemical activity in the river network itself. Consequently, chemical fluxes fluctuate on multiple spatial and temporal scales, leading eventually to complex concentration signals in rivers. We characterized these fluctuations with innovative continuous monitoring of dissolved gases, to quantify transport and reaction processes occurring in different hydrological compartments. We performed stream-scale experiments in two headwater streams in Brittany, France. Factorial injections of inorganic nitrogen (NH4NO3), inorganic phosphate (P2O5) and multiple sources of labile carbon (acetate, tryptophan) were implemented in the two streams. We used a new field application of membrane inlet mass spectrometry to continuously monitor dissolved gases for multiple day-night periods (Chatton et al., 2016). Quantified gases included He, O2, N2, CO2, CH4, N2O, and 15N of dissolved N2 and N2O. We calibrated and assessed the methodology with well-established complementary techniques including gas chromatography and high-frequency water quality sensors. Wet chemistry and radon analysis complemented the study. The analyses provided several methodological and ecological insights and demonstrated that high frequency variations linked to background noise can be efficiently determined and filtered to derive effective fluxes. From a more fundamental point of view, the tested stream segments were fully characterized with extensive sampling of riverbeds and laboratory experiments, allowing scaling of point-level microbial and invertebrate diversity and activity on in-stream processing. This innovative technology allows fully-controlled in-situ experiments providing rich information with a high signal to noise ratio. We present the integrated nutrient demand and uptake and discuss limiting processes and elements at the reach and catchment scales. Eliot Chatton, Thierry Labasque, Jérôme de La Bernardie, Nicolas Guihéneuf, Olivier Bour, Luc Aquilina. 2016. Field Continuous Measurement of Dissolved Gases with a CF-MIMS: Applications to the Physics and Biogeochemistry of Groundwater Flow. Environ. Sci. Technol.

A unified gas-kinetic scheme for continuum and rarefied flows IV: Full Boltzmann and model equations

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

Liu, Chang, E-mail: cliuaa@ust.hk; Xu, Kun, E-mail: makxu@ust.hk; Sun, Quanhua, E-mail: qsun@imech.ac.cn

Fluid dynamic equations are valid in their respective modeling scales, such as the particle mean free path scale of the Boltzmann equation and the hydrodynamic scale of the Navier–Stokes (NS) equations. With a variation of the modeling scales, theoretically there should have a continuous spectrum of fluid dynamic equations. Even though the Boltzmann equation is claimed to be valid in all scales, many Boltzmann solvers, including direct simulation Monte Carlo method, require the cell resolution to the order of particle mean free path scale. Therefore, they are still single scale methods. In order to study multiscale flow evolution efficiently, themore » dynamics in the computational fluid has to be changed with the scales. A direct modeling of flow physics with a changeable scale may become an appropriate approach. The unified gas-kinetic scheme (UGKS) is a direct modeling method in the mesh size scale, and its underlying flow physics depends on the resolution of the cell size relative to the particle mean free path. The cell size of UGKS is not limited by the particle mean free path. With the variation of the ratio between the numerical cell size and local particle mean free path, the UGKS recovers the flow dynamics from the particle transport and collision in the kinetic scale to the wave propagation in the hydrodynamic scale. The previous UGKS is mostly constructed from the evolution solution of kinetic model equations. Even though the UGKS is very accurate and effective in the low transition and continuum flow regimes with the time step being much larger than the particle mean free time, it still has space to develop more accurate flow solver in the region, where the time step is comparable with the local particle mean free time. In such a scale, there is dynamic difference from the full Boltzmann collision term and the model equations. This work is about the further development of the UGKS with the implementation of the full Boltzmann collision term in the region where it is needed. The central ingredient of the UGKS is the coupled treatment of particle transport and collision in the flux evaluation across a cell interface, where a continuous flow dynamics from kinetic to hydrodynamic scales is modeled. The newly developed UGKS has the asymptotic preserving (AP) property of recovering the NS solutions in the continuum flow regime, and the full Boltzmann solution in the rarefied regime. In the mostly unexplored transition regime, the UGKS itself provides a valuable tool for the non-equilibrium flow study. The mathematical properties of the scheme, such as stability, accuracy, and the asymptotic preserving, will be analyzed in this paper as well.« less

Beyond Needs Assessment to Marketing Continuing Education in Nursing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bond, Susan B.; Waltz, Carolyn F.

The prevalence of the need for marketing in continuing education in nursing is justifiable considering the growing pressures for efficiency and economies of scale in this field of higher education. This paper critically analyzes the current utilization of needs assessment in continuing education programs in nursing. It is argued that the cost…

Continuing Professional Education: Status, Trends, and Issues Related to Electronic Delivery.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rothenberg, Donna

Continuing professional education for teachers, doctors, lawyers, and engineers is examined in terms of its potential for large-scale electronic technology. For each profession, a profile is provided, and current continuing education programs and use of electronics in each field are described. These include satellite projects, in-house and closed…

Small-Scale Polygons and the History of Ground Ice on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mellon, Michael T.

2000-01-01

This research has laid a foundation for continued study of permafrost polygons on Mars using the models and understanding discussed here. Further study of polygonal patterns on Mars is proceeding (under new funding) which is expected to reveal more results about the origin of observed martian polygons and what information they contain regarding the recent history of tile martian climate and of water ice on Mars.

Identifying Pleiotropic Genes in Genome-Wide Association Studies for Multivariate Phenotypes with Mixed Measurement Scales

PubMed Central

Williams, L. Keoki; Buu, Anne

2017-01-01

We propose a multivariate genome-wide association test for mixed continuous, binary, and ordinal phenotypes. A latent response model is used to estimate the correlation between phenotypes with different measurement scales so that the empirical distribution of the Fisher’s combination statistic under the null hypothesis is estimated efficiently. The simulation study shows that our proposed correlation estimation methods have high levels of accuracy. More importantly, our approach conservatively estimates the variance of the test statistic so that the type I error rate is controlled. The simulation also shows that the proposed test maintains the power at the level very close to that of the ideal analysis based on known latent phenotypes while controlling the type I error. In contrast, conventional approaches–dichotomizing all observed phenotypes or treating them as continuous variables–could either reduce the power or employ a linear regression model unfit for the data. Furthermore, the statistical analysis on the database of the Study of Addiction: Genetics and Environment (SAGE) demonstrates that conducting a multivariate test on multiple phenotypes can increase the power of identifying markers that may not be, otherwise, chosen using marginal tests. The proposed method also offers a new approach to analyzing the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence as multivariate phenotypes in genome-wide association studies. PMID:28081206

Reasons for continuing or discontinuing olanzapine in the treatment of schizophrenia from the perspectives of patients and clinicians

PubMed Central

Chen, Jian; Ascher-Svanum, Haya; Nyhuis, Allen W; Case, Michael G; Phillips, Glenn A; Schuh, Kory J; Hoffmann, Vicki Poole

2011-01-01

Background The aim of this study was to assess the reasons for discontinuing or continuing olanzapine in patients with schizophrenia, from the perspectives of the patients and their clinicians. Methods The Reasons for Antipsychotic Discontinuation/Continuation (RAD) is a pair of questionnaires assessing these reasons from the perspectives of patients and their clinicians. Outpatients with schizophrenia (n = 199) who were not acutely ill participated in a 22-week open-label study of olanzapine from November 2006 to September 2008. Reasons for continuing or discontinuing olanzapine (on a five-point scale), along with the single most important reason and the top primary reasons, were identified. Concordance between reasons given by patients and clinicians was assessed. Results The top primary reasons for continuing olanzapine were patients’ perceptions of improvement, improvement of positive symptoms, and improved functioning. The study discontinuation rate was low (30.2%), and only a subset of patients who discontinued reported reasons for medication discontinuation. The top primary reasons for discontinuing olanzapine were insufficient improvement or worsening of positive symptoms, adverse events, and insufficient improvement or worsening of negative symptoms. Ratings given by patients and clinicians were highly concordant. Conclusion The main reason for continuing or discontinuing olanzapine appears to be medication efficacy, especially for positive symptoms. Reasons for medication discontinuation differ somewhat from reasons for continuation, with a high level of concordance between patient and clinician responses. PMID:22114469

Tools for understanding landscapes: combining large-scale surveys to characterize change. Chapter 9.

Treesearch

W. Keith Moser; Janine Bolliger; Don C. Bragg; Mark H. Hansen; Mark A. Hatfield; Timothy A. Nigh; Lisa A. Schulte

2008-01-01

All landscapes change continuously. Since change is perceived and interpreted through measures of scale, any quantitative analysis of landscapes must identify and describe the spatiotemporal mosaics shaped by large-scale structures and processes. This process is controlled by core influences, or "drivers," that shape the change and affect the outcome...

Assessing wildfire risks at multiple spatial scales

Treesearch

Justin Fitch

2008-01-01

In continuation of the efforts to advance wildfire science and develop tools for wildland fire managers, a spatial wildfire risk assessment was carried out using Classification and Regression Tree analysis (CART) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The analysis was performed at two scales. The small-scale assessment covered the entire state of New Mexico, while...

Continuous Mass Measurement on Conveyor Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomobe, Yuki; Tasaki, Ryosuke; Yamazaki, Takanori; Ohnishi, Hideo; Kobayashi, Masaaki; Kurosu, Shigeru

The continuous mass measurement of packages on a conveyor belt will become greatly important. In the mass measurement, the sequence of products is generally random. An interesting possibility of raising throughput of the conveyor line without increasing the conveyor belt speed is offered by the use of two or three conveyor belt scales (called a multi-stage conveyor belt scale). The multi-stage conveyor belt scale can be created which will adjust the conveyor belt length to the product length. The conveyor belt scale usually has maximum capacities of less than 80kg and 140cm, and achieves measuring rates of more than 150 packages per minute and more. The output signals from the conveyor belt scale are always contaminated with noises due to vibrations of the conveyor and the product to be measured in motion. In this paper an employed digital filter is of Finite Impulse Response (FIR) type designed under the consideration on the dynamics of the conveyor system. The experimental results on the conveyor belt scale suggest that the filtering algorithms are effective enough to practical applications to some extent.

Development of the Electromagnetic Continuous Casting Technology for of Magnesium Alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Joon-Pyo; Kim, Myoung-Gyun; Kim, Jong-Ho; Lee, Gyu-Chang

Currently, magnesium billets produced by ingot casting or direct chill casting process, result in low-quality surfaces and low productivity, Continuous casting technology to solve these problem has not only high-quality surface billets with fine-grained and homogeneous microstructure but also cost down. The latent heat of fusion per weight (J/g) of magnesium is similar to other metals, however, considering the heat emitted to the mold surface during continuous casting in meniscus region and converting it to the latent heat of fusion per volume, magnesium will be rapidly solidified in the mold during continuous casting, which induces subsequent surface defect formation. In this study, electromagnetic casting and stirring (EMC and EMS) techniques are proposed to control solidification process conveniently by compensating the low latent heat of solidification by volume and to fabricate magnesium billet with high-quality surface. This technique was extended to large scale billets up to 300 mm diameter and continuous casting was successfully conducted. Then magnesium billet was used for the fabrication of prototype automobile pulley.

Quasi-continuous transition from a Fermi liquid to a spin liquid in κ-(ET)2Cu2(CN)3.

PubMed

Furukawa, Tetsuya; Kobashi, Kazuhiko; Kurosaki, Yosuke; Miyagawa, Kazuya; Kanoda, Kazushi

2018-01-22

The Mott metal-insulator transition-a manifestation of Coulomb interactions among electrons-is known as a discontinuous transition. Recent theoretical studies, however, suggest that the transition is continuous if the Mott insulator carries a spin liquid with a spinon Fermi surface. Here, we demonstrate the case of a quasi-continuous Mott transition from a Fermi liquid to a spin liquid in an organic triangular-lattice system κ-(ET) 2 Cu 2 (CN) 3 . Transport experiments performed under fine pressure tuning have found that as the Mott transition is approached, the Fermi liquid coherence temperature continuously falls to the scale of kelvins, with a divergent quasi-particle decay rate on the metal side, and the charge gap continuously closes on the insulator side. A Clausius-Clapeyron analysis provides thermodynamic evidence for the extremely weak first-order nature of the transition. These results provide additional support for the existence of a spinon Fermi surface, which becomes an electron Fermi surface when charges are delocalized.

Detectability of Granger causality for subsampled continuous-time neurophysiological processes.

PubMed

Barnett, Lionel; Seth, Anil K

2017-01-01

Granger causality is well established within the neurosciences for inference of directed functional connectivity from neurophysiological data. These data usually consist of time series which subsample a continuous-time biophysiological process. While it is well known that subsampling can lead to imputation of spurious causal connections where none exist, less is known about the effects of subsampling on the ability to reliably detect causal connections which do exist. We present a theoretical analysis of the effects of subsampling on Granger-causal inference. Neurophysiological processes typically feature signal propagation delays on multiple time scales; accordingly, we base our analysis on a distributed-lag, continuous-time stochastic model, and consider Granger causality in continuous time at finite prediction horizons. Via exact analytical solutions, we identify relationships among sampling frequency, underlying causal time scales and detectability of causalities. We reveal complex interactions between the time scale(s) of neural signal propagation and sampling frequency. We demonstrate that detectability decays exponentially as the sample time interval increases beyond causal delay times, identify detectability "black spots" and "sweet spots", and show that downsampling may potentially improve detectability. We also demonstrate that the invariance of Granger causality under causal, invertible filtering fails at finite prediction horizons, with particular implications for inference of Granger causality from fMRI data. Our analysis emphasises that sampling rates for causal analysis of neurophysiological time series should be informed by domain-specific time scales, and that state-space modelling should be preferred to purely autoregressive modelling. On the basis of a very general model that captures the structure of neurophysiological processes, we are able to help identify confounds, and offer practical insights, for successful detection of causal connectivity from neurophysiological recordings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Randomized, multicenter study: on-demand versus continuous maintenance treatment with esomeprazole in patients with non-erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease.

PubMed

Bayerdörffer, Ekkehard; Bigard, Marc-Andre; Weiss, Werner; Mearin, Fermín; Rodrigo, Luis; Dominguez Muñoz, Juan Enrique; Grundling, Hennie; Persson, Tore; Svedberg, Lars-Erik; Keeling, Nanna; Eklund, Stefan

2016-04-14

Most patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease experience symptomatic relapse after stopping acid-suppressive medication. The aim of this study was to compare willingness to continue treatment with esomeprazole on-demand versus continuous maintenance therapy for symptom control in patients with non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) after 6 months. This multicenter, open-label, randomized, parallel-group study enrolled adults with NERD who were heartburn-free after 4 weeks' treatment with esomeprazole 20 mg daily. Patients received esomeprazole 20 mg daily continuously or on-demand for 6 months. The primary variable was discontinuation due to unsatisfactory treatment. On-demand treatment was considered non-inferior if the upper limit of the one-sided 95 % confidence interval (CI) for the difference between treatments was <10 %. Of 877 patients enrolled, 598 were randomized to maintenance treatment (continuous: n = 297; on-demand: n = 301). Discontinuation due to unsatisfactory treatment was 6.3 % for on-demand and 9.8 % for continuous treatment (difference -3.5 % [90 % CI: -7.1 %, 0.2 %]). In total, 82.1 and 86.2 % of patients taking on-demand and continuous therapy, respectively, were satisfied with the treatment of heartburn and regurgitation symptoms, a secondary variable (P = NS). Mean study drug consumption was 0.41 and 0.91 tablets/day, respectively. Overall, 5 % of the on-demand group developed reflux esophagitis versus none in the continuous group (P < 0.0001). The Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale Reflux dimension was also improved for continuous versus on-demand treatment. Esomeprazole was well tolerated. In terms of willingness to continue treatment, on-demand treatment with esomeprazole 20 mg was non-inferior to continuous maintenance treatment and reduced medication usage in patients with NERD who had achieved symptom control with initial esomeprazole treatment. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT02670642 ; Date of registration: December 2015.

Co-governing decentralised water systems: an analytical framework.

PubMed

Yu, C; Brown, R; Morison, P

2012-01-01

Current discourses in urban water management emphasise a diversity of water sources and scales of infrastructure for resilience and adaptability. During the last 2 decades, in particular, various small-scale systems emerged and developed so that the debate has largely moved from centralised versus decentralised water systems toward governing integrated and networked systems of provision and consumption where small-scale technologies are embedded in large-scale centralised infrastructures. However, while centralised systems have established boundaries of ownership and management, decentralised water systems (such as stormwater harvesting technologies for the street, allotment/house scales) do not, therefore the viability for adoption and/or continued use of decentralised water systems is challenged. This paper brings together insights from the literature on public sector governance, co-production and social practices model to develop an analytical framework for co-governing such systems. The framework provides urban water practitioners with guidance when designing co-governance arrangements for decentralised water systems so that these systems continue to exist, and become widely adopted, within the established urban water regime.

Satellite orbit and data sampling requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rossow, William

1993-01-01

Climate forcings and feedbacks vary over a wide range of time and space scales. The operation of non-linear feedbacks can couple variations at widely separated time and space scales and cause climatological phenomena to be intermittent. Consequently, monitoring of global, decadal changes in climate requires global observations that cover the whole range of space-time scales and are continuous over several decades. The sampling of smaller space-time scales must have sufficient statistical accuracy to measure the small changes in the forcings and feedbacks anticipated in the next few decades, while continuity of measurements is crucial for unambiguous interpretation of climate change. Shorter records of monthly and regional (500-1000 km) measurements with similar accuracies can also provide valuable information about climate processes, when 'natural experiments' such as large volcanic eruptions or El Ninos occur. In this section existing satellite datasets and climate model simulations are used to test the satellite orbits and sampling required to achieve accurate measurements of changes in forcings and feedbacks at monthly frequency and 1000 km (regional) scale.

Designing Work-Integrated Learning Placements That Improve Student Employability: Six Facets of the Curriculum That Matter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Calvin; Ferns, Sonia; Russell, Leoni

2016-01-01

Research into work-integrated learning continues to show through a variety of small-scale and anecdotal studies, various positive impacts on student learning, work-readiness, personal and cognitive development and other outcomes. Seldom are these research findings strongly generalizable because of such factors as small sample sizes,…

The Attitudes & Beliefs on Classroom Control Inventory-Revised and Revisited: A Continuation of Construct Validation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Nancy K.; Yin, Zenong; Mayall, Hayley

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to report the psychometric properties of the revised Attitudes and Beliefs of Classroom Control Inventory (ABCC-R). Data were collected from 489 participants via the ABCC-R, Teacher Efficacy Scale, Problems in School Questionnaire, and a demographic questionnaire. Results were in keeping with the construct. The…

Moving beyond heterogeneity and process complexity: a new vision for watershed hydrology

Treesearch

J. J. McDonnell; M. Sivapalan; K. Vache; S. Dunn; G. Grant; R. Haggerty; C. Hinz; R. Hooper; J. Kirchner; M.L. Roderick; J. Selker; M. Weiler

2007-01-01

Field studies in watershed hydrology continue to characterize and catalogue the enormous heterogeneity and complexity of rainfall runoff processes in more and more watersheds, in different hydroclimatic regimes, and at different scales. Nevertheless, the ability to generalize these findings to ungauged regions remains out of reach. In spite of their apparent physical...

Using "Giving Voice to Values" to Improve Student Academic Integrity in Information Technology Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riemenschneider, Cynthia K.; Manly, Tracy S.; Leonard, Lori N. K.

2016-01-01

Academic integrity continues to be a concern for universities and faculty. Yet practical methods for conveying ethical behavior can be difficult to achieve. This study uses the multidimensional ethics scale to gain insight into three situations involving students. The findings from those scenarios are then framed using the "Giving Voice to…

Laboratory-and mill-scale study of surfactant spray flotation deinking

Treesearch

Greg Delozier; Yulin Zhao; Yulin Deng; David White; Junyong Zhu; Mark Prein

2005-01-01

As the cost of quality waste paper continues to escalate in response to an increased global demand for this finite resource, loss of saleable fiber within flotation rejects becomes both environmentally and economically unacceptable. The ability of surfactant spray technology to reduce fiber loss without detriment to pulp brightness gains has been demonstrated during...

Goal: A Grading System That Demands Excellence on the Playing Field

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cady, Jennifer R.

2011-01-01

Despite the vast array of educational practices that are present in today's society, grading is one practice that has established a historical foundation and one that will continue to be an important aspect to the profession of education. This small scale study determined that both undergraduate and graduate learners, in one college instructor's…

Toward a continuous 405-kyr-calibrated Astronomical Time Scale for the Mesozoic Era

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hinnov, Linda; Ogg, James; Huang, Chunju

2010-05-01

Mesozoic cyclostratigraphy is being assembled into a continuous Astronomical Time Scale (ATS) tied to the Earth's cyclic orbital parameters. Recognition of a nearly ubiquitous, dominant ~400-kyr cycling in formations throughout the era has been particularly striking. Composite formations spanning contiguous intervals up to 50 myr clearly express these long-eccentricity cycles, and in some cases, this cycling is defined by third- or fourth-order sea-level sequences. This frequency is associated with the 405-kyr orbital eccentricity cycle, which provides a basic metronome and enables the extension of the well-defined Cenozoic ATS to scale the majority of the Mesozoic Era. This astronomical calibration has a resolution comparable to the 1% to 0.1% precision for radioisotope dating of Mesozoic ash beds, but with the added benefit of providing continuous stratigraphic coverage between dated beds. Extended portions of the Mesozoic ATS provide solutions to long-standing geologic problems of tectonics, eustasy, paleoclimate change, and rates of seafloor spreading.

SfM with MRFs: discrete-continuous optimization for large-scale structure from motion.

PubMed

Crandall, David J; Owens, Andrew; Snavely, Noah; Huttenlocher, Daniel P

2013-12-01

Recent work in structure from motion (SfM) has built 3D models from large collections of images downloaded from the Internet. Many approaches to this problem use incremental algorithms that solve progressively larger bundle adjustment problems. These incremental techniques scale poorly as the image collection grows, and can suffer from drift or local minima. We present an alternative framework for SfM based on finding a coarse initial solution using hybrid discrete-continuous optimization and then improving that solution using bundle adjustment. The initial optimization step uses a discrete Markov random field (MRF) formulation, coupled with a continuous Levenberg-Marquardt refinement. The formulation naturally incorporates various sources of information about both the cameras and points, including noisy geotags and vanishing point (VP) estimates. We test our method on several large-scale photo collections, including one with measured camera positions, and show that it produces models that are similar to or better than those produced by incremental bundle adjustment, but more robustly and in a fraction of the time.

Landscape Pattern Determines Neighborhood Size and Structure within a Lizard Population

PubMed Central

Ryberg, Wade A.; Hill, Michael T.; Painter, Charles W.; Fitzgerald, Lee A.

2013-01-01

Although defining population structure according to discrete habitat patches is convenient for metapopulation theories, taking this approach may overlook structure within populations continuously distributed across landscapes. For example, landscape features within habitat patches direct the movement of organisms and define the density distribution of individuals, which can generate spatial structure and localized dynamics within populations as well as among them. Here, we use the neighborhood concept, which describes population structure relative to the scale of individual movements, to illustrate how localized dynamics within a population of lizards (Sceloporus arenicolus) arise in response to variation in landscape pattern within a continuous habitat patch. Our results emphasize links between individual movements at small scales and the emergence of spatial structure within populations which resembles metapopulation dynamics at larger scales. We conclude that population dynamics viewed in a landscape context must consider the explicit distribution and movement of individuals within continuous habitat as well as among habitat patches. PMID:23441217

Continuous Flow Polymer Synthesis toward Reproducible Large-Scale Production for Efficient Bulk Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells.

PubMed

Pirotte, Geert; Kesters, Jurgen; Verstappen, Pieter; Govaerts, Sanne; Manca, Jean; Lutsen, Laurence; Vanderzande, Dirk; Maes, Wouter

2015-10-12

Organic photovoltaics (OPV) have attracted great interest as a solar cell technology with appealing mechanical, aesthetical, and economies-of-scale features. To drive OPV toward economic viability, low-cost, large-scale module production has to be realized in combination with increased top-quality material availability and minimal batch-to-batch variation. To this extent, continuous flow chemistry can serve as a powerful tool. In this contribution, a flow protocol is optimized for the high performance benzodithiophene-thienopyrroledione copolymer PBDTTPD and the material quality is probed through systematic solar-cell evaluation. A stepwise approach is adopted to turn the batch process into a reproducible and scalable continuous flow procedure. Solar cell devices fabricated using the obtained polymer batches deliver an average power conversion efficiency of 7.2 %. Upon incorporation of an ionic polythiophene-based cathodic interlayer, the photovoltaic performance could be enhanced to a maximum efficiency of 9.1 %. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Macroscopic damping model for structural dynamics with random polycrystalline configurations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yantao; Cui, Junzhi; Yu, Yifan; Xiang, Meizhen

2018-06-01

In this paper the macroscopic damping model for dynamical behavior of the structures with random polycrystalline configurations at micro-nano scales is established. First, the global motion equation of a crystal is decomposed into a set of motion equations with independent single degree of freedom (SDOF) along normal discrete modes, and then damping behavior is introduced into each SDOF motion. Through the interpolation of discrete modes, the continuous representation of damping effects for the crystal is obtained. Second, from energy conservation law the expression of the damping coefficient is derived, and the approximate formula of damping coefficient is given. Next, the continuous damping coefficient for polycrystalline cluster is expressed, the continuous dynamical equation with damping term is obtained, and then the concrete damping coefficients for a polycrystalline Cu sample are shown. Finally, by using statistical two-scale homogenization method, the macroscopic homogenized dynamical equation containing damping term for the structures with random polycrystalline configurations at micro-nano scales is set up.

Drivers of forest cover dynamics in smallholder farming systems: the case of northwestern Vietnam.

PubMed

Jadin, Isaline; Vanacker, Veerle; Hoang, Huong Thi Thu

2013-04-01

The national-scale forest recovery of Vietnam started in the early 1990s and is associated with a shift from net deforestation to net reforestation. Large disparities in forest cover dynamics are, however, observed at the local scale. This study aims to unravel the mechanisms driving forest cover change for a mountainous region located in northwest Vietnam. Statistical analyses were used to explore the association between forest cover change and household characteristics. In Sa Pa district, deforestation rates are decreasing, but forest degradation continues at similar rates. Deforestation is not necessarily associated with impoverished ethnic communities or high levels of subsistence farming, and the largest forest cover dynamics are found in villages with the best socio-economic conditions. Our empirical study does not provide strong evidence of a dominant role of agriculture in forest cover dynamics. It shows that empirical studies on local-scale forest dynamics remain important to unravel the complexity of human-environment interactions.

Psychometric properties of the Swedish PedsQL, Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 generic core scales.

PubMed

Petersen, Solveig; Hägglöf, Bruno; Stenlund, Hans; Bergström, Erik

2009-09-01

To study the psychometric performance of the Swedish version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 4.0 generic core scales in a general child population in Sweden. PedsQL forms were distributed to 2403 schoolchildren and 888 parents in two different school settings. Reliability and validity was studied for self-reports and proxy reports, full forms and short forms. Confirmatory factor analysis tested the factor structure and multigroup confirmatory factor analysis tested measurement invariance between boys and girls. Test-retest reliability was demonstrated for all scales and internal consistency reliability was shown with alpha value exceeding 0.70 for all scales but one (self-report short form: social functioning). Child-parent agreement was low to moderate. The four-factor structure of the PedsQL and factorial invariance across sex subgroups were confirmed for the self-report forms and for the proxy short form, while model fit indices suggested improvement of several proxy full-form scales. The Swedish PedsQL 4.0 generic core scales are a reliable and valid tool for health-related quality of life (HRQoL) assessment in Swedish child populations. The proxy full form, however, should be used with caution. The study also support continued use of the PedsQL as a four-factor model, capable of revealing meaningful HRQoL differences between boys and girls.

Cross-scale morphology

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allen, Craig R.; Holling, Crawford S.; Garmestani, Ahjond S.; El-Shaarawi, Abdel H.; Piegorsch, Walter W.

2013-01-01

The scaling of physical, biological, ecological and social phenomena is a major focus of efforts to develop simple representations of complex systems. Much of the attention has been on discovering universal scaling laws that emerge from simple physical and geometric processes. However, there are regular patterns of departures both from those scaling laws and from continuous distributions of attributes of systems. Those departures often demonstrate the development of self-organized interactions between living systems and physical processes over narrower ranges of scale.

Add-on clinical effects of selective antagonist of 5HT6 receptors AVN-211 (CD-008-0173) in patients with schizophrenia stabilized on antipsychotic treatment: pilot study.

PubMed

Morozova, Margarita A; Lepilkina, Taisiya A; Rupchev, Georgy E; Beniashvily, Allan G; Burminskiy, Denis S; Potanin, Sergey S; Bondarenko, Evgeny V; Kazey, Vasily I; Lavrovsky, Yan; Ivachtchenko, Alexandre V

2014-08-01

The serotoninergic system as a target for add-on treatment seems to be a promising approach in patients with schizophrenia. To clarify if selective 5HT-6 antagonist AVN-211 (CD-008-0173) adds clinical and cognitive effects to stable antipsychotic treatment. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, add-on, 4r-week trial in 47 schizophrenia patients (21 patients receiving study drug and 26 receiving placebo) who were stabilized on antipsychotic medication was performed. Seventeen patients from the study drug group and 25 patients from the placebo group completed the trial. Treatment effects were measured using clinical rating scales and attention tests. With no differences at baseline, there was a significant difference between the groups in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) positive subscale score (p = 0.058) in favor of patients in the treatment group at the endpoint. The PANSS positive subscore (p = 0.0068) and Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) (p = 0.048) score significantly changed only in the treatment group. Only in the placebo group were significant changes in Calgary Depression Rating Scale (CDRS) total score registered. The indices of attention tests at endpoint did not show differences between the groups, with the exception of the scope of change in the results of the subtest VIII of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), which showed difference between the groups (p = 0.02) and was significantly larger in the treatment group. Only inside the study drug group, significant changes in selectivity and continuous attention were observed regarding total correct responses (p = 0.0038) and reaction time (p = 0.058) in the Continuous Attention Task (CAT) test. Selective 5HT6 antagonist AVN-211 (CD-008-0173) added antipsychotic and some procognitive (attention) effects to antipsychotic medication.

The contributions of Ranger photographs to understanding the geology of the moon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trask, N. J.

1972-01-01

Vidicon photographs returned to earth by Rangers 7, 8, and 9 in 1964 and 1965 were used to study the details of lunar geologic units previously recognized from earth-based telescopic photographs and to make geologic maps at a variety of scales. The photographs from each mission changed continuously in scale as the spacecraft approached impact. The final frames had resolutions some 1,000 times better than the best earthbased photographs. Lunar stratigraphic units mapped at a scale of 1:1,000,000 displayed, at these larger scales, differences in properties and, possibly, in ages, but a clear-cut stratigraphic succession of subunits was not apparent. The plains-forming materials in both terra and mare were divisible into units mainly on the basis of the differences in the total number of superposed craters and in the relative number of craters of various morphologic types.

The visual communication in the optonometric scales.

PubMed

Dantas, Rosane Arruda; Pagliuca, Lorita Marlena Freitag

2006-01-01

Communication through vision involves visual apprenticeship that demands ocular integrity, which results in the importance of the evaluation of visual acuity. The scale of images, formed by optotypes, is a method for the verification of visual acuity in kindergarten children. To identify the optotype the child needs to know the image in analysis. Given the importance of visual communication during the process of construction of the scale of images, one presents a bibliographic, analytical study aiming at thinking about the principles for the construction of those tables. One considers the draw inserted as an optotype as a non-verbal symbolic expression of the body and/or of the environment constructed based on the caption of experiences by the individual. One contests the indiscriminate use of images, for one understands that there must be previous knowledge. Despite the subjectivity of the optotypes, the scales continue valid if one adapts images to those of the universe of the children to be examined.

Model testing for reliability and validity of the Outcome Expectations for Exercise Scale.

PubMed

Resnick, B; Zimmerman, S; Orwig, D; Furstenberg, A L; Magaziner, J

2001-01-01

Development of a reliable and valid measure of outcome expectations for exercise appropriate for older adults will help establish the relationship between outcome expectations and exercise. Once established, this measure can be used to facilitate the development of interventions to strengthen outcome expectations and improve adherence to regular exercise in older adults. Building on initial psychometrics of the Outcome Expectation for Exercise (OEE) Scale, the purpose of the current study was to use structural equation modeling to provide additional support for the reliability and validity of this measure. The OEE scale is a 9-item measure specifically focusing on the perceived consequences of exercise for older adults. The OEE scale was given to 191 residents in a continuing care retirement community. The mean age of the participants was 85 +/- 6.1 and the majority were female (76%), White (99%), and unmarried (76%). Using structural equation modeling, reliability was based on R2 values, and validity was based on a confirmatory factor analysis and path coefficients. There was continued evidence for reliability of the OEE based on R2 values ranging from .42 to .77, and validity with path coefficients ranging from .69 to .87, and evidence of model fit (X2 of 69, df = 27, p < .05, NFI = .98, RMSEA = .07). The evidence of reliability and validity of this measure has important implications for clinical work and research. The OEE scale can be used to identify older adults who have low outcome expectations for exercise, and interventions can then be implemented to strengthen these expectations and thereby improve exercise behavior.

Exploration of EEG features of Alzheimer's disease using continuous wavelet transform.

PubMed

Ghorbanian, Parham; Devilbiss, David M; Hess, Terry; Bernstein, Allan; Simon, Adam J; Ashrafiuon, Hashem

2015-09-01

We have developed a novel approach to elucidate several discriminating EEG features of Alzheimer's disease. The approach is based on the use of a variety of continuous wavelet transforms, pairwise statistical tests with multiple comparison correction, and several decision tree algorithms, in order to choose the most prominent EEG features from a single sensor. A pilot study was conducted to record EEG signals from Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and healthy age-matched control (CTL) subjects using a single dry electrode device during several eyes-closed (EC) and eyes-open (EO) resting conditions. We computed the power spectrum distribution properties and wavelet and sample entropy of the wavelet coefficients time series at scale ranges approximately corresponding to the major brain frequency bands. A predictive index was developed using the results from statistical tests and decision tree algorithms to identify the most reliable significant features of the AD patients when compared to healthy controls. The three most dominant features were identified as larger absolute mean power and larger standard deviation of the wavelet scales corresponding to 4-8 Hz (θ) during EO and lower wavelet entropy of the wavelet scales corresponding to 8-12 Hz (α) during EC, respectively. The fourth reliable set of distinguishing features of AD patients was lower relative power of the wavelet scales corresponding to 12-30 Hz (β) followed by lower skewness of the wavelet scales corresponding to 2-4 Hz (upper δ), both during EO. In general, the results indicate slowing and lower complexity of EEG signal in AD patients using a very easy-to-use and convenient single dry electrode device.

Convergence and divergence in a long-term old-field succession: the importance of spatial scale and species abundance.

PubMed

Li, Shao-Peng; Cadotte, Marc W; Meiners, Scott J; Pu, Zhichao; Fukami, Tadashi; Jiang, Lin

2016-09-01

Whether plant communities in a given region converge towards a particular stable state during succession has long been debated, but rarely tested at a sufficiently long time scale. By analysing a 50-year continuous study of post-agricultural secondary succession in New Jersey, USA, we show that the extent of community convergence varies with the spatial scale and species abundance classes. At the larger field scale, abundance-based dissimilarities among communities decreased over time, indicating convergence of dominant species, whereas incidence-based dissimilarities showed little temporal tend, indicating no sign of convergence. In contrast, plots within each field diverged in both species composition and abundance. Abundance-based successional rates decreased over time, whereas rare species and herbaceous plants showed little change in temporal turnover rates. Initial abandonment conditions only influenced community structure early in succession. Overall, our findings provide strong evidence for scale and abundance dependence of stochastic and deterministic processes over old-field succession. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Validation of a Clinical Global Impression Scale for Aggression (CGI-A) in a sample of 558 psychiatric patients.

PubMed

Huber, Christian G; Lambert, Martin; Naber, Dieter; Schacht, Alexander; Hundemer, Hans-Peter; Wagner, Thomas T; Schimmelmann, Benno G

2008-03-01

Clinical management of aggression depends on the availability of easily administrable measurements allowing reliable evaluation. The present study's aim is to validate a Clinical Global Impression-Severity of Aggression scale (CGI-A). 558 inpatients with psychiatric disorders and an agitated-aggressive syndrome at baseline were continuously assessed over 5 days using CGI-A and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale-Excited Component (PANSS-EC). Equipercentile linking, correlation analyses and linear regression were applied. Relationship between CGI-A and PANSS-EC total score was found to be linear. On a 5-level CGI-A scale, values of 1 to 5 points were found to correspond to PANSS-EC scores of 12.2, 16.7, 21.3, 25.8, and 30.4, respectively (average increase: 4.6). All findings remained stable when only data from patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were analyzed. The CGI-A is proposed as a quickly administrable scale for the assessment of patients' aggressiveness.

Fermion-induced quantum criticality with two length scales in Dirac systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torres, Emilio; Classen, Laura; Herbut, Igor F.; Scherer, Michael M.

2018-03-01

The quantum phase transition to a Z3-ordered Kekulé valence bond solid in two-dimensional Dirac semimetals is governed by a fermion-induced quantum critical point, which renders the putatively discontinuous transition continuous. We study the resulting universal critical behavior in terms of a functional RG approach, which gives access to the scaling behavior on the symmetry-broken side of the phase transition, for general dimensions and number of Dirac fermions. In particular, we investigate the emergence of the fermion-induced quantum critical point for spacetime dimensions 2

Enhancing Zeolite Performance by Catalyst Shaping in a Mesoscale Continuous-Flow Diels-Alder Process.

PubMed

Seghers, Sofie; Lefevere, Jasper; Mullens, Steven; De Vylder, Anton; Thybaut, Joris W; Stevens, Christian V

2018-03-26

In contrast to most lab-scale batch procedures, a continuous-flow implementation requires a thorough consideration of the solid catalyst design. In a previous study, irregular zeolite pellets were applied in a miniaturized continuous-flow reactor for the Diels-Alder reaction in the construction of norbornene scaffolds. After having faced the challenges of continuous operation, the aim of this study is to exploit catalyst structuring. To this end, microspheres with high uniformity and various sphere diameters were synthesized according to the vibrational droplet coagulation method. The influence of the use of these novel zeolite shapes in a mesoscale continuous-flow Diels-Alder process of cyclopentadiene and methyl acrylate is discussed. An impressive enhancement of catalyst lifetime is demonstrated, as even after a doubled process time of 14 h, the microspheres still exceeded the conversion after 7 h when using zeolite pellets by 30 %. A dual reason is found for this beneficial impact of catalyst shaping. The significant improvement in catalyst longevity can be attributed to the interplay of the chemical composition and the porosity structure of the microspheres. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Patient-reported care coordination: associations with primary care continuity and specialty care use.

PubMed

Liss, David T; Chubak, Jessica; Anderson, Melissa L; Saunders, Kathleen W; Tuzzio, Leah; Reid, Robert J

2011-01-01

Care coordination is increasingly recognized as a necessary element of high-quality, patient-centered care. This study investigated (1) the association between care coordination and continuity of primary care, and (2) differences in this association by level of specialty care use. We conducted a cross-sectional study of Medicare enrollees with select chronic conditions in an integrated health care delivery system in Washington State. We collected survey information on patient experiences and automated health care utilization data for 1 year preceding survey completion. Coordination was defined by the coordination measure from the short form of the Ambulatory Care Experiences Survey (ACES). Continuity was measured by primary care visit concentration. Patients who had 10 or more specialty care visits were classified as high users. Linear regression was used to estimate the association between coordination and continuity, controlling for potential confounders and clustering within clinicians. We used a continuity-by-specialty interaction term to determine whether the continuity-coordination association was modified by high specialty care use. Among low specialty care users, an increase of 1 standard deviation (SD) in continuity was associated with an increase of 2.71 in the ACES coordination scale (P <.001). In high specialty care users, we observed no association between continuity and reported coordination (P= .77). High use of specialty care may strain the ability of primary care clinicians to coordinate care effectively. Future studies should investigate care coordination interventions that allow for appropriate specialty care referrals without diminishing the ability of primary care physicians to manage overall patient care.

Scope of Nursing Care in Polish Intensive Care Units

PubMed Central

Wysokiński, Mariusz; Ksykiewicz-Dorota, Anna; Fidecki, Wiesław

2013-01-01

Introduction. The TISS-28 scale, which may be used for nursing staff scheduling in ICU, does not reflect the complete scope of nursing resulting from varied cultural and organizational conditions of individual systems of health care. Aim. The objective of the study was an attempt to provide an answer to the question what scope of nursing care provided by Polish nurses in ICU does the TISS-28 scale reflect? Material and Methods. The methods of working time measurement were used in the study. For the needs of the study, 252 hours of continuous observation (day-long observation) and 3.697 time-schedule measurements were carried out. Results. The total nursing time was 4125.79 min. (68.76 hours), that is, 60.15% of the total working time of Polish nurses during the period analyzed. Based on the median test, the difference was observed on the level of χ 2 = 16945.8,P < 0.001 between the nurses' workload resulting from performance of activities qualified into the TISS-28 scale and load resulting from performance of interventions within the scopes of care not considered in this scale in Polish ICUs. Conclusions. The original version of the TISS-28 scale does not fully reflect the workload among Polish nurses employed in ICUs. PMID:24490162

Scale relativity theory and integrative systems biology: 1. Founding principles and scale laws.

PubMed

Auffray, Charles; Nottale, Laurent

2008-05-01

In these two companion papers, we provide an overview and a brief history of the multiple roots, current developments and recent advances of integrative systems biology and identify multiscale integration as its grand challenge. Then we introduce the fundamental principles and the successive steps that have been followed in the construction of the scale relativity theory, and discuss how scale laws of increasing complexity can be used to model and understand the behaviour of complex biological systems. In scale relativity theory, the geometry of space is considered to be continuous but non-differentiable, therefore fractal (i.e., explicitly scale-dependent). One writes the equations of motion in such a space as geodesics equations, under the constraint of the principle of relativity of all scales in nature. To this purpose, covariant derivatives are constructed that implement the various effects of the non-differentiable and fractal geometry. In this first review paper, the scale laws that describe the new dependence on resolutions of physical quantities are obtained as solutions of differential equations acting in the scale space. This leads to several possible levels of description for these laws, from the simplest scale invariant laws to generalized laws with variable fractal dimensions. Initial applications of these laws to the study of species evolution, embryogenesis and cell confinement are discussed.

Eye-closure-triggered paroxysmal activity and cognitive impairment: a case report.

PubMed

Termine, Cristiano; Rubboli, Guido; Veggiotti, Pierangelo

2006-01-01

To study the neuropsychological status of an epileptic patient presenting with epileptic activity triggered by eye closure in a 14-year follow-up period. The patient was studied at 12 and 26 years of age; during this period he underwent periodical clinical evaluations and EEG investigations; brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed at 12 years of age. A neuropsychological assessment was carried out both at 12 years of age (T0) and at 26 years of age. At T0 and T1, neuropsychological tests (digits and words span, graphoestesia, reactions time to auditory stimuli, sentences repetition, words repetition, digital gnosis, backward counting [i.e.,100-0]) were performed during video-EEG monitoring either with eyes closed or with eyes open, to evaluate possible transitory effects related to ongoing epileptic activity. Moreover, at T0 the patient underwent Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised, and at T1 to Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. EEG recordings showed continuous epileptic activity triggered by eye closure, disappearing only with eyes opening, both at T0 and T1 (in this latter case, anteriorly predominant). The results of neuropsychological assessment during eyes closed as compared to performances with eyes open did not show significant differences, at T0 as well as at T1. Wechsler Intelligence scales showed a deterioration of performances at T1 with respect to T0; in addition, at T1, attention and short-term memory abnormalities, impairment in facial recognition and block design, and defective results in Continuous Performance Test and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test were observed. Lack of differences between the results of neuropsychological tests performed with eyes closed as compared to the eyes open condition suggests that in our patient epileptic activity did not cause transitory cognitive abnormalities. Deterioration of Wechsler Intelligence Scales in the follow-up period might be interpreted as the result of a disruption of cognitive processes possibly related to the persistence of a continuous epileptic activity during eye closure over the years. We speculate whether a dysfunction in posterior cortical areas involved in visual processing might be related to the impairment in face recognition and block design tests as well to eye closure sensitivity.

Source imaging of potential fields through a matrix space-domain algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baniamerian, Jamaledin; Oskooi, Behrooz; Fedi, Maurizio

2017-01-01

Imaging of potential fields yields a fast 3D representation of the source distribution of potential fields. Imaging methods are all based on multiscale methods allowing the source parameters of potential fields to be estimated from a simultaneous analysis of the field at various scales or, in other words, at many altitudes. Accuracy in performing upward continuation and differentiation of the field has therefore a key role for this class of methods. We here describe an accurate method for performing upward continuation and vertical differentiation in the space-domain. We perform a direct discretization of the integral equations for upward continuation and Hilbert transform; from these equations we then define matrix operators performing the transformation, which are symmetric (upward continuation) or anti-symmetric (differentiation), respectively. Thanks to these properties, just the first row of the matrices needs to be computed, so to decrease dramatically the computation cost. Our approach allows a simple procedure, with the advantage of not involving large data extension or tapering, as due instead in case of Fourier domain computation. It also allows level-to-drape upward continuation and a stable differentiation at high frequencies; finally, upward continuation and differentiation kernels may be merged into a single kernel. The accuracy of our approach is shown to be important for multi-scale algorithms, such as the continuous wavelet transform or the DEXP (depth from extreme point method), because border errors, which tend to propagate largely at the largest scales, are radically reduced. The application of our algorithm to synthetic and real-case gravity and magnetic data sets confirms the accuracy of our space domain strategy over FFT algorithms and standard convolution procedures.

Oxidation of Al2O3 continuous fiber-reinforced/NiAl composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Doychak, J.; Nesbitt, J. A.; Noebe, R. D.; Bowman, R. R.

1992-01-01

The 1200 C and 1300 C isothermal and cyclic oxidation behavior of Al2O3 continuous fiber-reinforced/NiAl composites were studied. Oxidation resulted in formation of Al2O3 external scales in a similar manner as scales formed on monolithic NiAl. The isothermal oxidation of an Al2O3/NiAl composite resulted in oxidation of the matrix along the fiber/matrix interface near the fiber ends. This oxide acted as a wedge between the fiber and the matrix, and, under cyclic oxidation conditions, led to further oxidation along the fiber lengths and eventual cracking of the composite. The oxidation behavior of composites in which the Al2O3 fibers were sputter coated with nickel prior to processing was much more severe. This was attributed to open channels around the fibers which formed during processing, most likely as a result of the diffusion of the nickel coating into the matrix.

Emotions in "Black and White" or Shades of Gray? How We Think About Emotion Shapes Our Perception and Neural Representation of Emotion.

PubMed

Satpute, Ajay B; Nook, Erik C; Narayanan, Sandhya; Shu, Jocelyn; Weber, Jochen; Ochsner, Kevin N

2016-11-01

The demands of social life often require categorically judging whether someone's continuously varying facial movements express "calm" or "fear," or whether one's fluctuating internal states mean one feels "good" or "bad." In two studies, we asked whether this kind of categorical, "black and white," thinking can shape the perception and neural representation of emotion. Using psychometric and neuroimaging methods, we found that (a) across participants, judging emotions using a categorical, "black and white" scale relative to judging emotions using a continuous, "shades of gray," scale shifted subjective emotion perception thresholds; (b) these shifts corresponded with activity in brain regions previously associated with affective responding (i.e., the amygdala and ventral anterior insula); and (c) connectivity of these regions with the medial prefrontal cortex correlated with the magnitude of categorization-related shifts. These findings suggest that categorical thinking about emotions may actively shape the perception and neural representation of the emotions in question. © The Author(s) 2016.

Ice stream motion facilitated by a shallow-deforming and accreting bed

PubMed Central

Spagnolo, Matteo; Phillips, Emrys; Piotrowski, Jan A.; Rea, Brice R.; Clark, Chris D.; Stokes, Chris R.; Carr, Simon J.; Ely, Jeremy C.; Ribolini, Adriano; Wysota, Wojciech; Szuman, Izabela

2016-01-01

Ice streams drain large portions of ice sheets and play a fundamental role in governing their response to atmospheric and oceanic forcing, with implications for sea-level change. The mechanisms that generate ice stream flow remain elusive. Basal sliding and/or bed deformation have been hypothesized, but ice stream beds are largely inaccessible. Here we present a comprehensive, multi-scale study of the internal structure of mega-scale glacial lineations (MSGLs) formed at the bed of a palaeo ice stream. Analyses were undertaken at macro- and microscales, using multiple techniques including X-ray tomography, thin sections and ground penetrating radar (GPR) acquisitions. Results reveal homogeneity in stratigraphy, kinematics, granulometry and petrography. The consistency of the physical and geological properties demonstrates a continuously accreting, shallow-deforming, bed and invariant basal conditions. This implies that ice stream basal motion on soft sediment beds during MSGL formation is accommodated by plastic deformation, facilitated by continuous sediment supply and an inefficient drainage system. PMID:26898399

INTERFRAGMENTARY SURFACE AREA AS AN INDEX OF COMMINUTION SEVERITY IN CORTICAL BONE IMPACT

PubMed Central

Beardsley, Christina L.; Anderson, Donald D.; Marsh, J. Lawrence; Brown, Thomas D.

2008-01-01

Summary A monotonic relationship is expected between energy absorption and fracture surface area generation for brittle solids, based on fracture mechanics principles. It was hypothesized that this relationship is demonstrable in bone, to the point that on a continuous scale, comminuted fractures created with specific levels of energy delivery could be discriminated from one another. Using bovine cortical bone segments in conjunction with digital image analysis of CT fracture data, the surface area freed by controlled impact fracture events was measured. The results demonstrated a statistically significant (p<0.0001) difference in measured de novo surface area between three specimen groups, over a range of input energies from 0.423 to 0.702 J/g. Local material properties were also incorporated into these measurements via CT Hounsfield intensities. This study confirms that comminution severity of bone fractures can indeed be measured on a continuous scale, based on energy absorption. This lays a foundation for similar assessments in human injuries. PMID:15885492

Continuous Flow Chemistry: Reaction of Diphenyldiazomethane with p-Nitrobenzoic Acid.

PubMed

Aw, Alex; Fritz, Marshall; Napoline, Jonathan W; Pollet, Pamela; Liotta, Charles L

2017-11-15

Continuous flow technology has been identified as instrumental for its environmental and economic advantages leveraging superior mixing, heat transfer and cost savings through the "scaling out" strategy as opposed to the traditional "scaling up". Herein, we report the reaction of diphenyldiazomethane with p-nitrobenzoic acid in both batch and flow modes. To effectively transfer the reaction from batch to flow mode, it is essential to first conduct the reaction in batch. As a consequence, the reaction of diphenyldiazomethane was first studied in batch as a function of temperature, reaction time, and concentration to obtain kinetic information and process parameters. The glass flow reactor set-up is described and combines two types of reaction modules with "mixing" and "linear" microstructures. Finally, the reaction of diphenyldiazomethane with p-nitrobenzoic acid was successfully conducted in the flow reactor, with up to 95% conversion of the diphenyldiazomethane in 11 min. This proof of concept reaction aims to provide insight for scientists to consider flow technology's competitiveness, sustainability, and versatility in their research.

Scale-up potential of cultivating Chlorella zofingiensis in piggery wastewater for biodiesel production.

PubMed

Yuan, Zhenhong; Wang, Zhongming; Takala, Josu; Hiltunen, Erkki; Qin, Lei; Xu, Zhongbin; Qin, Xiaoxi; Zhu, Liandong

2013-06-01

Scale-up potential of cultivating Chlorella zofingiensis in piggery wastewater for simultaneous wastewater treatment and biodiesel production was tested. The cultivation of C. zofingiensis with autoclaved wastewater and NaClO-pretreated wastewater, cultivation of algae indoors and outdoors, and stability of semi-continuous feeding operation were examined. The results showed that C. zofingiensis cultivated in piggery wastewater pretreated by autoclaving and NaClO had no evident difference in the performance of nutrient removal, algal growth and biodiesel production. The outdoor cultivation experiments indicated that C. zofingiensis was able to adapt and grow well outdoors. The semi-continuous feeding operation by replacing 50% of algae culture with fresh wastewater every 1.5 days could provide a stable net biomass productivity of 1.314 g L(-1) day(-1). These findings in this study can prove that it is greatly possible to amplify the cultivation of C. zofingiensis in piggery wastewater for nutrient removal and biodiesel production. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of injectable molindone and haloperidol followed by oral dosage forms in acutely ill schizophrenics.

PubMed

Escobar, J I; Mann, J J; Keller, J; Wilkins, J; Mason, B; Mills, M J

1985-08-01

The comparative efficacy of molindone and haloperidol, given by injection for the first 2-3 days of hospitalization and then continued orally for up to 4 weeks, is reported from an ongoing double-blind study. Efficacy and side effects were assessed by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Clinical Global Impressions, Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale, and Target Symptom Ratings. Analyses based on the first 35 patients who entered the study indicate that both drugs were effective and well tolerated. There were slight advantages for molindone early during the injectable phase of treatment and for haloperidol late during the oral portion of the study, but these differences were not clinically significant. No significant differences in side effects were found between the two drugs.

Assessment of the sustainability of dual-purpose farms by the IDEA method in the subtropical area of central Mexico.

PubMed

Salas-Reyes, Isela Guadalupe; Arriaga-Jordán, Carlos Manuel; Rebollar-Rebollar, Samuel; García-Martínez, Anastacio; Albarrán-Portillo, Benito

2015-08-01

The objective of this study was to assess the sustainability of 10 dual-purpose cattle farms in a subtropical area of central Mexico. The IDEA method (Indicateurs de Durabilité des Exploitations Agricoles) was applied, which includes the agroecological, socio-territorial and economic scales (scores from 0 to 100 points per scale). A sample of 47 farms from a total of 91 registered in the local livestock growers association was analysed with principal component analysis and cluster analysis. From results, 10 farms were selected for the in-depth study herein reported, being the selection criterion continuous milk production throughout the year. Farms had a score of 88 and 86 points for the agroecological scale in the rainy and dry seasons. In the socio-territorial scale, scores were 73 points for both seasons, being the component of employment and services the strongest. Scores for the economic scale were 64 and 56 points for the rainy and dry seasons, respectively, when no economic cost for family labour is charged, which decreases to 59 and 45 points when an opportunity cost for family labour is considered. Dual-purpose farms in the subtropical area of central Mexico have a medium sustainability, with the economic scale being the limiting factor, and an area of opportunity.

Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version for DSM-5 Level 2 Anger Scale (Child Form for Children Aged 11-17 Years and Parent Form for Children Aged 6-17 Years).

PubMed

Yalin Sapmaz, Şermin; Özek Erkuran, Handan; Yalin, Nefize; Önen, Özlem; Öztekin, Siğnem; Kavurma, Canem; Köroğlu, Ertuğrul; Aydemir, Ömer

2017-12-01

This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) Level 2 Anger Scale. The scale was prepared by translation and back translation of DSM-5 Level 2 Anger Scale. Study groups consisted of a clinical sample of cases diagnosed with depressive disorder and treated in a child and adolescent psychiatry unit and a community sample. The study was continued with 218 children and 160 parents. In the assessment process, child and parent forms of DSM-5 Level 2 Anger Scale and Children's Depression Inventory and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Parent Form were used. In the reliability analyses, the Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient values were found very high regarding child and parent forms. Item-total score correlation coefficients were high and very high, respectively, for child and parent forms indicating a statistical significance. As for construct validity, one factor was maintained for each form and was found to be consistent with the original form of the scale. As for concurrent validity, the child form of the scale showed significant correlation with Children's Depression Inventory, while the parent form showed significant correlation with Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Parent Form. It was found that the Turkish version of DSM-5 Level 2 Anger Scale could be utilized as a valid and reliable tool both in clinical practice and for research purposes.

Magnetic resonance cinematography of the fingers: a 3.0 Tesla feasibility study with comparison of incremental and continuous dynamic protocols.

PubMed

Bayer, Thomas; Adler, Werner; Janka, Rolf; Uder, Michael; Roemer, Frank

2017-12-01

To study the feasibility of magnetic resonance cinematography of the fingers (MRCF) with comparison of image quality of different protocols for depicting the finger anatomy during motion. MRCF was performed during a full flexion and extension movement in 14 healthy volunteers using a finger-gating device. Three real-time sequences (frame rates 17-59 images/min) and one proton density (PD) sequence (3 images/min) were acquired during incremental and continuous motion. Analyses were performed independently by three readers. Qualitative image analysis included Likert-scale grading from 0 (useless) to 5 (excellent) and specific visual analog scale (VAS) grading from 0 (insufficient) to 100 (excellent). Signal-to-noise calculation was performed. Overall percentage agreement and mean absolute disagreement were calculated. Within the real-time sequences a high frame-rate true fast imaging with steady-state free precession (TRUFI) yielded the best image quality with Likert and overall VAS scores of 3.0 ± 0.2 and 60.4 ± 25.3, respectively. The best sequence regarding image quality was an incremental PD with mean values of 4.8 ± 0.2 and 91.2 ± 9.4, respectively. Overall percentage agreement and mean absolute disagreement were 47.9 and 0.7, respectively. No statistically significant SNR differences were found between continuous and incremental motion for the real-time protocols. MRCF is feasible with appropriate image quality during continuous motion using a finger-gating device. Almost perfect image quality is achievable with incremental PD imaging, which represents a compromise for MRCF with the drawback of prolonged scanning time.

A living mesoscopic cellular automaton made of skin scales.

PubMed

Manukyan, Liana; Montandon, Sophie A; Fofonjka, Anamarija; Smirnov, Stanislav; Milinkovitch, Michel C

2017-04-12

In vertebrates, skin colour patterns emerge from nonlinear dynamical microscopic systems of cell interactions. Here we show that in ocellated lizards a quasi-hexagonal lattice of skin scales, rather than individual chromatophore cells, establishes a green and black labyrinthine pattern of skin colour. We analysed time series of lizard scale colour dynamics over four years of their development and demonstrate that this pattern is produced by a cellular automaton (a grid of elements whose states are iterated according to a set of rules based on the states of neighbouring elements) that dynamically computes the colour states of individual mesoscopic skin scales to produce the corresponding macroscopic colour pattern. Using numerical simulations and mathematical derivation, we identify how a discrete von Neumann cellular automaton emerges from a continuous Turing reaction-diffusion system. Skin thickness variation generated by three-dimensional morphogenesis of skin scales causes the underlying reaction-diffusion dynamics to separate into microscopic and mesoscopic spatial scales, the latter generating a cellular automaton. Our study indicates that cellular automata are not merely abstract computational systems, but can directly correspond to processes generated by biological evolution.

A living mesoscopic cellular automaton made of skin scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manukyan, Liana; Montandon, Sophie A.; Fofonjka, Anamarija; Smirnov, Stanislav; Milinkovitch, Michel C.

2017-04-01

In vertebrates, skin colour patterns emerge from nonlinear dynamical microscopic systems of cell interactions. Here we show that in ocellated lizards a quasi-hexagonal lattice of skin scales, rather than individual chromatophore cells, establishes a green and black labyrinthine pattern of skin colour. We analysed time series of lizard scale colour dynamics over four years of their development and demonstrate that this pattern is produced by a cellular automaton (a grid of elements whose states are iterated according to a set of rules based on the states of neighbouring elements) that dynamically computes the colour states of individual mesoscopic skin scales to produce the corresponding macroscopic colour pattern. Using numerical simulations and mathematical derivation, we identify how a discrete von Neumann cellular automaton emerges from a continuous Turing reaction-diffusion system. Skin thickness variation generated by three-dimensional morphogenesis of skin scales causes the underlying reaction-diffusion dynamics to separate into microscopic and mesoscopic spatial scales, the latter generating a cellular automaton. Our study indicates that cellular automata are not merely abstract computational systems, but can directly correspond to processes generated by biological evolution.

Localized extinction of an arboreal desert lizard caused by habitat fragmentation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Munguia-Vega, Adrian; Rodriguez-Estrella, Ricardo; Shaw, William W.; Culver, Melanie

2013-01-01

We adopted a species’ perspective for predicting extinction risk in a small, endemic, and strictly scansorial lizard (Urosaurus nigricaudus), in an old (∼60 year) and highly fragmented (8% habitat remaining) agricultural landscape from the Sonoran Desert, Mexico. We genotyped 10 microsatellite loci in 280 individuals from 11 populations in fragmented and continuous habitat. Individual dispersal was restricted to less than 400 m, according to analyses of spatial autocorrelation and spatially explicit Bayesian assignment methods. Within this scale, continuous areas and narrow washes with native vegetation allowed high levels of gene flow over tens of kilometers. In the absence of the native vegetation, cleared areas and highways were identified as partial barriers. In contrast, outside the scale of dispersal, cleared areas behaved as complete barriers, and surveys corroborated the species went extinct after a few decades in all small (less than 45 ha), isolated habitat fragments. No evidence for significant loss of genetic diversity was found, but results suggested fragmentation increased the spatial scale of movements, relatedness, genetic structure, and potentially affected sex-biased dispersal. A plausible threshold of individual dispersal predicted only 23% of all fragments in the landscape were linked with migration from continuous habitat, while complete barriers isolated the majority of fragments. Our study suggested limited dispersal, coupled with an inability to use a homogeneous and hostile matrix without vegetation and shade, could result in frequent time-delayed extinctions of small ectotherms in highly fragmented desert landscapes, particularly considering an increase in the risk of overheating and a decrease in dispersal potential induced by global warming.

Development of Internalizing Problems from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: Accounting for Heterotypic Continuity with Vertical Scaling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petersen, Isaac T.; Lindhiem, Oliver; LeBeau, Brandon; Bates, John E.; Pettit, Gregory S.; Lansford, Jennifer E.; Dodge, Kenneth A.

2018-01-01

Manifestations of internalizing problems, such as specific symptoms of anxiety and depression, can change across development, even if individuals show strong continuity in rank-order levels of internalizing problems. This illustrates the concept of heterotypic continuity, and raises the question of whether common measures might be construct-valid…

Multi Scale Modeling of Continuous Aramid Fiber Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composites Used in Ballistic Protection Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-16

related to identification of the type and the extent of data generated at a finer length scale to the adjacent coarser length scale, as well as seamless ...data generated at a finer length scale to the adjacent coarser length scale, as well as seamless integration of different length scales into a unified...composite laminate consisting of 32 laminae and impacted (at a 0° obliquity angle and an incident velocity of 500 m/s) by a 0.30 caliber steel

Diazo compounds in continuous-flow technology.

PubMed

Müller, Simon T R; Wirth, Thomas

2015-01-01

Diazo compounds are very versatile reagents in organic chemistry and meet the challenge of selective assembly of structurally complex molecules. Their leaving group is dinitrogen; therefore, they are very clean and atom-efficient reagents. However, diazo compounds are potentially explosive and extremely difficult to handle on an industrial scale. In this review, it is discussed how continuous flow technology can help to make these powerful reagents accessible on large scale. Microstructured devices can improve heat transfer greatly and help with the handling of dangerous reagents safely. The in situ formation and subsequent consumption of diazo compounds are discussed along with advances in handling diazomethane and ethyl diazoacetate. The potential large-scale applications of a given methodology is emphasized. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Application of Pulse Spark Discharges for Scale Prevention and Continuous Filtration Methods in Coal-Fired Power Plant

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

Cho, Young; Fridman, Alexander

2012-06-30

The overall objective of the present work was to develop a new scale-prevention technology by continuously precipitating and removing dissolved mineral ions (such as calcium and magnesium) in cooling water while the COC could be doubled from the present standard value of 3.5. The hypothesis of the present study was that if we could successfully precipitate and remove the excess calcium ions in cooling water, we could prevent condenser-tube fouling and at the same time double the COC. The approach in the study was to utilize pulse spark discharges directly in water to precipitate dissolved mineral ions in recirculating coolingmore » water into relatively large suspended particles, which could be removed by a self-cleaning filter. The present study began with a basic scientific research to better understand the mechanism of pulse spark discharges in water and conducted a series of validation experiments using hard water in a laboratory cooling tower. Task 1 of the present work was to demonstrate if the spark discharge could precipitate the mineral ions in water. Task 2 was to demonstrate if the selfcleaning filter could continuously remove these precipitated calcium particles such that the blowdown could be eliminated or significantly reduced. Task 3 was to demonstrate if the scale could be prevented or minimized at condenser tubes with a COC of 8 or (almost) zero blowdown. In Task 1, we successfully completed the validation study that confirmed the precipitation of dissolved calcium ions in cooling water with the supporting data of calcium hardness over time as measured by a calcium ion probe. In Task 2, we confirmed through experimental tests that the self-cleaning filter could continuously remove precipitated calcium particles in a simulated laboratory cooling tower such that the blowdown could be eliminated or significantly reduced. In addition, chemical water analysis data were obtained which were used to confirm the COC calculation. In Task 3, we conducted a series of heat transfer fouling tests using a condenser heat exchanger in the laboratory cooling tower, from which we confirmed that the plasma water treatment technology could prevent or significantly mitigate mineral foulings in condenser tubes when compared with the no-treatment case. With the completion of the present work, a cooling water treatment technology using pulse spark discharges is currently ready for field-validation tests. The plasma water treatment technology is a true mechanical water softener with almost no maintenance, which continuously converts hard water to soft water spending a relatively small amount of energy. Such a mechanical water softener could find wide-spread applications to solve hard water problems both in industry and at home.« less

A Parsimonious Instrument for Predicting Students' Intent to Pursue a Sales Career: Scale Development and Validation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peltier, James W.; Cummins, Shannon; Pomirleanu, Nadia; Cross, James; Simon, Rob

2014-01-01

Students' desire and intention to pursue a career in sales continue to lag behind industry demand for sales professionals. This article develops and validates a reliable and parsimonious scale for measuring and predicting student intention to pursue a selling career. The instrument advances previous scales in three ways. The instrument is…

Mapping multi-scale vascular plant richness in a forest landscape with integrated LiDAR and hyperspectral remote-sensing.

PubMed

Hakkenberg, C R; Zhu, K; Peet, R K; Song, C

2018-02-01

The central role of floristic diversity in maintaining habitat integrity and ecosystem function has propelled efforts to map and monitor its distribution across forest landscapes. While biodiversity studies have traditionally relied largely on ground-based observations, the immensity of the task of generating accurate, repeatable, and spatially-continuous data on biodiversity patterns at large scales has stimulated the development of remote-sensing methods for scaling up from field plot measurements. One such approach is through integrated LiDAR and hyperspectral remote-sensing. However, despite their efficiencies in cost and effort, LiDAR-hyperspectral sensors are still highly constrained in structurally- and taxonomically-heterogeneous forests - especially when species' cover is smaller than the image resolution, intertwined with neighboring taxa, or otherwise obscured by overlapping canopy strata. In light of these challenges, this study goes beyond the remote characterization of upper canopy diversity to instead model total vascular plant species richness in a continuous-cover North Carolina Piedmont forest landscape. We focus on two related, but parallel, tasks. First, we demonstrate an application of predictive biodiversity mapping, using nonparametric models trained with spatially-nested field plots and aerial LiDAR-hyperspectral data, to predict spatially-explicit landscape patterns in floristic diversity across seven spatial scales between 0.01-900 m 2 . Second, we employ bivariate parametric models to test the significance of individual, remotely-sensed predictors of plant richness to determine how parameter estimates vary with scale. Cross-validated results indicate that predictive models were able to account for 15-70% of variance in plant richness, with LiDAR-derived estimates of topography and forest structural complexity, as well as spectral variance in hyperspectral imagery explaining the largest portion of variance in diversity levels. Importantly, bivariate tests provide evidence of scale-dependence among predictors, such that remotely-sensed variables significantly predict plant richness only at spatial scales that sufficiently subsume geolocational imprecision between remotely-sensed and field data, and best align with stand components including plant size and density, as well as canopy gaps and understory growth patterns. Beyond their insights into the scale-dependent patterns and drivers of plant diversity in Piedmont forests, these results highlight the potential of remotely-sensible essential biodiversity variables for mapping and monitoring landscape floristic diversity from air- and space-borne platforms. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Fracture trends identified by ERTS-1 imagery in Utah and Nevada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jensen, M. L. (Principal Investigator); Smith, M. R.; Rogers, R. J.

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Structures clearly traceable through bed rock are considered most reliable. Continuity, however, is frequently traceable through ranges and across adjoining sedimentary basins where changes in drainage, erosion pattern, soil color, or vegetation suggest that the basin sediments are extremely sensitive to underlying structures. Many large and continuous trends, too smeared by erosion to be visible on the ground or from aircraft photos, become quite evident at the scale of the ERTS-1 images. The study was made with little regard for surface geology. The trends have been retraced to separate and unidirectional sets. These are now being related to surface geology, geophysical studies, volcanic and intrusive centers, and areas of mineralization.

Positive diversity–invasibility relationship in species-rich semi-natural grassland at the neighbourhood scale

PubMed Central

Zeiter, Michaela; Stampfli, Andreas

2012-01-01

Background and Aims Attempts to answer the old question of whether high diversity causes high invasion resistance have resulted in an invasion paradox: while large-scale studies often find a positive relationship between diversity and invasibility, small-scale experimental studies often find a negative relationship. Many of the small-scale studies are conducted in artificial communities of even-aged plants. Species in natural communities, however, do not represent one simultaneous cohort and occur at various levels of spatial aggregation at different scales. This study used natural patterns of diversity to assess the relationship between diversity and invasibility within a uniformly managed, semi-natural community. Methods In species-rich grassland, one seed of each of ten species was added to each of 50 contiguous 16 cm2 quadrats within seven plots (8 × 100 cm). The emergence of these species was recorded in seven control plots, and establishment success was measured in relation to the species diversity of the resident vegetation at two spatial scales, quadrat (64 cm2) within plots (800 cm2) and between plots within the site (approx. 400 m2) over 46 months. Key Results Invader success was positively related to resident species diversity and richness over a range of 28–37 species per plot. This relationship emerged 7 months after seed addition and remained over time despite continuous mortality of invaders. Conclusions Biotic resistance to plant invasion may play only a sub-ordinate role in species-rich, semi-natural grassland. As possible alternative explanations for the positive diversity–invasibility relationship are not clear, it is recommended that future studies elaborate fine-scale environmental heterogeneity in resource supplies or potential resource flows from resident species to seedlings by means of soil biological networks established by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. PMID:22956533

Development of a reactor with carbon catalysts for modular-scale, low-cost electrochemical generation of H 2O 2

DOE PAGES

Chen, Zhihua; Chen, Shucheng; Siahrostami, Samira; ...

2017-03-01

The development of small-scale, decentralized reactors for H 2O 2 production that can couple to renewable energy sources would be of great benefit, particularly for water purification in the developing world. Herein, we describe our efforts to develop electrochemical reactors for H 2O 2 generation with high Faradaic efficiencies of >90%, requiring cell voltages of only ~1.6 V. The reactor employs a carbon-based catalyst that demonstrates excellent performance for H 2O 2 production under alkaline conditions, as demonstrated by fundamental studies involving rotating-ring disk electrode methods. Finally, the low-cost, membrane-free reactor design represents a step towards a continuous, modular-scale, de-centralizedmore » production of H 2O 2.« less

Recent Advances in Transferable Coarse-Grained Modeling of Proteins

PubMed Central

Kar, Parimal; Feig, Michael

2017-01-01

Computer simulations are indispensable tools for studying the structure and dynamics of biological macromolecules. Biochemical processes occur on different scales of length and time. Atomistic simulations cannot cover the relevant spatiotemporal scales at which the cellular processes occur. To address this challenge, coarse-grained (CG) modeling of the biological systems are employed. Over the last few years, many CG models for proteins continue to be developed. However, many of them are not transferable with respect to different systems and different environments. In this review, we discuss those CG protein models that are transferable and that retain chemical specificity. We restrict ourselves to CG models of soluble proteins only. We also briefly review recent progress made in the multi-scale hybrid all-atom/coarse-grained simulations of proteins. PMID:25443957

Editorial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bijeljic, Branko; Icardi, Matteo; Prodanović, Maša

2018-05-01

Substantial progress has been made over last few decades on understanding the physics of multiphase flow and reactive transport phenomena in subsurface porous media. Confluence of advances in experimental techniques (including micromodels, X-ray microtomography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)) as well as computational power have made it possible to observe static and dynamic multi-scale flow, transport and reactive processes, thus stimulating development of new generation of modelling tools from pore to field scale. One of the key challenges is to make experiment and models as complementary as possible, with continuously improving experimental methods in order to increase predictive capabilities of theoretical models across scales. This creates need to establish rigorous benchmark studies of flow, transport and reaction in porous media which can then serve as the basis for introducing more complex phenomena in future developments.

Family impact of assistive technology scale: development of a measurement scale for parents of children with complex communication needs.

PubMed

Delarosa, Elizabeth; Horner, Stephanie; Eisenberg, Casey; Ball, Laura; Renzoni, Anne Marie; Ryan, Stephen E

2012-09-01

Young people use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems to meet their everyday communication needs. However, the successful integration of an AAC system into a child's life requires strong commitment and continuous support from parents and other family members. This article describes the development and evaluation of the Family Impact of Assistive Technology Scale for AAC Systems - a parent-report questionnaire intended to detect the impact of AAC systems on the lives of children with complex communication needs and their families. The study involved 179 parents and clinical experts to test the content and face validities of the questionnaire, demonstrate its internal reliability and stability over time, and estimate its convergent construct validity when compared to a standardized measure of family impact.

Spectral analysis of temporal non-stationary rainfall-runoff processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Ching-Min; Yeh, Hund-Der

2018-04-01

This study treats the catchment as a block box system with considering the rainfall input and runoff output being a stochastic process. The temporal rainfall-runoff relationship at the catchment scale is described by a convolution integral on a continuous time scale. Using the Fourier-Stieltjes representation approach, a frequency domain solution to the convolution integral is developed to the spectral analysis of runoff processes generated by temporal non-stationary rainfall events. It is shown that the characteristic time scale of rainfall process increases the runoff discharge variability, while the catchment mean travel time constant plays the role in reducing the variability of runoff discharge. Similar to the behavior of groundwater aquifers, catchments act as a low-pass filter in the frequency domain for the rainfall input signal.

The effect of methylphenidate on Internet video game play in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Han, Doug Hyun; Lee, Young Sik; Na, Churl; Ahn, Jee Young; Chung, Un Sun; Daniels, Melissa A; Haws, Charlotte A; Renshaw, Perry F

2009-01-01

A number of studies about attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Internet video game play have examined the prefrontal cortex and dopaminergic system. Stimulants such as methylphenidate (MPH), given to treat ADHD, and video game play have been found to increase synaptic dopamine. We hypothesized that MPH treatment would reduce Internet use in subjects with co-occurring ADHD and Internet video game addictions. Sixty-two children (52 males and 10 females), drug-naive, diagnosed with ADHD, and Internet video game players, participated in this study. At the beginning of the study and after 8 weeks of treatment with Concerta (OROS methylphenidate HCl, Seoul, Korea), participants were assessed with Young's Internet Addiction Scale, Korean version (YIAS-K), Korean DuPaul's ADHD Rating Scale, and the Visual Continuous Performance Test. Their Internet usage time was also recorded. After 8 weeks of treatment, the YIAS-K scores and Internet usage times were significantly reduced. The changes in the YIAS-K scores between the baseline and 8-week assessments were positively correlated with the changes in total and inattention scores from the Korean DuPaul's ADHD Rating Scale, as well as omission errors from the Visual Continuous Performance Test. There was also a significant difference in the number of omission errors among non-Internet-addicted, mildly Internet addicted, and severely Internet addicted participants. We suggest that Internet video game playing might be a means of self-medication for children with ADHD. In addition, we cautiously suggest that MPH might be evaluated as a potential treatment of Internet addiction.

Miller's Pyramid and Core Competency Assessment: A Study in Relationship Construct Validity.

PubMed

Williams, Betsy White; Byrne, Phil D; Welindt, Dillon; Williams, Michael V

2016-01-01

Continuous professional development relies on the link between performance and an educational process aimed at improving knowledge and skill. One of the most broadly used frameworks for assessing skills is Miller's Pyramid. This Pyramid has a series of levels of achievement beginning with knowledge (at the base) and ending with routine application in the clinical setting. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of convergence of two measurement methods, one based on Miller's framework, the second using the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education/American Board of Medical Specialties (ACGME/ABMS) Core Competency framework. The data were gathered from the faculty of a large, Midwestern regional health care provider and hospital system. Data from 264 respondents were studied. The 360° data were from raters of physicians holding supervisory roles in the organization. The scale items were taken from an instrument that has been validated for both structure and known group prediction. The Miller scale was purposely built for this application. The questions were designed to describe each level of the model. The Miller scale was reduced to a single dimension. This result was then regressed on the items from the 360° item ratings. Results of a multivariate analysis of variance isolated a significant relationship between the Miller's Pyramid score and the competency items (P < 0.001). These findings demonstrate a relationship between measures based on Miller's framework and behavioral measures based on the ABMS/ACGME core competencies. Equally important is the finding that while they are related they are not identical. These findings have implications for continuous professional development programing design.

[Effect of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Treatment on Depression, Anxiety and Perceived Stress Levels in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome].

PubMed

Çelik, Mustafa; Sarıkaya, Yasin; Acar, Mustafa; Kalenderoğlu, Aysun; Doğan, Sedat; Kaskalan, Emin; Karataş, Mehmet

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to determine the effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on depression, anxiety, and perceived stress levels and to identify factors predictive of treatment efficacy in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). This study included 51 patients admitted to the Adiyaman University Medical School Otorhinolaryngology Department or Eskisehir Yunus Emre State Hospital between January and September 2014 with one or more complaints including snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness, or apnea witnessed by the partner. Diagnosis of OSAS was made by polysomnography and CPAP treatment was initiated. Depression levels were assessed in all study subjects using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) at the start of treatment and at 3 months. Anxiety levels were assessed using both the HADS and the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and perceived stress level was assessed using the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ). After CPAP treatment, we observed significant decreases in both the Depression and Anxiety Subscales of the HADS, in the Trait Anxiety subscale of the STAI, and in the PSQ. An evaluation of the initial parameters that predict improvements in these scales revealed that snoring time predicted decreases in all scale scores. In OSAS patients CPAP treatment has positive effects on psychological parameters like depression, anxiety, and perceived stress. We suggest that possible psychogenic benefits should be considered when deciding to start CPAP treatment, particularly in patients with pronounced and extended snoring who may also have social problems.

A tool for assessing the quality of nursing handovers: a validation study.

PubMed

Ferrara, Paolo; Terzoni, Stefano; Davì, Salvatore; Bisesti, Alberto; Destrebecq, Anne

2017-08-10

Handover, in particular between two shifts, is a crucial aspect of nursing for patient safety, aimed at ensuring continuity of care. During this process, several factors can affect quality of care and cause errors. This study aimed to assess quality of handovers, by validating the Handoff CEX-Italian scale. The scale was translated from English into Italian and the content validity index was calculated and internal consistency assessed. The scale was used in several units of the San Paolo Teaching Hospital in Milan, Italy. A total of 48 reports were assessed (192 evaluations). The median score was 6, interquartile range (IQR) [5;7] and was not influenced by specific (p=0.21) or overall working experience (p=0.13). The domains showing the lowest median values (median=6, IQR [4;8]) were context, communication, and organisation. Night to morning handovers obtained the lowest scores. CVI-S was 0.96, Cronbach's alpha was 0.79. The Handoff CEX-Italian scale is valid and reliable and it can be used to assess the quality of nurse handovers.

Neutron diffraction study of aqueous Laponite suspensions at the NIMROD diffractometer.

PubMed

Tudisca, V; Bruni, F; Scoppola, E; Angelini, R; Ruzicka, B; Zulian, L; Soper, A K; Ricci, M A

2014-09-01

The process of dynamical arrest, leading to formation of different arrested states such as glasses and gels, along with the closely related process of aging, is central for both basic research and technology. Here we report on a study of the time-dependent structural evolution of two aqueous Laponite clay suspensions at different weight concentrations. Neutron diffraction experiments have been performed with the near and intermediate range order diffractometer (NIMROD) that allows studies of the structure of liquids and disordered materials over a continuous length scale ranging from 1 to 300 Å, i.e., from the atomistic to the mesoscopic scales. NIMROD is presently a unique diffractometer, bridging the length scales traditionally investigated by small angle neutron scattering or small angle x-ray scattering with that accessible by traditional diffractometers for liquids. Interestingly, we have unveiled a signature of aging of both suspensions in the length scale region of NIMROD. This phenomenon, ascribed to sporadic contacts between Laponite platelets at long times, has been observed with the sample arrested as gel or as repulsive glass. Moreover, water molecules within the layers closest to Laponite platelets surface show orientational and translational order, which maps into the crystalline structure of Laponite.

You can run, you can hide: The epidemiology and statistical mechanics of zombies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alemi, Alexander A.; Bierbaum, Matthew; Myers, Christopher R.; Sethna, James P.

2015-11-01

We use a popular fictional disease, zombies, in order to introduce techniques used in modern epidemiology modeling, and ideas and techniques used in the numerical study of critical phenomena. We consider variants of zombie models, from fully connected continuous time dynamics to a full scale exact stochastic dynamic simulation of a zombie outbreak on the continental United States. Along the way, we offer a closed form analytical expression for the fully connected differential equation, and demonstrate that the single person per site two dimensional square lattice version of zombies lies in the percolation universality class. We end with a quantitative study of the full scale US outbreak, including the average susceptibility of different geographical regions.

A comparison of four measures of moral reasoning.

PubMed

Wilmoth, G H; McFarland, S G

1977-08-01

Kohlberg's Moral Judgment Scale, Gilligan et al.'s Sexual Moral Judgment Scale, Maitland and Goldman's Objective Moral Judgment Scale, and Hogan's Maturity of Moral Judgment Scale, were examined for reliability and inter-scale relationships. All measures except the Objective Moral Judgment Scale had good reliabilities. The obtained relations between the Moral Judgment Scale and the Sexual Moral Judgment Scale replicated previous research. The Objective Moral Judgment Scale was not found to validly assess the Kohlberg stages. The Maturity of Moral Judgment Scale scores were strongly related to the subjects's classification on the Kohlberg stages, and the scale appears to offer a reliable, quickly scored, and valid index of mature thought, although the scale's continuous scores do not permit clear stage classification.

Versatile, High Quality and Scalable Continuous Flow Production of Metal-Organic Frameworks

PubMed Central

Rubio-Martinez, Marta; Batten, Michael P.; Polyzos, Anastasios; Carey, Keri-Constanti; Mardel, James I.; Lim, Kok-Seng; Hill, Matthew R.

2014-01-01

Further deployment of Metal-Organic Frameworks in applied settings requires their ready preparation at scale. Expansion of typical batch processes can lead to unsuccessful or low quality synthesis for some systems. Here we report how continuous flow chemistry can be adapted as a versatile route to a range of MOFs, by emulating conditions of lab-scale batch synthesis. This delivers ready synthesis of three different MOFs, with surface areas that closely match theoretical maxima, with production rates of 60 g/h at extremely high space-time yields. PMID:24962145

Psychometric Properties and Clinical Usefulness of the Youth Self-Report DSM-Oriented Scales: A Field Study among Detained Male Adolescents

PubMed Central

Colins, Olivier F.

2016-01-01

It is unknown if the DSM-oriented (DSM) scales of the Youth Self-Report (YSR) are useful to determine what kind of narrowly-focused psychiatric assessment is needed, and how well these scales serve as a triage tool in real-world forensic settings. To address this knowledge gap, the YSR and diagnostic interviews were administered to 405 detained boys as part of a clinical protocol. Continuous DSM scale scores (e.g., Conduct Problems) were moderately to highly accurate in predicting their corresponding disorder (e.g., conduct disorder), whereas dichotomized DSM scale scores were not. To test the DSM scales’ usefulness for triage purposes, the sensitivity and specificity of being in the borderline range of one or more DSM scales were calculated. Almost all boys who did not have a disorder were in the normal range of at least one DSM scale (high specificity). However, many boys with a disorder would have been missed if such a decision rule was used for triage purposes (low sensitivity). In conclusion, their relations with the corresponding disorders support the construct validity of the DSM scales in an applied forensic setting. Nevertheless, the findings also warrant against the use of these scales for planning further narrowly-focused assessment or for triage purposes. PMID:27657102

A Life-Cycle Model of Human Social Groups Produces a U-Shaped Distribution in Group Size.

PubMed

Salali, Gul Deniz; Whitehouse, Harvey; Hochberg, Michael E

2015-01-01

One of the central puzzles in the study of sociocultural evolution is how and why transitions from small-scale human groups to large-scale, hierarchically more complex ones occurred. Here we develop a spatially explicit agent-based model as a first step towards understanding the ecological dynamics of small and large-scale human groups. By analogy with the interactions between single-celled and multicellular organisms, we build a theory of group lifecycles as an emergent property of single cell demographic and expansion behaviours. We find that once the transition from small-scale to large-scale groups occurs, a few large-scale groups continue expanding while small-scale groups gradually become scarcer, and large-scale groups become larger in size and fewer in number over time. Demographic and expansion behaviours of groups are largely influenced by the distribution and availability of resources. Our results conform to a pattern of human political change in which religions and nation states come to be represented by a few large units and many smaller ones. Future enhancements of the model should include decision-making rules and probabilities of fragmentation for large-scale societies. We suggest that the synthesis of population ecology and social evolution will generate increasingly plausible models of human group dynamics.

A Life-Cycle Model of Human Social Groups Produces a U-Shaped Distribution in Group Size

PubMed Central

Salali, Gul Deniz; Whitehouse, Harvey; Hochberg, Michael E.

2015-01-01

One of the central puzzles in the study of sociocultural evolution is how and why transitions from small-scale human groups to large-scale, hierarchically more complex ones occurred. Here we develop a spatially explicit agent-based model as a first step towards understanding the ecological dynamics of small and large-scale human groups. By analogy with the interactions between single-celled and multicellular organisms, we build a theory of group lifecycles as an emergent property of single cell demographic and expansion behaviours. We find that once the transition from small-scale to large-scale groups occurs, a few large-scale groups continue expanding while small-scale groups gradually become scarcer, and large-scale groups become larger in size and fewer in number over time. Demographic and expansion behaviours of groups are largely influenced by the distribution and availability of resources. Our results conform to a pattern of human political change in which religions and nation states come to be represented by a few large units and many smaller ones. Future enhancements of the model should include decision-making rules and probabilities of fragmentation for large-scale societies. We suggest that the synthesis of population ecology and social evolution will generate increasingly plausible models of human group dynamics. PMID:26381745

Safety and tolerability of vortioxetine (15 and 20 mg) in patients with major depressive disorder: results of an open-label, flexible-dose, 52-week extension study.

PubMed

Jacobsen, Paula L; Harper, Linda; Chrones, Lambros; Chan, Serena; Mahableshwarkar, Atul R

2015-09-01

Vortioxetine is approved for the treatment of adults with major depressive disorder. This open-label extension (OLE) study evaluated the safety and tolerability of vortioxetine in the long-term treatment of major depressive disorder patients, as well as evaluated its effectiveness using measures of depression, anxiety, and overall functioning. This was a 52-week, flexible-dose, OLE study in patients who completed one of three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 8-week vortioxetine trials. All patients were switched to 10 mg/day vortioxetine for week 1, then adjusted between 15 and 20 mg for the remainder of the study, but not downtitrated below 15 mg. Safety and tolerability were assessed on the basis of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs), vital signs, laboratory values, physical examination, and the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale. Efficacy measures included the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, the Hamilton Anxiety Scale, the Clinical Global Impression Scale-Severity of Illness, and the Sheehan Disability Scale. Of the 1075 patients enrolled, 1073 received at least one dose of vortioxetine and 538 (50.0%) completed the study. A total of 537 patients withdrew early, with 115 (10.7% of the original study population) withdrawing because of TEAEs. Long-term treatment with vortioxetine was well tolerated; the most common TEAEs (≥10%) were nausea and headache. Laboratory values, vital signs, and physical examinations revealed no trends of clinical concern. The mean Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale total score was 19.9 at the start of the extension study and 9.0 after 52 weeks of treatment (observed cases). Similar improvements were observed with the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (Δ-4.2), the Clinical Global Impression Scale-Severity of Illness (Δ-1.2), and the Sheehan Disability Scale (Δ-4.7) total scores after 52 weeks of treatment (observed case). In this 52-week, flexible-dose OLE study, 15 and 20 mg vortioxetine were safe and well tolerated. After entry into this study, patients continued to show improvement in depression and anxiety symptoms, as well as overall functioning, throughout the treatment period.

The Great Geospace Observatory and Simultaneous Missions of Opportunity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Donovan, Eric; Brandt, Pontus; Siebeck, David; Spann, James; Lester, Mark

2011-01-01

A predictive understanding of the sun to geospace environment is one of the main goals of ILWS. This can only be achieved through a "system-level" approach, meaning long-term, simultaneous, continuous observations across the relevant scales of the magnetosphere and ionosphere/thermosphere (IT). To date such an approach, which must involve simultaneous, multi-scale, global imaging of different geospace regions, has not been carried out for a complete geomagnetic storm. Such imagery, now routine for the Solar community, is of critical scientific importance and captures public imagination. Its absence in geospace studies has limited the growth and impact of geospace science. In this presentation, we discuss a concept called the Great Geospace Observatory, which would involve coordinated geospace imaging through an international effort of multiple, simultaneous Missions of Opportunity. In this way, the cost would be spread among different agencies as well as putting remote sensors in vantage points optimized for each type of imaging. 24/7 auroral imaging from weather satellites on Molniya (or similar) orbits, EUV imaging of the plasmasphere from high-inclination orbits, continuous and global ENA imaging from geosynchronous commercial satellites, and continuous X-ray imaging of the cusp and magnetosheath from a high-altitude dedicated probe would quantitatively track system-level dynamics at through substorms, sawtooth events, steady magnetospheric convection, and storms; studying energy and mass coupling between the solar wind, magnetosphere, and the upper atmosphere. In our minds, The Great Geospace Observatory represents the next strategic step for ILWS and needs to be seriously considered.

Quasi-Continuum Reduction of Field Theories: A Route to Seamlessly Bridge Quantum and Atomistic Length-Scales with Continuum

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-01

AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2016-0145 Quasi-continuum reduction of field theories: A route to seamlessly bridge quantum and atomistic length-scales with...field theories: A route to seamlessly bridge quantum and atomistic length-scales with continuum Principal Investigator: Vikram Gavini Department of...calculations on tens of thousands of atoms, and enable continuing efforts towards a seamless bridging of the quantum and continuum length-scales

Carbon Nanotubules: Building Blocks for Nanometer-Scale Engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sinnott, Susan B.

1999-01-01

The proposed work consisted of two projects: the investigation of fluid permeation and diffusion through ultrafiltration membranes composed of carbon nanotubules and the design and study of molecular transistors composed of nanotubules. I will outline the progress made on each project and also discuss additional projects, one of which is a continuation of work supported by an 1995-1996 NASA Ames Computer grant.

Applications of the Theory of Distributed and Real Time Systems to the Development of Large-Scale Timing Based Systems.

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-04-01

time systems . The focus is on the study of ’building-blocks’ for the construction of reliable and efficient systems. Our works falls into three...Members of MIT’s Theory of Distributed Systems group have continued their work on modelling, designing, verifying and analyzing distributed and real

Construct Validation of Physical Activity Surveys in Culturally Diverse Older Adults: A Comparison of Four Commonly Used Questionnaires

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Delilah S.; Ellis, Rebecca; Allen, Priscilla D.; Cherry, Katie E.; Monroe, Pamela A.; O'Neil, Carol E.; Wood, Robert H.

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to establish validity evidence of four physical activity (PA) questionnaires in culturally diverse older adults by comparing self-report PA with performance-based physical function. Participants were 54 older adults who completed the Continuous Scale Physical Functional Performance 10-item Test (CS-PFP10), Physical…

Moderate-scale mapping methods of aspen stand types: a case study for Cedar Mountain in southern Utah

Treesearch

Chad M. Oukrop; David M. Evans; Dale L. Bartos; R. Douglas Ramsey; Ronald J. Ryel

2011-01-01

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) are the most widely distributed tree species across North America, but its dominance is declining in many areas of the western United States, with certain areas experiencing rapid mortality events over the past decade. The loss of aspen from western landscapes will continue to profoundly impact biological, commercial, and...

Geostrophic balance with a full Coriolis Force: implications for low latitutde studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Juarez, M. de la Torre

2002-01-01

In its standard form, geostrophic balance uses a partial representation of the Coriolis force. The resulting formation has a singularity at the equator, and violates mass and momentum conservation. When the horizontal projection of the planetary rotation vector is considered, the singularity at the equator disappears, continuity can be preserved, and quasigeostrophy can be formulated at planetary scale.

Genotyping-by-sequencing for Populus population genomics: An assessment of genome sampling patterns and filtering approaches

Treesearch

Martin P. Schilling; Paul G. Wolf; Aaron M. Duffy; Hardeep S. Rai; Carol A. Rowe; Bryce A. Richardson; Karen E. Mock

2014-01-01

Continuing advances in nucleotide sequencing technology are inspiring a suite of genomic approaches in studies of natural populations. Researchers are faced with data management and analytical scales that are increasing by orders of magnitude. With such dramatic advances comes a need to understand biases and error rates, which can be propagated and magnified in large-...

40 CFR Appendix D to Part 58 - Network Design Criteria for Ambient Air Quality Monitoring

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... residential district. In this case, one location is representative of a neighborhood of small scale sites and... least one of the required FRM/FEM/ARM monitors is itself a continuous FEM or ARM monitor in which case... studies. 4.7.5Special Network Considerations Required When Using PM2.5 Spatial Averaging Approaches. (a...

40 CFR Appendix D to Part 58 - Network Design Criteria for Ambient Air Quality Monitoring

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... residential district. In this case, one location is representative of a neighborhood of small scale sites and... least one of the required FRM/FEM/ARM monitors is itself a continuous FEM or ARM monitor in which case... studies. 4.7.5Special Network Considerations Required When Using PM2.5 Spatial Averaging Approaches. (a...

40 CFR Appendix D to Part 58 - Network Design Criteria for Ambient Air Quality Monitoring

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... residential district. In this case, one location is representative of a neighborhood of small scale sites and... least one of the required FRM/FEM/ARM monitors is itself a continuous FEM or ARM monitor in which case... studies. 4.7.5Special Network Considerations Required When Using PM2.5 Spatial Averaging Approaches. (a...

Equivalency testing of ultraviolet disinfection for wastewater reclamation

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

Oppenheimer, J.A.; Jacangelo, J.G.; Laine, J.M.

1996-11-01

UV light disinfection was shown to continuously provide microbial inactivation equivalent to chlorine while reducing the formation of known carcinogenic disinfection by-products and the formation of chronic whole effluent toxicity. This was the first study to demonstrate UV`s performance relative to chlorination over an extended timeframe at a full-scale facility treating to meet the most stringent California reclamation standards.

Reduced dimer production in solar-simulator-pumped continuous wave iodine lasers based on model simulations and scaling and pumping studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Costen, Robert C.; Heinbockel, John H.; Miner, Gilda A.; Meador, Willard E., Jr.; Tabibi, Bagher M.; Lee, Ja H.; Williams, Michael D.

1995-01-01

A numerical rate equation model for a continuous wave iodine laser with longitudinally flowing gaseous lasant is validated by approximating two experiments that compare the perfluoroalkyl iodine lasants n-C3F7I and t-C4F9I. The salient feature of the simulations is that the production rate of the dimer (C4F9)2 is reduced by one order of magnitude relative to the dimer (C3F7)2. The model is then used to investigate the kinetic effects of this reduced dimer production, especially how it improves output power. Related parametric and scaling studies are also presented. When dimer production is reduced, more monomer radicals (t-C4F9) are available to combine with iodine ions, thus enhancing depletion of the laser lower level and reducing buildup of the principal quencher, molecular iodine. Fewer iodine molecules result in fewer downward transitions from quenching and more transitions from stimulated emission of lasing photons. Enhanced depletion of the lower level reduces the absorption of lasing photons. The combined result is more lasing photons and proportionally increased output power.

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.

The Toronto Obsessive-Compulsive Scale: Psychometrics of a Dimensional Measure of Obsessive-Compulsive Traits.

PubMed

Park, Laura S; Burton, Christie L; Dupuis, Annie; Shan, Janet; Storch, Eric A; Crosbie, Jennifer; Schachar, Russell J; Arnold, Paul D

2016-04-01

To describe the Toronto Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (TOCS), a novel 21-item parent- or self-report questionnaire that covers wide variation in obsessive-compulsive (OC) traits, and to evaluate its psychometric properties in a community-based pediatric sample. The TOCS was completed for 16,718 children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 17 years in a community setting. Internal consistency, convergent validity with the Obsessive-Compulsive Scale of the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL-OCS), divergent validity with the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) Symptoms and Normal Behaviour Rating Scale (SWAN), interrater reliability, as well as sensitivity and specificity of the TOCS were assessed. The internal consistency of the 21 TOCS items was excellent (Cronbach's α = 0.94). TOCS was moderately correlated with the CBCL-OCS (Spearman correlation = 0.51) and poorly correlated with the SWAN (Pearson correlation = 0.02). Sensitivity and specificity analyses indicated that a TOCS total score of greater than 0 successfully discriminated community-reported obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) cases from noncases. OC traits were continuously distributed both at the total score and dimensional level in our pediatric community sample. TOCS is a multidimensional measure of OC traits in children and adolescents with sound psychometric properties. TOCS reveals that OC traits are common and continuously distributed in a community sample. TOCS may be a useful measure for studies of the characteristics and etiology of OC traits. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Optimization of chemical compositions in low-carbon Al-killed enamel steel produced by ultra-fast continuous annealing

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

Dong, Futao, E-mail: dongft@sina.com; Du, Linxiu; Liu, Xianghua

2013-10-15

The influence of Mn,S and B contents on microstructural characteristics, mechanical properties and hydrogen trapping ability of low-carbon Al-killed enamel steel was investigated. The materials were produced and processed in a laboratory and the ultra-fast continuous annealing processing was performed using a continuous annealing simulator. It was found that increasing Mn,S contents in steel can improve its hydrogen trapping ability which is attributed by refined ferrite grains, more dispersed cementite and added MnS inclusions. Nevertheless, it deteriorates mechanical properties of steel sheet. Addition of trace boron results in both good mechanical properties and significantly improved hydrogen trapping ability. The boronmore » combined with nitrogen segregating at grain boundaries, cementite and MnS inclusions, provides higher amount of attractive hydrogen trapping sites and raises the activation energy for hydrogen desorption from them. - Highlights: • We study microstructures and properties in low-carbon Al-killed enamel steel. • Hydrogen diffusion coefficients are measured to reflect fish-scale resistance. • Manganese improves hydrogen trapping ability but decrease deep-drawing ability. • Boron improves both hydrogen trapping ability and deep-drawing ability. • Both excellent mechanical properties and fish-scale resistance can be matched.« less

Efficient and stable production of Modified Vaccinia Ankara virus in two-stage semi-continuous and in continuous stirred tank cultivation systems.

PubMed

Tapia, Felipe; Jordan, Ingo; Genzel, Yvonne; Reichl, Udo

2017-01-01

One important aim in cell culture-based viral vaccine and vector production is the implementation of continuous processes. Such a development has the potential to reduce costs of vaccine manufacturing as volumetric productivity is increased and the manufacturing footprint is reduced. In this work, continuous production of Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) virus was investigated. First, a semi-continuous two-stage cultivation system consisting of two shaker flasks in series was established as a small-scale approach. Cultures of the avian AGE1.CR.pIX cell line were expanded in the first shaker, and MVA virus was propagated and harvested in the second shaker over a period of 8-15 days. A total of nine small-scale cultivations were performed to investigate the impact of process parameters on virus yields. Harvest volumes of 0.7-1 L with maximum TCID50 titers of up to 1.0×109 virions/mL were obtained. Genetic analysis of control experiments using a recombinant MVA virus containing green-fluorescent-protein suggested that the virus was stable over at least 16 d of cultivation. In addition, a decrease or fluctuation of infectious units that may indicate an excessive accumulation of defective interfering particles was not observed. The process was automated in a two-stage continuous system comprising two connected 1 L stirred tank bioreactors. Stable MVA virus titers, and a total production volume of 7.1 L with an average TCID50 titer of 9×107 virions/mL was achieved. Because titers were at the lower range of the shake flask cultivations potential for further process optimization at large scale will be discussed. Overall, MVA virus was efficiently produced in continuous and semi-continuous cultivations making two-stage stirred tank bioreactor systems a promising platform for industrial production of MVA-derived recombinant vaccines and viral vectors.

Intra-individual gait patterns across different time-scales as revealed by means of a supervised learning model using kernel-based discriminant regression.

PubMed

Horst, Fabian; Eekhoff, Alexander; Newell, Karl M; Schöllhorn, Wolfgang I

2017-01-01

Traditionally, gait analysis has been centered on the idea of average behavior and normality. On one hand, clinical diagnoses and therapeutic interventions typically assume that average gait patterns remain constant over time. On the other hand, it is well known that all our movements are accompanied by a certain amount of variability, which does not allow us to make two identical steps. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in the intra-individual gait patterns across different time-scales (i.e., tens-of-mins, tens-of-hours). Nine healthy subjects performed 15 gait trials at a self-selected speed on 6 sessions within one day (duration between two subsequent sessions from 10 to 90 mins). For each trial, time-continuous ground reaction forces and lower body joint angles were measured. A supervised learning model using a kernel-based discriminant regression was applied for classifying sessions within individual gait patterns. Discernable characteristics of intra-individual gait patterns could be distinguished between repeated sessions by classification rates of 67.8 ± 8.8% and 86.3 ± 7.9% for the six-session-classification of ground reaction forces and lower body joint angles, respectively. Furthermore, the one-on-one-classification showed that increasing classification rates go along with increasing time durations between two sessions and indicate that changes of gait patterns appear at different time-scales. Discernable characteristics between repeated sessions indicate continuous intrinsic changes in intra-individual gait patterns and suggest a predominant role of deterministic processes in human motor control and learning. Natural changes of gait patterns without any externally induced injury or intervention may reflect continuous adaptations of the motor system over several time-scales. Accordingly, the modelling of walking by means of average gait patterns that are assumed to be near constant over time needs to be reconsidered in the context of these findings, especially towards more individualized and situational diagnoses and therapy.

Anaerobic Digestion of Laminaria japonica Waste from Industrial Production Residues in Laboratory- and Pilot-Scale

PubMed Central

Barbot, Yann Nicolas; Thomsen, Claudia; Thomsen, Laurenz; Benz, Roland

2015-01-01

The cultivation of macroalgae to supply the biofuel, pharmaceutical or food industries generates a considerable amount of organic residue, which represents a potential substrate for biomethanation. Its use optimizes the total resource exploitation by the simultaneous disposal of waste biomaterials. In this study, we explored the biochemical methane potential (BMP) and biomethane recovery of industrial Laminaria japonica waste (LJW) in batch, continuous laboratory and pilot-scale trials. Thermo-acidic pretreatment with industry-grade HCl or industrial flue gas condensate (FGC), as well as a co-digestion approach with maize silage (MS) did not improve the biomethane recovery. BMPs between 172 mL and 214 mL g−1 volatile solids (VS) were recorded. We proved the feasibility of long-term continuous anaerobic digestion with LJW as sole feedstock showing a steady biomethane production rate of 173 mL g−1 VS. The quality of fermentation residue was sufficient to serve as biofertilizer, with enriched amounts of potassium, sulfur and iron. We further demonstrated the upscaling feasibility of the process in a pilot-scale system where a CH4 recovery of 189 L kg−1 VS was achieved and a biogas composition of 55% CH4 and 38% CO2 was recorded. PMID:26393620

Settling of hot particles through turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coletti, Filippo; Frankel, Ari; Pouransari, Hadi; Mani, Ali

2014-11-01

Particle-laden flows in which the dispersed phase is not isothermal with the continuous phase are common in a wealth of natural and industrial setting. In this study we consider the case of inertial particles heated by thermal radiation while settling through a turbulent transparent gas. Particles much smaller than the minimum flow scales are considered. The particle Stokes number (based on the Kolmogorov time scale) and the nominal settling velocity (normalized by the root-mean-square fluid velocity fluctuation) are both of order unity. In the considered dilute and optically thin regime, each particle receives the same heat flux. Numerical simulations are performed in which the two-way coupling between dispersed and continuous phase is taken into account. The momentum and energy equations are solved in a triply periodic domain, resolving all spatial and temporal scales. While falling, the heated particles shed plumes of buoyant gas, modifying the turbulence structure and enhancing velocity fluctuations in the vertical direction. The radiative forcing does not affect preferential concentration (clustering of particles in low vorticity regions), but reduces preferential sweeping (particle sampling regions of downward fluid motion). Overall, the mean settling velocity varies slightly when heating the particles, while its variance is greatly increased. We gratefully acknowledges support from DOE PSAAP II program.

Should child protection services respond differently to maltreatment, risk of maltreatment, and risk of harm?

PubMed

Fallon, Barbara; Trocmé, Nico; MacLaurin, Bruce

2011-04-01

To examine evidence available in large-scale North American datasets on child abuse and neglect that can assist in understanding the complexities of child protection case classifications. A review of child abuse and neglect data from large North American epidemiological studies including the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS), the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), and the National Incidence Studies of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS). The authors of this paper argue that recent evidence from large North American epidemiological studies examining the incidence of child abuse and neglect demonstrate that children and families identified as being at risk of maltreatment present with as many household and caregiver concerns as investigations that are substantiated. In order to continue to develop appropriate services and policies for vulnerable children the authors urge continue definitional clarity for research in child maltreatment that considers the exemplars or indicators of categories, in tandem with parental and child characteristics which can provide one source of evidence-basis to meaningful child protection case classifications. Continued monitoring, refined by the dilemmas faced in practice, are critical for a continued public health investment in children's well-being, predicated upon upholding children's rights. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Why people continue to play online games: in search of critical design factors to increase customer loyalty to online contents.

PubMed

Choi, Dongseong; Kim, Jinwoo

2004-02-01

As people increasingly play online games, numerous new features have been proposed to increase players' log-on time at online gaming sites. However, few studies have investigated why people continue to play certain online games or which design features are most closely related to the amount of time spent by players at particular online gaming sites. This study proposes a theoretical model using the concepts of customer loyalty, flow, personal interaction, and social interaction to explain why people continue to play online network games. The study then conducts a large-scale survey to validate the model. Finally, it analyzes current online games to identify design features that are closely related to the theoretical concepts. The results indicate that people continue to play online games if they have optimal experiences while playing the games. This optimal experience can be attained if the player has effective personal interaction with the system or pleasant social interactions with other people connected to the Internet. Personal interaction can be facilitated by providing appropriate goals, operators and feedback; social interaction can be facilitated through appropriate communication places and tools. This paper ends with the implications of applying the study results to other domains such as e-commerce and cyber communities.

LOSS OF BLOOD AT OPERATION—A Method for Continuous Measurement

PubMed Central

Borden, Fred W.

1957-01-01

A method for continuous measurement of surgical blood loss has been devised and has been used clinically in some 400 cases. The method combines volumetric measure of the suction loss and gravimetric measure of the sponge loss. The volumetric device automatically deducts the volume of rinse water used and thus measures the amount of blood collected in a metering cylinder. The suction loss scale shows continuously the amount of blood in the metering cylinder. The gravimetric device requires counting sponges into the weighing pan, and turning a dial scale to deduct the initial weight of the sponges. The volume of blood in the sponges is then read directly on the dial scale. Use of the instrument, which is under the supervision of the anesthesiologist, adds about two minutes per hour to the time normally required for counting the sponges; and about three minutes per hour is required for tending the volumetric instrument. In clinical use, knowing constantly the amount of blood loss permits the starting of transfusion before serious deficit develops, and then maintaining the patient's blood volume at a predetermined optimum level. In some 400 cases the continuous measurement of the blood loss served as a reliable guide for carrying out the loss-replacement plan within close limits of accuracy. ImagesFigure 2.p97-a PMID:13446754

Ultrasound pre-treatment for anaerobic digestion improvement.

PubMed

Pérez-Elvira, S; Fdz-Polanco, M; Plaza, F I; Garralón, G; Fdz-Polanco, F

2009-01-01

Prior research indicates that ultrasounds can be used in batch reactors as pre-treatment before anaerobic digestion, but the specific energy required at laboratory-scale is too high. This work evaluates both the continuous ultrasound device performance (efficiency and solubilisation) and the operation of anaerobic digesters continuously fed with sonicated sludge, and presents energy balance considerations. The results of sludge solubilisation after the sonication treatment indicate that, applying identical specific energy, it is better to increase the power than the residence time. Working with secondary sludge, batch biodegradability tests show that by applying 30 kWh/m3 of sludge, it is possible to increase biogas production by 42%. Data from continuous pilot-scale anaerobic reactors (V=100 L) indicate that operating with a conventional HRT=20 d, a reactor fed with pre-treated sludge increases the volatile solids removal and the biogas production by 25 and 37% respectively. Operating with HRT=15 d, the removal efficiency is similar to the obtained with a reactor fed with non-hydrolysed sludge at HTR=20 d, although the specific biogas productivity per volume of reactor is higher for the pretreated sludge. Regarding the energy balance, although for laboratory-scale devices it is negative, full-scale suppliers state a net generation of 3-10 kW per kW of energy used.

Gravity-induced encapsulation of liquids by destabilization of granular rafts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abkarian, Manouk; Protière, Suzie; Aristoff, Jeffrey M.; Stone, Howard A.

2013-05-01

Droplets and bubbles coated by a protective armour of particles find numerous applications in encapsulation, stabilization of emulsions and foams, and flotation techniques. Here we study the role of a body force, such as in flotation, as a means of continuous encapsulation by particles. We use dense particles, which self-assemble into rafts, at oil-water interfaces. We show that these rafts can be spontaneously or controllably destabilized into armoured oil-in-water droplets, which highlights a possible role for common granular materials in environmental remediation. We further present a method for continuous production and discuss the generalization of our approach towards colloidal scales.

77 FR 72830 - Request for Comments on Request for Continued Examination (RCE) Practice

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-06

... the submission of written comments using a Web-based collaboration tool called IdeaScale[supreg]; and... collaboration tool called IdeaScale[supreg]. The tool allows users to post comments on a topic, and view and...

Inter-rater reliability of categorical versus continuous scoring of fish vitality: Does it affect the utility of the reflex action mortality predictor (RAMP) approach?

PubMed Central

Yochum, Noëlle; Kochzius, Marc; Ampe, Bart; Tuyttens, Frank A. M.

2017-01-01

Scoring reflex responsiveness and injury of aquatic organisms has gained popularity as predictors of discard survival. Given this method relies upon the individual interpretation of scoring criteria, an evaluation of its robustness is done here to test whether protocol-instructed, multiple raters with diverse backgrounds (research scientist, technician, and student) are able to produce similar or the same reflex and injury score for one of the same flatfish (European plaice, Pleuronectes platessa) after experiencing commercial fishing stressors. Inter-rater reliability for three raters was assessed by using a 3-point categorical scale (‘absent’, ‘weak’, ‘strong’) and a tagged visual analogue continuous scale (tVAS, a 10 cm bar split in three labelled sections: 0 for ‘absent’, ‘weak’, ‘moderate’, and ‘strong’) for six reflex responses, and a 4-point scale for four injury types. Plaice (n = 304) were sampled from 17 research beam-trawl deployments during four trips. Fleiss kappa (categorical scores) and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC, continuous scores) indicated variable inter-rater agreement by reflex type (ranging between 0.55 and 0.88, and 67% and 91% for Fleiss kappa and ICC, respectively), with least agreement among raters on extent of injury (Fleiss kappa between 0.08 and 0.27). Despite differences among raters, which did not significantly influence the relationship between impairment and predicted survival, combining categorical reflex and injury scores always produced a close relationship of such vitality indices and observed delayed mortality. The use of the continuous scale did not improve fit of these models compared with using the reflex impairment index based on categorical scores. Given these findings, we recommend using a 3-point categorical over a continuous scale. We also determined that training rather than experience of raters minimised inter-rater differences. Our results suggest that cost-efficient reflex impairment and injury scoring may be considered a robust technique to evaluate lethal stress and damage of this flatfish species on-board commercial beam-trawl vessels. PMID:28704390

Continuous mutual improvement of macromolecular structure models in the PDB and of X-ray crystallographic software: the dual role of deposited experimental data

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

Terwilliger, Thomas C., E-mail: terwilliger@lanl.gov; Bricogne, Gerard, E-mail: terwilliger@lanl.gov; Los Alamos National Laboratory, Mail Stop M888, Los Alamos, NM 87507

Macromolecular structures deposited in the PDB can and should be continually reinterpreted and improved on the basis of their accompanying experimental X-ray data, exploiting the steady progress in methods and software that the deposition of such data into the PDB on a massive scale has made possible. Accurate crystal structures of macromolecules are of high importance in the biological and biomedical fields. Models of crystal structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) are in general of very high quality as deposited. However, methods for obtaining the best model of a macromolecular structure from a given set of experimental X-ray datamore » continue to progress at a rapid pace, making it possible to improve most PDB entries after their deposition by re-analyzing the original deposited data with more recent software. This possibility represents a very significant departure from the situation that prevailed when the PDB was created, when it was envisioned as a cumulative repository of static contents. A radical paradigm shift for the PDB is therefore proposed, away from the static archive model towards a much more dynamic body of continuously improving results in symbiosis with continuously improving methods and software. These simultaneous improvements in methods and final results are made possible by the current deposition of processed crystallographic data (structure-factor amplitudes) and will be supported further by the deposition of raw data (diffraction images). It is argued that it is both desirable and feasible to carry out small-scale and large-scale efforts to make this paradigm shift a reality. Small-scale efforts would focus on optimizing structures that are of interest to specific investigators. Large-scale efforts would undertake a systematic re-optimization of all of the structures in the PDB, or alternatively the redetermination of groups of structures that are either related to or focused on specific questions. All of the resulting structures should be made generally available, along with the precursor entries, with various views of the structures being made available depending on the types of questions that users are interested in answering.« less

A new device for administration of continuous positive airway pressure in preterm infants: comparison with a standard nasal CPAP continuous positive airway pressure system.

PubMed

Trevisanuto, Daniele; Grazzina, Nicoletta; Doglioni, Nicoletta; Ferrarese, Paola; Marzari, Francesco; Zanardo, Vincenzo

2005-06-01

We compared the effectiveness of a new continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device (neonatal helmet CPAP) with a conventional nasal CPAP system in preterm neonates needing continuous distending pressure. Randomized, physiological, cross-over study in a tertiary referral, neonatal intensive care unit in a university teaching hospital. Twenty very low birth weight infants with a postnatal age greater than 24 h who were receiving nasal CPAP for apnea and/or mild respiratory distress were enrolled. CPAP delivered by neonatal helmet CPAP and nasal CPAP in random order for two subsequent 90-min periods. Were continuously measured the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS) score, oxygen requirements, respiratory rate, heart rate, oxygen saturation, transcutaneous PO(2) (tcPO(2)) and PCO(2) (tcPCO(2)), blood pressure, and desaturations. NIPS scores were significantly lower when the infants were on the neonatal helmet CPAP than when they were on nasal CPAP (0.26+/-0.07 vs. 0.63+/-0.12). The other studied parameters did not differ between the two CPAP modes. The number of desaturations was reduced during the neonatal helmet CPAP treatment (18 vs. 32), although this difference was not significant. In this short-term physiological study the neonatal helmet CPAP appears to be as good as the golden standard for managing preterm infants needing continuous distending pressure, with enhanced tolerability. Further evaluation in a randomized clinical trial is needed to confirm these findings.

Pregnancy continuation and organizational religious activity following prenatal diagnosis of a lethal fetal defect are associated with improved psychological outcome.

PubMed

Cope, Heidi; Garrett, Melanie E; Gregory, Simon; Ashley-Koch, Allison

2015-08-01

The aim of the article is to examine the psychological impact, specifically symptoms of grief, post-traumatic stress and depression, in women and men who either terminated or continued a pregnancy following prenatal diagnosis of a lethal fetal defect. This project investigated a diagnostically homogeneous group composed of 158 women and 109 men who lost a pregnancy to anencephaly, a lethal neural tube defect. Participants completed the Perinatal Grief Scale, Impact of Event Scale - Revised and Beck Depression Inventory-II, which measure symptoms of grief, post-traumatic stress and depression, respectively. Demographics, religiosity and pregnancy choices were also collected. Gender-specific analysis of variance was performed for instrument total scores and subscales. Women who terminated reported significantly more despair (p = 0.02), avoidance (p = 0.008) and depression (p = 0.04) than women who continued the pregnancy. Organizational religious activity was associated with a reduction in grief (Perinatal Grief Scale subscales) in both women (p = 0.02, p = 0.04 and p = 0.03) and men (p = 0.047). There appears to be a psychological benefit to women to continue the pregnancy following a lethal fetal diagnosis. Following a lethal fetal diagnosis, the risks and benefits, including psychological effects, of termination and continuation of pregnancy should be discussed in detail with an effort to be as nondirective as possible. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Carbon Nanotubules: Building Blocks for Nanometer-Scale Engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sinnott, Susan B.

1999-01-01

The proposed work consisted of two projects: the investigation of fluid permeation and diffusion through ultrafiltration membranes composed of carbon nanotubules and the design and study of molecular transistors composed of nanotubules. The progress made on each project is summarized and also discussion about additional projects, one of which is a continuation of work supported by another grant, is included. The first project was Liquid Interactions within a Nanotubule Membrane. The second was the design of nanometer-scale hydrocarbon electronic devices. The third was the investigation of Mechanical properties of Nanotubules and Nanotubule bundles. The fourth project was to investigate the growth mechanisms of Carbon Nanotubules.

Full-Scale Direct Numerical Simulation of Two- and Three-Dimensional Instabilities and Rivulet Formulation in Heated Falling Films

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krishnamoorthy, S.; Ramaswamy, B.; Joo, S. W.

1995-01-01

A thin film draining on an inclined plate has been studied numerically using finite element method. Three-dimensional governing equations of continuity, momentum and energy with a moving boundary are integrated in an arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian frame of reference. Kinematic equation is solved to precisely update interface location. Rivulet formation based on instability mechanism has been simulated using full-scale computation. Comparisons with long-wave theory are made to validate the numerical scheme. Detailed analysis of two- and three-dimensional nonlinear wave formation and spontaneous rupture forming rivulets under the influence of combined thermocapillary and surface-wave instabilities is performed.

A comprehensive surface-groundwater flow model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arnold, Jeffrey G.; Allen, Peter M.; Bernhardt, Gilbert

1993-02-01

In this study, a simple groundwater flow and height model was added to an existing basin-scale surface water model. The linked model is: (1) watershed scale, allowing the basin to be subdivided; (2) designed to accept readily available inputs to allow general use over large regions; (3) continuous in time to allow simulation of land management, including such factors as climate and vegetation changes, pond and reservoir management, groundwater withdrawals, and stream and reservoir withdrawals. The model is described, and is validated on a 471 km 2 watershed near Waco, Texas. This linked model should provide a comprehensive tool for water resource managers in development and planning.

Are Exaggerated Health Complaints Continuous or Categorical? A Taxometric Analysis of the Health Problem Overstatement Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walters, Glenn D.; Berry, David T. R.; Lanyon, Richard I.; Murphy, Michael P.

2009-01-01

A taxometric analysis of 3 factor scales extracted from the Health Problem Overstatement (HPO) scale of the Psychological Screening Inventory (PSI; R. I. Lanyon, 1970, 1978) was performed on the data from 1,240 forensic and psychiatric patients. Mean above minus below a cut, maximum covariance, and latent-mode factor analyses produced results…

The Use of Quality Control and Data Mining Techniques for Monitoring Scaled Scores: An Overview. Research Report. ETS RR-12-20

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

von Davier, Alina A.

2012-01-01

Maintaining comparability of test scores is a major challenge faced by testing programs that have almost continuous administrations. Among the potential problems are scale drift and rapid accumulation of errors. Many standard quality control techniques for testing programs, which can effectively detect and address scale drift for small numbers of…

Building a Consistent Long-Term SSS Data Record from Multi-Satellite Measurements: A Case Study in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (SPURS-2)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melnichenko, O.; Hacker, P. W.; Wentz, F. J.; Meissner, T.; Maximenko, N. A.; Potemra, J. T.

2016-12-01

To address the need for a consistent, continuous, long-term, high-resolution sea surface salinity (SSS) dataset for ocean research and applications, a trial SSS analysis is produced in the eastern tropical Pacific from multi-satellite observations. The new SSS data record is a synergy of data from two satellite missions. The beginning segment, covering the period from September 2011 to June 2015, utilizes Aquarius SSS data and is based on the optimum interpolation analysis developed at the University of Hawaii. The analysis is produced on a 0.25-degree grid and uses a dedicated bias-correction algorithm to correct the satellite retrievals for large-scale biases with respect to in-situ data. The time series is continued with the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite-based SSS data provided by Remote Sensing Systems (RSS). To ensure consistency and continuity in the data record, SMAP SSS fields are adjusted using a set of optimally designed spatial filters and in-situ, primarily Argo, data to: (i) remove large-scale satellite biases, and (ii) reduce small-scale noise, while preserving the high spatial and temporal resolution of the data set. The consistency between the two sub-sets of the data record is evaluated during their overlapping period in April-June 2015. Verification studies show that SMAP SSS has a very good agreement with the Aquarius SSS, noting that SMAP SSS can provide better spatial resolution. The 5-yr long time series of SSS in the SPURS-2 domain (125oW, 10oN) shows fresher than normal SSS during the last year's El Nino event. The year-mean difference is about 0.5 psu. The annual cycle during the El Nino year also appears to be much weaker than in a normal year.

Crystal and Particle Engineering Strategies for Improving Powder Compression and Flow Properties to Enable Continuous Tablet Manufacturing by Direct Compression.

PubMed

Chattoraj, Sayantan; Sun, Changquan Calvin

2018-04-01

Continuous manufacturing of tablets has many advantages, including batch size flexibility, demand-adaptive scale up or scale down, consistent product quality, small operational foot print, and increased manufacturing efficiency. Simplicity makes direct compression the most suitable process for continuous tablet manufacturing. However, deficiencies in powder flow and compression of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) limit the range of drug loading that can routinely be considered for direct compression. For the widespread adoption of continuous direct compression, effective API engineering strategies to address power flow and compression problems are needed. Appropriate implementation of these strategies would facilitate the design of high-quality robust drug products, as stipulated by the Quality-by-Design framework. Here, several crystal and particle engineering strategies for improving powder flow and compression properties are summarized. The focus is on the underlying materials science, which is the foundation for effective API engineering to enable successful continuous manufacturing by the direct compression process. Copyright © 2018 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rates of Dinosaur Body Mass Evolution Indicate 170 Million Years of Sustained Ecological Innovation on the Avian Stem Lineage

PubMed Central

Benson, Roger B. J.; Campione, Nicolás E.; Carrano, Matthew T.; Mannion, Philip D.; Sullivan, Corwin; Upchurch, Paul; Evans, David C.

2014-01-01

Large-scale adaptive radiations might explain the runaway success of a minority of extant vertebrate clades. This hypothesis predicts, among other things, rapid rates of morphological evolution during the early history of major groups, as lineages invade disparate ecological niches. However, few studies of adaptive radiation have included deep time data, so the links between extant diversity and major extinct radiations are unclear. The intensively studied Mesozoic dinosaur record provides a model system for such investigation, representing an ecologically diverse group that dominated terrestrial ecosystems for 170 million years. Furthermore, with 10,000 species, extant dinosaurs (birds) are the most speciose living tetrapod clade. We assembled composite trees of 614–622 Mesozoic dinosaurs/birds, and a comprehensive body mass dataset using the scaling relationship of limb bone robustness. Maximum-likelihood modelling and the node height test reveal rapid evolutionary rates and a predominance of rapid shifts among size classes in early (Triassic) dinosaurs. This indicates an early burst niche-filling pattern and contrasts with previous studies that favoured gradualistic rates. Subsequently, rates declined in most lineages, which rarely exploited new ecological niches. However, feathered maniraptoran dinosaurs (including Mesozoic birds) sustained rapid evolution from at least the Middle Jurassic, suggesting that these taxa evaded the effects of niche saturation. This indicates that a long evolutionary history of continuing ecological innovation paved the way for a second great radiation of dinosaurs, in birds. We therefore demonstrate links between the predominantly extinct deep time adaptive radiation of non-avian dinosaurs and the phenomenal diversification of birds, via continuing rapid rates of evolution along the phylogenetic stem lineage. This raises the possibility that the uneven distribution of biodiversity results not just from large-scale extrapolation of the process of adaptive radiation in a few extant clades, but also from the maintenance of evolvability on vast time scales across the history of life, in key lineages. PMID:24802911

Rates of dinosaur body mass evolution indicate 170 million years of sustained ecological innovation on the avian stem lineage.

PubMed

Benson, Roger B J; Campione, Nicolás E; Carrano, Matthew T; Mannion, Philip D; Sullivan, Corwin; Upchurch, Paul; Evans, David C

2014-05-01

Large-scale adaptive radiations might explain the runaway success of a minority of extant vertebrate clades. This hypothesis predicts, among other things, rapid rates of morphological evolution during the early history of major groups, as lineages invade disparate ecological niches. However, few studies of adaptive radiation have included deep time data, so the links between extant diversity and major extinct radiations are unclear. The intensively studied Mesozoic dinosaur record provides a model system for such investigation, representing an ecologically diverse group that dominated terrestrial ecosystems for 170 million years. Furthermore, with 10,000 species, extant dinosaurs (birds) are the most speciose living tetrapod clade. We assembled composite trees of 614-622 Mesozoic dinosaurs/birds, and a comprehensive body mass dataset using the scaling relationship of limb bone robustness. Maximum-likelihood modelling and the node height test reveal rapid evolutionary rates and a predominance of rapid shifts among size classes in early (Triassic) dinosaurs. This indicates an early burst niche-filling pattern and contrasts with previous studies that favoured gradualistic rates. Subsequently, rates declined in most lineages, which rarely exploited new ecological niches. However, feathered maniraptoran dinosaurs (including Mesozoic birds) sustained rapid evolution from at least the Middle Jurassic, suggesting that these taxa evaded the effects of niche saturation. This indicates that a long evolutionary history of continuing ecological innovation paved the way for a second great radiation of dinosaurs, in birds. We therefore demonstrate links between the predominantly extinct deep time adaptive radiation of non-avian dinosaurs and the phenomenal diversification of birds, via continuing rapid rates of evolution along the phylogenetic stem lineage. This raises the possibility that the uneven distribution of biodiversity results not just from large-scale extrapolation of the process of adaptive radiation in a few extant clades, but also from the maintenance of evolvability on vast time scales across the history of life, in key lineages.

Continuous intestinal infusion of levodopa-carbidopa in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease in Spain: Subanalysis by autonomous community.

PubMed

Santos-García, D; Catalán, M J; Puente, V; Valldeoriola, F; Regidor, I; Mir, P; Matías-Arbelo, J; Parra, J C; Grandas, F

2018-01-12

To compare the characteristics of patients undergoing treatment with continuous intestinal infusion of levodopa-carbidopa (CIILC) for advanced Parkinson's disease and the data on the effectiveness and safety of CIILC in the different autonomous communities (AC) of Spain. A retrospective, longitudinal, observational study was carried out into 177 patients from 11 CAs who underwent CIILC between January 2006 and December 2011. We analysed data on patients' clinical and demographic characteristics, variables related to effectiveness (changes in off time/on time with or without disabling dyskinesia; changes in Hoehn and Yahr scale and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale scores; non-motor symptoms; and Clinical Global Impression scale scores) and safety (adverse events), and the rate of CIILC discontinuation. Significant differences were observed between CAs for several baseline variables: duration of disease progression prior to CIILC onset, off time (34.9-59.7%) and on time (2.6-48.0%; with or without disabling dyskinesia), Hoehn and Yahr score during on time, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale-III score during both on and off time, presence of≥ 4 motor symptoms, and CIILC dose. Significant differences were observed during follow-up (> 24 months in 9 of the 11 CAs studied) for the percentage of off time and on time without disabling dyskinesia, adverse events frequency, and Clinical Global Impression scores. The rate of CIILC discontinuation was between 20-40% in 9 CAs (78 and 80% in remaining 2 CAs). This study reveals a marked variability between CAs in terms of patient selection and CIILC safety and effectiveness. These results may have been influenced by patients' baseline characteristics, the availability of multidisciplinary teams, and clinical experience. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Use of Continuous Plankton Recorder information in support of marine management: applications in fisheries, environmental protection, and in the study of ecosystem response to environmental change [review article

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brander, K. M.; Dickson, R. R.; Edwards, M.

2003-08-01

The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey was conceived from the outset as a programme of applied research designed to assist the fishing industry. Its survival and continuing vigour after 70 years is a testament to its utility, which has been achieved in spite of great changes in our understanding of the marine environment and in our concerns over how to manage it. The CPR has been superseded in several respects by other technologies, such as acoustics and remote sensing, but it continues to provide unrivalled seasonal and geographic information about a wide range of zooplankton and phytoplankton taxa. The value of this coverage increases with time and provides the basis for placing recent observations into the context of long-term, large-scale variability and thus suggesting what the causes are likely to be. Information from the CPR is used extensively in judging environmental impacts and producing quality status reports (QSR); it has shown the distributions of fish stocks, which had not previously been exploited; it has pointed to the extent of ungrazed phytoplankton production in the North Atlantic, which was a vital element in establishing the importance of carbon sequestration by phytoplankton. The CPR continues to be the principal source of large-scale, long-term information about the plankton ecosystem of the North Atlantic. It has recently provided extensive information about the biodiversity of the plankton and about the distribution of introduced species. It serves as a valuable example for the design of future monitoring of the marine environment and it has been essential to the design and implementation of most North Atlantic plankton research.

Using Multiscale Modeling to Study Coupled Flow, Transport, Reaction and Biofilm Growth Processes in Porous Media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valocchi, A. J.; Laleian, A.; Werth, C. J.

2017-12-01

Perturbation of natural subsurface systems by fluid inputs may induce geochemical or microbiological reactions that change porosity and permeability, leading to complex coupled feedbacks between reaction and transport processes. Some examples are precipitation/dissolution processes associated with carbon capture and storage and biofilm growth associated with contaminant transport and remediation. We study biofilm growth due to mixing controlled reaction of multiple substrates. As biofilms grow, pore clogging occurs which alters pore-scale flow paths thus changing the mixing and reaction. These interactions are challenging to quantify using conventional continuum-scale porosity-permeability relations. Pore-scale models can accurately resolve coupled reaction, biofilm growth and transport processes, but modeling at this scale is not feasible for practical applications. There are two approaches to address this challenge. Results from pore-scale models in generic pore structures can be used to develop empirical relations between porosity and continuum-scale parameters, such as permeability and dispersion coefficients. The other approach is to develop a multiscale model of biofilm growth in which non-overlapping regions at pore and continuum spatial scales are coupled by a suitable method that ensures continuity of flux across the interface. Thus, regions of high reactivity where flow alteration occurs are resolved at the pore scale for accuracy while regions of low reactivity are resolved at the continuum scale for efficiency. This approach thus avoids the need for empirical upscaling relations in regions with strong feedbacks between reaction and porosity change. We explore and compare these approaches for several two-dimensional cases.

Impacts of short-term heatwaves on sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence(SiF) in temperate tree species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, F.; Gu, L.; Guha, A.; Han, J.; Warren, J.

2017-12-01

The current projections for global climate change forecast an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme climatic events, such as droughts and short-term heat waves. Understanding the effects of short-term heat wave on photosynthesis process is of critical importance to predict global impacts of extreme weather event on vegetation. The diurnal and seasonal characteristics of SIF emitted from natural vegetation, e.g., forest and crop, have been studied at the ecosystem-scale, regional-scale and global-scale. However, the detailed response of SIF from different plant species under extremely weather event, especially short-term heat wave, have not been reported. The purpose of this study was to study the response of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence, gas exchange and continuous fluorescence at leaf scale for different temperate tree species. The short-term heatwave experiment was conducted using plant growth chamber (CMP6050, Conviron Inc., Canada). We developed an advanced spectral fitting method to obtain the plant SIF in the plant growth chamber. We compared SIF variation among different wavelength and chlorophyll difference among four temperate tree species. The diurnal variation of SIF signals at leaf-scales for temperate tree species are different under heat stress. The SIF response at leaf-scales and their difference for four temperate tree species are different during a cycle of short-term heatwave stress. We infer that SIF be used as a measure of heat tolerance for temperate tree species.

Assessment of the biophysical impacts of utility-scale photovoltaics through observations and modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Broadbent, A. M.; Georgescu, M.; Krayenhoff, E. S.; Sailor, D.

2017-12-01

Utility-scale solar power plants are a rapidly growing component of the solar energy sector. Utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar power generation in the United States has increased by 867% since 2012 (EIA, 2016). This expansion is likely to continue as the cost PV technologies decrease. While most agree that solar power can decrease greenhouse gas emissions, the biophysical effects of PV systems on surface energy balance (SEB), and implications for surface climate, are not well understood. To our knowledge, there has never been a detailed observational study of SEB at a utility-scale solar array. This study presents data from an eddy covariance observational tower, temporarily placed above a utility-scale PV array in Southern Arizona. Comparison of PV SEB with a reference (unmodified) site, shows that solar panels can alter the SEB and near surface climate. SEB observations are used to develop and validate a new and more complete SEB PV model. In addition, the PV model is compared to simpler PV modelling methods. The simpler PV models produce differing results to our newly developed model and cannot capture the more complex processes that influence PV SEB. Finally, hypothetical scenarios of PV expansion across the continental United States (CONUS) were developed using various spatial mapping criteria. CONUS simulations of PV expansion reveal regional variability in biophysical effects of PV expansion. The study presents the first rigorous and validated simulations of the biophysical effects of utility-scale PV arrays.

Exploring the validity and statistical utility of a racism scale among Black men who have sex with men: a pilot study.

PubMed

Smith, William Pastor

2013-09-01

The primary purpose of this two-phased study was to examine the structural validity and statistical utility of a racism scale specific to Black men who have sex with men (MSM) who resided in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area and Baltimore, Maryland. Phase I involved pretesting a 10-item racism measure with 20 Black MSM. Based on pretest findings, the scale was adapted into a 21-item racism scale for use in collecting data on 166 respondents in Phase II. Exploratory factor analysis of the 21-item racism scale resulted in a 19-item, two-factor solution. The two factors or subscales were the following: General Racism and Relationships and Racism. Confirmatory factor analysis was used in testing construct validity of the factored racism scale. Specifically, the two racism factors were combined with three homophobia factors into a confirmatory factor analysis model. Based on a summary of the fit indices, both comparative and incremental were equal to .90, suggesting an adequate convergence of the racism and homophobia dimensions into a single social oppression construct. Statistical utility of the two racism subscales was demonstrated when regression analysis revealed that the gay-identified men versus bisexual-identified men in the sample were more likely to experience increased racism within the context of intimate relationships and less likely to be exposed to repeated experiences of general racism. Overall, the findings in this study highlight the importance of continuing to explore the psychometric properties of a racism scale that accounts for the unique psychosocial concerns experienced by Black MSM.

Fast cadence planet-searches with the all-sky, gigapixel-scale Evryscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ratzloff, Jeff; Law, Nicholas

2018-01-01

The Evryscope is a 24-camera robotic telescope that continuously images 8,000 square degrees in 2-minute exposures, that has been collecting data continuously since deployment to CTIO in mid-2015. The telescope provides the fast cadence observations necessary for detecting minute to tens-of-minute time-scale exoplanet transits, which would occur around small, compact host stars including White Dwarfs and Hot Subdwarfs. We are conducting target surveys for each of these types of stars searching for potential planet transit signals. Our surveys will be the largest performed to date with several thousand targets in each group and years of observations, and the only surveys with minute-scale cadence. We present the status of the surveys, our estimated detection ability, interesting candidates, and preliminary results.

Scaling behavior of nonisothermal phase separation.

PubMed

Rüllmann, Max; Alig, Ingo

2004-04-22

The phase separation process in a critical mixture of polydimethylsiloxane and polyethylmethylsiloxane (PDMS/PEMS, a system with an upper critical solution temperature) was investigated by time-resolved light scattering during continuous quenches from the one-phase into the two-phase region. Continuous quenches were realized by cooling ramps with different cooling rates kappa. Phase separation kinetics is studied by means of the temporal evolution of the scattering vector qm and the intensity Im at the scattering peak. The curves qm(t) for different cooling rates can be shifted onto a single mastercurve. The curves Im(t) show similar behavior. As shift factors, a characteristic length Lc and a characteristic time tc are introduced. Both characteristic quantities depend on the cooling rate through power laws: Lc approximately kappa(-delta) and tc approximately kappa(-rho). Scaling behavior in isothermal critical demixing is well known. There the temporal evolutions of qm and Im for different quench depths DeltaT can be scaled with the correlation length xi and the interdiffusion coefficient D, both depending on DeltaT through critical power laws. We show in this paper that the cooling rate scaling in nonisothermal demixing is a consequence of the quench depth scaling in the isothermal case. The exponents delta and rho are related to the critical exponents nu and nu* of xi and D, respectively. The structure growth during nonisothermal demixing can be described with a semiempirical model based on the hydrodynamic coarsening mechanism well known in the isothermal case. In very late stages of nonisothermal phase separation a secondary scattering maximum appears. This is due to secondary demixing. We explain the onset of secondary demixing by a competition between interdiffusion and coarsening. (c) 2004 American Institute of Physics

Global scale stratospheric processes as measured by the infrasound IMS network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Pichon, A.; Ceranna, L.; Kechut, P.

2012-12-01

IMS infrasound array data are routinely processed at the International Data Center (IDC). The wave parameters of the detected signals are estimated with the Progressive Multi-Channel Correlation method (PMCC). We have processed continuous recordings from 41 certified IMS stations from 2005 to 2010 in the 0.01-5 Hz frequency band using a new implementation of the PMCC algorithm. Microbaroms are the dominant source of signals near-continuously and globally detected. The observed azimuthal seasonal trend correlates well with the variation of the effective sound speed ratio (Veff-ratio) which is a proxy for the combined effects of refraction due to sound speed gradients and advection due to along-path stratospheric wind on infrasound propagation. Systematic correlations between infrasound parameters (e.g. number of detections, amplitude) and Veff-ratio calculated at different ranges of altitudes are performed. Combined with propagation modeling, we show that such an analysis enables a characterization of the wind and temperature structure above the stratosphere and may provide detailed information on upper atmospheric processes (e.g., large-scale planetary waves, stratospheric warming effects) from the seasonal trend to short time scale variability. We discuss the potential benefit of long-term infrasound monitoring to infer stratospheric processes for the first time on a global scale. This study suggests poorly resolved stratospheric wind fluctuations at low latitude regions with strengths of horizontal wind structures underestimated by at least ~10 m/s. It is expected that this correlation between infrasound observations and the state-of-the-art atmospheric specifications will allow to statistically quantify the spatial and temporal resolutions of the wind structures at different ranges of altitudes, latitudes and time scales.

Continual Dune and Ripple Migration in Nili Patera

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-10-01

Nili Patera is a region on Mars in which dunes and ripples are moving rapidly. HiRISE continues to monitor this area every couple of months to see changes over seasonal and annual time scales as seen by NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Wearable sensor-based objective assessment of motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Ossig, Christiana; Antonini, Angelo; Buhmann, Carsten; Classen, Joseph; Csoti, Ilona; Falkenburger, Björn; Schwarz, Michael; Winkler, Jürgen; Storch, Alexander

2016-01-01

Effective management and development of new treatment strategies of motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) largely depend on clinical rating instruments like the Unified PD rating scale (UPDRS) and the modified abnormal involuntary movement scale (mAIMS). Regarding inter-rater variability and continuous monitoring, clinical rating scales have various limitations. Patient-administered questionnaires such as the PD home diary to assess motor stages and fluctuations in late-stage PD are frequently used in clinical routine and as clinical trial endpoints, but diary/questionnaire are tiring, and recall bias impacts on data quality, particularly in patients with cognitive dysfunction or depression. Consequently, there is a strong need for continuous and objective monitoring of motor symptoms in PD for improving therapeutic regimen and for usage in clinical trials. Recent advances in battery technology, movement sensors such as gyroscopes, accelerometers and information technology boosted the field of objective measurement of movement in everyday life and medicine using wearable sensors allowing continuous (long-term) monitoring. This systematic review summarizes the current wearable sensor-based devices to objectively assess the various motor symptoms of PD.

Continuous evolutionary change in Plio-Pleistocene mammals of eastern Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bibi, Faysal; Kiessling, Wolfgang

2015-08-01

Much debate has revolved around the question of whether the mode of evolutionary and ecological turnover in the fossil record of African mammals was continuous or pulsed, and the degree to which faunal turnover tracked changes in global climate. Here, we assembled and analyzed large specimen databases of the fossil record of eastern African Bovidae (antelopes) and Turkana Basin large mammals. Our results indicate that speciation and extinction proceeded continuously throughout the Pliocene and Pleistocene, as did increases in the relative abundance of arid-adapted bovids, and in bovid body mass. Species durations were similar among clades with different ecological attributes. Occupancy patterns were unimodal, with long and nearly symmetrical origination and extinction phases. A single origination pulse may be present at 2.0-1.75 Ma, but besides this, there is no evidence that evolutionary or ecological changes in the eastern African record tracked rapid, 100,000-y-scale changes in global climate. Rather, eastern African large mammal evolution tracked global or regional climatic trends at long (million year) time scales, while local, basin-scale changes (e.g., tectonic or hydrographic) and biotic interactions ruled at shorter timescales.

Comprehensive Analysis Modeling of Small-Scale UAS Rotors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, Carl R.; Sekula, Martin K.

2017-01-01

Multicopter unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, have continued their explosive growth in recent years. With this growth comes demand for increased performance as the limits of existing technologies are reached. In order to better design multicopter UAS aircraft, better performance prediction tools are needed. This paper presents the results of a study aimed at using the rotorcraft comprehensive analysis code CAMRAD II to model a multicopter UAS rotor in hover. Parametric studies were performed to determine the level of fidelity needed in the analysis code inputs to achieve results that match test data. Overall, the results show that CAMRAD II is well suited to model small-scale UAS rotors in hover. This paper presents the results of the parametric studies as well as recommendations for the application of comprehensive analysis codes to multicopter UAS rotors.

Scale-up of an ultrasound-enhanced bioscouring process

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Using previously determined optimized reaction conditions, an ultrasound-enhanced bioscouring process was scaled to ten gallon capacity and a system of rollers was added which allowed for continuous fabric feed and equipment operation. UV-Vis photospectroscopic data from bioscoured fabric samples co...

How Do Observational Scales Correlate the Ratings of Children's Behavior during Pediatric Procedural Sedation?

PubMed Central

Moura, Larissa da Silva

2016-01-01

Background. There is little information regarding the ability of observational scales to properly assess children's behavior during procedural sedation. Aim. To evaluate the characteristics of the Houpt scales, the Ohio State University Behavioral Rating Scale (OSUBRS) and the Venham Behavior Rating Scale when applied to preschool children undergoing conscious dental sedation. Design. This study included 27 children, 4–6 years old with early childhood caries that participated in a clinical trial (NCT02284204) that investigated two sedative regimes using oral midazolam/ketamine. Dental appointments were video-recorded; five calibrated observers assessed 1,209 minutes of video recording to score the children's behavior, following the instructions of the investigated scales. Data were analyzed by descriptive analysis and Spearman correlation tests (P < 0.05). Results. The Houpt overall behavior and the Venham scale were highly correlated (rho = −0.87; P < 0.001). OSUBRS scores were better correlated with Houpt overall behavior and Venham ratings, when compared to Houpt scores in the categories for movement and crying. Conclusions. The Houpt overall behavior and the Venham scores are global scales that properly measure children's behavior during dental sedation. Continuous assessment with OSUBRS through videos has a chance to give more precise data, while the Houpt categories can easily demonstrate children's behavior during procedures. PMID:28116299

Monodisperse granular flows in viscous dispersions in a centrifugal acceleration field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cabrera, Miguel Angel; Wu, Wei

2016-04-01

Granular flows are encountered in geophysical flows and innumerable industrial applications with particulate materials. When mixed with a fluid, a complex network of interactions between the particle- and fluid-phase develops, resulting in a compound material with a yet unclear physical behaviour. In the study of granular suspensions mixed with a viscous dispersion, the scaling of the stress-strain characteristics of the fluid phase needs to account for the level of inertia developed in experiments. However, the required model dimensions and amount of material becomes a main limitation for their study. In recent years, centrifuge modelling has been presented as an alternative for the study of particle-fluid flows in a reduced scaled model in an augmented acceleration field. By formulating simple scaling principles proportional to the equivalent acceleration Ng in the model, the resultant flows share many similarities with field events. In this work we study the scaling principles of the fluid phase and its effects on the flow of granular suspensions. We focus on the dense flow of a monodisperse granular suspension mixed with a viscous fluid phase, flowing down an inclined plane and being driven by a centrifugal acceleration field. The scaled model allows the continuous monitoring of the flow heights, velocity fields, basal pressure and mass flow rates at different Ng levels. The experiments successfully identify the effects of scaling the plastic viscosity of the fluid phase, its relation with the deposition of particles over the inclined plane, and allows formulating a discussion on the suitability of simulating particle-fluid flows in a centrifugal acceleration field.

A case report of shoulder fatigue imbalance in wheelchair rugby: implications to pain and injury.

PubMed

Barfield, J P; Newsome, Laura; John, Emmanuel B; Sallee, David; Frames, Chris; Soangra, Rahul; Malone, Laurie A

2016-01-01

The purpose of this case-control study was to examine potential agonist-antagonist fatigue imbalance during wheelchair rugby activity. A 16-channel NORAXON electromyography (EMG) system 1400A with telemetry was used to assess EMG activity in a 39-year-old male with a C6 complete spinal cord injury (American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) A), 17.5 years post injury. Mean amplitude and median frequency were determined for push-phase agonists (anterior deltoid and pectoralis major) and antagonist (posterior deltoid) across four training sessions at a community fitness and Paralympic training facility. Unlike continuous wheelchair pushing, acute muscle imbalances between agonists and antagonists (that is, push and recovery muscles) were not demonstrated. Wheelchair sports such as rugby may reduce risk of shoulder pain and overuse injury due to intermittent activity rather than continuous pushing. The current study is one of the first to document sport fatigue through electromyography during intermittent, live play rather than clinical conditions (that is, continuous pushing).

From pattern to process: The strategy of the Earth Observing System: Volume 2: EOS Science Steering Committee report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS) represents a new approach to the study of the Earth. It consists of remotely sensed and correlative in situ observations designed to address important, interrelated global-scale processes. There is an urgent need to study the Earth as a complete, integrated system in order to understand and predict changes caused by human activities and natural processes. The EOS approach is based on an information system concept and designed to provide a long-term study of the Earth using a variety of measurement methods from both operational and research satellite payloads and continuing ground-based Earth science studies. The EOS concept builds on the foundation of the earlier, single-discipline space missions designed for relatively short observation periods. Continued progress in our understanding of the Earth as a system will come from EOS observations spanning several decades using a variety of contemporaneous measurements.

Home range and movements of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) in an estuary habitat

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fujisaki, Ikuko; Hart, Kristen M.; Mazzotti, Frank J.; Cherkiss, Michael S.; Sartain-Iverson, Autumn R.; Jeffery, Brian M.; Beauchamp, Jeffrey S.; Denton, Mathew J.

2014-01-01

This study reveals consistent use of estuary habitat by American alligators. The alligators showed variations in their movement pattern and seasonal habitat, with movement attributable to environmental factors. Although satellite-derived locations were more dispersed compared to locations collected using VHF radio-tags, data collected from VHF tracking omitted some habitat used for a short period of time, indicating the effectiveness of satellite telemetry to continuously track animals for ecosystem-scale studies.

Cold Flow Testing of a Modified Subscale Model Exhaust System for a Space Based Laser

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-06-01

Abstract The aim of this research was a continued study of gas-dynamic phenomena that occurred in a set of stacked nozzles as reported by Captains...join the vacuum and test sections. The goals of this research were two fold; first, modify the original scale-model of the stacked cylindrical...Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), in conjunction with the Airborne Laser Laboratory, have studied the use of an Airborne Laser (ABL

[Diagnostic test scale SI5: Assessment of sacroiliac joint dysfunction].

PubMed

Acevedo González, Juan C; Quintero Oliveros, Silvia

2015-01-01

Sacroiliac joint dysfunction is a known cause of low back pain. We think that a diagnostic score scale (SI5) may be performed to assess diagnostic utility of clinical signs of sacroiliac joint dysfunction. The primary aim of the present study was to conduct the pilot study of our new diagnostic score scale, the SI5, for sacroiliac joint syndrome. We reviewed the literature on clinical characteristics, diagnostic tests and imaging most commonly used in diagnosing sacroiliac joint dysfunction. Our group evaluated the diagnostic utility of these aspects and we used those considered most representative to develop the SI5 diagnostic scale. The SI5 scale was applied to 22 patients with low back pain; afterwards, the standard test for diagnosing this pathology (selective blockage of the SI joint) was also performed on these patients. The sensitivity and specificity for each sign were also assessed and the diagnostic scale called SI5 was then proposed, based on these data. The most sensitive clinical tests for diagnosing SI joint dysfunction were 2 patient-reported clinical characteristics, the Laguerre Test, sacroiliac rocking test and Yeomans test (greater than 80% sensitivity). The tests with greatest diagnostic specificity (>80%) were the Lewitt test, Piedallu test and Gillet test. The proposed SI5 test score scale showed sensitivity of 73% and specificity of 71%. Sacroiliac joint syndrome has been shown to produce low back pain frequently; however, the diagnostic value of examination tests for sacroiliac joint pain has been questioned by other authors. The pilot study on the SI5 diagnostic score scale showed good sensitivity and specificity. However, the process of statistical validation of the SI5 needs to be continued. Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Neurocirugía. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Metabolic engineering: the ultimate paradigm for continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing.

PubMed

Yadav, Vikramaditya G; Stephanopoulos, Gregory

2014-07-01

Research and development (R&D) expenditures by pharmaceutical companies doubled over the past decade, yet candidate attrition rates and development times rose markedly during this period. Understandably, companies have begun downsizing their pipelines and diverting investments away from R&D in favor of manufacturing. It is estimated that transitioning to continuous manufacturing could enable companies to compete for a share in emerging markets. Accordingly, the model for continuous manufacturing that has emerged commences with the conversion of late-stage intermediates into the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in a series of continuous flow reactors, followed by continuous solid processing to form finished tablets. The use of flow reactions for API synthesis will certainly generate purer products at higher yields in shorter times compared to equivalent batch reactions. However, transitioning from batch to flow configuration simply alleviates transport limitations within the reaction milieu. As the catalogue of reactions used in flow syntheses is a subset of batch-based chemistries, molecules such as natural products will continue to evade drug prospectors. Also, it is uncertain whether flow synthesis can deliver improvements in the atom and energy economies of API production at the scales that would achieve the levels of revenue growth targeted by companies. Instead, it is argued that implementing metabolic engineering for the production of oxidized scaffolds as gateway molecules for flow-based addition of electrophiles is a more effective and scalable strategy for accessing natural product chemical space. This new paradigm for manufacturing, with metabolic engineering as its engine, would also permit rapid optimization of production variables and allow facile scale-up from gram to ton scale to meet material requirements for clinical trials, thus recasting manufacturing as a tool for discovery. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Nitrogen removal process optimization in New York City WPCPS: a case study of Wards Island WPCP.

PubMed

Ramalingam, K; Fillos, J; Musabyimana, M; Deur, A; Beckmann, K

2009-01-01

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection has been engaged in a continuous process to develop a nitrogen removal program to reduce the nitrogen mass discharge from its water pollution control plants, (WPCPs), from 49,158 kg/d to 20,105 kg/d by the year 2017 as recommended by the Long Island Sound Study. As part of the process, a comprehensive research effort was undertaken involving bench, pilot and full scale studies to identify the most effective way to upgrade and optimize the existing WPCPs. Aeration tank 13 (AT-13) at the Wards Island WPCP was particularly attractive as a full-scale research facility because its aeration tank with its dedicated final settling tanks and RAS pumps could be isolated from the remaining treatment facilities. The nitrogen removal performance of AT-13, which, at the time, was operated as a "basic step feed BNR Facility", was evaluated and concurrently nitrification kinetic parameters were measured using in-situ bench scale experiments. Additional bench scale experiments provided denitrification rates using different sources of carbon and measurement of the maximum specific growth rate of nitrifying bacteria. The combined findings were then used to upgrade AT-13 to a "full" BNR facility with carbon and alkalinity addition. This paper will focus on the combined bench and full scale results that were the basis for the consequent upgrade.

Simulation Studies of Mechanical Properties of Novel Silica Nano-structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muralidharan, Krishna; Torras Costa, Joan; Trickey, Samuel B.

2006-03-01

Advances in nanotechnology and the importance of silica as a technological material continue to stimulate computational study of the properties of possible novel silica nanostructures. Thus we have done classical molecular dynamics (MD) and multi-scale quantum mechanical (QM/MD) simulation studies of the mechanical properties of single-wall and multi-wall silica nano-rods of varying dimensions. Such nano-rods have been predicted by Mallik et al. to be unusually strong in tensile failure. Here we compare failure mechanisms of such nano-rods under tension, compression, and bending. The concurrent multi-scale QM/MD studies use the general PUPIL system (Torras et al.). In this case, PUPIL provides automated interoperation of the MNDO Transfer Hamiltonian QM code (Taylor et al.) and a locally written MD code. Embedding of the QM-forces domain is via the scheme of Mallik et al. Work supported by NSF ITR award DMR-0325553.

Gender differences in reasons to quit smoking among adolescents.

PubMed

Struik, Laura L; O'Loughlin, Erin K; Dugas, Erika N; Bottorff, Joan L; O'Loughlin, Jennifer L

2014-08-01

It is well established that many adolescents who smoke want to quit, but little is known about why adolescents want to quit and if reasons to quit differ across gender. The objective of this study was to determine if reasons to quit smoking differ in boys and girls. Data on the Adolescent Reasons for Quitting (ARFQ) scale were collected in mailed self-report questionnaires in 2010-2011 from 113 female and 83 male smokers aged 14-19 years participating in AdoQuest, a longitudinal cohort study of the natural course of the co-occurrence of health-compromising behaviors in children. Overall, the findings indicate that reasons to quit in boys and girls appear to be generally similar, although this finding may relate to a lack of gender-oriented items in the ARFQ scale. There is a need for continued research to develop and test reasons to quit scales for adolescents that include gender-oriented items. © The Author(s) 2013.

Scaling and Sustaining Effective Early Childhood Programs Through School-Family-University Collaboration.

PubMed

Reynolds, Arthur J; Hayakawa, Momoko; Ou, Suh-Ruu; Mondi, Christina F; Englund, Michelle M; Candee, Allyson J; Smerillo, Nicole E

2017-09-01

We describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of a comprehensive preschool to third grade prevention program for the goals of sustaining services at a large scale. The Midwest Child-Parent Center (CPC) Expansion is a multilevel collaborative school reform model designed to improve school achievement and parental involvement from ages 3 to 9. By increasing the dosage, coordination, and comprehensiveness of services, the program is expected to enhance the transition to school and promote more enduring effects on well-being in multiple domains. We review and evaluate evidence from two longitudinal studies (Midwest CPC, 2012 to present; Chicago Longitudinal Study, 1983 to present) and four implementation examples of how the guiding principles of shared ownership, committed resources, and progress monitoring for improvement can promote effectiveness. The implementation system of partners and further expansion using "Pay for Success" financing shows the feasibility of scaling the program while continuing to improve effectiveness. © 2017 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.

Catchment-scale evaluation of pollution potential of urban snow at two residential catchments in southern Finland.

PubMed

Sillanpää, Nora; Koivusalo, Harri

2013-01-01

Despite the crucial role of snow in the hydrological cycle in cold climate conditions, monitoring studies of urban snow quality often lack discussions about the relevance of snow in the catchment-scale runoff management. In this study, measurements of snow quality were conducted at two residential catchments in Espoo, Finland, simultaneously with continuous runoff measurements. The results of the snow quality were used to produce catchment-scale estimates of areal snow mass loads (SML). Based on the results, urbanization reduced areal snow water equivalent but increased pollutant accumulation in snow: SMLs in a medium-density residential catchment were two- to four-fold higher in comparison with a low-density residential catchment. The main sources of pollutants were related to vehicular traffic and road maintenance, but also pet excrement increased concentrations to a high level. Ploughed snow can contain 50% of the areal pollutant mass stored in snow despite its small surface area within a catchment.

A high temperature drop-tube and packed-bed solar reactor for continuous biomass gasification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellouard, Quentin; Abanades, Stéphane; Rodat, Sylvain; Dupassieux, Nathalie

2017-06-01

Biomass gasification is an attractive process to produce high-value syngas. Utilization of concentrated solar energy as the heat source for driving reactions increases the energy conversion efficiency, saves biomass resource, and eliminates the needs for gas cleaning and separation. A high-temperature tubular solar reactor combining drop tube and packed bed concepts was used for continuous solar-driven gasification of biomass. This 1 kW reactor was experimentally tested with biomass feeding under real solar irradiation conditions at the focus of a 2 m-diameter parabolic solar concentrator. Experiments were conducted at temperatures ranging from 1000°C to 1400°C using wood composed of a mix of pine and spruce (bark included) as biomass feedstock. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of syngas production in this reactor concept and to prove the reliability of continuous biomass gasification processing using solar energy. The study first consisted of a parametric study of the gasification conditions to obtain an optimal gas yield. The influence of temperature and oxidizing agent (H2O or CO2) on the product gas composition was investigated. The study then focused on solar gasification during continuous biomass particle injection for demonstrating the feasibility of a continuous process. Regarding the energy conversion efficiency of the lab scale reactor, energy upgrade factor of 1.21 and solar-to-fuel thermochemical efficiency up to 28% were achieved using wood heated up to 1400°C.

Do social functioning and symptoms improve with continuation antidepressant treatment of persistent depressive disorder? An observational study.

PubMed

Hellerstein, David J; Hunnicutt-Ferguson, Kallio; Stewart, Jonathan W; McGrath, Patrick J; Keller, Samantha; Peterson, Bradley S; Chen, Ying

2017-03-01

To determine efficacy of continued treatment with the serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor duloxetine on symptom reduction and functional improvement in outpatients with dysthymia. Fifty outpatients with DSM-IV-TR diagnosed dysthymia who had participated in a 10 week double-blind, placebo-controlled study of duloxetine received open treatment for three months. Nineteen duloxetine responders continued duloxetine, 24 patients initially treated with placebo started open duloxetine treatment, and 7 duloxetine non-responders were treated with desvenlafaxine or bupropion, selected by clinician choice. Patients continuing duloxetine maintained symptom improvement, 84% meeting response and 63% remission criteria at week 22. Patients initially treated with placebo showed similarly high levels of response (83%) and remission (62%) at week 22, and most duloxetine non-responders subsequently responded to other antidepressants. Duloxetine-continuation patients improved modestly between weeks 10 and 22 on measures of social and cognitive functioning and temperament. Despite this improvement concurrently across several functional domains, 66.7% of patients continuing duloxetine remained in the impaired range of functioning according to the Social Adjustment Scale (SAS). Continued duloxetine treatment appears to be effective in maintaining symptom response in dysthymic disorder, and has positive effects on social functioning. However, the majority of patients do not show normalization of functioning, even when controlling for remission status. Additional treatments should be considered to target residual impairments in social functioning in mood remitted patients with persistent depressive disorder. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modelling Soil-Landscapes in Coastal California Hills Using Fine Scale Terrestrial Lidar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prentice, S.; Bookhagen, B.; Kyriakidis, P. C.; Chadwick, O.

2013-12-01

Digital elevation models (DEMs) are the dominant input to spatially explicit digital soil mapping (DSM) efforts due to their increasing availability and the tight coupling between topography and soil variability. Accurate characterization of this coupling is dependent on DEM spatial resolution and soil sampling density, both of which may limit analyses. For example, DEM resolution may be too coarse to accurately reflect scale-dependent soil properties yet downscaling introduces artifactual uncertainty unrelated to deterministic or stochastic soil processes. We tackle these limitations through a DSM effort that couples moderately high density soil sampling with a very fine scale terrestrial lidar dataset (20 cm) implemented in a semiarid rolling hillslope domain where terrain variables change rapidly but smoothly over short distances. Our guiding hypothesis is that in this diffusion-dominated landscape, soil thickness is readily predicted by continuous terrain attributes coupled with catenary hillslope segmentation. We choose soil thickness as our keystone dependent variable for its geomorphic and hydrologic significance, and its tendency to be a primary input to synthetic ecosystem models. In defining catenary hillslope position we adapt a logical rule-set approach that parses common terrain derivatives of curvature and specific catchment area into discrete landform elements (LE). Variograms and curvature-area plots are used to distill domain-scale terrain thresholds from short range order noise characteristic of very fine-scale spatial data. The revealed spatial thresholds are used to condition LE rule-set inputs, rendering a catenary LE map that leverages the robustness of fine-scale terrain data to create a generalized interpretation of soil geomorphic domains. Preliminary regressions show that continuous terrain variables alone (curvature, specific catchment area) only partially explain soil thickness, and only in a subset of soils. For example, at spatial scales up 20, curvature explains 40% of soil thickness variance among soils <3 m deep, while soils >3 m deep show no clear relation to curvature. To further demonstration our geomorphic segmentation approach, we apply it to DEM domains where diffusion processes are less dominant than in our primary study area. Classified landform map derived from fine scale terrestrial lidar. Color classes depict hydrogeomorphic process domains in zero order watersheds.

Which Aspects of Professional Commitment Can Effectively Retain Nurses in the Nursing Profession?

PubMed

Chang, Hao-Yuan; Shyu, Yea-Ing Lotus; Wong, May-Kuen; Friesner, Daniel; Chu, Tsung-Lan; Teng, Ching-I

2015-09-01

This study examined which aspects of professional commitment can effectively retain nurses in the nursing profession. This study used a longitudinal design, simple random sampling, and two-wave data collection to survey and follow up a representative sample of 579 nurses for 1 year in a major medical center in northern Taiwan. Items measuring each aspect of professional commitment came from Meyer et al.'s scale. In the second wave, administrative data were culled to determine whether these nurses remain employed as nurses. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data. Analytical results indicate that continuance commitment predicts nurse retention in the nursing profession (path coefficient = 0.34, p < .01). Institutional efforts to improve continuance commitment (e.g., improved salary structures and enhanced professional development opportunities) likely retain nurses in the nursing profession. The findings of this study indicate the importance of continuance intention in retaining nurses. Nursing managers who face staff retention issues may consider making efforts to improve nurse salary and employer-sponsored benefits. © 2015 Sigma Theta Tau International.

Discrete Li-occupation versus pseudo-continuous Na-occupation and their relationship with structural change behaviors in Fe₂(MoO₄)₃

DOE PAGES

Yue, Ji-Li; Zhou, Yong-Ning; Shi, Si-Qi; ...

2015-03-06

The key factors governing the single-phase or multi-phase structural change behaviors during the intercalation/deintercalation of guest ions have not been well studied and understood yet. Through systematic studies of orthorhombic Fe₂(MoO₄)₃ electrode, two distinct guest ion occupation paths, namely discrete one for Li and pseudo-continuous one for Na, as well as their relationship with single-phase and two-phase modes for Na⁺ and Li⁺, respectively during the intercalation/deintercalation process have been demonstrated. For the first time, the direct atomic-scale observation of biphasic domains (discrete occupation) in partially lithiated Fe₂(MoO₄)₃ and the one by one Na occupation (pseudo-continuous occupation) at 8d sites inmore » partially sodiated Fe₂(MoO₄)₃ are obtained during the discharge processes of Li/Fe₂(MoO₄)₃ and Na/Fe₂(MoO₄)₃ cells respectively. Our combined experimental and theoretical studies bring the new insights for the research and development of intercalation compounds as electrode materials for secondary batteries.« less

Planning continuity and the actual conditions of shopping malls.

PubMed

Morita, Yoshitsugu; Tahara, Manabu

2004-11-01

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the continuity of the planning of shopping malls in downtown areas of Japan and to look into the tendencies of the current existing malls until today. This paper is a summary of a survey conducted on the actual conditions of current shopping malls and a questionnaire administered to local governments in the survey areas. The results of this study allow us to summarize the reasons for and changes caused by renewal efforts directed toward the streets, public spaces, and urban elements (pavement, bench, streetlight, arcade, sculpture, etc.) in shopping malls. Furthermore, these results also help us to understand the scale of the renewal efforts as well as their timing in relation to when the shopping mall was originally constructed.

Prilezhaev dihydroxylation of olefins in a continuous flow process.

PubMed

van den Broek, Bas A M W; Becker, René; Kössl, Florian; Delville, Mariëlle M E; Nieuwland, Pieter J; Koch, Kaspar; Rutjes, Floris P J T

2012-02-13

Epoxidation of both terminal and non-terminal olefins with peroxy acids is a well-established and powerful tool in a wide variety of chemical processes. In an additional step, the epoxide can be readily converted into the corresponding trans-diol. Batch-wise scale-up, however, is often troublesome because of the thermal instability and explosive character of the peroxy acids involved. This article describes the design and semi-automated optimization of a continuous flow process and subsequent scale-up to preparative production volumes in an intrinsically safe manner. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Extracting information from AGN variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kasliwal, Vishal P.; Vogeley, Michael S.; Richards, Gordon T.

2017-09-01

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) exhibit rapid, high-amplitude stochastic flux variations across the entire electromagnetic spectrum on time-scales ranging from hours to years. The cause of this variability is poorly understood. We present a Green's function-based method for using variability to (1) measure the time-scales on which flux perturbations evolve and (2) characterize the driving flux perturbations. We model the observed light curve of an AGN as a linear differential equation driven by stochastic impulses. We analyse the light curve of the Kepler AGN Zw 229-15 and find that the observed variability behaviour can be modelled as a damped harmonic oscillator perturbed by a coloured noise process. The model power spectrum turns over on time-scale 385 d. On shorter time-scales, the log-power-spectrum slope varies between 2 and 4, explaining the behaviour noted by previous studies. We recover and identify both the 5.6 and 67 d time-scales reported by previous work using the Green's function of the Continuous-time AutoRegressive Moving Average equation rather than by directly fitting the power spectrum of the light curve. These are the time-scales on which flux perturbations grow, and on which flux perturbations decay back to the steady-state flux level, respectively. We make the software package kālī used to study light curves using our method available to the community.

42 CFR 422.152 - Quality improvement program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

..., quality of life indicators, depression scales, or chronic disease outcomes). (iii) Staff implementation of... 42 Public Health 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Quality improvement program. 422.152 Section 422... (CONTINUED) MEDICARE PROGRAM (CONTINUED) MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PROGRAM Quality Improvement § 422.152 Quality...

42 CFR 422.152 - Quality improvement program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

..., quality of life indicators, depression scales, or chronic disease outcomes). (iii) Staff implementation of... 42 Public Health 3 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Quality improvement program. 422.152 Section 422... (CONTINUED) MEDICARE PROGRAM (CONTINUED) MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PROGRAM Quality Improvement § 422.152 Quality...