The advent of biosimilars: challenges and risks.

PubMed

Müller, Rüdiger; Renner, Christoph; Gabay, Cem; Cassata, Giuseppe; Lohri, Andreas; Hasler, Paul

2014-01-01

Biosimilars represent a new class of medicinal products that will have significant impact on clinical use. They are identical on an amino acid sequence level to existing reference biopharmaceutical products (originals). However, they may exhibit differences on a protein level. This paper provides a brief overview of biosimilar development and describes the risk and challenges that should be considered during the admission of biosimilars into the clinic.

Development, Testing, and Validation of a Model-Based Tool to Predict Operator Responses in Unexpected Workload Transitions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sebok, Angelia; Wickens, Christopher; Sargent, Robert

2015-01-01

One human factors challenge is predicting operator performance in novel situations. Approaches such as drawing on relevant previous experience, and developing computational models to predict operator performance in complex situations, offer potential methods to address this challenge. A few concerns with modeling operator performance are that models need to realistic, and they need to be tested empirically and validated. In addition, many existing human performance modeling tools are complex and require that an analyst gain significant experience to be able to develop models for meaningful data collection. This paper describes an effort to address these challenges by developing an easy to use model-based tool, using models that were developed from a review of existing human performance literature and targeted experimental studies, and performing an empirical validation of key model predictions.

When Patients Are Normal People: Strategies for Managing Dual Relationships

PubMed Central

Jackson, W. Clay

2002-01-01

A significant number of generalist physicians, particularly those in rural areas, often find themselves participating in the care of patients for whom the therapeutic relationship overlaps with another relationship (e.g., social or professional). Although psychiatrists and psychologists are typically advised to avoid such “dual relationships,” no such prohibition exists for generalists. Little, if any, guidance exists to aid in the management of such dual relationships for the generalist who provides treatment for psychiatric conditions for his or her patients. The author, a generalist with experience in the treatment of mood disorders, describes potential challenges faced by the generalist who chooses to provide care for “dual relationship” patients and outlines strategies for successfully meeting these challenges. PMID:15014737

A new ball game: the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and assumptions in care for people with dementia.

PubMed

Smith, Anita; Sullivan, Danny

2012-09-01

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a powerful international instrument which imposes significant responsibilities on signatories. This column discusses changes in the definition of legal capacity which will have significant impacts on decision-making related to people with dementia. Various restrictions and limitations on personal freedoms are discussed in light of the Convention. The main focus is on challenges to existing paradigms of substitute decision-making, which are in wide use through a guardianship model. Under Art 12 of the Convention, moves to supported decision-making will result in significant changes in ensuring the rights of people with dementia. There are challenges ahead in implementing supported decision-making schemes, not only due to tension with existing practices and legislation, but also the difficulty of developing and resourcing workable schemes. This is particularly so with advanced dementia, which is acknowledged as a pressing issue for Australia due to effective health care, an ageing population and changing expectations.

A SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION MAKING

EPA Science Inventory

There are significant scientific and technological challenges to managing natural resources. Data needs are cited as an obvious limitation, but there exist more fundamental scientific issues. What is still needed is a method of comparing management strategies based on projected i...

The Intergenerational Legacy of Genocidal Rape: The Realities and Perspectives of Children Born of the Rwandan Genocide.

PubMed

Denov, Myriam; Woolner, Leah; Bahati, Jules Pacifique; Nsuki, Paulin; Shyaka, Obed

2017-05-01

Brutal acts of sexual violence were documented on a mass scale during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. While existing scholarship on sexual violence has significantly increased our understanding of the challenges confronting survivors, gaps in knowledge remain regarding the lived experiences of children born of genocidal rape. This study sought to explore the realities and perspectives of children born of genocidal rape, and the existing opportunities and challenges they experienced in postgenocide Rwanda. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with 60 participants born of genocidal rape in Rwanda. Findings highlight the key challenges that these youth face in the postgenocide context, including struggles with identity and belonging, ambivalence in the mother-child relationship, and a desire to learn of their biological origins and heritage. The findings suggest that children born of conflict-related sexual violence face a distinct set of challenges and needs that have yet to be formally addressed. Our findings highlight the need for the development of programs, policies, and services specific for this important, yet overlooked group of young people affected by armed conflict.

In a bovine model of onchocerciasis, protective immunity exists naturally, is absent in drug-cured hosts, and is induced by vaccination

PubMed Central

Tchakouté, Virginia L.; Graham, Simon P.; Jensen, Siv Aina; Makepeace, Benjamin L.; Nfon, Charles K.; Njongmeta, Leo M.; Lustigman, Sara; Enyong, Peter A.; Tanya, Vincent N.; Bianco, Albert E.; Trees, Alexander J.

2006-01-01

Onchocerciasis (river blindness) is a major parasitic disease of humans in sub-Saharan Africa caused by the microfilarial stage of the nematode Onchocerca volvulus. Using Onchocerca ochengi, a closely related species which infects cattle and is transmitted by the same black fly vector (Simulium damnosum sensu lato) as O. volvulus, we have conducted longitudinal studies after either natural field exposure or experimental infection to determine whether, and under what circumstances, protective immunity exists in onchocerciasis. On the basis of the adult worm burdens (nodules) observed, we determined that cattle reared in endemic areas without detectable parasites (putatively immune) were significantly less susceptible to heavy field challenge than age-matched, naïve controls (P = 0.002), whereas patently infected cattle, cured of infection by adulticide treatment with melarsomine, were fully susceptible. Cattle immunized with irradiated third-stage larvae were significantly protected against experimental challenge (100% reduction in median nodule load, P = 0.003), and vaccination also conferred resistance to severe and prolonged field challenge (64% reduction in median nodule load, P = 0.053; and a significant reduction in microfilarial positivity rates and density, P < 0.05). These results constitute evidence of protective immunity in a naturally evolved host–Onchocerca sp. relationship and provide proof-of-principle for immunoprophylaxis under experimental and field conditions. PMID:16585501

Nitrogen Dioxide Exposure and Airway Responsiveness in Individuals with Asthma

EPA Science Inventory

Controlled human exposure studies evaluating the effect of inhaled NO2 on the inherent responsiveness of the airways to challenge by bronchoconstricting agents have had mixed results. In general, existing meta-analyses show statistically significant effects of NO2 on the airway r...

Internationalizing Teacher Education in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

2012-01-01

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

A SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATING COMPARATIVE RISK IN ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENTS

EPA Science Inventory

There are significant scientific and technological challenges to managing natural resources. Data needs are cited as an obvious limitation, but there exist more fundamental scientific issues. What is still needed is a method of comparing management strategies based on projected i...

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

EPA Science Inventory

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

Getting educated: e-learning resources in the design and execution of surgical trials.

PubMed

Bains, Simrit

2009-01-01

An evidence-based approach to research, which includes important aspects such as critical appraisal, is essential for the effective conduct of clinical trials. Researchers who are interested in educating themselves about its principles in order to incorporate them into their trials face challenges when attempting to acquire this information from traditional learning sources. E-learning resources offer an intriguing possibility of overcoming the challenges posed by traditional learning, and show promise as a way to expand accessibility to quality education about evidence-based principles. An assessment of existing e-learning resources reveals positive educational avenues for researchers, although significant flaws exist. The Global EducatorTM by Global Research Solutions addresses many of these flaws and is an e-learning resource that combines convenience with comprehensiveness.

College Preparation Program for High School Youth Who Are Blind: The Summer Academy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coduti, Wendy A.; Herbert, James T.; Chiu, Herbert; Döke, Deniz Aydemir

2017-01-01

Students with disabilities have significantly lower graduation rates in four-year postsecondary institutions than students without disabilities. Although there are many barriers associated with persistence and graduation, for students with vision loss, additional accessibility challenges exist. This paper describes a pilot study that examined the…

Virtual Reality Social Cognition Training for Young Adults with High-Functioning Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kandalaft, Michelle R.; Didehbani, Nyaz; Krawczyk, Daniel C.; Allen, Tandra T.; Chapman, Sandra B.

2013-01-01

Few evidence-based social interventions exist for young adults with high-functioning autism, many of whom encounter significant challenges during the transition into adulthood. The current study investigated the feasibility of an engaging Virtual Reality Social Cognition Training intervention focused on enhancing social skills, social cognition,…

Social Connection: Empathy and Mentalization for Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swan, Paul; Riley, Philip

2015-01-01

Attending to the academic and social/emotional developmental needs of students has and continues to be a significant challenge for teachers and relatively little research examining the impact of teacher empathy exists. Empathy is an important skill for educators to facilitate the creation of a positive learning environment with students and…

Taking Stock: Existing Resources for Assessing a New Vision of Science Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alonzo, Alicia C.; Ke, Li

2016-01-01

A new vision of science learning described in the "Next Generation Science Standards"--particularly the science and engineering practices and their integration with content--pose significant challenges for large-scale assessment. This article explores what might be learned from advances in large-scale science assessment and…

The BGR Contingency Model for Leading Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Derek R.; Gordon, Raymond; Rose, Dennis Michael

2012-01-01

The continuing failure rates of change initiatives, combined with an increasingly complex business environment, have created significant challenges for the practice of change management. High failure rates suggest that existing change models are not working, or are being incorrectly used. A different mindset to change is required. The BGR…

GROUNDWATER RECHARGE AND CHEMICAL CONTAMINANTS: CHALLENGES IN COMMUNICATING THE CONNECTIONS AND COLLISIONS OF TWO DISPARATE WORLDS

EPA Science Inventory

The existing knowledge base regarding the presence and significance of chemicals foreign to the subsurface environment is large and growing -the papers in this volume serving as recent testament. But complex questions with few answers surround the unknowns regarding the potenti...

A Research Analytics Framework-Supported Recommendation Approach for Supervisor Selection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Mingyu; Ma, Jian; Liu, Zhiying; Sun, Jianshan; Silva, Thushari

2016-01-01

Identifying a suitable supervisor for a new research student is vitally important for his or her academic career. Current information overload and information disorientation have posed significant challenges for new students. Existing research for supervisor identification focuses on quality assessment of candidates, but ignores indirect relevance…

Biogenic manganese oxide nanoparticle formation by a multimeric multicopper oxidase Mnx.

PubMed

Romano, Christine A; Zhou, Mowei; Song, Yang; Wysocki, Vicki H; Dohnalkova, Alice C; Kovarik, Libor; Paša-Tolić, Ljiljana; Tebo, Bradley M

2017-09-29

Bacteria that produce Mn oxides are extraordinarily skilled engineers of nanomaterials that contribute significantly to global biogeochemical cycles. Their enzyme-based reaction mechanisms may be genetically tailored for environmental remediation applications or bioenergy production. However, significant challenges exist for structural characterization of the enzymes responsible for biomineralization. The active Mn oxidase in Bacillus sp. PL-12, Mnx, is a complex composed of a multicopper oxidase (MCO), MnxG, and two accessory proteins, MnxE and MnxF. MnxG shares sequence similarity with other, structurally characterized MCOs. MnxE and MnxF have no similarity to any characterized proteins. The ~200 kDa complex has been recalcitrant to crystallization, so its structure is unknown. Here, we show that native mass spectrometry defines the subunit topology and copper binding of Mnx, while high-resolution electron microscopy visualizes the protein and nascent Mn oxide minerals. These data provide critical structural information for understanding Mn biomineralization by such unexplored enzymes.Significant challenges exist for structural characterization of enzymes responsible for biomineralization. Here the authors show that native mass spectrometry and high resolution electron microscopy can define the subunit topology and copper binding of a manganese oxidizing complex, and describe early stage formation of its mineral products.

Crowdsourced assessment of common genetic contribution to predicting anti-TNF treatment response in rheumatoid arthritis.

PubMed

Sieberts, Solveig K; Zhu, Fan; García-García, Javier; Stahl, Eli; Pratap, Abhishek; Pandey, Gaurav; Pappas, Dimitrios; Aguilar, Daniel; Anton, Bernat; Bonet, Jaume; Eksi, Ridvan; Fornés, Oriol; Guney, Emre; Li, Hongdong; Marín, Manuel Alejandro; Panwar, Bharat; Planas-Iglesias, Joan; Poglayen, Daniel; Cui, Jing; Falcao, Andre O; Suver, Christine; Hoff, Bruce; Balagurusamy, Venkat S K; Dillenberger, Donna; Neto, Elias Chaibub; Norman, Thea; Aittokallio, Tero; Ammad-Ud-Din, Muhammad; Azencott, Chloe-Agathe; Bellón, Víctor; Boeva, Valentina; Bunte, Kerstin; Chheda, Himanshu; Cheng, Lu; Corander, Jukka; Dumontier, Michel; Goldenberg, Anna; Gopalacharyulu, Peddinti; Hajiloo, Mohsen; Hidru, Daniel; Jaiswal, Alok; Kaski, Samuel; Khalfaoui, Beyrem; Khan, Suleiman Ali; Kramer, Eric R; Marttinen, Pekka; Mezlini, Aziz M; Molparia, Bhuvan; Pirinen, Matti; Saarela, Janna; Samwald, Matthias; Stoven, Véronique; Tang, Hao; Tang, Jing; Torkamani, Ali; Vert, Jean-Phillipe; Wang, Bo; Wang, Tao; Wennerberg, Krister; Wineinger, Nathan E; Xiao, Guanghua; Xie, Yang; Yeung, Rae; Zhan, Xiaowei; Zhao, Cheng; Greenberg, Jeff; Kremer, Joel; Michaud, Kaleb; Barton, Anne; Coenen, Marieke; Mariette, Xavier; Miceli, Corinne; Shadick, Nancy; Weinblatt, Michael; de Vries, Niek; Tak, Paul P; Gerlag, Danielle; Huizinga, Tom W J; Kurreeman, Fina; Allaart, Cornelia F; Louis Bridges, S; Criswell, Lindsey; Moreland, Larry; Klareskog, Lars; Saevarsdottir, Saedis; Padyukov, Leonid; Gregersen, Peter K; Friend, Stephen; Plenge, Robert; Stolovitzky, Gustavo; Oliva, Baldo; Guan, Yuanfang; Mangravite, Lara M; Bridges, S Louis; Criswell, Lindsey; Moreland, Larry; Klareskog, Lars; Saevarsdottir, Saedis; Padyukov, Leonid; Gregersen, Peter K; Friend, Stephen; Plenge, Robert; Stolovitzky, Gustavo; Oliva, Baldo; Guan, Yuanfang; Mangravite, Lara M

2016-08-23

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects millions world-wide. While anti-TNF treatment is widely used to reduce disease progression, treatment fails in ∼one-third of patients. No biomarker currently exists that identifies non-responders before treatment. A rigorous community-based assessment of the utility of SNP data for predicting anti-TNF treatment efficacy in RA patients was performed in the context of a DREAM Challenge (http://www.synapse.org/RA_Challenge). An open challenge framework enabled the comparative evaluation of predictions developed by 73 research groups using the most comprehensive available data and covering a wide range of state-of-the-art modelling methodologies. Despite a significant genetic heritability estimate of treatment non-response trait (h(2)=0.18, P value=0.02), no significant genetic contribution to prediction accuracy is observed. Results formally confirm the expectations of the rheumatology community that SNP information does not significantly improve predictive performance relative to standard clinical traits, thereby justifying a refocusing of future efforts on collection of other data.

Future challenges for vection research: definitions, functional significance, measures, and neural bases

PubMed Central

Palmisano, Stephen; Allison, Robert S.; Schira, Mark M.; Barry, Robert J.

2015-01-01

This paper discusses four major challenges facing modern vection research. Challenge 1 (Defining Vection) outlines the different ways that vection has been defined in the literature and discusses their theoretical and experimental ramifications. The term vection is most often used to refer to visual illusions of self-motion induced in stationary observers (by moving, or simulating the motion of, the surrounding environment). However, vection is increasingly being used to also refer to non-visual illusions of self-motion, visually mediated self-motion perceptions, and even general subjective experiences (i.e., “feelings”) of self-motion. The common thread in all of these definitions is the conscious subjective experience of self-motion. Thus, Challenge 2 (Significance of Vection) tackles the crucial issue of whether such conscious experiences actually serve functional roles during self-motion (e.g., in terms of controlling or guiding the self-motion). After more than 100 years of vection research there has been surprisingly little investigation into its functional significance. Challenge 3 (Vection Measures) discusses the difficulties with existing subjective self-report measures of vection (particularly in the context of contemporary research), and proposes several more objective measures of vection based on recent empirical findings. Finally, Challenge 4 (Neural Basis) reviews the recent neuroimaging literature examining the neural basis of vection and discusses the hurdles still facing these investigations. PMID:25774143

Robust Radar Emitter Recognition Based on the Three-Dimensional Distribution Feature and Transfer Learning

PubMed Central

Yang, Zhutian; Qiu, Wei; Sun, Hongjian; Nallanathan, Arumugam

2016-01-01

Due to the increasing complexity of electromagnetic signals, there exists a significant challenge for radar emitter signal recognition. To address this challenge, multi-component radar emitter recognition under a complicated noise environment is studied in this paper. A novel radar emitter recognition approach based on the three-dimensional distribution feature and transfer learning is proposed. The cubic feature for the time-frequency-energy distribution is proposed to describe the intra-pulse modulation information of radar emitters. Furthermore, the feature is reconstructed by using transfer learning in order to obtain the robust feature against signal noise rate (SNR) variation. Last, but not the least, the relevance vector machine is used to classify radar emitter signals. Simulations demonstrate that the approach proposed in this paper has better performances in accuracy and robustness than existing approaches. PMID:26927111

Robust Radar Emitter Recognition Based on the Three-Dimensional Distribution Feature and Transfer Learning.

PubMed

Yang, Zhutian; Qiu, Wei; Sun, Hongjian; Nallanathan, Arumugam

2016-02-25

Due to the increasing complexity of electromagnetic signals, there exists a significant challenge for radar emitter signal recognition. To address this challenge, multi-component radar emitter recognition under a complicated noise environment is studied in this paper. A novel radar emitter recognition approach based on the three-dimensional distribution feature and transfer learning is proposed. The cubic feature for the time-frequency-energy distribution is proposed to describe the intra-pulse modulation information of radar emitters. Furthermore, the feature is reconstructed by using transfer learning in order to obtain the robust feature against signal noise rate (SNR) variation. Last, but not the least, the relevance vector machine is used to classify radar emitter signals. Simulations demonstrate that the approach proposed in this paper has better performances in accuracy and robustness than existing approaches.

Leading Part-Time Teaching Staff to Achieve Excellent Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kabouridis, Georgios

2011-01-01

The paper points out the significance of hourly-waged tutors to the quality of the teaching-learning procedure in Mechanical Engineering Department. Existing research shows that higher education faces many challenges in its attempt to keep pace with the needs of students' body for effective learning. The changing nature of higher education is…

Decision tree-based method for integrating gene expression, demographic, and clinical data to determine disease endotypes

EPA Science Inventory

Complex diseases are often difficult to diagnose, treat, and study due to the multi-factorial nature of the etiology. Significant challenges exist with regard to how to segregate indivdiuals into suitable subtypes of the disease. Here, we examine a range of methods for evaluati...

Legislative, Financial Issues in Higher Education: 1976 and Beyond.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Post, A. Alan

1976-01-01

The next decade in higher education will show a leveling and decline in enrollment accompanied by a significant shift from program expansion to program enrichment. Educators will face a challenge of trying to convince governors and legislators of the benefits of enrichment within the existing unclear economic picture where education must compete…

Undergraduate Chemistry Education in Chinese Universities: Addressing the Challenges of Rapid Growth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gou, Xiaojun; Cao, Haishi

2010-01-01

In the past 30 years, university-level chemistry education in China has been experiencing significant changes because of the rapid expansion of its university education system. These changes are reflected in improvements to the existing education goals, classroom teaching methods, textbooks, teaching facilities, teacher profiles, lab activities,…

Macro-Level Approaches to HIV Prevention among Ethnic Minority Youth: State of the Science, Opportunities, and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prado, Guillermo; Lightfoot, Marguerita; Brown, C. Hendricks

2013-01-01

The HIV epidemic continues to disproportionately affect ethnic minority youth. These disconcerting health disparities indicate that although existing HIV preventive strategies for ethnic minority youth have been efficacious, they have not significantly reduced the impact of the epidemic in this population. Macro-level interventions, such as…

Navigating the Realities of the Induction Years: Exploring Approaches for Supporting Beginning Physical Education Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ensign, Julene; Mays Woods, Amelia

2017-01-01

Because significant challenges continue to exist in the retention of teachers, the need for an infusion of proactive assimilation strategies, especially related to the induction phase, has become a mandate in physical education. Beginning teachers face countless potential hurdles. From marginalization, role conflict, and teaching diverse student…

Learning in 2010: Instructional Challenges for Adult Career and Technical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Jeff M.; Bracey, Pamela; Gavrilova, Mariya

2010-01-01

Decades of research into learning have demonstrated that learners are diverse, changing, and adaptable. In this regard, the practice as educators must become flexible and adaptive to meet the wide variation of learning needs. A general consensus exists among educators, businesses, and other stakeholders that there is a significant gap between the…

Challenges to Evaluating Physical Activity Programs in American Indian/Alaska Native Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Erica Blue; Butler, James; Green, Kerry M.

2018-01-01

Despite the importance of evaluation to successful programming, a lack of physical activity program (PAP) evaluation for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) programs exists, which is significant given the high rates of obesity and diabetes in this population. While evaluation barriers have been identified broadly among AI/AN programs, challenges…

Aviation effects on already-existing cirrus clouds

PubMed Central

Tesche, Matthias; Achtert, Peggy; Glantz, Paul; Noone, Kevin J.

2016-01-01

Determining the effects of the formation of contrails within natural cirrus clouds has proven to be challenging. Quantifying any such effects is necessary if we are to properly account for the influence of aviation on climate. Here we quantify the effect of aircraft on the optical thickness of already-existing cirrus clouds by matching actual aircraft flight tracks to satellite lidar measurements. We show that there is a systematic, statistically significant increase in normalized cirrus cloud optical thickness inside mid-latitude flight tracks compared with adjacent areas immediately outside the tracks. PMID:27327838

Aviation effects on already-existing cirrus clouds.

PubMed

Tesche, Matthias; Achtert, Peggy; Glantz, Paul; Noone, Kevin J

2016-06-21

Determining the effects of the formation of contrails within natural cirrus clouds has proven to be challenging. Quantifying any such effects is necessary if we are to properly account for the influence of aviation on climate. Here we quantify the effect of aircraft on the optical thickness of already-existing cirrus clouds by matching actual aircraft flight tracks to satellite lidar measurements. We show that there is a systematic, statistically significant increase in normalized cirrus cloud optical thickness inside mid-latitude flight tracks compared with adjacent areas immediately outside the tracks.

Ethical Challenges in the Teaching of Multicultural Course Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fier, Elizabeth Boyer; Ramsey, MaryLou

2005-01-01

The authors explore the ethical issues and challenges frequently encountered by counselor educators of multicultural course work. Existing ethics codes are examined, and the need for greater specificity with regard to teaching courses of multicultural content is addressed. Options for revising existing codes to better address the challenges of…

Improving access to important recovery information for heart patients with low health literacy: reflections on practice-based initiatives.

PubMed

Naccarella, Lucio; Biuso, Catuscia; Jennings, Amanda; Patsamanis, Harry

2018-05-29

Evidence exists for the association between health literacy and heart health outcomes. Cardiac rehabilitation is critical for recovery from heart attack and reducing hospital readmissions. Despite this, <30% of people participate in a program. Significant patient, hospital and health system challenges exist to improve recovery through increased heart health literacy. This brief case study reflects and documents practice-based initiatives by Heart Foundation Victoria to improve access to recovery information for patients with low literacy levels. Three key initiatives, namely the Six Steps To Cardiac Recovery resource, the Love Your Heart book and the nurse ambassador program, were implemented informed by mixed methods that assessed need and capacity at the individual, organisational and systems levels. Key outcomes included increased access to recovery information for patients with low health literacy, nurse knowledge and confidence to engage with patients on recovery information, improved education of patients and improved availability and accessibility of information for patients in diverse formats. Given the challenges involved in addressing heart health literacy, multifaceted practice-based approaches are essential to improve access to recovery information for patients with low literacy levels. What is known about the topic? Significant challenges exist for patients with lower health literacy receiving recovery information after a heart attack in hospitals. What does this paper add? This case study provides insights into a practice-based initiative by Heart Foundation Victoria to improve access to recovery information for patients with low literacy levels. What are the implications for practitioners? Strategies to improve recovery through increased heart health literacy must address the needs of patients, nursing staff and the health system within hospitals. Such strategies need to be multifaceted and designed to build the capacity of nurses, heart patients and their carers, as well as support from hospital management.

Classifications, applications, and design challenges of drones: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hassanalian, M.; Abdelkefi, A.

2017-05-01

Nowadays, there is a growing need for flying drones with diverse capabilities for both civilian and military applications. There is also a significant interest in the development of novel drones which can autonomously fly in different environments and locations and can perform various missions. In the past decade, the broad spectrum of applications of these drones has received most attention which led to the invention of various types of drones with different sizes and weights. In this review paper, we identify a novel classification of flying drones that ranges from unmanned air vehicles to smart dusts at both ends of this spectrum, with their new defined applications. Design and fabrication challenges of micro drones, existing methods for increasing their endurance, and various navigation and control approaches are discussed in details. Limitations of the existing drones, proposed solutions for the next generation of drones, and recommendations are also presented and discussed.

Perspectives on Creating Clinically Relevant Blast Models for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms

PubMed Central

Brenner, Lisa A.; Bahraini, Nazanin; Hernández, Theresa D.

2012-01-01

Military personnel are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and reporting non-specific physical (somatic), behavioral, psychological, and cognitive symptoms. Many of these symptoms are frequently associated with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and/or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite significant attention and advances in assessment and intervention for these two conditions, challenges persist. To address this, clinically relevant blast models are essential in the full characterization of this type of injury, as well as in the testing and identification of potential treatment strategies. In this publication, existing diagnostic challenges and current treatment practices for mTBI and/or PTSD will be summarized, along with suggestions regarding how what has been learned from existing models of PTSD and traditional mechanism (e.g., non-blast) traumatic brain injury can be used to facilitate the development of clinically relevant blast models. PMID:22408635

Epidemiology and challenges to the elimination of global tuberculosis.

PubMed

Jassal, Mandeep S; Bishai, William R

2010-05-15

Recent epidemiological indicators of tuberculosis (TB) indicate that the Millennium Development Goal of TB elimination by 2050 will not be achieved. The majority of incident cases are occurring in population-dense regions of Africa and Asia where TB is endemic. The persistence of TB in the setting of poor existing health infrastructure has led to an increase in drug-resistant cases, exacerbated by the strong association with human immunodeficiency virus coinfection. Spreading drug resistance threatens to undo decades of progress in controlling the disease. Several significant gaps can be identified in various aspects of national- and international-directed TB-control efforts. Various governing bodies and international organizations need to address the immediate challenges. This article highlights some of the major policies that lawmakers and funding institutions should consider. Existing economic and social obstacles must be overcome if TB elimination is to be a reachable goal.

Adapting to the health impacts of climate change in a sustainable manner.

PubMed

Hoy, Damian; Roth, Adam; Lepers, Christelle; Durham, Jo; Bell, Johann; Durand, Alexis; Lal, Padma Narsey; Souares, Yvan

2014-12-11

The climate is changing and this poses significant threats to human health. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing Pacific Island countries and territories due to their unique geophysical features, and their social, economic and cultural characteristics. The Pacific region also faces challenges with widely dispersed populations, limited resources and fragmented health systems. Over the past few years, there has been a substantial increase in international aid for health activities aimed at adapting to the threats of climate change. This funding needs to be used strategically to ensure an effective approach to reducing the health risk from climate change. Respecting the principles of development effectiveness will result in more effective and sustainable adaptation, in particular, 1) processes should be owned and driven by local communities, 2) investments should be aligned with existing national priorities and policies, and 3) existing systems must not be ignored, but rather expanded upon and reinforced.

Locating Gender: Occupational Segregation, Wages and Domestic Responsibilities. Cambridge Studies in Work and Social Inequality 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siltanen, Janet

This text combines a case-study approach with significant theoretical development to challenge existing explanations of occupational segregation. Chapter 1 reviews issues raised by the conceptual status of "gender" in attempting to explain women's and men's employment experience and introduces the study that forms the core of the…

Developmental and Implementation Challenges of E-Learning Management Systems in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davidovitch, Nitza; Belichenko, Margaryta

2016-01-01

The competition that exists today in the labour market has significantly raised the value of knowledge, skills and experience of staff. This particular importance for the modern professional acquire fluency in its modern information technology and the ability to continuously improve the skills. The actual trend is also for university teachers.…

Optimising the use of observational electronic health record data: Current issues, evolving opportunities, strategies and scope for collaboration.

PubMed

Liaw, Siaw-Teng; Powell-Davies, Gawaine; Pearce, Christopher; Britt, Helena; McGlynn, Lisa; Harris, Mark F

2016-03-01

With increasing computerisation in general practice, national primary care networks are mooted as sources of data for health services and population health research and planning. Existing data collection programs - MedicinesInsight, Improvement Foundation, Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) - vary in purpose, governance, methodologies and tools. General practitioners (GPs) have significant roles as collectors, managers and users of electronic health record (EHR) data. They need to understand the challenges to their clinical and managerial roles and responsibilities. The aim of this article is to examine the primary and secondary use of EHR data, identify challenges, discuss solutions and explore directions. Representatives from existing programs, Medicare Locals, Local Health Districts and research networks held workshops on the scope, challenges and approaches to the quality and use of EHR data. Challenges included data quality, interoperability, fragmented governance, proprietary software, transparency, sustainability, competing ethical and privacy perspectives, and cognitive load on patients and clinicians. Proposed solutions included effective change management; transparent governance and management of intellectual property, data quality, security, ethical access, and privacy; common data models, metadata and tools; and patient/community engagement. Collaboration and common approaches to tools, platforms and governance are needed. Processes and structures must be transparent and acceptable to GPs.

Simultaneous Nonrigid Registration, Segmentation, and Tumor Detection in MRI Guided Cervical Cancer Radiation Therapy

PubMed Central

Lu, Chao; Chelikani, Sudhakar; Jaffray, David A.; Milosevic, Michael F.; Staib, Lawrence H.; Duncan, James S.

2013-01-01

External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for the treatment of cancer enables accurate placement of radiation dose on the cancerous region. However, the deformation of soft tissue during the course of treatment, such as in cervical cancer, presents significant challenges for the delineation of the target volume and other structures of interest. Furthermore, the presence and regression of pathologies such as tumors may violate registration constraints and cause registration errors. In this paper, automatic segmentation, nonrigid registration and tumor detection in cervical magnetic resonance (MR) data are addressed simultaneously using a unified Bayesian framework. The proposed novel method can generate a tumor probability map while progressively identifying the boundary of an organ of interest based on the achieved nonrigid transformation. The method is able to handle the challenges of significant tumor regression and its effect on surrounding tissues. The new method was compared to various currently existing algorithms on a set of 36 MR data from six patients, each patient has six T2-weighted MR cervical images. The results show that the proposed approach achieves an accuracy comparable to manual segmentation and it significantly outperforms the existing registration algorithms. In addition, the tumor detection result generated by the proposed method has a high agreement with manual delineation by a qualified clinician. PMID:22328178

Challenges and opportunities for quantifying roots and rhizosphere interactions through imaging and image analysis.

PubMed

Downie, H F; Adu, M O; Schmidt, S; Otten, W; Dupuy, L X; White, P J; Valentine, T A

2015-07-01

The morphology of roots and root systems influences the efficiency by which plants acquire nutrients and water, anchor themselves and provide stability to the surrounding soil. Plant genotype and the biotic and abiotic environment significantly influence root morphology, growth and ultimately crop yield. The challenge for researchers interested in phenotyping root systems is, therefore, not just to measure roots and link their phenotype to the plant genotype, but also to understand how the growth of roots is influenced by their environment. This review discusses progress in quantifying root system parameters (e.g. in terms of size, shape and dynamics) using imaging and image analysis technologies and also discusses their potential for providing a better understanding of root:soil interactions. Significant progress has been made in image acquisition techniques, however trade-offs exist between sample throughput, sample size, image resolution and information gained. All of these factors impact on downstream image analysis processes. While there have been significant advances in computation power, limitations still exist in statistical processes involved in image analysis. Utilizing and combining different imaging systems, integrating measurements and image analysis where possible, and amalgamating data will allow researchers to gain a better understanding of root:soil interactions. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Review of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) for Automated Vehicles : Identifying Potential Barriers and Challenges for the Certification of Automated Vehicles Using Existing FMVSS

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-03-11

The purpose of this work is to identify instances where the existing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards may pose challenges to the introduction of automated vehicles. It identifies standards requiring further review - both to ensure that existing...

Crowdsourced assessment of common genetic contribution to predicting anti-TNF treatment response in rheumatoid arthritis

PubMed Central

Sieberts, Solveig K.; Zhu, Fan; García-García, Javier; Stahl, Eli; Pratap, Abhishek; Pandey, Gaurav; Pappas, Dimitrios; Aguilar, Daniel; Anton, Bernat; Bonet, Jaume; Eksi, Ridvan; Fornés, Oriol; Guney, Emre; Li, Hongdong; Marín, Manuel Alejandro; Panwar, Bharat; Planas-Iglesias, Joan; Poglayen, Daniel; Cui, Jing; Falcao, Andre O.; Suver, Christine; Hoff, Bruce; Balagurusamy, Venkat S. K.; Dillenberger, Donna; Neto, Elias Chaibub; Norman, Thea; Aittokallio, Tero; Ammad-ud-din, Muhammad; Azencott, Chloe-Agathe; Bellón, Víctor; Boeva, Valentina; Bunte, Kerstin; Chheda, Himanshu; Cheng, Lu; Corander, Jukka; Dumontier, Michel; Goldenberg, Anna; Gopalacharyulu, Peddinti; Hajiloo, Mohsen; Hidru, Daniel; Jaiswal, Alok; Kaski, Samuel; Khalfaoui, Beyrem; Khan, Suleiman Ali; Kramer, Eric R.; Marttinen, Pekka; Mezlini, Aziz M.; Molparia, Bhuvan; Pirinen, Matti; Saarela, Janna; Samwald, Matthias; Stoven, Véronique; Tang, Hao; Tang, Jing; Torkamani, Ali; Vert, Jean-Phillipe; Wang, Bo; Wang, Tao; Wennerberg, Krister; Wineinger, Nathan E.; Xiao, Guanghua; Xie, Yang; Yeung, Rae; Zhan, Xiaowei; Zhao, Cheng; Calaza, Manuel; Elmarakeby, Haitham; Heath, Lenwood S.; Long, Quan; Moore, Jonathan D.; Opiyo, Stephen Obol; Savage, Richard S.; Zhu, Jun; Greenberg, Jeff; Kremer, Joel; Michaud, Kaleb; Barton, Anne; Coenen, Marieke; Mariette, Xavier; Miceli, Corinne; Shadick, Nancy; Weinblatt, Michael; de Vries, Niek; Tak, Paul P.; Gerlag, Danielle; Huizinga, Tom W. J.; Kurreeman, Fina; Allaart, Cornelia F.; Louis Bridges Jr., S.; Criswell, Lindsey; Moreland, Larry; Klareskog, Lars; Saevarsdottir, Saedis; Padyukov, Leonid; Gregersen, Peter K.; Friend, Stephen; Plenge, Robert; Stolovitzky, Gustavo; Oliva, Baldo; Guan, Yuanfang; Mangravite, Lara M.

2016-01-01

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects millions world-wide. While anti-TNF treatment is widely used to reduce disease progression, treatment fails in ∼one-third of patients. No biomarker currently exists that identifies non-responders before treatment. A rigorous community-based assessment of the utility of SNP data for predicting anti-TNF treatment efficacy in RA patients was performed in the context of a DREAM Challenge (http://www.synapse.org/RA_Challenge). An open challenge framework enabled the comparative evaluation of predictions developed by 73 research groups using the most comprehensive available data and covering a wide range of state-of-the-art modelling methodologies. Despite a significant genetic heritability estimate of treatment non-response trait (h2=0.18, P value=0.02), no significant genetic contribution to prediction accuracy is observed. Results formally confirm the expectations of the rheumatology community that SNP information does not significantly improve predictive performance relative to standard clinical traits, thereby justifying a refocusing of future efforts on collection of other data. PMID:27549343

Opportunities and challenges in leveraging electronic health record data in oncology.

PubMed

Berger, Marc L; Curtis, Melissa D; Smith, Gregory; Harnett, James; Abernethy, Amy P

2016-05-01

The widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and the growing wealth of digitized information sources about patients is ushering in an era of 'Big Data' that may revolutionize clinical research in oncology. Research will likely be more efficient and potentially more accurate than the current gold standard of manual chart review studies. However, EHRs as they exist today have significant limitations: important data elements are missing or are only captured in free text or PDF documents. Using two case studies, we illustrate the challenges of leveraging the data that are routinely collected by the healthcare system in EHRs (e.g., real-world data), specific challenges encountered in the cancer domain and opportunities that can be achieved when these are overcome.

Establishing a master's degree programme in bioinformatics: challenges and opportunities.

PubMed

Sahinidis, N V; Harandi, M T; Heath, M T; Murphy, L; Snir, M; Wheeler, R P; Zukoski, C F

2005-12-01

The development of the Bioinformatics MS degree program at the University of Illinois, the challenges and opportunities associated with such a process, and the current structure of the program is described. This program has departed from earlier University practice in significant ways. Despite the existence of several interdisciplinary programs at the University, a few of which grant degrees, this is the first interdisciplinary program that grants degrees and formally recognises departmental specialisation areas. The program, which is not owned by any particular department but by the Graduate College itself, is operated in a franchise-like fashion via several departmental concentrations. With four different colleges and many more departments involved in establishing and operating the program, the logistics of the operation are of considerable complexity but result in significant interactions across the entire campus.

Challenges to Reducing Discrimination and Health Inequity Through Existing Civil Rights Laws

PubMed Central

Chandra, Amitabh; Frakes, Michael; Malani, Anup

2017-01-01

Fifty years after the passage of Civil Rights Act, minority healthcare remains separate and unequal. We combine insights from Civil Rights Law and research on racial-disparities to understand whether stronger enforcement of existing Civil Rights laws would improve minority healthcare today, or whether complementary approaches are also necessary. Despite earlier success, modern challenges to improving minority healthcare are different than those confronted during de jure segregation. We review these challenges and the potential effectiveness of existing Civil Rights legislation in overcoming them. We conclude that enforcement could be strengthened by executive orders that strengthen existing laws, but Congressional action would be required to allow private individuals to bring suits against discriminatory providers. We contrast the relative benefits of this approach to wider non-litigation-based solutions. We conclude that a combination of the two approaches would better address the challenge of improving minority healthcare in the 21st century. PMID:28583962

Enteral Formulas in Nutrition Support Practice: Is There a Better Choice for Your Patient?

PubMed

Escuro, Arlene A; Hummell, A Christine

2016-12-01

Over the past few decades, the number of enteral formulas for use in hospitalized, critically ill, and home enteral patients has dramatically increased. Several enteral nutrition (EN) formula categories exist, which makes it challenging for clinicians to sort through the product claims and find the appropriate formula for the patient. Many formulas are available within each category, some of which may be significantly different from one another. Numerous systematic reviews of existing research and clinical practice guidelines evaluate the use of specialty formulas. This review aims to examine the differences in various enteral formula categories, identify applications in clinical practice, and evaluate the existing evidence and guideline recommendations for use of specific types of enteral formulas.

'Brutal and Stinking' and 'Difficult to Handle': The Historical and Contemporary Manifestations of Racialisation, Institutional Racism, and Schooling in Britain

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cole, Mike

2004-01-01

In this paper, I begin by challenging the British Home Secretary's (David Blunkett) denial of the existence of institutional racism in Britain. While recognising the significance of Macpherson's acknowledgement in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry that institutional racism is, in fact, widespread, I offer a wider definition than that offered by…

Portuguese Students' Understanding at Ages 10-11 and 14-15 of the Origin and Nature of the Earth and the Development of Life.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marques, Luis; Thompson, David

1997-01-01

Uses interviews and a written questionnaire to probe students' ideas on the origin of earth and life on earth. A significant number of commonly held misconceptions were prevalent in the sample (N=493). Provides guidelines to assist learners in challenging existing views. Contains 64 references. (DDR)

Improving Urban Student Achievement Through Early Childhood Reform: What State Policymakers Can Do. Issue Paper. Early Childhood Reform Issue Paper

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kagan, Sharon Lynn

2004-01-01

For over four decades, American policymakers have focused their attention on readying young children for school. Despite noble policy efforts, durable investments and a persistent belief in the ability of early childhood education to offset social inequities, significant challenges exist for America's urban young children as they enter school.…

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Courtland

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

Exploring the Role of Future Perspective in Predicting Turkish University Students' Beliefs about Global Climate Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ates, Deniz; Teksöz, Gaye; Ertepinar, Hamide

2017-01-01

Recent studies indicate that limited understanding about causes and its potential impacts of climate change and fault beliefs by people across different countries of the world including Turkey is a real challenge. Acceptance of climate change as a real threat, believing its existence, and knowing causes and consequences are very significant for…

A Randomized Controlled Trial to Improve Social Skills in Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: The UCLA PEERS® Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laugeson, Elizabeth A.; Gantman, Alexander; Kapp, Steven K.; Orenski, Kaely; Ellingsen, Ruth

2015-01-01

Research suggests that impaired social skills are often the most significant challenge for those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet few evidence-based social skills interventions exist for adults on the spectrum. This replication trial tested the effectiveness of PEERS, a caregiver-assisted social skills program for high-functioning young…

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flynn, Lorna; Healy, Olive

2012-01-01

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

Rapid diagnostic tests for malaria

PubMed Central

Daily, Jennifer; Hotte, Nora; Dolkart, Caitlin; Cunningham, Jane; Yadav, Prashant

2015-01-01

Abstract Maintaining quality, competitiveness and innovation in global health technology is a constant challenge for manufacturers, while affordability, access and equity are challenges for governments and international agencies. In this paper we discuss these issues with reference to rapid diagnostic tests for malaria. Strategies to control and eliminate malaria depend on early and accurate diagnosis. Rapid diagnostic tests for malaria require little training and equipment and can be performed by non-specialists in remote settings. Use of these tests has expanded significantly over the last few years, following recommendations to test all suspected malaria cases before treatment and the implementation of an evaluation programme to assess the performance of the malaria rapid diagnostic tests. Despite these gains, challenges exist that, if not addressed, could jeopardize the progress made to date. We discuss recent developments in rapid diagnostic tests for malaria, highlight some of the challenges and provide suggestions to address them. PMID:26668438

The relationship between specific cognitive impairment and behaviour in Prader-Willi syndrome.

PubMed

Woodcock, K A; Oliver, C; Humphreys, G W

2011-02-01

Individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) have been shown to demonstrate a particular cognitive deficit in attention switching and high levels of preference for routine and temper outbursts. This study assesses whether a specific pathway between a cognitive deficit and behaviour via environmental interaction can exist in individuals with PWS. Four individuals with PWS participated in a series of three single-case experiments including laboratory-based and natural environment designs. Cognitive (computer-based) challenges placed varying demands on attention switching or controlled for the cognitive demands of the tasks while placing no demands on switching. Unexpected changes to routines or expectations were presented in controlled games, or imposed on participants' natural environments and compared with control conditions during which no unexpected changes occurred. Behaviour was observed and heart rate was measured. Participants showed significantly increased temper outburst related behaviours during cognitive challenges that placed demands on attention switching, relative to the control cognitive challenges. Participants showed significantly increased temper outburst related behaviours when unexpected changes occurred in an experimental or the natural environment compared with when no changes occurred. Difficult behaviours that could be triggered reliably in an individual by a specific cognitive demand could also be triggered via manipulation of the environment. Results suggest that a directional relationship between a specific cognitive deficit and behaviour, via environmental interaction, can exist in individuals with PWS. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Current developments and challenges in the assessment of negative symptoms.

PubMed

Lincoln, Tania M; Dollfus, Sonia; Lyne, John

2017-08-01

Reliable and valid assessment of negative symptoms is crucial to further develop etiological models and improve treatments. Our understanding of the concept of negative symptoms has undergone significant advances since the introduction of quantitative assessments of negative symptoms in the 1980s. These include the conceptualization of cognitive dysfunction as separate from negative symptoms and the distinction of two main negative symptom factors (avolition and diminished expression). In this review we provide an overview of existing negative symptom scales, focusing on both observer-rated and self-rated measurement of negative symptoms. We also distinguish between measures that assess negative symptoms as part of a broader assessment of schizophrenia symptoms, those specifically developed for negative symptoms and those that assess specific domains of negative symptoms within and beyond the context of psychotic disorders. We critically discuss strengths and limitations of these measures in the light of some existing challenges, i.e. observed and subjective symptom experiences, the challenge of distinguishing between primary and secondary negative symptoms, and the overlap between negative symptoms and related factors (e.g. personality traits and premorbid functioning). This review is aimed to inform the ongoing development of negative symptom scales. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pandemic policy and planning considerations for universities: findings from a tabletop exercise.

PubMed

Beaton, Randal; Stergachis, Andy; Thompson, Jack; Osaki, Carl; Johnson, Clark; Charvat, Steven J; Marsden-Haug, Nicola

2007-12-01

The potential for a novel influenza virus to cause a pandemic represents a significant threat to global health. Planning for pandemic flu, as compared to planning for other types of hazards, presents some unique challenges to businesses, communities, and education institutions. To identify and address the challenges that may be faced by major metropolitan universities during a flu pandemic, a tabletop exercise was developed, offered, and evaluated. Its purpose was to assess existing University of Washington (UW) plans and policies for responding to an influenza pandemic. On May 31, 2006, more than 50 participants, including UW administrators and unit leaders and a number of key external partners, participated in a tabletop exercise designed to simulate all phases of an influenza pandemic. This exercise revealed existing gaps in university pandemic influenza plans and policies, including issues related to isolation and quarantine, continuity of operations, disaster mental health services, integration of volunteers into a disaster response, tracking travel of university students and personnel, communication problems, and ways to meet the needs of resident and foreign students and faculty during an outbreak. Policy and planning recommendations are offered that address each of these challenges faced by UW as well as other major research universities and colleges.

Challenges in adapting existing clinical natural language processing systems to multiple, diverse health care settings.

PubMed

Carrell, David S; Schoen, Robert E; Leffler, Daniel A; Morris, Michele; Rose, Sherri; Baer, Andrew; Crockett, Seth D; Gourevitch, Rebecca A; Dean, Katie M; Mehrotra, Ateev

2017-09-01

Widespread application of clinical natural language processing (NLP) systems requires taking existing NLP systems and adapting them to diverse and heterogeneous settings. We describe the challenges faced and lessons learned in adapting an existing NLP system for measuring colonoscopy quality. Colonoscopy and pathology reports from 4 settings during 2013-2015, varying by geographic location, practice type, compensation structure, and electronic health record. Though successful, adaptation required considerably more time and effort than anticipated. Typical NLP challenges in assembling corpora, diverse report structures, and idiosyncratic linguistic content were greatly magnified. Strategies for addressing adaptation challenges include assessing site-specific diversity, setting realistic timelines, leveraging local electronic health record expertise, and undertaking extensive iterative development. More research is needed on how to make it easier to adapt NLP systems to new clinical settings. A key challenge in widespread application of NLP is adapting existing systems to new clinical settings. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

An Overview of the NASA Energy and Water cycle Study (NEWS) and the North American Water Program (NAWP)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Houser, P. R.

2014-12-01

NEWS: 10 years ago, NASA established the NASA Energy and Water-cycle Study (NEWS), whose long-term grand challenge is to document and enable improved, observationally based, predictions of water and energy cycle consequences of Earth system variability and change. The NEWS program builds upon existing NASA-supported basic research in atmospheric physics and dynamics, radiation, climate modeling, and terrestrial hydrology. While these NASA programs fund research activities that address individual aspects of the global energy and water cycles, they are not specifically designed to generate a coordinated result. NEWS developed the first coordinated attempt to describe the complete global energy and water cycle using existing and forthcoming satellite and ground based observations, and laying the foundation for essential NEWS developments in model representations of atmospheric energy and water exchange processes. This comprehensive energy and water data analysis program exploited crucial datasets, some requiring complete re-processing, and new satellite measurements. NAWP: Dramatically changing climates has had an indelible impact on North America's water crisis. To decisively address these challenges, we recommend that NAWP coalesce an interdisciplinary, international and interagency effort to make significant contributions to continental- to decision-scale hydroclimate science and solutions. By entraining, integrating and coordinating the vast array of interdisciplinary observational and prediction resources available, NAWP will significantly advance skill in predicting, assessing and managing variability and changes in North American water resources. We adopt three challenges to organize NAWP efforts. The first deals with developing a scientific basis and tools for mitigating and adapting to changes in the water supply-demand balance. The second challenge is benchmarking; to use incomplete and uncertain observations to assess water storage and quality dynamics, and to characterize the information content of water cycle predictions in a way that allows for model improvement. The final challenge is to establish clear pathways to inform water managers, practitioners and decision makers about newly developed tools, observations and research results.

Near Real-Time Call Detail Record ETL Flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cochinwala, Munir; Panagos, Euthimios

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

A new approach to wind energy: Opportunities and challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dabiri, John O.; Greer, Julia R.; Koseff, Jeffrey R.; Moin, Parviz; Peng, Jifeng

2015-03-01

Despite common characterizations of modern wind energy technology as mature, there remains a persistent disconnect between the vast global wind energy resource—which is 20 times greater than total global power consumption—and the limited penetration of existing wind energy technologies as a means for electricity generation worldwide. We describe an approach to wind energy harvesting that has the potential to resolve this disconnect by geographically distributing wind power generators in a manner that more closely mirrors the physical resource itself. To this end, technology development is focused on large arrays of small wind turbines that can harvest wind energy at low altitudes by using new concepts of biology-inspired engineering. This approach dramatically extends the reach of wind energy, as smaller wind turbines can be installed in many places that larger systems cannot, especially in built environments. Moreover, they have lower visual, acoustic, and radar signatures, and they may pose significantly less risk to birds and bats. These features can be leveraged to attain cultural acceptance and rapid adoption of this new technology, thereby enabling significantly faster achievement of state and national renewable energy targets than with existing technology alone. Favorable economics stem from an orders-of-magnitude reduction in the number of components in a new generation of simple, mass-manufacturable (even 3D-printable), vertical-axis wind turbines. However, this vision can only be achieved by overcoming significant scientific challenges that have limited progress over the past three decades. The following essay summarizes our approach as well as the opportunities and challenges associated with it, with the aim of motivating a concerted effort in basic and applied research in this area.

The application, benefits and challenges of retrofitting the existing buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khairi, Muhammad; Jaapar, Aini; Yahya, Zaharah

2017-11-01

Sustainable development has been the main topic of debate for years in some countries such as United Kingdom, United State of America and Malaysia. Depletion of natural resources, global warming, economics uncertainty and health issues are some of the reasons behind sustainable development movements, it is not just a political debate in the parliament but more towards collective works among sectors in order to minimizing the negative impact of development to the environment and other living organism. Retrofit an existing building is one of the solutions to reduce the dependency on constructing new buildings. There are huge numbers of existing building stocks that suitable to be retrofitted such as historical buildings, offices, residential, warehouse, factories, vacant buildings and other historical buildings. Therefore, the aim of this research is to provide information on the application, benefits and challenges of retrofitting an existing building. Two buildings were chosen as case studies following by site visits and observation to the buildings. The data were then compared in a table form. Primary and secondary sources were also used for this research. The application of retrofit should be promoted across the construction and conservation industries since it has significant tangible and intangible benefits. It is one of the most environmentally friendly and efficient solutions to optimize the energy performance and could also helps to extend the life of the existing building or historical buildings while ensuring optimum thermal comfort for the occupants which leads to higher productivity.

Visual Analytics Tools for Sustainable Lifecycle Design: Current Status, Challenges, and Future Opportunities.

PubMed

Ramanujan, Devarajan; Bernstein, William Z; Chandrasegaran, Senthil K; Ramani, Karthik

2017-01-01

The rapid rise in technologies for data collection has created an unmatched opportunity to advance the use of data-rich tools for lifecycle decision-making. However, the usefulness of these technologies is limited by the ability to translate lifecycle data into actionable insights for human decision-makers. This is especially true in the case of sustainable lifecycle design (SLD), as the assessment of environmental impacts, and the feasibility of making corresponding design changes, often relies on human expertise and intuition. Supporting human sense-making in SLD requires the use of both data-driven and user-driven methods while exploring lifecycle data. A promising approach for combining the two is through the use of visual analytics (VA) tools. Such tools can leverage the ability of computer-based tools to gather, process, and summarize data along with the ability of human-experts to guide analyses through domain knowledge or data-driven insight. In this paper, we review previous research that has created VA tools in SLD. We also highlight existing challenges and future opportunities for such tools in different lifecycle stages-design, manufacturing, distribution & supply chain, use-phase, end-of-life, as well as life cycle assessment. Our review shows that while the number of VA tools in SLD is relatively small, researchers are increasingly focusing on the subject matter. Our review also suggests that VA tools can address existing challenges in SLD and that significant future opportunities exist.

Enabling Air Force Satellite Ground System Automation Through Software Engineering

DTIC Science & Technology

US Air Force satellite ground stations require significant manpower to operate due to their fragmented legacy architectures . To improve operating...daily operations, but also the development, maintainability, and the extensibility of such systems. This thesis researches challenges to Air Force...satellite automation: 1) existing architecture of legacy systems, 2) space segment diversity, and 3) unclear definition and scoping of the term, automation

The Design and Development of a Web-Based E-Learning Platform for the Understanding and Acquisition of Various Entrepreneurial Skills in SMEs and Industry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ogunleye, Ayodele; Owolabi, Tunde; Adeyemo, Sunday

2013-01-01

In recent times, the role of entrepreneurs has been recognized to be of great significance in accelerating the pace of growth of economic development of any country. Internet-enabled technologies have also challenged existing business models in numerous market sectors and offered innovation opportunities to a variety of stakeholders--not least…

Calcium and bone metabolism during space flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Scott M.; Heer, Martina

2002-01-01

Weightlessness induces bone loss. Understanding the nature of this loss and developing means to counteract it are significant challenges to potential human exploration missions. This article reviews the existing information from studies of bone and calcium metabolism conducted during space flight. It also highlights areas where nutrition may play a specific role in this bone loss, and where countermeasures may be developed to mitigate that loss.

Pooling Data from Multiple Longitudinal Studies: The Role of Item Response Theory in Integrative Data Analysis

PubMed Central

Curran, Patrick J.; Hussong, Andrea M.; Cai, Li; Huang, Wenjing; Chassin, Laurie; Sher, Kenneth J.; Zucker, Robert A.

2010-01-01

There are a number of significant challenges encountered when studying development over an extended period of time including subject attrition, changing measurement structures across group and developmental period, and the need to invest substantial time and money. Integrative data analysis is an emerging set of methodologies that overcomes many of the challenges of single sample designs through the pooling of data drawn from multiple existing developmental studies. This approach is characterized by a host of advantages, but this also introduces several new complexities that must be addressed prior to broad adoption by developmental researchers. In this paper we focus on methods for fitting measurement models and creating scale scores using data drawn from multiple longitudinal studies. We present findings from the analysis of repeated measures of internalizing symptomatology that were pooled from three existing developmental studies. We describe and demonstrate each step in the analysis and we conclude with a discussion of potential limitations and directions for future research. PMID:18331129

78 FR 13874 - Watershed Modeling To Assess the Sensitivity of Streamflow, Nutrient, and Sediment Loads to...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-01

... an improved understanding of methodological challenges associated with integrating existing tools and... methodological challenges associated with integrating existing tools (e.g., climate models, downscaling... sensitivity to methodological choices such as different approaches for downscaling global climate change...

Faculty and student perceptions of academic integrity at U.S. and Canadian dental schools.

PubMed

Andrews, Kenneth G; Smith, Linda A; Henzi, David; Demps, Elaine

2007-08-01

The issues of cheating and plagiarism in educational settings have received a large amount of attention in recent years. The purpose of this study was to assess the degree to which academic integrity issues currently exist in the dental schools throughout the United States and Canada. An online survey was developed to gather data pertaining to this topic from two key groups in dental education: faculty and students. Responses were obtained from 1,153 students and 423 faculty members. The results of the survey clearly reveal that cheating is a significant problem in dental schools and that significant differences exist between students' and faculty members' perceptions of academic integrity. The challenge for dental schools is to identify effective strategies to prevent cheating opportunities and to implement and enforce effective means of dealing with specific examples of cheating.

The Impacts of Demographic Variables on Technological and Contextual Challenges of E-learning Implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aldowah, Hanan; Ghazal, Samar; Naufal Umar, Irfan; Muniandy, Balakrishnan

2017-09-01

Information technology has achieved robust growth which has made it possible for learning to occur quickly. The rapid development of information, communication and technologies (ICT) has initiated an unparalleled transformation in universities all over the world. This development of technology and learning is offering new techniques to represent knowledge, new practices, and new global communities of learners. As a result, today’s economic and social changes force universities to try to find new learning approaches and systems. E-learning seems to be an appropriate approach in this aspect. However, the implementation of e-learning systems in universities is not an easy task because of some challenges related to context, technology, and other challenges. This paper studied the impacts of demographic data and reported the critical points for the decision makers to consider when planning and implementing e-learning in universities. A quantitative approach was used to study the effects of technological and contextual challenges on e-learning implementation in which a questionnaire was used for the data collection. According to the findings of the study, the most important challenges of the implementation of e-learning are related either to organizational (Contextual) and technological (technical) issues. The demographic variables have been found to play a direct and indirect role with the technological and contextual challenges of implementing e-learning. This paper showed that there are some significant differences in the two challenges faced by instructors in terms of the demographic variables. The result revealed that some significant differences exist between demographic variables and the two challenges of e-learning in terms of gender, age, teaching experience, ICT experience and e-learning experience. However, there is no significant difference in terms of e-learning experience. The obtained data, from such study, can provide information about what academic institutions can do before implementing e-learning to reduce and overcome the challenges in implementing e-learning in universities. So, university administrators interested in implementing e-learning should recognize the challenges that their instructors are facing and to provide the necessary policy and support to help overcome these challenges.

Conjunctival provocation tests: a predictive factor for patients' seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms.

PubMed

Kruse, Kristian; Gerwin, Eva; Eichel, Andrea; Shah-Hosseini, Kija; Mösges, Ralph

2015-01-01

No parameters currently exist that can reliably predict the impact of preseasonal immunotherapy on the symptoms occurring during the season. The purpose of our studies was to prove a correlation between preseasonal conjunctival allergen challenge and coseasonal primary clinical endpoints using the total combined score, ie, a combination of symptoms and medication score, as the primary outcome parameter. Twelve weeks before both the birch and the grass pollen seasons, 2 separate prospective, double-blind, randomized, controlled studies were conducted followed by posttrial observations for each study during the active season. In the studies, patients who reacted to conjunctival allergen challenge were treated with sublingual immunotherapy tablets that contain either birch and/or alder or grass pollen allergoids. In all, 158 patients were included in the grass and 160 in the tree pollen study; of these, 100 and 109 patients, respectively, took part in the posttrial observations. When comparing patients with and without a positive reaction in the final conjunctival allergen challenge, the results revealed a significant difference in the total combined score (grass: P < .001; birch: P = .025). The same applied to the rescue medication score (P = .005; P = .025). A significant difference regarding the rhinoconjunctivitis symptom score was shown in the grass pollen study (P = .002), and the difference of well days was significant in the tree pollen study (P = .049). When comparing patients based on their reaction to allergen challenge after immunotherapy, each study leads to similarly significant results. Therefore, conjunctival allergen challenge can be used effectively as a parameter to predict allergic rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms during the season in patients treated with preseasonal sublingual immunotherapy tablets. Whether this can be transferred to untreated patients needs to be determined. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Detecting drug-target binding in cells using fluorescence-activated cell sorting coupled with mass spectrometry analysis.

PubMed

Wilson, Kris; Webster, Scott P; Iredale, John P; Zheng, Xiaozhong; Homer, Natalie Z; Pham, Nhan T; Auer, Manfred; Mole, Damian J

2017-12-15

The assessment of drug-target engagement for determining the efficacy of a compound inside cells remains challenging, particularly for difficult target proteins. Existing techniques are more suited to soluble protein targets. Difficult target proteins include those with challenging in vitro solubility, stability or purification properties that preclude target isolation. Here, we report a novel technique that measures intracellular compound-target complex formation, as well as cellular permeability, specificity and cytotoxicity-the toxicity-affinity-permeability-selectivity (TAPS) technique. The TAPS assay is exemplified here using human kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO), a challenging intracellular membrane protein target of significant current interest. TAPS confirmed target binding of known KMO inhibitors inside cells. We conclude that the TAPS assay can be used to facilitate intracellular hit validation on most, if not all intracellular drug targets.

Detecting drug-target binding in cells using fluorescence-activated cell sorting coupled with mass spectrometry analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Kris; Webster, Scott P.; Iredale, John P.; Zheng, Xiaozhong; Homer, Natalie Z.; Pham, Nhan T.; Auer, Manfred; Mole, Damian J.

2018-01-01

The assessment of drug-target engagement for determining the efficacy of a compound inside cells remains challenging, particularly for difficult target proteins. Existing techniques are more suited to soluble protein targets. Difficult target proteins include those with challenging in vitro solubility, stability or purification properties that preclude target isolation. Here, we report a novel technique that measures intracellular compound-target complex formation, as well as cellular permeability, specificity and cytotoxicity-the toxicity-affinity-permeability-selectivity (TAPS) technique. The TAPS assay is exemplified here using human kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO), a challenging intracellular membrane protein target of significant current interest. TAPS confirmed target binding of known KMO inhibitors inside cells. We conclude that the TAPS assay can be used to facilitate intracellular hit validation on most, if not all intracellular drug targets.

Climate change and Australian agriculture: a review of the threats facing rural communities and the health policy landscape.

PubMed

Hanna, Elizabeth G; Bell, Erica; King, Debra; Woodruff, Rosalie

2011-03-01

Population health is a function of social and environmental health determinants. Climate change is predicted to bring significant alterations to ecological systems on which human health and livelihoods depend; the air, water, plant, and animal health. Agricultural systems are intrinsically linked with environmental conditions, which are already under threat in much of southern Australian because of rising heat and protracted drying. The direct impact of increasing heat waves on human physiology and survival has recently been well studied. More diffusely, increasing drought periods may challenge the viability of agriculture in some regions, and hence those communities that depend on primary production. A worst case scenario may herald the collapse of some communities. Human health impacts arising from such transition would be profound. This article summarizes existing rural health challenges and presents the current evidence plus future predictions of climate change impacts on Australian agriculture to argue the need for significant augmentation of public health and existing health policy frameworks. The article concludes by suggesting that adaptation to climate change requires planning for worst case scenario outcomes to avert catastrophic impacts on rural communities. This will involve national policy planning as much as regional-level leadership for rapid development of adaptive strategies in agriculture and other key areas of rural communities.

Taxonomy of Challenges for Digital Forensics.

PubMed

Karie, Nickson M; Venter, Hein S

2015-07-01

Since its inception, over a decade ago, the field of digital forensics has faced numerous challenges. Despite different researchers and digital forensic practitioners having studied and analysed various known digital forensic challenges, as of 2013, there still exists a need for a formal classification of these challenges. This article therefore reviews existing research literature and highlights the various challenges that digital forensics has faced for the last 10 years. In conducting this research study, however, it was difficult for the authors to review all the existing research literature in the digital forensic domain; hence, sampling and randomization techniques were employed to facilitate the review of the gathered literature. Taxonomy of the various challenges is subsequently proposed in this paper based on our review of the literature. The taxonomy classifies the large number of digital forensic challenges into four well-defined and easily understood categories. The proposed taxonomy can be useful, for example, in future developments of automated digital forensic tools by explicitly describing processes and procedures that focus on addressing specific challenges identified in this paper. However, it should also be noted that the purpose of this paper was not to propose any solutions to the individual challenges that digital forensics face, but to serve as a survey of the state of the art of the research area. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Single-Dose Intranasal Treatment with DEF201 (Adenovirus Vectored Consensus Interferon) Prevents Lethal Disease Due to Rift Valley Fever Virus Challenge

PubMed Central

Gowen, Brian B.; Ennis, Jane; Bailey, Kevin W.; Vest, Zachary; Scharton, Dionna; Sefing, Eric J.; Turner, Jeffrey D.

2014-01-01

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) causes severe disease in humans and ungulates. The virus can be transmitted by mosquitoes, direct contact with infected tissues or fluids, or aerosol, making it a significant biological threat for which there is no approved vaccine or therapeutic. Herein we describe the evaluation of DEF201, an adenovirus-vectored interferon alpha which addresses the limitations of recombinant interferon alpha protein (cost, short half-life), as a pre- and post-exposure treatment in a lethal hamster RVFV challenge model. DEF201 was delivered intranasally to stimulate mucosal immunity and effectively bypass any pre-existing immunity to the vector. Complete protection against RVFV infection was observed from a single dose of DEF201 administered one or seven days prior to challenge while all control animals succumbed within three days of infection. Efficacy of treatment administered two weeks prior to challenge was limited. Post‑exposure, DEF201 was able to confer significant protection when dosed at 30 min or 6 h, but not at 24 h post-RVFV challenge. Protection was associated with reductions in serum and tissue viral loads. Our findings suggest that DEF201 may be a useful countermeasure against RVFV infection and further demonstrates its broad-spectrum capacity to stimulate single dose protective immunity. PMID:24662673

Operationalizing universal health coverage in Nigeria through social health insurance

PubMed Central

Okpani, Arnold Ikedichi; Abimbola, Seye

2015-01-01

Nigeria faces challenges that delay progress toward the attainment of the national government's declared goal of universal health coverage (UHC). One such challenge is system-wide inequities resulting from lack of financial protection for the health care needs of the vast majority of Nigerians. Only a small proportion of Nigerians have prepaid health care. In this paper, we draw on existing evidence to suggest steps toward reforming health care financing in Nigeria to achieve UHC through social health insurance. This article sets out to demonstrate that a viable path to UHC through expanding social health insurance exists in Nigeria. We argue that encouraging the states which are semi-autonomous federating units to setup and manage their own insurance schemes presents a unique opportunity for rapidly scaling up prepaid coverage for Nigerians. We show that Nigeria's federal structure which prescribes a sharing of responsibilities for health care among the three tiers of government presents serious challenges for significantly extending social insurance to uncovered groups. We recommend that rather than allowing this governance structure to impair progress toward UHC, it should be leveraged to accelerate the process by supporting the states to establish and manage their own insurance funds while encouraging integration with the National Health Insurance Scheme. PMID:26778879

Health seeking behaviour and challenges in utilising health facilities in Wakiso district, Uganda.

PubMed

Musoke, David; Boynton, Petra; Butler, Ceri; Musoke, Miph Boses

2014-12-01

The health seeking behaviour of a community determines how they use health services. Utilisation of health facilities can be influenced by the cost of services, distance to health facilities, cultural beliefs, level of education and health facility inadequacies such as stock-out of drugs. To assess the health seeking practices and challenges in utilising health facilities in a rural community in Wakiso district, Uganda. The study was a cross sectional survey that used a structured questionnaire to collect quantitative data among 234 participants. The sample size was obtained using the formula by Leslie Kish. While 89% of the participants were aware that mobile clinics existed in their community, only 28% had received such services in the past month. The majority of participants (84%) did not know whether community health workers existed in their community. The participants' health seeking behaviour the last time they were sick was associated with age (p = 0.028) and occupation (p = 0.009). The most significant challenges in utilising health services were regular stock-out of drugs, high cost of services and long distance to health facilities. There is potential to increase access to health care in rural areas by increasing the frequency of mobile clinic services and strengthening the community health worker strategy.

MEMS reliability: The challenge and the promise

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

Miller, W.M.; Tanner, D.M.; Miller, S.L.

1998-05-01

MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) that think, sense, act and communicate will open up a broad new array of cost effective solutions only if they prove to be sufficiently reliable. A valid reliability assessment of MEMS has three prerequisites: (1) statistical significance; (2) a technique for accelerating fundamental failure mechanisms, and (3) valid physical models to allow prediction of failures during actual use. These already exist for the microelectronics portion of such integrated systems. The challenge lies in the less well understood micromachine portions and its synergistic effects with microelectronics. This paper presents a methodology addressing these prerequisites and a description ofmore » the underlying physics of reliability for micromachines.« less

A social marketing approach to changing mental health practices directed at youth and adolescents.

PubMed

Andreason, Alan R

2004-01-01

The mental health problems of children are of increasing social concern. Many best practices have been developed but often not implemented. Social marketing has been suggested as an innovative, useful approach to this challenge-along with others in the health care field. However, much confusion exists over what the approach entails, where it has been applied and how it can be adapted to significant social challenges such as changing mental health practices directed at youth and adolescents. This article defines key terms, offers historical perspective and provides a specific approach and set of models to implement an effective social marketing strategy in a range of contexts.

From Composition to Cure: A Systems Engineering Approach to Anticancer Drug Carriers.

PubMed

MacEwan, Sarah R; Chilkoti, Ashutosh

2017-06-06

The molecular complexity and heterogeneity of cancer has led to a persistent, and as yet unsolved, challenge to develop cures for this disease. The pharmaceutical industry focuses the bulk of its efforts on the development of new drugs, but an alternative approach is to improve the delivery of existing drugs with drug carriers that can manipulate when, where, and how a drug exerts its therapeutic effect. For the treatment of solid tumors, systemically delivered drug carriers face significant challenges that are imposed by the pathophysiological barriers that lie between their site of administration and their site of therapeutic action in the tumor. Furthermore, drug carriers face additional challenges in their translation from preclinical validation to clinical approval and adoption. Addressing this diverse network of challenges requires a systems engineering approach for the rational design of optimized carriers that have a realistic prospect for translation from the laboratory to the patient. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Possible Improvements of the ACE Diversity Interchange Methodology

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

Etingov, Pavel V.; Zhou, Ning; Makarov, Yuri V.

2010-07-26

North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) grid is operated by about 131 balancing authorities (BA). Within each BA, operators are responsible for managing the unbalance (caused by both load and wind). As wind penetration levels increase, the challenges of managing power variation increases. Working independently, balancing area with limited regulating/load following generation and high wind power penetration faces significant challenges. The benefits of BA cooperation and consolidation increase when there is a significant wind energy penetration. To explore the benefits of BA cooperation, this paper investigates ACE sharing approach. A technology called ACE diversity interchange (ADI) is already in usemore » in the western interconnection. A new methodology extending ADI is proposed in the paper. The proposed advanced ADI overcoming some limitations existing in conventional ADI. Simulations using real statistical data of CAISO and BPA have shown high performance of the proposed advanced ADI methodology.« less

Respiratory health in Latin America: number of specialists and human resources training.

PubMed

Vázquez-García, Juan-Carlos; Salas-Hernández, Jorge; Pérez Padilla, Rogelio; Montes de Oca, María

2014-01-01

Latin America is made up of a number of developing countries. Demographic changes are occurring in the close to 600 million inhabitants, in whom a significant growth in population is combined with the progressive ageing of the population. This part of the world poses great challenges for general and respiratory health. Most of the countries have significant, or even greater, rates of chronic respiratory diseases or exposure to risk. Human resources in healthcare are not readily available, particularly in the area of respiratory disease specialists. Academic training centers are few and even non-existent in the majority of the countries. The detailed analysis of these conditions provides a basis for reflection on the main challenges and proposals for the management and training of better human resources in this specialist area. Copyright © 2013 SEPAR. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Toward Interactive Scenario Analysis and Exploration

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

Gayle, Thomas R.; Summers, Kenneth Lee; Jungels, John

2015-01-01

As Modeling and Simulation (M&S) tools have matured, their applicability and importance have increased across many national security challenges. In particular, they provide a way to test how something may behave without the need to do real world testing. However, current and future changes across several factors including capabilities, policy, and funding are driving a need for rapid response or evaluation in ways that many M&S tools cannot address. Issues around large data, computational requirements, delivery mechanisms, and analyst involvement already exist and pose significant challenges. Furthermore, rising expectations, rising input complexity, and increasing depth of analysis will only increasemore » the difficulty of these challenges. In this study we examine whether innovations in M&S software coupled with advances in ''cloud'' computing and ''big-data'' methodologies can overcome many of these challenges. In particular, we propose a simple, horizontally-scalable distributed computing environment that could provide the foundation (i.e. ''cloud'') for next-generation M&S-based applications based on the notion of ''parallel multi-simulation''. In our context, the goal of parallel multi- simulation is to consider as many simultaneous paths of execution as possible. Therefore, with sufficient resources, the complexity is dominated by the cost of single scenario runs as opposed to the number of runs required. We show the feasibility of this architecture through a stable prototype implementation coupled with the Umbra Simulation Framework [6]. Finally, we highlight the utility through multiple novel analysis tools and by showing the performance improvement compared to existing tools.« less

A Doubly Stochastic Change Point Detection Algorithm for Noisy Biological Signals.

PubMed

Gold, Nathan; Frasch, Martin G; Herry, Christophe L; Richardson, Bryan S; Wang, Xiaogang

2017-01-01

Experimentally and clinically collected time series data are often contaminated with significant confounding noise, creating short, noisy time series. This noise, due to natural variability and measurement error, poses a challenge to conventional change point detection methods. We propose a novel and robust statistical method for change point detection for noisy biological time sequences. Our method is a significant improvement over traditional change point detection methods, which only examine a potential anomaly at a single time point. In contrast, our method considers all suspected anomaly points and considers the joint probability distribution of the number of change points and the elapsed time between two consecutive anomalies. We validate our method with three simulated time series, a widely accepted benchmark data set, two geological time series, a data set of ECG recordings, and a physiological data set of heart rate variability measurements of fetal sheep model of human labor, comparing it to three existing methods. Our method demonstrates significantly improved performance over the existing point-wise detection methods.

Lessons learned for composite structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitehead, R. S.

1991-01-01

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

The Challenges in Measuring Local Immunization Coverage: A Statewide Case Study

PubMed Central

Rowhani-Rahbar, Ali; Duchin, Jeffrey; DeHart, M. Patricia; Opel, Douglas

2016-01-01

There are many forms of existing immunization surveillance in the United States and Washington state, but all are limited in their ability to provide timely identification of clusters of unimmunized individuals and assess the risk of vaccine-preventable diseases. This article aims to: (1) describe challenges to measuring immunization coverage at a local level in the United States using Washington State as a case study; and (2) propose improvements to existing surveillance systems that address the challenges identified. PMID:27244807

Nurses in the workplace: expectations and needs.

PubMed

DeCola, P R; Riggins, P

2010-09-01

It is important to understand nurses' attitudes toward their work environment. Prior studies in this area have been conducted. The interest was to identify a relative assessment of workplace challenges by studying nurses within developed and developing economies. A representative survey of 2203 nurses in 11 countries was conducted via a structured survey. Data from open-ended questions were content analysed and grouped thematically. The overall margin of error is +/-2.1% and +/-6.9% for country level results. Key findings included that 92% of nurses say they face time constraints and 96% say that spending more time with individual patients would have a significant impact on patient health. Forty-six per cent of nurses say their workload is worse today than it was 5 years ago. While only 53% of nurses say it is very likely they will be practising nursing in 5 years, national differences existed. Statistically significant parameters influencing the likelihood to stay in nursing included having greater independence and control over their practice area, sufficient staff, greater involvement in decisions impacting their work and patient care, and improved work-life balance. There is agreement across the surveyed countries regarding the existence of high workloads that are contributing to time constraints and the belief that patient outcomes are significantly impacted. These conditions contribute to nurses' lack of firm commitment to their profession. The systemic changes required to deliver quality health care to patients require these challenges to be addressed.

Multimodal evaluation and management of children with concussion: using our heads and available evidence.

PubMed

Gioia, Gerard A

2015-01-01

Significant attention has been focused on concussions in children, but a dearth of research evidence exists supporting clinical evaluation and management. The primary objective of this review paper is to describe a multimodal, developmentally adapted, standardized concussion assessment and active rehabilitation approach for children as young as 5 years old. This study reviews the CDC-funded research programme, including the development of tools for post-concussion symptom assessment involving the child and parent, measurement of specific neurocognitive functions and assessment of dynamic cognitive exertional effects. A clinical approach to active, individualized, moderated concussion rehabilitation management is presented, including a 10-step guide to symptom management, with a specific focus on the school challenges faced by the recovering student. To better inform concussion practice across the developmental age spectrum, a significant need exists for further research evidence to refine clinical assessment methods and develop effective treatment approaches.

Multimodal Evaluation and Management of Children with Concussion: Using our heads and available evidence

PubMed Central

Gioia, Gerard A.

2015-01-01

Significant attention has been focused on concussions in children but a dearth of research evidence exists supporting clinical evaluation and management. The primary objective of this review paper is to describe a multimodal, developmentally adapted, standardized concussion assessment and active rehabilitation approach for children as young as age five. We review our CDC-funded research program including the development of tools for post-concussion symptom assessment involving the child and parent, measurement of specific neurocognitive functions, and assessment of dynamic cognitive exertional effects. A clinical approach to active, individualized, moderated concussion rehabilitation management is presented, including a ten step guide to symptom management, with a specific focus on the school challenges faced by the recovering student. To better inform concussion practice across the developmental age spectrum, a significant need exists for further research evidence to refine our clinical assessment methods and develop effective treatment approaches. PMID:25356518

Software and the future of programming languages.

PubMed

Aho, Alfred V

2004-02-27

Although software is the key enabler of the global information infrastructure, the amount and extent of software in use in the world today are not widely understood, nor are the programming languages and paradigms that have been used to create the software. The vast size of the embedded base of existing software and the increasing costs of software maintenance, poor security, and limited functionality are posing significant challenges for the software R&D community.

Strategic Impact of Cyber Warfare Rules for the United States

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

Despite the growing complexities of cyberspace and the significant strategic challenge cyber warfare poses on the United States’ vital interests few...specific rules for cyber warfare exist. The United States should seek to develop and maintain cyber warfare rules in order to establish...exemplify the need for multilaterally prepared cyber warfare rules that will reduce the negative influence cyber warfare presently has on the United States’ national interests.

From Militarism to Pacifism: Understanding the Need to Revise Japan’s Article 9

DTIC Science & Technology

further into proactive pacifism to address todays security environment . Real security threats exist for the Japanese, driving shifts in public...likely to be significant , but revision of Article 9 remains the logical conclusion to addressing these challenges. The United States must support its...long-standing ally, as Japan takes the next logical step in reaffirming its rightful place alongside other reasonable actors in the Indo-Pacific region.

A Survey of Terrestrial Approaches to the Challenge of Lunar Dust Containment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aguilera, Tatiana; Perry, Jay L.

2009-01-01

Numerous technical challenges exist to successfully extend lunar surface exploration beyond the tantalizing first steps of Apollo. Among these is the challenge of lunar dust intrusion into the cabin environment. Addressing this challenge includes the design of barriers to intrusion as well as techniques for removing the dust from the cabin atmosphere. Opportunities exist for adapting approaches employed in dusty industrial operations and pristine manufacturing environments to cabin environmental quality maintenance applications. A survey of process technologies employed by the semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food processing, and mining industries offers insight into basic approaches that may be suitable for adaptation to lunar surface exploration applications.

The Apollo Expericence Lessons Learned for Constellation Lunar Dust Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Sandra

2006-09-01

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

Proteomics, lipidomics, metabolomics: a mass spectrometry tutorial from a computer scientist's point of view.

PubMed

Smith, Rob; Mathis, Andrew D; Ventura, Dan; Prince, John T

2014-01-01

For decades, mass spectrometry data has been analyzed to investigate a wide array of research interests, including disease diagnostics, biological and chemical theory, genomics, and drug development. Progress towards solving any of these disparate problems depends upon overcoming the common challenge of interpreting the large data sets generated. Despite interim successes, many data interpretation problems in mass spectrometry are still challenging. Further, though these challenges are inherently interdisciplinary in nature, the significant domain-specific knowledge gap between disciplines makes interdisciplinary contributions difficult. This paper provides an introduction to the burgeoning field of computational mass spectrometry. We illustrate key concepts, vocabulary, and open problems in MS-omics, as well as provide invaluable resources such as open data sets and key search terms and references. This paper will facilitate contributions from mathematicians, computer scientists, and statisticians to MS-omics that will fundamentally improve results over existing approaches and inform novel algorithmic solutions to open problems.

Conserving endangered marine organisms: causes, trends and challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ambariyanto

2017-02-01

Increasing demand for marine resources in recent decades for human needs has led to intensified exploitation. This increase accelerates the process of extinction of various marine resources. In order to avoid extinction, it requires conservation measures of marine resources appropriately. This paper provides an overview of causes of extinction, trends and challenges in the conservation of endangered marine organisms. The success of conservation measures is highly dependent on various stakeholders such as governments, communities, the private sector and academics. Differences of the interest of these parties often lead to the failure of conservation programs. In general there is an increasing public awareness of the importance of protecting the diversity of marine resources and avoiding extinction of marine organisms, especially endangered organisms. The existence of comprehensive actions, legislation and improved coordination among government, community, private sector, and academics will significantly improve the success in overcoming all the challenges.

Redefining NHS complaint handling--the real challenge.

PubMed

Seelos, L; Adamson, C

1994-01-01

More and more organizations find that a constructive and open dialogue with their customers can be an effective strategy for building long-term customer relations. In this context, it has been recognized that effective complaint-contact handling can make a significant contribution to organizations' attempts to maximize customer satisfaction and loyalty. Within the NHS, an intellectual awareness exists that effective complaint/contact handling can contribute to making services more efficient and cost-effective by developing customer-oriented improvement initiatives. Recent efforts have focused on redefining NHS complaint-handling procedures to make them more user-friendly and effective for both NHS employees and customers. Discusses the challenges associated with opening up the NHS to customer feedback. Highlights potential weaknesses in the current approach and argues that the real challenge is for NHS managers to facilitate a culture change that moves the NHS away from a long-established defensive complaint handling practice.

The Apollo Experience Lessons Learned for Constellation Lunar Dust Management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wagner, Sandra

2006-01-01

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

Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms in Post-ICU Family Members: Review and Methodological Challenges

PubMed Central

Petrinec, Amy B.; Daly, Barbara J.

2018-01-01

Family members of intensive care unit (ICU) patients are at risk for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following ICU discharge. The aim of this systematic review is to examine the current literature regarding post-ICU family PTSD symptoms with an emphasis on methodological issues in conducting research on this challenging phenomenon. An extensive review of the literature was performed confining the search to English language studies reporting PTSD symptoms in adult family members of adult ICU patients. Ten studies were identified for review published from 2004–2012. Findings demonstrate a significant prevalence of family PTSD symptoms in the months following ICU hospitalization. However, there are several methodological challenges to the interpretation of existing studies and to the conduct of future research including differences in sampling, identification of risk factors and covariates of PTSD, and lack of consensus regarding the most appropriate PTSD symptom measurement tools and timing. PMID:25061017

Herbal medicine research and global health: an ethical analysis.

PubMed

Tilburt, Jon C; Kaptchuk, Ted J

2008-08-01

Governments, international agencies and corporations are increasingly investing in traditional herbal medicine research. Yet little literature addresses ethical challenges in this research. In this paper, we apply concepts in a comprehensive ethical framework for clinical research to international traditional herbal medicine research. We examine in detail three key, underappreciated dimensions of the ethical framework in which particularly difficult questions arise for international herbal medicine research: social value, scientific validity and favourable risk-benefit ratio. Significant challenges exist in determining shared concepts of social value, scientific validity and favourable risk-benefit ratio across international research collaborations. However, we argue that collaborative partnership, including democratic deliberation, offers the context and process by which many of the ethical challenges in international herbal medicine research can, and should be, resolved. By "cross-training" investigators, and investing in safety-monitoring infrastructure, the issues identified by this comprehensive framework can promote ethically sound international herbal medicine research that contributes to global health.

Why the elderly could bankrupt Canada and how demographic imperatives will force the redesign of acute care service delivery.

PubMed

Sinha, Samir K

2011-01-01

Canada's aging population poses a significant challenge for the existing healthcare system. While individuals 65 and older accounted for 13.7% of the population in 2005, they accounted for 60% of all acute care service spending. This paper further illustrates how the heterogeneity of the older population and its impact on patterns of healthcare use demonstrate the failings of our current care systems. Our outdated acute care models frequently disadvantage the system's highest users, who are often characterized by factors such as poly-morbidity, functional impairment and social frailty. Understanding how implementing innovative models that challenge deeply ingrained ways of providing care has proven to be a significant challenge, this paper highlights one hospital's mission to transform current traditional paradigms of care by developing and implementing an elder-friendly hospital integrated service delivery model. This hospital aims to demonstrate wide-ranging benefits of this model that can contribute toward optimizing the outcomes of hospitalization for older adults and the system as a whole. The establishment of a national agency that could support the development of a national aging strategy to promote best practice dissemination and implementation could also ensure that the significant health, social and economic benefits that better care models can realize could be more easily achieved.

A roadmap for nuclear energy technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sofu, Tanju

2018-01-01

The prospects for the future use of nuclear energy worldwide can best be understood within the context of global population growth, urbanization, rising energy need and associated pollution concerns. As the world continues to urbanize, sustainable development challenges are expected to be concentrated in cities of the lower-middle-income countries where the pace of urbanization is fastest. As these countries continue their trajectory of economic development, their energy need will also outpace their population growth adding to the increased demand for electricity. OECD IEA's energy system deployment pathway foresees doubling of the current global nuclear capacity by 2050 to reduce the impact of rapid urbanization. The pending "retirement cliff" of the existing U.S. nuclear fleet, representing over 60 percent of the nation's emission-free electricity, also poses a large economic and environmental challenge. To meet the challenge, the U.S. DOE has developed the vision and strategy for development and deployment of advanced reactors. As part of that vision, the U.S. government pursues programs that aim to expand the use of nuclear power by supporting sustainability of the existing nuclear fleet, deploying new water-cooled large and small modular reactors to enable nuclear energy to help meet the energy security and climate change goals, conducting R&D for advanced reactor technologies with alternative coolants, and developing sustainable nuclear fuel cycle strategies. Since the current path relying heavily on water-cooled reactors and "once-through" fuel cycle is not sustainable, next generation nuclear energy systems under consideration aim for significant advances over existing and evolutionary water-cooled reactors. Among the spectrum of advanced reactor options, closed-fuel-cycle systems using reactors with fast-neutron spectrum to meet the sustainability goals offer the most attractive alternatives. However, unless the new public-private partnership models emerge to tackle the licensing and demonstration challenges for these advanced reactor concepts, realization of their enormous potential is not likely, at least in the U.S.

Co-existence of Blau syndrome and NAID? Diagnostic challenges associated with presence of multiple pathogenic variants in NOD2 gene: a case report.

PubMed

Dziedzic, Magdalena; Marjańska, Agata; Bąbol-Pokora, Katarzyna; Urbańczyk, Anna; Grześk, Elżbieta; Młynarski, Wojciech; Kołtan, Sylwia

2017-07-27

Pediatric autoinflammatory diseases are rare and still poorly understood conditions resulting from defective genetic control of innate immune system, inter alia from anomalies of NOD2 gene. The product of this gene is Nod2 protein, taking part in maintenance of immune homeostasis. Clinical form of resultant autoinflammatory condition depends on NOD2 genotype; usually patients with NOD2 defects present with Blau syndrome, NOD2-associated autoinflammatory disease (NAID) or Crohn's disease. We present the case of a 7-year-old girl with co-existing symptoms of two rare diseases, Blau syndrome and NAID. Overlapping manifestations of two syndromes raised a significant diagnostic challenge, until next-generation molecular test (NGS) identified presence of three pathogenic variants of NOD2 gene: P268S, IVS8 +158 , 1007 fs, and established the ultimate diagnosis. Presence of multiple genetical abnormalities resulted in an ambiguous clinical presentation with overlapping symptoms of Blau syndrome and NAID. Final diagnosis of autoinflammatory disease opened new therapeutic possibilities, including the use of biological treatments.

A bayesian translational framework for knowledge propagation, discovery, and integration under specific contexts.

PubMed

Deng, Michelle; Zollanvari, Amin; Alterovitz, Gil

2012-01-01

The immense corpus of biomedical literature existing today poses challenges in information search and integration. Many links between pieces of knowledge occur or are significant only under certain contexts-rather than under the entire corpus. This study proposes using networks of ontology concepts, linked based on their co-occurrences in annotations of abstracts of biomedical literature and descriptions of experiments, to draw conclusions based on context-specific queries and to better integrate existing knowledge. In particular, a Bayesian network framework is constructed to allow for the linking of related terms from two biomedical ontologies under the queried context concept. Edges in such a Bayesian network allow associations between biomedical concepts to be quantified and inference to be made about the existence of some concepts given prior information about others. This approach could potentially be a powerful inferential tool for context-specific queries, applicable to ontologies in other fields as well.

A Bayesian Translational Framework for Knowledge Propagation, Discovery, and Integration Under Specific Contexts

PubMed Central

Deng, Michelle; Zollanvari, Amin; Alterovitz, Gil

2012-01-01

The immense corpus of biomedical literature existing today poses challenges in information search and integration. Many links between pieces of knowledge occur or are significant only under certain contexts—rather than under the entire corpus. This study proposes using networks of ontology concepts, linked based on their co-occurrences in annotations of abstracts of biomedical literature and descriptions of experiments, to draw conclusions based on context-specific queries and to better integrate existing knowledge. In particular, a Bayesian network framework is constructed to allow for the linking of related terms from two biomedical ontologies under the queried context concept. Edges in such a Bayesian network allow associations between biomedical concepts to be quantified and inference to be made about the existence of some concepts given prior information about others. This approach could potentially be a powerful inferential tool for context-specific queries, applicable to ontologies in other fields as well. PMID:22779044

The Challenge Course Experience Questionnaire: A Facilitator's Assessment Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schary, David P.; Waldron, Alexis L.

2017-01-01

Challenge course programs influence a variety of psychological, social, and educational outcomes. Yet, many challenges exist when measuring challenge course outcomes like logistical constraints and a lack of specific assessment tools. This study piloted and tested an assessment tool designed for facilitators to measure participant outcomes in…

The Planar Satellite Distributions around Andromeda, the Milky Way and Other Galaxies, and Their Implications for Fundamental Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kroupa, P.

2014-05-01

The existence of dark matter particles is a key hypothesis in present-day cosmology and galactic dynamics. The validity of this hypothesis is challenged significantly by two independent arguments. 1) The dual dwarf galaxy theorem must be true in any realistic cosmological model. But it is found to be falsified when the dark-matter-based model is applied to the observational data. A consistency check of this conclusion comes from the observed significantly disk-like distributions of satellite populations which orbit in the same direction around their hosting galaxy and which cannot be derived from dark-matter models. 2) The action of dynamical friction due to expansive and massive dark matter halos must be evident in the galaxy population. The evidence however for dynamical friction is void or meagre at best. The M81 group fo galaxies already appears to rule out the existence of dynamical friction through dark matter halos, and the Milky Way satellite galaxies have been shown to challenge dark-matter-induced dynamical friction. The implication of this deduction for fundamental physics would be that exotic dark matter particles do not exist and that consequently gravitational physics on the scales of galaxies and beyond ought to be non-Newtonian/Einsteinian. An analysis of the kinematical data in galaxies shows them to be described excellently by scale-invariant dynamics, as discovered by Milgrom. This leads to a natural emergence of laws that galaxies are observed to obey. Such success has not been forthcoming in the dark-matter-based models. A consequence of this novel understanding of galactic astrophysics is that most dwarf satellite galaxies are formed as tidal dwarf galaxies in galaxy-galaxy encounters and that galactic mergers are rare.

mHealth and global mental health: still waiting for the mH2 wedding?

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Two phenomena have become increasingly visible over the past decade: the significant global burden of disease arising from mental illness and the rapid acceleration of mobile phone usage in poorer countries. Mental ill-health accounts for a significant proportion of global disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and years lived with disability (YLDs), especially in poorer countries where a number of factors combine to exacerbate issues of undertreatment. Yet poorer countries have also witnessed significant investments in, and dramatic expansions of, mobile coverage and usage over the past decade. Debate The conjunction of high levels of mental illness and high levels of mobile phone usage in poorer countries highlights the potential for “mH2” interventions – i.e. mHealth (mobile technology-based) mental health interventions - to tackle global mental health challenges. However, global mental health movements and initiatives have yet to engage fully with this potential, partly because of scepticism towards technological solutions in general and partly because existing mH2 projects in mental health have often taken place in a fragmented, narrowly-focused, and small-scale manner. We argue for a deeper and more sustained engagement with mobile phone technology in the global mental health context, and outline the possible shape of an integrated mH2 platform for the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of mental health. Summary Existing and developing mH2 technologies represent an underutilised resource in global mental health. If development, evaluation, and implementation challenges are overcome, an integrated mH2 platform would make significant contributions to mental healthcare in multiple settings and contexts. PMID:24670011

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

PubMed Central

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

2013-01-01

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

Interference Alignment With Partial CSI Feedback in MIMO Cellular Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rao, Xiongbin; Lau, Vincent K. N.

2014-04-01

Interference alignment (IA) is a linear precoding strategy that can achieve optimal capacity scaling at high SNR in interference networks. However, most existing IA designs require full channel state information (CSI) at the transmitters, which would lead to significant CSI signaling overhead. There are two techniques, namely CSI quantization and CSI feedback filtering, to reduce the CSI feedback overhead. In this paper, we consider IA processing with CSI feedback filtering in MIMO cellular networks. We introduce a novel metric, namely the feedback dimension, to quantify the first order CSI feedback cost associated with the CSI feedback filtering. The CSI feedback filtering poses several important challenges in IA processing. First, there is a hidden partial CSI knowledge constraint in IA precoder design which cannot be handled using conventional IA design methodology. Furthermore, existing results on the feasibility conditions of IA cannot be applied due to the partial CSI knowledge. Finally, it is very challenging to find out how much CSI feedback is actually needed to support IA processing. We shall address the above challenges and propose a new IA feasibility condition under partial CSIT knowledge in MIMO cellular networks. Based on this, we consider the CSI feedback profile design subject to the degrees of freedom requirements, and we derive closed-form trade-off results between the CSI feedback cost and IA performance in MIMO cellular networks.

Site-specific mesenchymal control of inflammatory pain to yeast challenge in vulvodynia afflicted and pain-free women

PubMed Central

Foster, David C.; Falsetta, Megan L.; Woeller, Collynn F.; Pollock, Stephen J.; Song, Kunchang; Bonham, Adrienne; Haidaris, Constantine G.; Stodgell, Chris J.; Messing, Susan P.; Iadarola, Michael; Phipps, Richard P.

2015-01-01

Fibroblast strains were derived from two regions of the lower genital tract of localized provoked vulvodynia (LPV) cases and pain-free controls. Sixteen strains were derived from four cases and four controls, age and race matched, following pre-sampling mechanical pain threshold assessments. Strains were challenged with six separate stimuli: live yeast species (C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. tropicalis, and S. cerevisiae), yeast extract (zymosan), or inactive vehicle. Production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were pro-inflammatory response measures. Highest IL-6 and PGE2 occurred with vestibular strains following C. albicans, C. glabrata, and zymosan challenges, resulting in the ability to significantly predict IL-6 and PGE2 production by genital tract location. Following C. albicans and C. glabrata challenge of all sixteen fibroblast strains, adjusting for dual sampling of subjects, PGE2 and IL-6 production significantly predicted the pre-sampling pain threshold from the genital tract site of sampling. At the same location of pain assessment and fibroblast sampling, in situ immunohistochemical (IHC)(+) fibroblasts for IL-6 and Cox-2 were quantified microscopically. The correlation between IL-6 production and IL-6 IHC(+) was statistically significant yet biological significance is unknown because of the small number of IHC(+) IL-6 fibroblasts identified. A low fibroblast IL-6 IHC(+) count may result from most IL-6 produced by fibroblasts existing in a secreted, extracellular state. Enhanced, site-specific, innate immune responsiveness to yeast pathogens by fibroblasts may be an early step in LPV pathogenesis. Fibroblast strain testing may offer an attractive/objective marker of LPV pathology in women with vulvodynia of inflammatory origin. PMID:25679469

A survey of attitudes toward two motivating factors.

PubMed

Marty, J

1977-07-01

A survey was conducted to determine the attitudes clinical laboratory workers in Utah had toward two intrinsic aspects of work, challenge or appeal of work and self-fulfillment. Questionnaires were distributed to all major hospitals in Utah. Frequency distributions were obtained and Chisquare tests were performed to determine if significant differences existed in relationship to demographic variables. Respondents indicated that work was interesting, challenging, required thinking, and enabled them to make good use of past training, skills, and abilities. Findings showed they also responded positively to statements involving ample responsibility given for the position held, contribution to patient care, enjoyment of work, and feeling of self-importance. Negative attitudes were noted toward statements dealing with advancement in medical technology, adequate opportunities for continuing education at employer expense, and participation in decision making. The Chi-square test revealed workers in the hospitals surveyed differed significantly in their opinions about having adequate opportunities to attend workshops, etc., on employer time and expense, and also that personnel with varying educational levels felt significantly different about making suggestions concerning the laboratory.

Frequent behavioural challenges in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: a needs-based assessment reported by caregivers and clinicians.

PubMed

Green, Courtney R; Roane, Jessica; Hewitt, Amy; Muhajarine, Nazeem; Mushquash, Christopher; Sourander, Andre; Lingley-Pottie, Patricia; McGrath, Patrick; Reynolds, James N

2014-01-01

Despite substantial research characterizing the brain injury, a significant gap still exists in providing timely and effective care for children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). The objective of this study was to conduct a needs assessment that could help inform intervention programs and appropriate strategies to manage challenging behaviours targeted to families impacted by FASD. Sixty caregivers and 26 clinicians from across Canada completed a semi-structured telephone interview. Caregivers reported that the most challenging behaviour categories were "Externalizing Behaviours", "Cognitive Difficulties", and "Social Difficulties/Maladjustment", whereas the most successful parenting strategies were "Parental Reflection", "Routine/Structure/Consistency", and "Environmental Modification". Clinicians reported that "Insufficient Support/Knowledge from Health and Social Professionals and Agencies" and "Behavioural Difficulties/Challenges" were the most common concerns from caregivers of children with FASD. The number and extent of challenges reported make it evident that there are many unmet needs that compromise the quality of life for these caregivers, their children, and their families. These data will be used to inform the development of an intervention program that will provide a family-centered approach to training, education, and support for children with FASD and their families.

Paving the road to personalized medicine: recommendations on regulatory, intellectual property and reimbursement challenges

PubMed Central

Knowles, Lori; Luth, Westerly; Bubela, Tania

2017-01-01

Abstract Personalized medicine (PM) aims to harness a wave of ‘omics’ discoveries to facilitate research and discovery of targeted diagnostics and therapies and increase the efficiency of healthcare systems by predicting and treating individual predispositions to diseases or conditions. Despite significant investment, limited progress has been made bringing PM to market. We describe the major perceived regulatory, intellectual property, and reimbursement challenges to the development, translation, adoption, and implementation of PM products into clinical care. We conducted a scoping review to identify (i) primary challenges for the development and implementation of PM identified in the academic literature; (ii) solutions proposed in the academic literature to address these challenges; and (iii) gaps that exist in that literature. We identified regulatory barriers to PM development and recommendations in 344 academic papers. Regulatory uncertainty was a cross-cutting theme that appeared in conjunction with other themes including: reimbursement; clinical trial regulation; regulation of co-development; unclear evidentiary requirements; insufficient incentives for research and development; incompatible information systems; and different regulation of different diagnostics. To fully realize the benefits of PM for healthcare systems and patients, regulatory, intellectual property, and reimbursement challenges need to be addressed in lock step with scientific advances. PMID:29868182

A flexible, open, decentralized system for digital pathology networks.

PubMed

Schuler, Robert; Smith, David E; Kumaraguruparan, Gowri; Chervenak, Ann; Lewis, Anne D; Hyde, Dallas M; Kesselman, Carl

2012-01-01

High-resolution digital imaging is enabling digital archiving and sharing of digitized microscopy slides and new methods for digital pathology. Collaborative research centers, outsourced medical services, and multi-site organizations stand to benefit from sharing pathology data in a digital pathology network. Yet significant technological challenges remain due to the large size and volume of digitized whole slide images. While information systems do exist for managing local pathology laboratories, they tend to be oriented toward narrow clinical use cases or offer closed ecosystems around proprietary formats. Few solutions exist for networking digital pathology operations. Here we present a system architecture and implementation of a digital pathology network and share results from a production system that federates major research centers.

A Flexible, Open, Decentralized System for Digital Pathology Networks

PubMed Central

SMITH, David E.; KUMARAGURUPARAN, Gowri; CHERVENAK, Ann; LEWIS, Anne D.; HYDE, Dallas M.; KESSELMAN, Carl

2014-01-01

High-resolution digital imaging is enabling digital archiving and sharing of digitized microscopy slides and new methods for digital pathology. Collaborative research centers, outsourced medical services, and multi-site organizations stand to benefit from sharing pathology data in a digital pathology network. Yet significant technological challenges remain due to the large size and volume of digitized whole slide images. While information systems do exist for managing local pathology laboratories, they tend to be oriented toward narrow clinical use cases or offer closed ecosystems around proprietary formats. Few solutions exist for networking digital pathology operations. Here we present a system architecture and implementation of a digital pathology network and share results from a production system that federates major research centers. PMID:22941985

The comparative oncologic effectiveness of available management strategies for clinically localized prostate cancer.

PubMed

Tyson, Mark D; Penson, David F; Resnick, Matthew J

2017-02-01

The primary goal of modern prostate cancer treatment paradigms is to optimize the balance of predicted benefits associated with prostate cancer treatment against the predicted harms of therapy. However, given the limitations in the existing evidence as well as the significant tradeoffs posed by each treatment, there remain myriad challenges associated with individualized prostate cancer treatment decision-making. In this review, we summarize the existing comparative effectiveness evidence of treatments for localized prostate cancer with an emphasis on oncologic control. While we focus on the major treatment categories of radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy, and observation, we also provide a review of emerging therapies such as cryotherapy and high-intensity frequency ultrasound (HIFU). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Down-selection of candidate alloys for further testing of advanced replacement materials for LWR core internals

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

Was, Gary; Leonard, Keith J.; Tan, Lizhen

Life extension of the existing nuclear reactors imposes irradiation of high fluences to structural materials, resulting in significant challenges to the traditional reactor materials such as type 304 and 316 stainless steels. Advanced alloys with superior radiation resistance will increase safety margins, design flexibility, and economics for not only the life extension of the existing fleet but also new builds with advanced reactor designs. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) teamed up with Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program to initiate the Advanced Radiation Resistant Materials (ARRM) program, aiming to identify and develop advanced alloys with superiormore » degradation resistance in light water reactor (LWR)-relevant environments by 2024.« less

Mentoring the Next Generation of AACRAO Leaders: Taking Advantage of Routines, Exceptions, and Challenges for Developing Leadership Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cramer, Sharon F.

2012-01-01

As members of enrollment management units look ahead to the next few years, they anticipate many institution-wide challenges: (1) implementation of a new student information system; (2) major upgrade of an existing system; and (3) re-configuring an existing system to reflect changes in academic policies or to accommodate new federal or state…

AFRICOM: Reconstruction and Stability through the Provisional Reconstruction Team-Enhanced, Enabled by Unity of Command

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-12

disease to name but a few. With every challenge, however, there exist just as many opportunities to enhance strategic partnership, provide...and disease to name but a few. With every challenge, however, there exist just as many opportunities to enhance strategic partnership, provide...Policy Coordination Committee PCO Project Contracting Office PCRU Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit PME Professional Military Education PMESII

Understanding the menstrual hygiene management challenges facing displaced girls and women: findings from qualitative assessments in Myanmar and Lebanon.

PubMed

Schmitt, Margaret L; Clatworthy, David; Ratnayake, Ruwan; Klaesener-Metzner, Nicole; Roesch, Elizabeth; Wheeler, Erin; Sommer, Marni

2017-01-01

There is a significant gap in empirical evidence on the menstrual hygiene management (MHM) challenges faced by adolescent girls and women in emergency contexts, and on appropriate humanitarian response approaches to meet their needs in diverse emergency contexts. To begin filling the gap in the evidence, we conducted a study in two diverse contexts (Myanmar and Lebanon), exploring the MHM barriers facing girls and women, and the various relevant sectoral responses being conducted (e.g. water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), Protection, Health, Education and Camp Management). Two qualitative assessments were conducted: one in camps for internally displaced populations in Myanmar, and one with refugees living in informal settlements and host communities in Lebanon. Key informant interviews were conducted with emergency response staff in both sites, and focus group discussion and participatory mapping activities conducted with adolescent girls and women. Key findings included that there was insufficient access to safe and private facilities for MHM coupled with displacement induced shifts in menstrual practices by girls and women. Among staff, there was a narrow interpretation of what an MHM response includes, with a focus on supplies; significant interest in understanding what an improved MHM response would include and acknowledgement of limited existing MHM guidance across various sectors; and insufficient consultation with beneficiaries, related to discomfort asking about menstruation, and limited coordination between sectors. There is a significant need for improved guidance across all relevant sectors for improving MHM response in emergency context, along with increased evidence on effective approaches for integrating MHM into existing responses.

How Heterogeneity Affects the Design of Hadoop MapReduce Schedulers: A State-of-the-Art Survey and Challenges.

PubMed

Pandey, Vaibhav; Saini, Poonam

2018-06-01

MapReduce (MR) computing paradigm and its open source implementation Hadoop have become a de facto standard to process big data in a distributed environment. Initially, the Hadoop system was homogeneous in three significant aspects, namely, user, workload, and cluster (hardware). However, with growing variety of MR jobs and inclusion of different configurations of nodes in the existing cluster, heterogeneity has become an essential part of Hadoop systems. The heterogeneity factors adversely affect the performance of a Hadoop scheduler and limit the overall throughput of the system. To overcome this problem, various heterogeneous Hadoop schedulers have been proposed in the literature. Existing survey works in this area mostly cover homogeneous schedulers and classify them on the basis of quality of service parameters they optimize. Hence, there is a need to study the heterogeneous Hadoop schedulers on the basis of various heterogeneity factors considered by them. In this survey article, we first discuss different heterogeneity factors that typically exist in a Hadoop system and then explore various challenges that arise while designing the schedulers in the presence of such heterogeneity. Afterward, we present the comparative study of heterogeneous scheduling algorithms available in the literature and classify them by the previously said heterogeneity factors. Lastly, we investigate different methods and environment used for evaluation of discussed Hadoop schedulers.

Climate change and alpine stream biology: progress, challenges, and opportunities for the future.

PubMed

Hotaling, Scott; Finn, Debra S; Joseph Giersch, J; Weisrock, David W; Jacobsen, Dean

2017-11-01

In alpine regions worldwide, climate change is dramatically altering ecosystems and affecting biodiversity in many ways. For streams, receding alpine glaciers and snowfields, paired with altered precipitation regimes, are driving shifts in hydrology, species distributions, basal resources, and threatening the very existence of some habitats and biota. Alpine streams harbour substantial species and genetic diversity due to significant habitat insularity and environmental heterogeneity. Climate change is expected to affect alpine stream biodiversity across many levels of biological resolution from micro- to macroscopic organisms and genes to communities. Herein, we describe the current state of alpine stream biology from an organism-focused perspective. We begin by reviewing seven standard and emerging approaches that combine to form the current state of the discipline. We follow with a call for increased synthesis across existing approaches to improve understanding of how these imperiled ecosystems are responding to rapid environmental change. We then take a forward-looking viewpoint on how alpine stream biologists can make better use of existing data sets through temporal comparisons, integrate remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technologies, and apply genomic tools to refine knowledge of underlying evolutionary processes. We conclude with comments about the future of biodiversity conservation in alpine streams to confront the daunting challenge of mitigating the effects of rapid environmental change in these sentinel ecosystems. © 2017 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Climate change and alpine stream biology: progress, challenges, and opportunities for the future

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hotaling, Scott; Finn, Debra S.; Giersch, J. Joseph; Weisrock, David W.; Jacobsen, Dean

2017-01-01

In alpine regions worldwide, climate change is dramatically altering ecosystems and affecting biodiversity in many ways. For streams, receding alpine glaciers and snowfields, paired with altered precipitation regimes, are driving shifts in hydrology, species distributions, basal resources, and threatening the very existence of some habitats and biota. Alpine streams harbour substantial species and genetic diversity due to significant habitat insularity and environmental heterogeneity. Climate change is expected to affect alpine stream biodiversity across many levels of biological resolution from micro- to macroscopic organisms and genes to communities. Herein, we describe the current state of alpine stream biology from an organism-focused perspective. We begin by reviewing seven standard and emerging approaches that combine to form the current state of the discipline. We follow with a call for increased synthesis across existing approaches to improve understanding of how these imperiled ecosystems are responding to rapid environmental change. We then take a forward-looking viewpoint on how alpine stream biologists can make better use of existing data sets through temporal comparisons, integrate remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technologies, and apply genomic tools to refine knowledge of underlying evolutionary processes. We conclude with comments about the future of biodiversity conservation in alpine streams to confront the daunting challenge of mitigating the effects of rapid environmental change in these sentinel ecosystems.

Self Managing Heart Failure in Remote Australia - Translating Concepts into Clinical Practice

PubMed Central

Iyngkaran, Pupalan; Toukhsati, Samia R.; Harris, Melanie; Connors, Christine; Kangaharan, Nadarajan; Ilton, Marcus; Nagel, Tricia; Moser, Debra K.; Battersby, Malcolm

2016-01-01

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is an ambulatory health care condition characterized by episodes of decompensation and is usually without cure. It is a leading cause for morbidity and mortality and the lead cause for hospital admissions in older patients in the developed world. The long-term requirement for medical care and pharmaceuticals contributes to significant health care costs. CHF management follows a hierarchy from physician prescription to allied health, predominately nurse-led, delivery of care. Health services are easier to access in urban compared to rural settings. The differentials for more specialized services could be even greater. Remote Australia is thus faced with unique challenges in delivering CHF best practice. Chronic disease self-management programs (CDSMP) were designed to increase patient participation in their health and alleviate stress on health systems. There have been CDSMP successes with some diseases, although challenges still exist for CHF. These challenges are amplified in remote Australia due to geographic and demographic factors, increased burden of disease, and higher incidence of comorbidities. In this review we explore CDSMP for CHF and the challenges for our region. PMID:27397492

Analysis of velocity and magnetic field fluctuations from simulated Solar Probe Plus measurements: Interpretation and predictions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez, J. C.; Chandran, B. D. G.

2016-12-01

As Solar Probe Plus (SPP) explores the near-Sun environment, our ability to obtain meaningful interpretation of in-situ measurements faces two significant challenges. The first challenge is that the Taylor Hypothesis (TH), which is normally used in the interpretation of existing spacecraft data, breaks down at the low heliocentric distances that SPP mission will explore. The second challenge is our limited understanding of turbulence in this region, largely due to the theoretical and numerical difficulties in modeling this problem. In this work we present recent progress towards overcoming these challenges using high-resolution numerical simulations of Alfvenic turbulence in the inner heliosphere. We fly virtual SPP spacecraft in the simulation domain to obtain single-point measurements of the velocity and magnetic field fluctuations at several radial locations relevant to SPP. We use these virtual measurements to 1) validate a recently introduced modified TH that allows one to recover the spatial structure of the dominant (outward-propagating) Alfvenic fluctuations, of the kind SPP will encounter; and 2) to compare these virtual observations with our most recent phenomenological models of reflection-driven Alfven turbulence.

Understanding partnership practice in primary health as pedagogic work: what can Vygotsky's theory of learning offer?

PubMed

Hopwood, Nick

2015-01-01

Primary health policy in Australia has followed international trends in promoting models of care based on partnership between professionals and health service users. This reform agenda has significant practice implications, and has been widely adopted in areas of primary health that involve supporting families with children. Existing research shows that achieving partnership in practice is associated with three specific challenges: uncertainty regarding the role of professional expertise, tension between immediate needs and longer-term capacity development in families, and the need for challenge while maintaining relationships based on trust. Recently, pedagogic or learning-focussed elements of partnership practice have been identified, but there have been no systematic attempts to link theories of learning with the practices and challenges of primary health-care professionals working with families in a pedagogic role. This paper explores key concepts of Vygotsky's theory of learning (including mediation, the zone of proximal development, internalisation, and double stimulation), showing how pedagogic concepts can provide a bridge between the policy rhetoric of partnership and primary health practice. The use of this theory to address the three key challenges is explicitly discussed.

The 20-20-20 Airships NASA Centennial Challenge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiessling, Alina; Diaz, Ernesto; Miller, Sarah; Rhodes, Jason; Ortega, Sam; Hall, Jeffrey L.; Friedl, Randy; Booth, Jeff

2015-01-01

A NASA Centennial Challenge; (www.nasa.gov/challenges) is in development to spur innovation in stratospheric airships as a science platform. We anticipate a multi-million dollar class prize for the first organization to fly a powered airship that remains stationary at 20km (65,000 ft) altitude for over 20 hours with a 20kg payload. The design must be scalable to longer flights with more massive payloads.In NASA's constrained budget environment, there are few opportunities for space missions in astronomy and Earth science, and these have very long lead times. We believe that airships (powered, maneuverable, lighter-than-air vehicles) could offer significant gains in observing time, sky and ground coverage, data downlink capability, and continuity of observations over existing suborbital options at competitive prices. This technology would also have broad commercial applications including communications and asset tracking. We seek to spur private industry (or non-profit institutions, including Universities) to demonstrate the capability for sustained airship flights as astronomy and Earth science platforms. This poster will introduce the challenge in development and provide details of who to contact for more information.

The 20-20-20 Airship Challenge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiessling, Alina; Diaz, Ernesto; Miller, Sarah; Rhodes, Jason

2014-06-01

A NASA Centennial Challenge; (http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/centennial_challenges/index.html) is in development to spur innovation in stratospheric airships as a science platform. We anticipate a million dollar class prize for the first organization to fly a powered airship that remains stationary at 20km (65,000 ft) altitude for over 20 hours with a 20kg payload. The design must be scalable to longer flights with more massive payloads.In NASA’s constrained budget environment, there are few opportunities for space missions in astronomy and Earth science, and these have very long lead times. We believe that airships (powered, maneuverable, lighter-than-air vehicles) could offer significant gains in observing time, sky and ground coverage, data downlink capability, and continuity of observations over existing suborbital options at competitive prices. We seek to spur private industry (or non-profit institutions, including FFRDCs and Universities) to demonstrate the capability for sustained airship flights as astronomy and Earth science platforms. This poster will introduce the challenge in development and provide details of who to contact for more information.

The Challenges of Human Resource Management towards Organizational Effectiveness: A Comparative Study in Southern EU

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stavrou-Costea, Eleni

2005-01-01

Purpose: The study aims to examine the human resource management challenges in Southern EU and their effect on organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach: First, key challenges were identified in the existing literature. Then, these challenges were matched with those reported most often in the CRANET questionnaire. These challenges…

Satellite Tasking via a Tablet Computer

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

connectivity have helped to overcome the challenges of information delivery , but there remains the challenge of real-time information. This thesis...have helped to overcome the challenges of information delivery , but there remains the challenge of real-time information. This thesis examines the...76  3.  Integration with Existing Programs for Access and Dissemination of Imagery

Central Role of the Trehalose Biosynthesis Pathway in the Pathogenesis of Human Fungal Infections: Opportunities and Challenges for Therapeutic Development

PubMed Central

Thammahong, Arsa; Puttikamonkul, Srisombat; Perfect, John R.; Brennan, Richard G.

2017-01-01

SUMMARY Invasive fungal infections cause significant morbidity and mortality in part due to a limited antifungal drug arsenal. One therapeutic challenge faced by clinicians is the significant host toxicity associated with antifungal drugs. Another challenge is the fungistatic mechanism of action of some drugs. Consequently, the identification of fungus-specific drug targets essential for fitness in vivo remains a significant goal of medical mycology research. The trehalose biosynthetic pathway is found in a wide variety of organisms, including human-pathogenic fungi, but not in humans. Genes encoding proteins involved in trehalose biosynthesis are mechanistically linked to the metabolism, cell wall homeostasis, stress responses, and virulence of Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Aspergillus fumigatus. While there are a number of pathways for trehalose production across the tree of life, the TPS/TPP (trehalose-6-phosphate synthase/trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase) pathway is the canonical pathway found in human-pathogenic fungi. Importantly, data suggest that proteins involved in trehalose biosynthesis play other critical roles in fungal metabolism and in vivo fitness that remain to be fully elucidated. By further defining the biology and functions of trehalose and its biosynthetic pathway components in pathogenic fungi, an opportunity exists to leverage this pathway as a potent antifungal drug target. The goal of this review is to cover the known roles of this important molecule and its associated biosynthesis-encoding genes in the human-pathogenic fungi studied to date and to employ these data to critically assess the opportunities and challenges facing development of this pathway as a therapeutic target. PMID:28298477

Effective literacy instruction for adults with specific learning disabilities: implications for adult educators.

PubMed

Hock, Michael F

2012-01-01

Adults with learning disabilities (LD) attending adult basic education, GED programs, or community colleges are among the lowest performers on measures of literacy. For example, on multiple measures of reading comprehension, adults with LD had a mean reading score at the third grade level, whereas adults without LD read at the fifth grade level. In addition, large numbers of adults perform at the lowest skill levels on quantitative tasks. Clearly, significant instructional challenges exist for adults who struggle with literacy issues, and those challenges can be greater for adults with LD. In this article, the literature on adults with LD is reviewed, and evidenced-based instructional practices that significantly narrow the literacy achievement gap for this population are identified. Primary attention is given to instructional factors that have been shown to affect literacy outcomes for adults with LD. These factors include the use of explicit instruction, instructional technology, and intensive tutoring in skills and strategies embedded in authentic contexts.

Challenges for African swine fever vaccine development-"… perhaps the end of the beginning."

PubMed

Rock, D L

2017-07-01

African swine fever (ASF), an acute, viral hemorrhagic disease in domestic swine with mortality rates approaching 100%, is arguably the most significant emerging disease threat for the swine industry worldwide. Devastating ASF outbreaks and continuing epidemic in the Caucasus region and Russia (2007-to date) highlight significance of this disease threat. There is no vaccine for ASF, thus leaving animal slaughter the only effective disease control option. It is clear, however, that vaccination is possible since protection against reinfection with the homologous strain of African swine fever virus (ASFV) has been clearly demonstrated. Vaccine development has been hindered by large gaps in knowledge concerning ASFV infection and immunity, the extent of ASFV strain variation in nature and the identification of viral proteins (protective antigens) responsible for inducing protective immune responses in the pig. This review focuses on the challenges surrounding ASF vaccine design and development, with an emphasis on existing knowledge gaps. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

It shouldn't happen to a dog … or a veterinarian: clinical paradigms for canine vector-borne diseases.

PubMed

Irwin, Peter J

2014-02-01

Canine vector-borne diseases (CVBDs) comprise a diverse group of viral, bacterial, protozoal, and helminth pathogens, transmitted predominantly by ticks and fleas, and cause significant health problems for dogs worldwide. Growing numbers of reports indicate that CVBDs are emerging in regions where they previously did not exist and this, combined with pathogens that are inherently difficult to detect, is providing companion animal veterinarians with some significant diagnostic challenges. This review discusses six paradigms concerning the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and zoonotic implications of CVBDs from a veterinary clinical perspective. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nanoparticle Approaches against Bacterial Infections

PubMed Central

Gao, Weiwei; Thamphiwatana, Soracha; Angsantikul, Pavimol; Zhang, Liangfang

2014-01-01

Despite the wide success of antibiotics, the treatment of bacterial infection still faces significant challenges, particularly the emergence of antibiotic resistance. As a result, nanoparticle drug delivery platforms including liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, dendrimers, and various inorganic nanoparticles have been increasingly exploited to enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of existing antibiotics. This review focuses on areas where nanoparticle approaches hold significant potential to advance the treatment of bacterial infection. These areas include targeted antibiotic delivery, environmentally responsive antibiotic delivery, combinatorial antibiotic delivery, nanoparticle-enabled antibacterial vaccination, and nanoparticle-based bacterial detection. In each area we highlight the innovative antimicrobial nanoparticle platforms and review their progress made against bacterial infections. PMID:25044325

Ten oral health strategies to keep kids pain-free & problem-free throughout childhood.

PubMed

Herman, N G

2001-01-01

Emerging information, technology and therapies make it possible for most children today to grow up with good oral health. The most powerful vehicle we have to achieve this goal is an informed professional and parent. All the tools exist to promote oral health and prevent problems in children if we apply what we know and have learned. The challenge is to increase dissemination of this information, and to remind everyone that good oral health contributes significantly to one's overall general well-being.

Hospice and Palliative Care in China: Development and Challenges

PubMed Central

Lu, Yuhan; Gu, Youhui; Yu, Wenhua

2018-01-01

Hospice and palliative care have been demonstrated to improve quality of life, shorten hospital stays, and save costs. As a developing country, faced with a rapidly aging population and an increasing number of patients with life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, China has made great progress in promoting hospice and palliative care during the past few decades. A trained nurse can play a significant role in promoting quality hospice and palliative care by providing care, coordinating a multidisciplinary team, calling for policy support, and raising public awareness. It is critical for nurses to clearly understand the development and challenges that currently exist in the country. With this awareness, nurses will improve their ability to recognize and address patients’ and families’ needs, resulting in quality, dignified, and individualized end-of-life care. PMID:29379830

Low carbon transition and sustainable development path of tourism industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2017-05-01

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

Technology transfer for adaptation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biagini, Bonizella; Kuhl, Laura; Gallagher, Kelly Sims; Ortiz, Claudia

2014-09-01

Technology alone will not be able to solve adaptation challenges, but it is likely to play an important role. As a result of the role of technology in adaptation and the importance of international collaboration for climate change, technology transfer for adaptation is a critical but understudied issue. Through an analysis of Global Environment Facility-managed adaptation projects, we find there is significantly more technology transfer occurring in adaptation projects than might be expected given the pessimistic rhetoric surrounding technology transfer for adaptation. Most projects focused on demonstration and early deployment/niche formation for existing technologies rather than earlier stages of innovation, which is understandable considering the pilot nature of the projects. Key challenges for the transfer process, including technology selection and appropriateness under climate change, markets and access to technology, and diffusion strategies are discussed in more detail.

Challenging High-Ability Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scager, Karin; Akkerman, Sanne F.; Pilot, Albert; Wubbels, Theo

2014-01-01

The existing literature on indicators of an optimal learning environment for high-ability students frequently discusses the concept of challenge. It is, however, not clear what, precisely, constitutes appropriate challenge for these students. In this study, the authors examined an undergraduate honours course, Advanced Cell Biology, which has…

Complications of ankle fracture in patients with diabetes.

PubMed

Chaudhary, Saad B; Liporace, Frank A; Gandhi, Ankur; Donley, Brian G; Pinzur, Michael S; Lin, Sheldon S

2008-03-01

Ankle fractures in patients with diabetes mellitus have long been recognized as a challenge to practicing clinicians. Complications of impaired wound healing, infection, malunion, delayed union, nonunion, and Charcot arthropathy are prevalent in this patient population. Controversy exists as to whether diabetic ankle fractures are best treated noninvasively or by open reduction and internal fixation. Patients with diabetes are at significant risk for soft-tissue complications. In addition, diabetic ankle fractures heal, but significant delays in bone healing exist. Also, Charcot ankle arthropathy occurs more commonly in patients who were initially undiagnosed and had a delay in immobilization and in patients treated nonsurgically for displaced ankle fractures. Several techniques have been described to minimize complications associated with diabetic ankle fractures (eg, rigid external fixation, use of Kirschner wires or Steinmann pins to increase rigidity). Regardless of the specifics of treatment, adherence to the basic principles of preoperative planning, meticulous soft-tissue management, and attention to stable, rigid fixation with prolonged, protected immobilization are paramount in minimizing problems and yielding good functional outcomes.

Event recognition in personal photo collections via multiple instance learning-based classification of multiple images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, Kashif; Conci, Nicola; Boato, Giulia; De Natale, Francesco G. B.

2017-11-01

Over the last few years, a rapid growth has been witnessed in the number of digital photos produced per year. This rapid process poses challenges in the organization and management of multimedia collections, and one viable solution consists of arranging the media on the basis of the underlying events. However, album-level annotation and the presence of irrelevant pictures in photo collections make event-based organization of personal photo albums a more challenging task. To tackle these challenges, in contrast to conventional approaches relying on supervised learning, we propose a pipeline for event recognition in personal photo collections relying on a multiple instance-learning (MIL) strategy. MIL is a modified form of supervised learning and fits well for such applications with weakly labeled data. The experimental evaluation of the proposed approach is carried out on two large-scale datasets including a self-collected and a benchmark dataset. On both, our approach significantly outperforms the existing state-of-the-art.

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination reduces the severity and progression of tuberculosis in badgers

PubMed Central

Chambers, Mark A.; Rogers, Fiona; Delahay, Richard J.; Lesellier, Sandrine; Ashford, Roland; Dalley, Deanna; Gowtage, Sonya; Davé, Dipesh; Palmer, Si; Brewer, Jacky; Crawshaw, Timothy; Clifton-Hadley, Richard; Carter, Steve; Cheeseman, Chris; Hanks, Chris; Murray, Alistair; Palphramand, Kate; Pietravalle, Stéphane; Smith, Graham C.; Tomlinson, Alexandra; Walker, Neil J.; Wilson, Gavin J.; Corner, Leigh A. L.; Rushton, Stephen P.; Shirley, Mark D. F.; Gettinby, George; McDonald, Robbie A.; Hewinson, R. Glyn

2011-01-01

Control of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle has proven particularly challenging where reservoirs of infection exist in wildlife populations. In Britain and Ireland, control is hampered by a reservoir of infection in Eurasian badgers (Meles meles). Badger culling has positive and negative effects on bovine TB in cattle and is difficult, costly and controversial. Here we show that Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination of captive badgers reduced the progression, severity and excretion of Mycobacterium bovis infection after experimental challenge. In a clinical field study, BCG vaccination of free-living badgers reduced the incidence of positive serological test results by 73.8 per cent. In common with other species, BCG did not appear to prevent infection of badgers subjected to experimental challenge, but did significantly reduce the overall disease burden. BCG vaccination of badgers could comprise an important component of a comprehensive programme of measures to control bovine TB in cattle. PMID:21123260

Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Post-ICU Family Members: Review and Methodological Challenges.

PubMed

Petrinec, Amy B; Daly, Barbara J

2016-01-01

Family members of intensive care unit (ICU) patients are at risk for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following ICU discharge. The aim of this systematic review is to examine the current literature regarding post-ICU family PTSD symptoms with an emphasis on methodological issues in conducting research on this challenging phenomenon. An extensive review of the literature was performed confining the search to English language studies reporting PTSD symptoms in adult family members of adult ICU patients. Ten studies were identified for review published from 2004 to 2012. Findings demonstrate a significant prevalence of family PTSD symptoms in the months following ICU hospitalization. However, there are several methodological challenges to the interpretation of existing studies and to the conduct of future research including differences in sampling, identification of risk factors and covariates of PTSD, and lack of consensus regarding the most appropriate PTSD symptom measurement tools and timing. © The Author(s) 2014.

A Decision Model for Merging Base Operations: Outsourcing Pest Management on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-30

OH: South- Western Cengage Learning. Mankiw , N. G. (2006). Principles of economics (4th ed.). Mason, OH: Thompson South- Western. Private...When the choice to in-source or outsource an installation function or service requirement exists, in these challenging economic times, it is now more...decision uncertainties. When the choice to in-source or outsource an installation function or service requirement exists, in these challenging economic

Patient-reported outcomes in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis research.

PubMed

Swigris, Jeffrey J; Fairclough, Diane

2012-08-01

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) include questionnaires or surveys that ask patients for their perceptions about things like symptoms they are experiencing or quality of life. For incurable, morbid, life-shortening conditions like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), PROs are particularly germane: They elucidate for clinicians and researchers what it is like for patients to live with such a disease, and they may detect important treatment effects not captured by other metrics (eg, pulmonary physiology). However, a relative paucity of research on PROs in IPF has left significant knowledge gaps in this area and contributed to the timidity investigators have about using PROs as prominent outcomes in IPF drug trials. Additional research on existing instruments is needed to establish or bolster their basic psychometric properties in IPF. When PROs are used as end points in therapeutic trials, analyzing PRO response data can be challenging, but these challenges can be overcome with a transparent, thoughtful, and sophisticated statistical approach. In this article, we discuss some of the basics of PRO assessment, existing knowledge gaps in IPF-related PRO research, and the potential usefulness of using PROs in IPF trials and conclude by offering specific recommendations for an approach to analyzing repeated-measures PRO data from IPF trials.

Hyperspectral face recognition with spatiospectral information fusion and PLS regression.

PubMed

Uzair, Muhammad; Mahmood, Arif; Mian, Ajmal

2015-03-01

Hyperspectral imaging offers new opportunities for face recognition via improved discrimination along the spectral dimension. However, it poses new challenges, including low signal-to-noise ratio, interband misalignment, and high data dimensionality. Due to these challenges, the literature on hyperspectral face recognition is not only sparse but is limited to ad hoc dimensionality reduction techniques and lacks comprehensive evaluation. We propose a hyperspectral face recognition algorithm using a spatiospectral covariance for band fusion and partial least square regression for classification. Moreover, we extend 13 existing face recognition techniques, for the first time, to perform hyperspectral face recognition.We formulate hyperspectral face recognition as an image-set classification problem and evaluate the performance of seven state-of-the-art image-set classification techniques. We also test six state-of-the-art grayscale and RGB (color) face recognition algorithms after applying fusion techniques on hyperspectral images. Comparison with the 13 extended and five existing hyperspectral face recognition techniques on three standard data sets show that the proposed algorithm outperforms all by a significant margin. Finally, we perform band selection experiments to find the most discriminative bands in the visible and near infrared response spectrum.

Wireless sensors and sensor networks for homeland security applications.

PubMed

Potyrailo, Radislav A; Nagraj, Nandini; Surman, Cheryl; Boudries, Hacene; Lai, Hanh; Slocik, Joseph M; Kelley-Loughnane, Nancy; Naik, Rajesh R

2012-11-01

New sensor technologies for homeland security applications must meet the key requirements of sensitivity to detect agents below risk levels, selectivity to provide minimal false-alarm rates, and response speed to operate in high throughput environments, such as airports, sea ports, and other public places. Chemical detection using existing sensor systems is facing a major challenge of selectivity. In this review, we provide a brief summary of chemical threats of homeland security importance; focus in detail on modern concepts in chemical sensing; examine the origins of the most significant unmet needs in existing chemical sensors; and, analyze opportunities, specific requirements, and challenges for wireless chemical sensors and wireless sensor networks (WSNs). We further review a new approach for selective chemical sensing that involves the combination of a sensing material that has different response mechanisms to different species of interest, with a transducer that has a multi-variable signal-transduction ability. This new selective chemical-sensing approach was realized using an attractive ubiquitous platform of battery-free passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags adapted for chemical sensing. We illustrate the performance of RFID sensors developed in measurements of toxic industrial materials, humidity-independent detection of toxic vapors, and detection of chemical-agent simulants, explosives, and strong oxidizers.

Lunar and Martian Sub-surface Habitat Structure Technology Development and Application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boston, Penelope J.; Strong, Janet D.

2005-01-01

NASA's human exploration initiative poses great opportunity and great risk for manned missions to the Moon and Mars. Subsidace structures such as caves and lava tubes offer readily available and existing in-situ habitat options. Sub-surface dwellings can provide complete radiation, micro-meteorite and exhaust plume shielding and a moderate and constant temperature environment; they are, therefore, excellent pre-existing habitat risk mitigation elements. Technical challenges to subsurface habitat structure development include surface penetration (digging and mining equipment), environmental pressurization, and psychological environment enhancement requirements. Lunar and Martian environments and elements have many beneficial similarities. This will allow for lunar testing and design development of subsurface habitat structures for Martian application; however, significant differences between lunar and Martian environments and resource elements will mandate unique application development. Mars is NASA's ultimate exploration goal and is known to have many very large lava tubes. Other cave types are plausible. The Moon has unroofed rilles and lava tubes, but further research will, in the near future, define the extent of Lunar and Martian differences and similarities. This paper will discuss Lunar and Martian subsurface habitation technology development challenges and opportunities.

A novel swarm intelligence algorithm for finding DNA motifs.

PubMed

Lei, Chengwei; Ruan, Jianhua

2009-01-01

Discovering DNA motifs from co-expressed or co-regulated genes is an important step towards deciphering complex gene regulatory networks and understanding gene functions. Despite significant improvement in the last decade, it still remains one of the most challenging problems in computational molecular biology. In this work, we propose a novel motif finding algorithm that finds consensus patterns using a population-based stochastic optimisation technique called Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO), which has been shown to be effective in optimising difficult multidimensional problems in continuous domains. We propose to use a word dissimilarity graph to remap the neighborhood structure of the solution space of DNA motifs, and propose a modification of the naive PSO algorithm to accommodate discrete variables. In order to improve efficiency, we also propose several strategies for escaping from local optima and for automatically determining the termination criteria. Experimental results on simulated challenge problems show that our method is both more efficient and more accurate than several existing algorithms. Applications to several sets of real promoter sequences also show that our approach is able to detect known transcription factor binding sites, and outperforms two of the most popular existing algorithms.

Continuous flow technology vs. the batch-by-batch approach to produce pharmaceutical compounds.

PubMed

Cole, Kevin P; Johnson, Martin D

2018-01-01

For the manufacture of small molecule drugs, many pharmaceutical innovator companies have recently invested in continuous processing, which can offer significant technical and economic advantages over traditional batch methodology. This Expert Review will describe the reasons for this interest as well as many considerations and challenges that exist today concerning continuous manufacturing. Areas covered: Continuous processing is defined and many reasons for its adoption are described. The current state of continuous drug substance manufacturing within the pharmaceutical industry is summarized. Current key challenges to implementation of continuous manufacturing are highlighted, and an outlook provided regarding the prospects for continuous within the industry. Expert commentary: Continuous processing at Lilly has been a journey that started with the need for increased safety and capability. Over twelve years the original small, dedicated group has grown to more than 100 Lilly employees in discovery, development, quality, manufacturing, and regulatory designing in continuous drug substance processing. Recently we have focused on linked continuous unit operations for the purpose of all-at-once pharmaceutical manufacturing, but the technical and business drivers that existed in the very beginning for stand-alone continuous unit operations in hybrid processes have persisted, which merits investment in both approaches.

Nanofinishing of freeform/sculptured surfaces: state-of-the-art

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagdeve, Leeladhar; Jain, V. K.; Ramkumar, J.

2018-06-01

Freeform surfaces are being used in a multiplicity of applications in different kinds of industries related to Bio-medical (Bio-implants), micro channels in micro fluidics, automotives, turbine blades, impellers of artificial heart pumps, automobiles etc. Different parts in these industries need nano-level surface finish as their functional inevitability. It is very difficult and challenging to achieve high level of surface finish, especially on the components having freeform (or sculptured) surfaces, complex shapes, and 3-D features. Surface finish is a significant factor, which affects life and functionality of a product. Many traditional and advanced finishing processes have been developed for finishing of freeform/sculptured surfaces but still it has not been possible to achieve uniform nano level surface finish specially in case of freeform surfaces. To overcome the limitations of the existing nanofinishing processes, researchers are developing new processes for uniform nanofinishing of freeform surfaces. In this article, an attempt has been made to review different nanofinishing processes employed for freeform surfaces useful in different types of applications. In addition, experimental work, theoretical analysis and existing challenges of the finishing processes have been identified to fill the research gap.

Ceramic Composite Development for Gas Turbine Engine Hot Section Components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DiCarlo, James A.; VANrOODE, mARK

2006-01-01

The development of ceramic materials for incorporation into the hot section of gas turbine engines has been ongoing for about fifty years. Researchers have designed, developed, and tested ceramic gas turbine components in rigs and engines for automotive, aero-propulsion, industrial, and utility power applications. Today, primarily because of materials limitations and/or economic factors, major challenges still remain for the implementation of ceramic components in gas turbines. For example, because of low fracture toughness, monolithic ceramics continue to suffer from the risk of failure due to unknown extrinsic damage events during engine service. On the other hand, ceramic matrix composites (CMC) with their ability to display much higher damage tolerance appear to be the materials of choice for current and future engine components. The objective of this paper is to briefly review the design and property status of CMC materials for implementation within the combustor and turbine sections for gas turbine engine applications. It is shown that although CMC systems have advanced significantly in thermo-structural performance within recent years, certain challenges still exist in terms of producibility, design, and affordability for commercial CMC turbine components. Nevertheless, there exist some recent successful efforts for prototype CMC components within different engine types.

Integration of existing systematic reviews into new reviews: identification of guidance needs

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background An exponential increase in the number of systematic reviews published, and constrained resources for new reviews, means that there is an urgent need for guidance on explicitly and transparently integrating existing reviews into new systematic reviews. The objectives of this paper are: 1) to identify areas where existing guidance may be adopted or adapted, and 2) to suggest areas for future guidance development. Methods We searched documents and websites from healthcare focused systematic review organizations to identify and, where available, to summarize relevant guidance on the use of existing systematic reviews. We conducted informational interviews with members of Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) to gather experiences in integrating existing systematic reviews, including common issues and challenges, as well as potential solutions. Results There was consensus among systematic review organizations and the EPCs about some aspects of incorporating existing systematic reviews into new reviews. Current guidance may be used in assessing the relevance of prior reviews and in scanning references of prior reviews to identify studies for a new review. However, areas of challenge remain. Areas in need of guidance include how to synthesize, grade the strength of, and present bodies of evidence composed of primary studies and existing systematic reviews. For instance, empiric evidence is needed regarding how to quality check data abstraction and when and how to use study-level risk of bias assessments from prior reviews. Conclusions There remain areas of uncertainty for how to integrate existing systematic reviews into new reviews. Methods research and consensus processes among systematic review organizations are needed to develop guidance to address these challenges. PMID:24956937

Reconciling Scale Mismatch in Water Governance, Hydro-climatic Processes and Infrastructure Systems of Water Supply in Las Vegas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, M. E.; Alarcon, T.; Portney, K.; Islam, S.

2013-12-01

Water resource systems are a classic example of a common pool resource due to the high cost of exclusion and the subtractability of the resource; for common pool resources, the performance of governance systems primarily depends on how well matched the institutional arrangements and rules are to the biophysical conditions and social norms. Changes in water governance, hydro-climatic processes and infrastructure systems occur on disparate temporal and spatial scales. A key challenge is the gap between current climate change model resolution, and the spatial and temporal scale of urban water supply decisions. This gap will lead to inappropriate management policies if not mediated through a carefully crafted decision making process. Traditional decision support and planning methods (DSPM) such as classical decision analysis are not equipped to deal with a non-static climate. While emerging methods such as decision scaling, robust decision making and real options are designed to deal with a changing climate, governance systems have evolved under the assumption of a static climate and it is not clear if these methods are well suited to the existing governance regime. In our study, these questions are contextualized by examining an urban water utility that has made significant changes in policy to adapt to changing conditions: the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) which serves metropolitan Las Vegas. Like most desert cities, Las Vegas exists because of water; the artesian springs of the Las Vegas Valley once provided an ample water supply for Native Americans, ranchers and later a small railroad city. However, population growth has increased demands far beyond local supplies. The area now depends on the Colorado River for the majority of its water supply. Natural climate variability with periodic droughts has further challenged water providers; projected climate changes and further population growth will exacerbate these challenges. Las Vegas is selected as a case study due to the combined challenges of population growth and climate change, common in the arid west, and due its cooperative institutional response to these challenges, unprecedented in the arid west. To begin to disentangle this question we have analyzed the institutional arrangements and rules which govern water decision making in the Las Vegas Valley and evaluated the existing DSPM used by the SNWA and partner utilities. Presented here are the preliminary results from an ongoing project.

Sculpting bespoke mountains: Determining free energies with basis expansions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitmer, Jonathan K.; Fluitt, Aaron M.; Antony, Lucas; Qin, Jian; McGovern, Michael; de Pablo, Juan J.

2015-07-01

The intriguing behavior of a wide variety of physical systems, ranging from amorphous solids or glasses to proteins, is a direct manifestation of underlying free energy landscapes riddled with local minima separated by large barriers. Exploring such landscapes has arguably become one of statistical physics's great challenges. A new method is proposed here for uniform sampling of rugged free energy surfaces. The method, which relies on special Green's functions to approximate the Dirac delta function, improves significantly on existing simulation techniques by providing a boundary-agnostic approach that is capable of mapping complex features in multidimensional free energy surfaces. The usefulness of the proposed approach is established in the context of a simple model glass former and model proteins, demonstrating improved convergence and accuracy over existing methods.

Using Satellite Data to Unpack Causes of Yield Gaps in India's Wheat Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jain, M.; Singh, B.; Srivastava, A.; Malik, R. K.; McDonald, A.; Lobell, D. B.

2016-12-01

India will face significant food security challenges in the coming decades due to climate change, natural resource degradation, and population growth. Yields of wheat, one of India's staple crops, are already stagnating and will be significantly impacted by warming temperatures. Despite these challenges, wheat yields can be enhanced by implementing improved management in regions with existing yield gaps. To identify the magnitude and causes of current yield gaps, we produced 30 m resolution yield maps across India's main wheat belt, the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP), from 2000 to 2015. Yield maps were derived using a new method that translates satellite vegetation indices to yield estimates using crop model simulations, bypassing the need for ground calibration data that rarely exist in smallholder systems. We find that yields can be increased by 5% on average and up to 16% in the eastern IGP by improving management to current best practices within a given district. However, if policies and technologies are put in place to improve management to current best practices in Punjab, the highest yielding state, yields can be increased by 29% in the eastern IGP. Considering which factors most influence wheat yields, we find that later sow dates and warmer temperatures are most associated with low yields across the IGP. This suggests that strategies that reduce the negative effects of heat stress, like earlier sowing and planting heat-tolerant wheat varieties, are critical to India's current and future food security.

Managing the Challenges of Leadership in ERP Implementations: An Exploratory Study of the Leadership Challenges Encountered by Project Managers Involved in ERP Implementation Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wanjagi, James K.

2013-01-01

Increasingly, organizations are conducting more Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) projects in order to promote organizational efficiencies. Meanwhile, minimal research has been conducted on the leadership challenges faced by project managers during the ERP project implementations and how these challenges are managed. The existing project…

Accessing seismic data through geological interpretation: Challenges and solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butler, R. W.; Clayton, S.; McCaffrey, B.

2008-12-01

Between them, the world's research programs, national institutions and corporations, especially oil and gas companies, have acquired substantial volumes of seismic reflection data. Although the vast majority are proprietary and confidential, significant data are released and available for research, including those in public data libraries. The challenge now is to maximise use of these data, by providing routes to seismic not simply on the basis of acquisition or processing attributes but via the geology they image. The Virtual Seismic Atlas (VSA: www.seismicatlas.org) meets this challenge by providing an independent, free-to-use community based internet resource that captures and shares the geological interpretation of seismic data globally. Images and associated documents are explicitly indexed by extensive metadata trees, using not only existing survey and geographical data but also the geology they portray. The solution uses a Documentum database interrogated through Endeca Guided Navigation, to search, discover and retrieve images. The VSA allows users to compare contrasting interpretations of clean data thereby exploring the ranges of uncertainty in the geometric interpretation of subsurface structure. The metadata structures can be used to link reports and published research together with other data types such as wells. And the VSA can link to existing data libraries. Searches can take different paths, revealing arrays of geological analogues, new datasets while providing entirely novel insights and genuine surprises. This can then drive new creative opportunities for research and training, and expose the contents of seismic data libraries to the world.

Ethics for pandemics beyond influenza: Ebola, drug-resistant tuberculosis, and anticipating future ethical challenges in pandemic preparedness and response.

PubMed

Smith, Maxwell J; Silva, Diego S

2015-01-01

The unprecedented outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa has raised several novel ethical issues for global outbreak preparedness. It has also illustrated that familiar ethical issues in infectious disease management endure despite considerable efforts to understand and mitigate such issues in the wake of past outbreaks. To improve future global outbreak preparedness and response, we must examine these shortcomings and reflect upon the current state of ethical preparedness. To this end, we focus our efforts in this article on the examination of one substantial area: ethical guidance in pandemic plans. We argue that, due in part to their focus on considerations arising specifically in relation to pandemics of influenza origin, pandemic plans and their existing ethical guidance are ill-equipped to anticipate and facilitate the navigation of unique ethical challenges that may arise in other infectious disease pandemics. We proceed by outlining three reasons why this is so, and situate our analysis in the context of the EVD outbreak and the threat posed by drug-resistant tuberculosis: (1) different infectious diseases have distinct characteristics that challenge anticipated or existing modes of pandemic prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery, (2) clear, transparent, context-specific ethical reasoning and justification within current influenza pandemic plans are lacking, and (3) current plans neglect the context of how other significant pandemics may manifest. We conclude the article with several options for reflecting upon and ultimately addressing ethical issues that may emerge with different infectious disease pandemics.

Improving the Curriculum with Ethics: Gaps between Perceived Ethical Challenges of Practitioners and Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dolezel, Diane M.; Morrison, Eileen E.

2017-01-01

Health information management (HIM) professionals must address ethical challenges in their role as guardians of patients' personal information and organizations' proprietary information. Because of this need, HIM educators strive prepare their students to address these challenges. Unfortunately, little evidence exists about specific areas of…

Challenges in Delivering Distance Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chawdhry, Adnan A.

2010-01-01

Despite the challenges that exist with DE (Distance Education), university and faculty can provide a strong learning environment for their students if they understand and mitigate the challenges of the DE program. This paper describes a case study of a DE program that offers classroom instruction for multiple sites that are connected using a…

Efficacy of Coaching Preschool Teachers to Manage Challenging Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brock, Matthew E.; Beaman-Diglia, Lauren E.

2018-01-01

Many early educators cite behavior management as a top professional development need. Evidence-based practices exist to address severe challenging behavior, but promoting implementation of these practices remains a challenge. In this single-case design study, two preschool teachers received coaching focused on implementing three evidence-based…

FLASH LIDAR Based Relative Navigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brazzel, Jack; Clark, Fred; Milenkovic, Zoran

2014-01-01

Relative navigation remains the most challenging part of spacecraft rendezvous and docking. In recent years, flash LIDARs, have been increasingly selected as the go-to sensors for proximity operations and docking. Flash LIDARS are generally lighter and require less power that scanning Lidars. Flash LIDARs do not have moving parts, and they are capable of tracking multiple targets as well as generating a 3D map of a given target. However, there are some significant drawbacks of Flash Lidars that must be resolved if their use is to be of long-term significance. Overcoming the challenges of Flash LIDARs for navigation-namely, low technology readiness level, lack of historical performance data, target identification, existence of false positives, and performance of vision processing algorithms as intermediaries between the raw sensor data and the Kalman filter-requires a world-class testing facility, such as the Lockheed Martin Space Operations Simulation Center (SOSC). Ground-based testing is a critical step for maturing the next-generation flash LIDAR-based spacecraft relative navigation. This paper will focus on the tests of an integrated relative navigation system conducted at the SOSC in January 2014. The intent of the tests was to characterize and then improve the performance of relative navigation, while addressing many of the flash LIDAR challenges mentioned above. A section on navigation performance and future recommendation completes the discussion.

Patterns of Deep-Sea Genetic Connectivity in the New Zealand Region: Implications for Management of Benthic Ecosystems

PubMed Central

Bors, Eleanor K.; Rowden, Ashley A.; Maas, Elizabeth W.; Clark, Malcolm R.; Shank, Timothy M.

2012-01-01

Patterns of genetic connectivity are increasingly considered in the design of marine protected areas (MPAs) in both shallow and deep water. In the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), deep-sea communities at upper bathyal depths (<2000 m) are vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbance from fishing and potential mining operations. Currently, patterns of genetic connectivity among deep-sea populations throughout New Zealand’s EEZ are not well understood. Using the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I and 16S rRNA genes as genetic markers, this study aimed to elucidate patterns of genetic connectivity among populations of two common benthic invertebrates with contrasting life history strategies. Populations of the squat lobster Munida gracilis and the polychaete Hyalinoecia longibranchiata were sampled from continental slope, seamount, and offshore rise habitats on the Chatham Rise, Hikurangi Margin, and Challenger Plateau. For the polychaete, significant population structure was detected among distinct populations on the Chatham Rise, the Hikurangi Margin, and the Challenger Plateau. Significant genetic differences existed between slope and seamount populations on the Hikurangi Margin, as did evidence of population differentiation between the northeast and southwest parts of the Chatham Rise. In contrast, no significant population structure was detected across the study area for the squat lobster. Patterns of genetic connectivity in Hyalinoecia longibranchiata are likely influenced by a number of factors including current regimes that operate on varying spatial and temporal scales to produce potential barriers to dispersal. The striking difference in population structure between species can be attributed to differences in life history strategies. The results of this study are discussed in the context of existing conservation areas that are intended to manage anthropogenic threats to deep-sea benthic communities in the New Zealand region. PMID:23185341

Design issues for grid-connected photovoltaic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ropp, Michael Eugene

1998-08-01

Photovoltaics (PV) is the direct conversion of sunlight to electrical energy. In areas without centralized utility grids, the benefits of PV easily overshadow the present shortcomings of the technology. However, in locations with centralized utility systems, significant technical challenges remain before utility-interactive PV (UIPV) systems can be integrated into the mix of electricity sources. One challenge is that the needed computer design tools for optimal design of PV systems with curved PV arrays are not available, and even those that are available do not facilitate monitoring of the system once it is built. Another arises from the issue of islanding. Islanding occurs when a UIPV system continues to energize a section of a utility system after that section has been isolated from the utility voltage source. Islanding, which is potentially dangerous to both personnel and equipment, is difficult to prevent completely. The work contained within this thesis targets both of these technical challenges. In Task 1, a method for modeling a PV system with a curved PV array using only existing computer software is developed. This methodology also facilitates comparison of measured and modeled data for use in system monitoring. The procedure is applied to the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center (GTAC) FV system. In the work contained under Task 2, islanding prevention is considered. The existing state-of-the- art is thoroughly reviewed. In Subtask 2.1, an analysis is performed which suggests that standard protective relays are in fact insufficient to guarantee protection against islanding. In Subtask 2.2. several existing islanding prevention methods are compared in a novel way. The superiority of this new comparison over those used previously is demonstrated. A new islanding prevention method is the subject under Subtask 2.3. It is shown that it does not compare favorably with other existing techniques. However, in Subtask 2.4, a novel method for dramatically improving this new islanding prevention method is described. It is shown, both by computer modeling and experiment, that this new method is one of the most effective available today. Finally, under Subtask 2.5, the effects of certain types of loads; on the effectiveness of islanding prevention methods are discussed.

Hunting for Dark Matter particles with new detectors.

PubMed

Angloher, Godehard; Jochum, Josef

2005-03-01

Although first hints of the existence of Dark Matter were observed by the Swiss astronomer Zwicky already in the 1930s, only in recent years has it become known that the universe, in fact, is dominated by particles whose nature is almost unknown and which have never been directly observed. Meanwhile, as the existence of these particles is postulated not only by astronomy, but also cosmology and theoretical particle physics, there is significant effort to detect them in a laboratory experiment and determine their physical properties. However, as the interaction rate between Dark Matter particles and ordinary matter is extremely low, detectors have to be extremely sensitive. Low temperature detectors have been available for more than a decade and have now reached the highest sensitivity for direct Dark Matter detection. In this article, we give a short overview of observational results that suggest the existence of Dark Matter particles and what physicists have learned so far about their properties. The main focus is on the experimental challenges and effort for their direct detection.

Interprofessional education for physiotherapy, medical and dietetics students: a pilot programme.

PubMed

Pullon, Sue; McKinlay, Eileen; Beckingsale, Louise; Perry, Meredith; Darlow, Ben; Gray, Ben; Gallagher, Peter; Hoare, Kath; Morgan, Sonya

2013-03-01

Interprofessional education (IPE) has been shown to enhance interprofessional practice among health professionals. Until recently there has been limited opportunity to undertake such initiatives within existing pre-registration degree courses in New Zealand. This study aimed to test the feasibility of delivering an interprofessional component within existing health professional courses for medicine, physiotherapy and dietetics at the University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand. An interprofessional case-based course component (on chronic condition management) was developed by academic clinical teachers from schools of medicine, physiotherapy and dietetics at the same location. Evaluation was undertaken using a previously validated pre- and post-survey tool, to ascertain changes in attitude among students towards interprofessional practice, IPE and the effectiveness of health care teams. Focus groups were conducted with students and teachers. Survey results indicated pre-existing positive attitudes to interprofessional practice and education among students. There was a statistically significant increase in positive attitude towards such practice and education, and increased confidence in the effectiveness of heath care teams. Focus group findings were consistent with the survey results for students, and highlighted challenges experienced by the teachers. Students and teachers alike enjoyed the interprofessional interaction and benefited from a collaborative approach to chronic condition management. The timing and nature of learning activities and assessment methods created logistical challenges. Such course components have potential to improve collaborative practice and the quality and safety of health care among graduates. Interprofessional course components need to be equitable across disciplines and embedded in the unidisciplinary courses.

Central Role of the Trehalose Biosynthesis Pathway in the Pathogenesis of Human Fungal Infections: Opportunities and Challenges for Therapeutic Development.

PubMed

Thammahong, Arsa; Puttikamonkul, Srisombat; Perfect, John R; Brennan, Richard G; Cramer, Robert A

2017-06-01

Invasive fungal infections cause significant morbidity and mortality in part due to a limited antifungal drug arsenal. One therapeutic challenge faced by clinicians is the significant host toxicity associated with antifungal drugs. Another challenge is the fungistatic mechanism of action of some drugs. Consequently, the identification of fungus-specific drug targets essential for fitness in vivo remains a significant goal of medical mycology research. The trehalose biosynthetic pathway is found in a wide variety of organisms, including human-pathogenic fungi, but not in humans. Genes encoding proteins involved in trehalose biosynthesis are mechanistically linked to the metabolism, cell wall homeostasis, stress responses, and virulence of Candida albicans , Cryptococcus neoformans , and Aspergillus fumigatus . While there are a number of pathways for trehalose production across the tree of life, the TPS/TPP (trehalose-6-phosphate synthase/trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase) pathway is the canonical pathway found in human-pathogenic fungi. Importantly, data suggest that proteins involved in trehalose biosynthesis play other critical roles in fungal metabolism and in vivo fitness that remain to be fully elucidated. By further defining the biology and functions of trehalose and its biosynthetic pathway components in pathogenic fungi, an opportunity exists to leverage this pathway as a potent antifungal drug target. The goal of this review is to cover the known roles of this important molecule and its associated biosynthesis-encoding genes in the human-pathogenic fungi studied to date and to employ these data to critically assess the opportunities and challenges facing development of this pathway as a therapeutic target. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Virtual reality social cognition training for young adults with high-functioning autism.

PubMed

Kandalaft, Michelle R; Didehbani, Nyaz; Krawczyk, Daniel C; Allen, Tandra T; Chapman, Sandra B

2013-01-01

Few evidence-based social interventions exist for young adults with high-functioning autism, many of whom encounter significant challenges during the transition into adulthood. The current study investigated the feasibility of an engaging Virtual Reality Social Cognition Training intervention focused on enhancing social skills, social cognition, and social functioning. Eight young adults diagnosed with high-functioning autism completed 10 sessions across 5 weeks. Significant increases on social cognitive measures of theory of mind and emotion recognition, as well as in real life social and occupational functioning were found post-training. These findings suggest that the virtual reality platform is a promising tool for improving social skills, cognition, and functioning in autism.

Prisoner reentry: a public health or public safety issue for social work practice?

PubMed

Patterson, George T

2013-01-01

A significant literature identifies the policy, economic, health, and social challenges that confront released prisoners. This literature also describes the public health and public safety risks associated with prisoner reentry, provides recommendations for improving the reentry process, and describes the effectiveness of prison-based programs on recidivism rates. Public health and public safety risks are particularly significant in communities where large numbers of prisoners are released and few evidence-based services exist. The purpose of this article is to describe the public health and public safety risks that released prisoners experience when they reenter communities, and to discuss the social justice issues relevant for social work practice.

Connectivity, interoperability and manageability challenges in internet of things

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haseeb, Shariq; Hashim, Aisha Hassan A.; Khalifa, Othman O.; Ismail, Ahmad Faris

2017-09-01

The vision of Internet of Things (IoT) is about interconnectivity between sensors, actuators, people and processes. IoT exploits connectivity between physical objects like fridges, cars, utilities, buildings and cities for enhancing the lives of people through automation and data analytics. However, this sudden increase in connected heterogeneous IoT devices takes a huge toll on the existing Internet infrastructure and introduces new challenges for researchers to embark upon. This paper highlights the effects of heterogeneity challenges on connectivity, interoperability, management in greater details. It also surveys some of the existing solutions adopted in the core network to solve the challenges of massive IoT deployment. The paper finally concludes that IoT architecture and network infrastructure needs to be reengineered ground-up, so that IoT solutions can be safely and efficiently deployed.

Polar ice-sheet contributions to sea level during past warm periods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutton, A.

2015-12-01

Recent sea-level rise has been dominated by thermal expansion and glacier loss, but the contribution from mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets is expected to exceed other contributions under future sustained warming. Due to limitations of existing ice sheet models and the lack of relevant analogues in the historical record, projecting the timing and magnitude of polar ice sheet mass loss in the future remains challenging. One approach to improving our understanding of how polar ice-sheet retreat will unfold is to integrate observations and models of sea level, ice sheets, and climate during past intervals of warmth when the polar ice sheets contributed to higher sea levels. A recent review evaluated the evidence of polar ice sheet mass loss during several warm periods, including interglacials during the mid-Pliocene warm period, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11, 5e (Last Interglacial), and 1 (Holocene). Sea-level benchmarks of ice-sheet retreat during the first of these three periods, when global mean climate was ~1 to 3 deg. C warmer than preindustrial, are useful for understanding the long-term potential for future sea-level rise. Despite existing uncertainties in these reconstructions, it is clear that our present climate is warming to a level associated with significant polar ice-sheet loss in the past, resulting in a conservative estimate for a global mean sea-level rise of 6 meters above present (or more). This presentation will focus on identifying the approaches that have yielded significant advances in terms of past sea level and ice sheet reconstruction as well as outstanding challenges. A key element of recent advances in sea-level reconstructions is the ability to recognize and quantify the imprint of geophysical processes, such as glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) and dynamic topography, that lead to significant spatial variability in sea level reconstructions. Identifying specific ice-sheet sources that contributed to higher sea levels is a challenge that is currently hindered by limited field evidence at high latitudes. Finally, I will explore the concept of how increasing the quantity and quality of paleo sea level and ice sheet reconstructions can lead to improved quantification of contemporary changes in ice sheets and sea level.

A general practice-based study of the relationship between indicators of mental illness and challenging behaviour among adults with intellectual disabilities.

PubMed

Felce, D; Kerr, M; Hastings, R P

2009-03-01

Existing studies tend to show a positive association between mental illness and challenging behaviour among adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). However, whether the association is direct or artefactual is less clear. The purpose was to explore the association between psychiatric status and level of challenging behaviour, while controlling for adaptive behaviour and occurrence of autistic spectrum disorders. Data were collected on the age, gender, adaptive and challenging behaviour, social impairment and psychiatric status of 312 adults with ID. Participants were divided according to psychiatric status, group equivalence in adaptive behaviour and the presence of autistic spectrum disorders achieved, and differences in challenging behaviour explored. In addition, multiple regression was used to examine the association between psychiatric status and challenging behaviour after controlling for other participant characteristics and to test whether the interaction between psychiatric status and adaptive behaviour added significantly to explanation. Challenging behaviour was higher among participants meeting threshold levels on the psychiatric screen. The regression analysis confirmed the association and demonstrated an interaction between total score on the psychiatric screen and level of adaptive behaviour. This moderated effect showed the relationship between psychiatric status and challenging behaviour to be stronger at lower adaptive behaviour. This study reinforces previous findings that psychiatric morbidity among people with ID is associated with higher levels of challenging behaviour and supports predictions that this association is more pronounced for people with severe ID. The precise nature and causal direction of the association requires further clarification. However, the understanding of how psychiatric problems might contribute to challenging behaviour needs to be part of the clinical appreciation of such behaviour.

The Upper Rio Grande Basin as a Long-Term Hydrologic Observatory - Challenges and Opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Springer, E.; Duffy, C.; Phillips, F.; Hogan, J.; Winter, C. L.

2001-12-01

Long-term hydrologic observatories (LTHO) have been identified as a key element to advance hydrologic science. Issues to be addressed are the size and locations of LTHOs to meet research needs and address water resources management concerns. To date, considerable small watershed research has been performed, and these have provided valuable insights into processes governing hydrologic response on local scales. For hydrology to advance as a science, more complete and coherent data sets at larger scales are needed to tie together local studies and examine lower frequency long wavelength processes that may govern the water cycle at the scale of river basins and continents. The objective of this poster is to describe the potential opportunities and challenges for the upper Rio Grande as a LTHO. The presence of existing research programs and facilities can be leveraged by a LTHO to develop the required scientific measurements. Within the upper Rio Grande Basin, there are two Long-Term Ecological Research sites, Jornada and Sevilleta; Los Alamos National Laboratory, which monitors the atmosphere, surface water and groundwater; a groundwater study is being performed by the USGS in the Albuquerque Basin to examine recharge and water quality issues. Additionally, the upper Rio Grande basin served as an USGS-NAWQA study site starting in the early 1990's and is currently being studied by SAHRA (NSF-STC) to understand sources of salinity of the river system; such studies provide an existing framework on which to base long-term monitoring of water quality. The upper Rio Grande Basin has a wealth of existing long-term climate, hydrologic and geochemical records on which to base an LTHO. Within the basin there are currently 122 discharge gages operated by the USGS; and many of these gages have long-term records of discharge. Other organizations operate additional surface water gages in the lower part of the basin. Long-term records of river chemistry have been kept by the USGS, U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, IBWC and EBID. Significantly, these records extend through periods of climate extremes, notably the 1950's drought. One challenge that the Rio Grande faces as a LTHO is combining datasets maintained by different agencies in order to address research questions at this spatial and temporal scale. Challenges facing the development of a LTHO on the Rio Grande include instrumentation over steep topographic and biological gradients that exist. Political issues surrounding any basin can create problems for making long-term measurements. Current water resources management requires a greater scientific understanding of coupled processes, serious improvements in predictive capability and available computational resources, both of which require a comprehensive hydrologic monitoring system beyond any which exist today.

Healthcare system responses to intimate partner violence in low and middle-income countries: evidence is growing and the challenges become clearer.

PubMed

Taft, Angela; Colombini, Manuela

2017-07-12

The damage to health caused by intimate partner violence demands effective responses from healthcare providers and healthcare systems worldwide. To date, most evidence for the few existing, effective interventions in use comes from high-income countries. Gupta et al. provide rare evidence of a nurse-delivered intimate partner violence screening, supportive care and referral intervention from a large-scale randomised trial in Mexican public health clinics. No difference was found in the primary outcome of reduction in intimate partner violence. There were significant short-term benefits in safety planning and mental health (secondary outcomes) for women in the intervention arm, but these were not sustained.This important study highlights the challenges of primary outcome choices in such studies, and further challenges for the sustainability of healthcare systems and healthcare provider interventions. These challenges include the role of theory for sustainability and the risk that baseline measures of intimate partner violence can wash out intervention effects. We emphasise the importance of studying the processes of adaptation, integration and coordination in the context of the wider healthcare system.Please see related article: https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-017-0880-y.

Effect of the challenger experience on elementary children's attitudes to science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jarvis, Tina; Pell, Anthony

2002-12-01

This research explored how the Challenger experience influenced over 655 elementary boys' and girls' general attitudes to science and space during the 5 months after their visit by examining their responses to four different attitude scales. These were administered to the 10- to 11-year-olds immediately before and after the Challenger experience as well as 2 and 5 months later. Knowledge tests were also administered before and after the visit. A sample of children completed an existing measure of anxiety. Although there were mainly positive outcomes immediately after the Challenger experience, there were some negative effects. There were also noticeable differences between boys and girls. Some 24% of pupils were inspired to become scientists. There was also less fear of space travel with a greater appreciation of the use of science to protect the planet after the visit. Most girls improved and maintained their attitudes toward science in society. A sizeable number of pupils were relatively unaffected by the experience and there was a significant negative effect on a small group of anxious girls. There are indications that previsit preparation and careful choice of roles during the simulation are important.

Measurement in Service Businesses: Challenges and Future Directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyagi, Rajesh Kumar

This chapter presents challenges faced by service businesses while implementing a measurement system. A review of existing frameworks is presented and a new framework, the Service Scorecard, is introduced. The Service Scorecard is an adaptation of the Six Sigma Business Scorecard for the service sector. The framework has also been influenced by existing frameworks such as the Malcom Baldrige award criteria, the Balanced Scorecard, the European Quality award and the Service Profit Chain model. The seven elements of the Service Scorecard are Growth, Leadership, Acceleration, Collaboration, Innovation, Execution, and Retention. The examples of measurement systems are presented with concrete real-world case examples. Final thoughts and the challenges faced are also presented.

A 3D bioprinting exemplar of the consequences of the regulatory requirements on customized processes.

PubMed

Hourd, Paul; Medcalf, Nicholas; Segal, Joel; Williams, David J

2015-01-01

Computer-aided 3D printing approaches to the industrial production of customized 3D functional living constructs for restoration of tissue and organ function face significant regulatory challenges. Using the manufacture of a customized, 3D-bioprinted nasal implant as a well-informed but hypothetical exemplar, we examine how these products might be regulated. Existing EU and USA regulatory frameworks do not account for the differences between 3D printing and conventional manufacturing methods or the ability to create individual customized products using mechanized rather than craft approaches. Already subject to extensive regulatory control, issues related to control of the computer-aided design to manufacture process and the associated software system chain present additional scientific and regulatory challenges for manufacturers of these complex 3D-bioprinted advanced combination products.

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

PubMed

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

2013-01-01

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

Recommendations for designing and conducting cold-fill hold challenge studies for acidified food products

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A scheduled process developed for manufacture of acidified foods must be validated with data from existing literature or from a product-specific challenge study, either of which can establish both safety and shelf stability. The challenge study would evaluate the ability of a particular food product...

Implementing the 40 Gallon Challenge to Increase Water Conservation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheffield, Mary Carol; Bauske, Ellen; Pugliese, Paul; Kolich, Heather; Boellstorff, Diane

2016-01-01

The 40 Gallon Challenge is an easy-to-use, comprehensive indoor and outdoor water conservation educational tool. It can be used nationwide and easily incorporated into existing educational programs. Promotional materials and pledge cards are available on the 40 Gallon Challenge website and can be modified by educators. The website displays data…

Natural areas and urban populations: communication and environmental education challenges and actions in outdoor recreation

Treesearch

Deborah J. Chavez

2005-01-01

Challenges, opportunities, and actions exist in areas where large urban populations interface with natural areas, such as outdoor recreation sites in southern California. Challenges in the interface include intense recreation use, public safety issues, and complex information strategies. Research results on communications and environmental education offer opportunities...

Cockpit Accommodation Assessment of the Bell 412CF Helicopter (Evaluation du Poste de Pilotage de l’Hellcoptere Bell 412CF)

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-01

Research, Ottawa , 1998 as issued jointly by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada...Flight Rules ) skills. Nine Bell 412CF helicopters were produced from existing CH-146 Griffons, which posed technical challenges. One such compromise was...IFR (Instrument Flight Rules ) skills. Nine Bell 412CF helicopters were produced from existing CH-146 Griffons, which posed technical challenges. One

Biofield Science: Current Physics Perspectives.

PubMed

Kafatos, Menas C; Chevalier, Gaétan; Chopra, Deepak; Hubacher, John; Kak, Subhash; Theise, Neil D

2015-11-01

This article briefly reviews the biofield hypothesis and its scientific literature. Evidence for the existence of the biofield now exists, and current theoretical foundations are now being developed. A review of the biofield and related topics from the perspective of physical science is needed to identify a common body of knowledge and evaluate possible underlying principles of origin of the biofield. The properties of such a field could be based on electromagnetic fields, coherent states, biophotons, quantum and quantum-like processes, and ultimately the quantum vacuum. Given this evidence, we intend to inquire and discuss how the existence of the biofield challenges reductionist approaches and presents its own challenges regarding the origin and source of the biofield, the specific evidence for its existence, its relation to biology, and last but not least, how it may inform an integrated understanding of consciousness and the living universe.

Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure - Cause or Effect?

PubMed

Prabhu, Sandeep; Voskoboinik, Aleksandr; Kaye, David M; Kistler, Peter M

2017-09-01

There are emerging epidemics of atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure in most developed countries, with a significant health burden. Due to many shared pathophysiological mechanisms, which facilitate the maintenance of each condition, AF and heart failure co-exist in up to 30% of patients. In the circumstance where known structural causes of heart failure (such as myocardial infarction) are absent, patients presenting with both conditions present a unique challenge, particularly as the temporal relationship of each condition can often remain elusive from the clinical history. The question of whether the AF is driving, or significantly contributing to the left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, rather than merely a consequence of heart failure, has become ever more pertinent, especially as catheter ablation now offers a significant advancement over existing rhythm control strategies. This paper will review the inter-related physiological drivers of AF and heart failure before considering the implications from the outcomes of recent clinical trials in patients with AF and heart failure. Copyright © 2017 Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Medulloblastoma in the Molecular Era

PubMed Central

Miranda Kuzan-Fischer, Claudia; Juraschka, Kyle; Taylor, Michael D.

2018-01-01

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood and remains a major cause of cancer related mortality in children. Significant scientific advancements have transformed the understanding of medulloblastoma, leading to the recognition of four distinct clinical and molecular subgroups, namely wingless (WNT), sonic hedgehog, group 3, and group 4. Subgroup classification combined with the recognition of subgroup specific molecular alterations has also led to major changes in risk stratification of medulloblastoma patients and these changes have begun to alter clinical trial design, in which the newly recognized subgroups are being incorporated as individualized treatment arms. Despite these recent advancements, identification of effective targeted therapies remains a challenge for several reasons. First, significant molecular heterogeneity exists within the four subgroups, meaning this classification system alone may not be sufficient to predict response to a particular therapy. Second, the majority of novel agents are currently tested at the time of recurrence, after which significant selective pressures have been exerted by radiation and chemotherapy. Recent studies demonstrate selection of tumor sub-clones that exhibit genetic divergence from the primary tumor, exist within metastatic and recurrent tumor populations. Therefore, tumor resampling at the time of recurrence may become necessary to accurately select patients for personalized therapy. PMID:29742881

Advancing treatment options for chronic idiopathic constipation.

PubMed

Quigley, Eamonn M M; Neshatian, Leila

2016-01-01

Chronic constipation is a global problem affecting all ages and associated with considerable morbidity and significant financial burden for society. Though formerly defined on the basis of a single symptom, infrequent defecation; constipation is now viewed as a syndrome encompassing several complaints such as difficulty with defecation, a sense of incomplete evacuation, hard stools, abdominal discomfort and bloating. The expanded concept of constipation has inevitably led to a significant change in outcomes in clinical trials, as well as in patient expectations from new therapeutic interventions. The past decades have also witnessed a proliferation in therapeutic targets for new agents. Foremost among these have been novel prokinetics, a new category, prosecretory agents and innovative approaches such as inhibitors of bile salt transport. In contrast, relatively few effective therapies exist for the management of those anorectal and pelvic floor problems that result in difficult defecation. Though constipation is a common and often troublesome disorder, many of those affected can resolve their symptoms with relatively simple measures. For those with more resistant symptoms a number of novel, effective and safe options now exist. Those with defecatory difficulty (anismus, pelvic floor dysfunction) continue to represent a significant management challenge.

Medulloblastoma in the Molecular Era.

PubMed

Miranda Kuzan-Fischer, Claudia; Juraschka, Kyle; Taylor, Michael D

2018-05-01

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood and remains a major cause of cancer related mortality in children. Significant scientific advancements have transformed the understanding of medulloblastoma, leading to the recognition of four distinct clinical and molecular subgroups, namely wingless (WNT), sonic hedgehog, group 3, and group 4. Subgroup classification combined with the recognition of subgroup specific molecular alterations has also led to major changes in risk stratification of medulloblastoma patients and these changes have begun to alter clinical trial design, in which the newly recognized subgroups are being incorporated as individualized treatment arms. Despite these recent advancements, identification of effective targeted therapies remains a challenge for several reasons. First, significant molecular heterogeneity exists within the four subgroups, meaning this classification system alone may not be sufficient to predict response to a particular therapy. Second, the majority of novel agents are currently tested at the time of recurrence, after which significant selective pressures have been exerted by radiation and chemotherapy. Recent studies demonstrate selection of tumor sub-clones that exhibit genetic divergence from the primary tumor, exist within metastatic and recurrent tumor populations. Therefore, tumor resampling at the time of recurrence may become necessary to accurately select patients for personalized therapy.

Multitarget tracking in cluttered environment for a multistatic passive radar system under the DAB/DVB network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Yi Fang; Park, Seung Hyo; Song, Taek Lyul

2017-12-01

The target tracking using multistatic passive radar in a digital audio/video broadcast (DAB/DVB) network with illuminators of opportunity faces two main challenges: the first challenge is that one has to solve the measurement-to-illuminator association ambiguity in addition to the conventional association ambiguity between the measurements and targets, which introduces a significantly complex three-dimensional (3-D) data association problem among the target-measurement illuminator, this is because all the illuminators transmit the same carrier frequency signals and signals transmitted by different illuminators but reflected via the same target become indistinguishable; the other challenge is that only the bistatic range and range-rate measurements are available while the angle information is unavailable or of very poor quality. In this paper, the authors propose a new target tracking algorithm directly in three-dimensional (3-D) Cartesian coordinates with the capability of track management using the probability of target existence as a track quality measure. The proposed algorithm is termed sequential processing-joint integrated probabilistic data association (SP-JIPDA), which applies the modified sequential processing technique to resolve the additional association ambiguity between measurements and illuminators. The SP-JIPDA algorithm sequentially operates the JIPDA tracker to update each track for each illuminator with all the measurements in the common measurement set at each time. For reasons of fair comparison, the existing modified joint probabilistic data association (MJPDA) algorithm that addresses the 3-D data association problem via "supertargets" using gate grouping and provides tracks directly in 3-D Cartesian coordinates, is enhanced by incorporating the probability of target existence as an effective track quality measure for track management. Both algorithms deal with nonlinear observations using the extended Kalman filtering. A simulation study is performed to verify the superiority of the proposed SP-JIPDA algorithm over the MJIPDA in this multistatic passive radar system.

Information and communication technologies and gender in climate change and green economy: Situating women’s opportunities and challenges in Zambian policies and strategies

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Zambia’s 2012 report on the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (RIO +20) identifies existing opportunities on the country’s transitioning to green economy. The RIO +20 conference of 2012 has resulted in new momentum in addressing problems of sustainable development. However, this article argues that there are practical challenges that require paying attention to, especially those involving women. The article addressed one key question: To what extent can women participate in the transitioning process to green economy in Zambia and what opportunities and challenges exists? The study used document analysis to answer the above question. National policy documents were reviewed to understand interventions on environmental management. Whilst going through the documents, the study used gender analysis frameworks (education, skills, roles in family and society, access to infrastructure) to bring out qualitative and quantitative information on women. Using suggested green economy interventions in the literature as benchmark, qualitative analysis was used to project possible participation of women in green economy activities and possible challenges to be faced. The study found that participation of women will be limited despite existing opportunities because of challenges of access to information and communication technology infrastructures, low educational levels and skills and financial constraints. As Zambia undergoes a transitioning process, these limitations should be addressed in planned green economy policies and interventions to maximise benefits.

Wear of seal materials used in aircraft propulsion systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bill, R. C.; Ludwig, L. P.

1978-01-01

The various types of seal locations in a gas turbine engine are described, and the significance of wear to each type is reviewed. Starting with positive contact shaft seals, existing material selection guidelines are reviewed, and the existing PV (contact pressure X sliding velocity) criteria for selecting seal materials are discussed, along with the theoretical background for these criteria. Examples of wear mechanisms observed to operate in positive contact seals are shown. Design features that can extend the operating capabilities of positive contact seals, including pressure balancing and incorporation of hydrodynamic lift are briefly discussed. It is concluded that, despite the benefits arising from these design features, improved positive contact seal materials from the standpoint of wear, erosion and oxidation resistance will be necessary for further improvements in seal performance and durability, and to meet stringent future challenges.

Review of biosolids management options and co-incineration of a biosolid-derived fuel.

PubMed

Roy, Murari Mohon; Dutta, Animesh; Corscadden, Kenny; Havard, Peter; Dickie, Lucas

2011-11-01

This paper reviews current biosolids management options, and identifies incineration as a promising technology. Incineration is attractive both for volume reduction and energy recovery. Reported emissions from the incineration of biosolids were compared to various regulations to identify the challenges and future direction of biosolids incineration research. Most of the gaseous and metal emissions were lower than existing regulations, or could be met by existing technologies. This paper also presents the results of an experimental study to investigate the potential use of biosolids for co-incineration with wood pellets in a conventional wood pellet stove. Pilot scale combustion tests revealed that co-incineration of 10% biosolids with 90% premium grade wood pellets resulted in successful combustion without any significant degradation of efficiency and emissions. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A survey of snake-inspired robot designs.

PubMed

Hopkins, James K; Spranklin, Brent W; Gupta, Satyandra K

2009-06-01

Body undulation used by snakes and the physical architecture of a snake body may offer significant benefits over typical legged or wheeled locomotion designs in certain types of scenarios. A large number of research groups have developed snake-inspired robots to exploit these benefits. The purpose of this review is to report different types of snake-inspired robot designs and categorize them based on their main characteristics. For each category, we discuss their relative advantages and disadvantages. This review will assist in familiarizing a newcomer to the field with the existing designs and their distinguishing features. We hope that by studying existing robots, future designers will be able to create new designs by adopting features from successful robots. The review also summarizes the design challenges associated with the further advancement of the field and deploying snake-inspired robots in practice.

Challenges To Reducing Discrimination And Health Inequity Through Existing Civil Rights Laws.

PubMed

Chandra, Amitabh; Frakes, Michael; Malani, Anup

2017-06-01

More than fifty years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, health care for racial and ethnic minorities remains in many ways separate and unequal in the United States. Moreover, efforts to improve minority health care face challenges that differ from those confronted during de jure segregation. We review these challenges and examine whether stronger enforcement of existing civil rights legislation could help overcome them. We conclude that stronger enforcement of existing laws-for example, through executive orders to strengthen enforcement of the laws and congressional action to allow private individuals to bring lawsuits against providers who might have engaged in discrimination-would improve minority health care, but this approach is limited in what it can achieve. Complementary approaches outside the legal arena, such as quality improvement efforts and direct transfers of money to minority-serving providers-those seeing a disproportionate number of minority patients relative to their share of the population-might prove to be more effective. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Computational fluid dynamics-habitat suitability index (CFD-HSI) modelling as an exploratory tool for assessing passability of riverine migratory challenge zones for fish

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haro, Alexander J.; Chelminski, Michael; Dudley, Robert W.

2015-01-01

We developed two-dimensional computational fluid hydraulics-habitat suitability index (CFD-HSI) models to identify and qualitatively assess potential zones of shallow water depth and high water velocity that may present passage challenges for five major anadromous fish species in a 2.63-km reach of the main stem Penobscot River, Maine, as a result of a dam removal downstream of the reach. Suitability parameters were based on distribution of fish lengths and body depths and transformed to cruising, maximum sustained and sprint swimming speeds. Zones of potential depth and velocity challenges were calculated based on the hydraulic models; ability of fish to pass a challenge zone was based on the percent of river channel that the contiguous zone spanned and its maximum along-current length. Three river flows (low: 99.1 m3 sec-1; normal: 344.9 m3 sec-1; and high: 792.9 m3 sec-1) were modelled to simulate existing hydraulic conditions and hydraulic conditions simulating removal of a dam at the downstream boundary of the reach. Potential depth challenge zones were nonexistent for all low-flow simulations of existing conditions for deeper-bodied fishes. Increasing flows for existing conditions and removal of the dam under all flow conditions increased the number and size of potential velocity challenge zones, with the effects of zones being more pronounced for smaller species. The two-dimensional CFD-HSI model has utility in demonstrating gross effects of flow and hydraulic alteration, but may not be as precise a predictive tool as a three-dimensional model. Passability of the potential challenge zones cannot be precisely quantified for two-dimensional or three-dimensional models due to untested assumptions and incomplete data on fish swimming performance and behaviours.

A novel approach for data integration and disease subtyping

PubMed Central

Tagett, Rebecca; Diaz, Diana

2017-01-01

Advances in high-throughput technologies allow for measurements of many types of omics data, yet the meaningful integration of several different data types remains a significant challenge. Another important and difficult problem is the discovery of molecular disease subtypes characterized by relevant clinical differences, such as survival. Here we present a novel approach, called perturbation clustering for data integration and disease subtyping (PINS), which is able to address both challenges. The framework has been validated on thousands of cancer samples, using gene expression, DNA methylation, noncoding microRNA, and copy number variation data available from the Gene Expression Omnibus, the Broad Institute, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and the European Genome-Phenome Archive. This simultaneous subtyping approach accurately identifies known cancer subtypes and novel subgroups of patients with significantly different survival profiles. The results were obtained from genome-scale molecular data without any other type of prior knowledge. The approach is sufficiently general to replace existing unsupervised clustering approaches outside the scope of bio-medical research, with the additional ability to integrate multiple types of data. PMID:29066617

Using agent-based modeling to study multiple risk factors and multiple health outcomes at multiple levels.

PubMed

Yang, Yong

2017-11-01

Most health studies focus on one health outcome and examine the influence of one or multiple risk factors. However, in reality, various pathways, interactions, and associations exist not only between risk factors and health outcomes but also among the risk factors and among health outcomes. The advance of system science methods, Big Data, and accumulated knowledge allows us to examine how multiple risk factors influence multiple health outcomes at multiple levels (termed a 3M study). Using the study of neighborhood environment and health as an example, I elaborate on the significance of 3M studies. 3M studies may lead to a significantly deeper understanding of the dynamic interactions among risk factors and outcomes and could help us design better interventions that may be of particular relevance for upstream interventions. Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a promising method in the 3M study, although its potentials are far from being fully explored. Future challenges include the gap of epidemiologic knowledge and evidence, lack of empirical data sources, and the technical challenges of ABM. © 2017 New York Academy of Sciences.

Approach to design neural cryptography: a generalized architecture and a heuristic rule.

PubMed

Mu, Nankun; Liao, Xiaofeng; Huang, Tingwen

2013-06-01

Neural cryptography, a type of public key exchange protocol, is widely considered as an effective method for sharing a common secret key between two neural networks on public channels. How to design neural cryptography remains a great challenge. In this paper, in order to provide an approach to solve this challenge, a generalized network architecture and a significant heuristic rule are designed. The proposed generic framework is named as tree state classification machine (TSCM), which extends and unifies the existing structures, i.e., tree parity machine (TPM) and tree committee machine (TCM). Furthermore, we carefully study and find that the heuristic rule can improve the security of TSCM-based neural cryptography. Therefore, TSCM and the heuristic rule can guide us to designing a great deal of effective neural cryptography candidates, in which it is possible to achieve the more secure instances. Significantly, in the light of TSCM and the heuristic rule, we further expound that our designed neural cryptography outperforms TPM (the most secure model at present) on security. Finally, a series of numerical simulation experiments are provided to verify validity and applicability of our results.

C P -invariance violation at short-baseline experiments in 3 +1 neutrino scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Gouvêa, André; Kelly, Kevin J.; Kobach, Andrew

2015-03-01

New neutrino degrees of freedom allow for more sources of charge parity- (C P ) invariance violation (CPV). We explore the requirements for accessing C P -odd mixing parameters in the so-called 3 +1 scenario, where one assumes the existence of one extra, mostly sterile neutrino degree of freedom, heavier than the other three mass eigenstates. As a first step, we concentrate on the νe→νμ appearance channel in a hypothetical, upgraded version of the ν STORM proposal. We establish that the optimal baseline for CPV studies depends strongly on the value of Δ m142—the new mass-squared difference—and that the ability to observe CPV depends significantly on whether the experiment is performed at the optimal baseline. Even at the optimal baseline, it is very challenging to see CPV in 3 +1 scenarios if one considers only one appearance channel. Full exploration of CPV in short-baseline experiments will require precision measurements of tau appearance, a challenge significantly beyond what is currently being explored by the experimental neutrino community.

Neuroimaging-based biomarkers in psychiatry: clinical opportunities of a paradigm shift.

PubMed

Fu, Cynthia H Y; Costafreda, Sergi G

2013-09-01

Neuroimaging research has substantiated the functional and structural abnormalities underlying psychiatric disorders but has, thus far, failed to have a significant impact on clinical practice. Recently, neuroimaging-based diagnoses and clinical predictions derived from machine learning analysis have shown significant potential for clinical translation. This review introduces the key concepts of this approach, including how the multivariate integration of patterns of brain abnormalities is a crucial component. We survey recent findings that have potential application for diagnosis, in particular early and differential diagnoses in Alzheimer disease and schizophrenia, and the prediction of clinical response to treatment in depression. We discuss the specific clinical opportunities and the challenges for developing biomarkers for psychiatry in the absence of a diagnostic gold standard. We propose that longitudinal outcomes, such as early diagnosis and prediction of treatment response, offer definite opportunities for progress. We propose that efforts should be directed toward clinically challenging predictions in which neuroimaging may have added value, compared with the existing standard assessment. We conclude that diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers will be developed through the joint application of expert psychiatric knowledge in addition to advanced methods of analysis.

Caribbean contributions to contemporary psychiatric psychopathology.

PubMed

Hickling, F W; Hutchinson, G

2012-07-01

The intellectual exploration of phenomenological and psychiatric discovery that has flowered in the Caribbean in the period of political independence from British colonization is a reflection of the scholarship that has emerged from the academic nurturance by The University of the West Indies. Burgeoning migration of Caribbean people to England in the twentieth century has resulted in high reported rates of psychosis for this migrant population. Caribbean research into this condition has revealed that there exist hostile racial and environmental challenges in Britain that have had a profound pathological effect on the mental health of African Caribbean migrants. These findings have significantly shifted the pendulum of understanding of the aetiology of this condition from a genetic to a biopsychosocial position. Research has also revealed longstanding psychopathological effects of slavery and colonialism in the Caribbean that have had significantly negative long term effects on the mental health of many within the Caribbean population. Current research suggests that there is a need to nurture protective strategies to enhance resilience and social capital, which would ensure the wellness and continued survival of Caribbean people in spite of the many challenges they face.

Probing compressed mass spectra in electroweak supersymmetry with Recursive Jigsaw Reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santoni, M.

2018-05-01

The lack of evidence for the production of colored supersymmetric particles at the LHC has increased interest in searches for superpartners of the electroweak SM gauge bosons, namely the neutralinos and charginos. These are challenging due to the weak nature of the production process, and the existing discovery reach has significant gaps in due to the difficulty of separating the supersymmetric signal from SM diboson events that produce similar final states and kinematics. We apply the Recursive Jigsaw Reconstruction technique to study final states enriched in charged leptons and missing transverse momentum, focusing on compressed topologies with direct production of charginos and neutralinos decaying to the lightest neutral supersymmetric particle through the emission of W and Z bosons. After presenting prototype analysis designs for future LHC runs, we demonstrate that its detectors have the potential to probe a significant amount of unexplored parameter space for chargino-neutralino associated production within the next few years, and show that the very challenging successful search for chargino pair production with compressed spectra might be possible by the end of the LHC lifetime.

Challenges of Integrating NASA's Space Communications Networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reinert, Jessica; Barnes, Patrick

2013-01-01

The transition to new technology, innovative ideas, and resistance to change is something that every industry experiences. Recent examples of this shift are changing to using robots in the assembly line construction of automobiles or the increasing use of robotics for medical procedures. Most often this is done with cost-reduction in mind, though ease of use for the customer is also a driver. All industries experience the push to increase efficiency of their systems; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the commercial space industry are no different. NASA space communication services are provided by three separately designed, developed, maintained, and operated communications networks known as the Deep Space Network (DSN), Near Earth Network (NEN) and Space Network (SN). The Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program is pursuing integration of these networks and has performed a variety of architecture trade studies to determine what integration options would be the most effective in achieving a unified user mission support organization, and increase the use of common operational equipment and processes. The integration of multiple, legacy organizations and existing systems has challenges ranging from technical to cultural. The existing networks are the progeny of the very first communication and tracking capabilities implemented by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) more than 50 years ago and have been customized to the needs of their respective user mission base. The technical challenges to integrating the networks are many, though not impossible to overcome. The three distinct networks provide the same types of services, with customizable data rates, bandwidth, frequencies, and so forth. The differences across the networks have occurred in effort to satisfy their user missions' needs. Each new requirement has made the networks more unique and harder to integrate. The cultural challenges, however, have proven to be a significant obstacle for integration. Over the past few decades of use, user missions and network personnel alike have grown accustomed to the processes by which services are provided by the NASA communications and navigation networks. The culture established by each network has created several challenges that need to be overcome in order to effectively integrate the networks. As with any change, there has been resistance, an apprehension to explore automation of existing processes, and a working environment that attempts to indirectly influence change without mandating compliance. Overcoming technical and cultural challenges is essential to successfully integrating the networks and although the challenges are numerous, the integration of the networks promises a more efficient space communications network for NASA and its customers, as well as potential long-term cost savings to the agency. This paper, Challenges of Integrating NASA Legacy Communications Networks, will provide a brief overview of the current NASA space communications networks as well as the an overview of the process implemented while performing the SCaN Trade Studies and an introduction to the requirements driving integration of the SCaN Networks. This paper will describe in detail the challenges experienced, both technical and cultural, while working with NASA space communications network-specific personnel. The paper will also cover lessons learned during the performance of architecture trade studies and provide recommendations for ways to improve the process.

Challenges of Integrating NASAs Space Communication Networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reinert, Jessica M.; Barnes, Patrick

2013-01-01

The transition to new technology, innovative ideas, and resistance to change is something that every industry experiences. Recent examples of this shift are changing to using robots in the assembly line construction of automobiles or the increasing use of robotics for medical procedures. Most often this is done with cost-reduction in mind, though ease of use for the customer is also a driver. All industries experience the push to increase efficiency of their systems; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the commercial space industry are no different. NASA space communication services are provided by three separately designed, developed, maintained, and operated communications networks known as the Deep Space Network (DSN), Near Earth Network (NEN) and Space Network (SN). The Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program is pursuing integration of these networks and has performed a variety of architecture trade studies to determine what integration options would be the most effective in achieving a unified user mission support organization, and increase the use of common operational equipment and processes. The integration of multiple, legacy organizations and existing systems has challenges ranging from technical to cultural. The existing networks are the progeny of the very first communication and tracking capabilities implemented by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) more than 50 years ago and have been customized to the needs of their respective user mission base. The technical challenges to integrating the networks are many, though not impossible to overcome. The three distinct networks provide the same types of services, with customizable data rates, bandwidth, frequencies, and so forth. The differences across the networks have occurred in effort to satisfy their user missions' needs. Each new requirement has made the networks more unique and harder to integrate. The cultural challenges, however, have proven to be a significant obstacle for integration. Over the past few decades of use, user missions and network personnel alike have grown accustomed to the processes by which services are provided by the NASA communications and navigation networks. The culture established by each network has created several challenges that need to be overcome in order to effectively integrate the networks. As with any change, there has been resistance, an apprehension to explore automation of existing processes, and a working environment that attempts to indirectly influence change without mandating compliance. Overcoming technical and cultural challenges is essential to successfully integrating the networks and although the challenges are numerous, the integration of the networks promises a more efficient space communications network for NASA and its customers, as well as potential long-term cost savings to the agency. This paper, Challenges of Integrating NASA Legacy Communications Networks, will provide a brief overview of the current NASA space communications networks as well as the an overview of the process implemented while performing the SCaN Trade Studies and an introduction to the requirements driving integration of the SCaN Networks. This paper will describe in detail the challenges experienced, both technical and cultural, while working with NASA space communications network-specific personnel. The paper will also cover lessons learned during the performance of architecture trade studies and provide recommendations for ways to improve the process.

The HL-LHC Accelerator Physics Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fartoukh, S.; Zimmermann, F.

The conceptual baseline of the HL-LHC project is reviewed, putting into perspective the main beam physics challenges of this new collider in comparison with the existing LHC, and the series of solutions and possible mitigation measures presently envisaged.

NASA's EOSDIS Near Term Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Behnke, Jeanne

2018-01-01

Given the long-term requirements, and the rapid pace of information technology and changing expectations of the user community, the ESDIS Project has had to evolve EOSDIS continually over the past three decades. However, many challenges remain. One near-term challenge is the enormous quantity of new data that will need to be managed by the EOSDIS. With the upcoming launch of the latest NASA missions coupled with existing operational missions and field campaigns, EOSDIS can expect to handle as much as 50 petabytes of data per year. In perspective, this is twice the size of the current existing archive, which took over 21 years to collect. Another continuing challenge is the disparate requirements of a diverse science community. Maintaining rigorous long-term data preservation, supporting ease of discovery and access, incorporating user feedback, enabling reanalysis/ reprocessing, and agile integration of new data sources, continue to be the Project's objectives.

Evaluation of the Inhibition of Culturable Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, or Aeromonas hydrophilia by an Existing Drinking Water Biofilm

EPA Science Inventory

Experiments were conducted to determine if an existing biofilm could act as a inhibitor to introduced microorganisms, preventing them from being incorporated into the existing biofilm or forming a biofilm. Biofilm sampling coupons were challenged by a solution of a single indica...

Does Prior Knowledge Matter? Do Lamarckian Misconceptions Exist? A Critique of Geraedts and Boersma (2006)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Enderle, Patrick J.; Smith, Mike U.; Southerland, Sherry

2009-01-01

The existence, preponderance, and stability of misconceptions related to evolution continue as foci of research in science education. In their 2006 study, Geraedts and Boersma question the existence of stable Lamarckian misconceptions in students, challenging the utility of Conceptual Change theory in addressing any such misconceptions. To support…

A Systematic Review of Challenging Behaviors in Children Exposed Prenatally to Substances of Abuse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dixon, Dennis R.; Kurtz, Patricia F.; Chin, Michelle D.

2008-01-01

A review of the existing literature on the occurrence of challenging behavior among children with prenatal drug exposure was conducted. While a large number of studies were identified that evaluated various outcomes of prenatal drug exposure, only 37 were found that directly evaluated challenging behaviors. Of the 37 studies, 23 focused on…

The Consumer Behavior Challenge: Designing an Assignment to Motivate Student Reflection and Self-Growth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gravois, Renée; Lopez, Tará Burnthorne; Budden, Michael C.

2017-01-01

The tension caused by change pushes students to reflect on their new situation, examine preconceived ideas, and synthesize new with existing knowledge. In the Consumer Behavior Challenge, students are challenged to step outside of their comfort zone by changing a behavior or trying something new for a period of time. Through guided reflection…

A Survey of Challenges in Aerodynamic Exhaust Nozzle Technology for Aerospace Propulsion Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shyne, Rickey J.

2002-01-01

The current paper discusses aerodynamic exhaust nozzle technology challenges for aircraft and space propulsion systems. Technology advances in computational and experimental methods have led to more accurate design and analysis tools, but many major challenges continue to exist in nozzle performance, jet noise and weight reduction. New generations of aircraft and space vehicle concepts dictate that exhaust nozzles have optimum performance, low weight and acceptable noise signatures. Numerous innovative nozzle concepts have been proposed for advanced subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic vehicle configurations such as ejector, mixer-ejector, plug, single expansion ramp, altitude compensating, lobed and chevron nozzles. This paper will discuss the technology barriers that exist for exhaust nozzles as well as current research efforts in place to address the barriers.

Lost in Translation? Ethical Challenges of Implementing a New Diagnostic Procedure.

PubMed

Schmitz, Dagmar

2016-01-01

Since cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fragments of placental origin can be isolated and analyzed from the blood of pregnant women. Applications of this finding have been developed and implemented in clinical care pathways worldwide at an unprecedented pace and manner. Implementation patterns, however, exhibit considerable insufficiencies. Different "motors" of implementation processes, like the market or various regulatory institutions, can be identified at a national level. Each "motor" entails characteristic ethical challenges which are exemplified impressively by a rising number of case reports.Empirical data demonstrate that there are significant "losses" in the respective translational processes, especially when the results from clinical research are to be translated into the clinical reality of NIPT (the so called "second roadblock" (T2)). These "losses" are perceived in the fields of knowledge transfer, professional standardization and ethical debate. Recommendations of professional organizations often fail to reach general practitioners. Blindsided by the new diagnostic procedure in their clinical practice, professionals in prenatal care express their insecurities with regard to its handling. Ethical debate appears to adhere to pre-existing (and partly already proven to be insufficient) normative frameworks for prenatal testing. While all of these deficits are typical for the implementation processes of many new molecular diagnostic procedures, especially in NIPT, they show a high variability between different nations.A critical assessment of the preferred strategy of implementation against the background of already existing national ethical frameworks is indispensable, if potential adverse effects are to be diminished. The described translational losses seem to be significantly reducible by granting the translational process in roadblock T2 more time.

A Weighted Deep Representation Learning Model for Imbalanced Fault Diagnosis in Cyber-Physical Systems.

PubMed

Wu, Zhenyu; Guo, Yang; Lin, Wenfang; Yu, Shuyang; Ji, Yang

2018-04-05

Predictive maintenance plays an important role in modern Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) and data-driven methods have been a worthwhile direction for Prognostics Health Management (PHM). However, two main challenges have significant influences on the traditional fault diagnostic models: one is that extracting hand-crafted features from multi-dimensional sensors with internal dependencies depends too much on expertise knowledge; the other is that imbalance pervasively exists among faulty and normal samples. As deep learning models have proved to be good methods for automatic feature extraction, the objective of this paper is to study an optimized deep learning model for imbalanced fault diagnosis for CPSs. Thus, this paper proposes a weighted Long Recurrent Convolutional LSTM model with sampling policy (wLRCL-D) to deal with these challenges. The model consists of 2-layer CNNs, 2-layer inner LSTMs and 2-Layer outer LSTMs, with under-sampling policy and weighted cost-sensitive loss function. Experiments are conducted on PHM 2015 challenge datasets, and the results show that wLRCL-D outperforms other baseline methods.

Organizational resilience: Nonprofit organizations' response to change.

PubMed

Witmer, Hope; Mellinger, Marcela Sarmiento

2016-05-24

Organizational resilience refers to the ability to respond productively to significant disruptive change and transform challenges into opportunities. There is a gap in the literature about resilient nonprofit organizations and its application for identifying organizational conditions for successful adaption to external variables that threaten their existence. The aim of this study was to identify organizational characteristics that point to the resilience of nonprofit behavioral healthcare organizations as they successfully adapt to funding changes. A multiple case study of two behavioral health nonprofit organizations was conducted. Data was collected through interviews and focus groups, and analyzed through a qualitative content analysis. Using the framework of resilience, six themes that equipped these organizations to successfully adapt to funding changes were identified. They included: commitment to the mission, improvisation, community reciprocity, servant and transformational leadership, hope and optimism, and fiscal transparency. The findings suggest that incorporating these qualities into an organizational system equips it to systematically adapt to funding changes and other disruptive challenges. Using resilience as a process and not simply an outcome after recovery, nonprofit organizations can have the capacity to continuously respond to challenges and provide uninterrupted and valuable services to society.

A Weighted Deep Representation Learning Model for Imbalanced Fault Diagnosis in Cyber-Physical Systems

PubMed Central

Guo, Yang; Lin, Wenfang; Yu, Shuyang; Ji, Yang

2018-01-01

Predictive maintenance plays an important role in modern Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) and data-driven methods have been a worthwhile direction for Prognostics Health Management (PHM). However, two main challenges have significant influences on the traditional fault diagnostic models: one is that extracting hand-crafted features from multi-dimensional sensors with internal dependencies depends too much on expertise knowledge; the other is that imbalance pervasively exists among faulty and normal samples. As deep learning models have proved to be good methods for automatic feature extraction, the objective of this paper is to study an optimized deep learning model for imbalanced fault diagnosis for CPSs. Thus, this paper proposes a weighted Long Recurrent Convolutional LSTM model with sampling policy (wLRCL-D) to deal with these challenges. The model consists of 2-layer CNNs, 2-layer inner LSTMs and 2-Layer outer LSTMs, with under-sampling policy and weighted cost-sensitive loss function. Experiments are conducted on PHM 2015 challenge datasets, and the results show that wLRCL-D outperforms other baseline methods. PMID:29621131

Ethical Challenges in the Provision of Dialysis in Resource-Constrained Environments.

PubMed

Luyckx, Valerie A; Miljeteig, Ingrid; Ejigu, Addisu M; Moosa, M Rafique

2017-05-01

The number of patients requiring dialysis by 2030 is projected to double worldwide, with the largest increase expected in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Dialysis is seldom considered a high priority by health care funders, consequently, few LMICs develop policies regarding dialysis allocation. Dialysis facilities may exist, but access remains highly inequitable in LMICs. High out-of-pocket payments make dialysis unsustainable and plunge many families into poverty. Patients, families, and clinicians suffer significant emotional and moral distress from daily life-and-death decisions imposed by dialysis. The health system's obligation to provide financial risk protection is an important component of global and national strategies to achieve universal health coverage. An ethical imperative therefore exists to develop transparent dialysis priority-setting guidelines to facilitate public understanding and acceptance of the realistic limits within the health system, and facilitate fair allocation of scarce resources. In this article, we present ethical challenges faced by patients, families, clinicians, and policy makers where dialysis is not universally accessible and discuss the potential ethical consequences of various dialysis allocation strategies. Finally, we suggest an ethical framework for use in policy development for priority setting of dialysis care. The accountability for reasonableness framework is proposed as a procedurally fair decision-making, priority-setting process. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Addressing Challenges to Enhance the Bioactives of Withania somnifera through Organ, Tissue, and Cell Culture Based Approaches

PubMed Central

Singh, Pritika; Guleri, Rupam; Angurala, Amrita; Kaur, Kuldeep; Kaur, Kulwinder; Kaul, Sunil C.; Wadhwa, Renu

2017-01-01

Withania somnifera is a highly valued medicinal plant in traditional home medicine and is known for a wide range of bioactivities. Its commercial cultivation is adversely affected by poor seed viability and germination. Infestation by various pests and pathogens, survival under unfavourable environmental conditions, narrow genetic base, and meager information regarding biosynthesis of secondary metabolites are some of the other existing challenges in the crop. Biotechnological interventions through organ, tissue, and cell culture provide promising options for addressing some of these issues. In vitro propagation facilitates conservation and sustainable utilization of the existing germplasms and broadening the genetic base. It would also provide means for efficient and rapid mass propagation of elite chemotypes and generating uniform plant material round the year for experimentation and industrial applications. The potential of in vitro cell/organ cultures for the production of therapeutically valuable compounds and their large-scale production in bioreactors has received significant attention in recent years. In vitro culture system further provides distinct advantage for studying various cellular and molecular processes leading to secondary metabolite accumulation and their regulation. Engineering plants through genetic transformation and development of hairy root culture system are powerful strategies for modulation of secondary metabolites. The present review highlights the developments and sketches current scenario in this field. PMID:28299323

Attaining minimally disruptive medicine: context, challenges and a roadmap for implementation.

PubMed

Shippee, N D; Allen, S V; Leppin, A L; May, C R; Montori, V M

2015-01-01

In this second of two papers on minimally disruptive medicine, we use the language of patient workload and patient capacity from the Cumulative Complexity Model to accomplish three tasks. First, we outline the current context in healthcare, comprised of contrasting problems: some people lack access to care and others receive too much care in an overmedicalised system, both of which reflect imbalances between patients' workloads and their capacity. Second, we identify and address five tensions and challenges between minimally disruptive medicine, the existing context, and other approaches to accessible and patient-centred care such as evidence-based medicine and greater patient engagement. Third, we outline a roadmap of three strategies toward implementing minimally disruptive medicine in practice, including large-scale paradigm shifts, mid-level add-ons to existing reform efforts, and a modular strategy using an existing 'toolkit' that is more limited in scope, but can fit into existing healthcare systems.

Biofield Science: Current Physics Perspectives

PubMed Central

Chevalier, Gaétan; Chopra, Deepak; Hubacher, John; Kak, Subhash; Theise, Neil D.

2015-01-01

This article briefly reviews the biofield hypothesis and its scientific literature. Evidence for the existence of the biofield now exists, and current theoretical foundations are now being developed. A review of the biofield and related topics from the perspective of physical science is needed to identify a common body of knowledge and evaluate possible underlying principles of origin of the biofield. The properties of such a field could be based on electromagnetic fields, coherent states, biophotons, quantum and quantum-like processes, and ultimately the quantum vacuum. Given this evidence, we intend to inquire and discuss how the existence of the biofield challenges reductionist approaches and presents its own challenges regarding the origin and source of the biofield, the specific evidence for its existence, its relation to biology, and last but not least, how it may inform an integrated understanding of consciousness and the living universe. PMID:26665039

An Overview and Empirical Comparison of Distance Metric Learning Methods.

PubMed

Moutafis, Panagiotis; Leng, Mengjun; Kakadiaris, Ioannis A

2016-02-16

In this paper, we first offer an overview of advances in the field of distance metric learning. Then, we empirically compare selected methods using a common experimental protocol. The number of distance metric learning algorithms proposed keeps growing due to their effectiveness and wide application. However, existing surveys are either outdated or they focus only on a few methods. As a result, there is an increasing need to summarize the obtained knowledge in a concise, yet informative manner. Moreover, existing surveys do not conduct comprehensive experimental comparisons. On the other hand, individual distance metric learning papers compare the performance of the proposed approach with only a few related methods and under different settings. This highlights the need for an experimental evaluation using a common and challenging protocol. To this end, we conduct face verification experiments, as this task poses significant challenges due to varying conditions during data acquisition. In addition, face verification is a natural application for distance metric learning because the encountered challenge is to define a distance function that: 1) accurately expresses the notion of similarity for verification; 2) is robust to noisy data; 3) generalizes well to unseen subjects; and 4) scales well with the dimensionality and number of training samples. In particular, we utilize well-tested features to assess the performance of selected methods following the experimental protocol of the state-of-the-art database labeled faces in the wild. A summary of the results is presented along with a discussion of the insights obtained and lessons learned by employing the corresponding algorithms.

Current State of Nanomedicines in the Treatment of Topical Infectious Disorders.

PubMed

Thakur, Kanika; Sharma, Gajanand; Singh, Bhupinder; Chhibber, Sanjay; Katare, Om Prakash

2018-05-28

Topical infections, involving a number of diseases such as impetigo, eczema, pustular acne, psoriasis and infected seborrheic dermatitis are one among the many challenges to health which stand out for their profound impact on human species. The treatment of topical infections has always been a difficult proposition because of the lack of efficacy of existing anti-infectives, longer period of treatment and yet incomplete recovery. The increasing emergence of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains like Staphylococcus aureus, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa undermine the need of development of new delivery systems to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of existing topical anti-infectives. The application of nanotechnology to medicine, or nanomedicine, is rapidly becoming a major driving force behind ongoing changes in the anti-infective field because of its interaction at the sub-atomic level with the skin tissue. The latter, in the current scenario, points towards vesicular carriers like liposomes, lipidic nanoparticles and silver nanoparticles etc. as the most promising drug delivery solutions for topical infection disorders. These have exhibited immense significance owing to their uniqueness to facilitate the interactions at interfaces with the barrier membranes. The present review summarizes the emerging efforts in combating topical infections particularly using nanomedicine based delivery systems as new tools to tackle the current challenges in treating infectious diseases. Besides, compiling various research reports, this article also includes formulation considerations, mechanisms of penetration and patents reported. Despite the new emerging technologies and delivery systems, efforts are still needed in the right direction to combat this global challenge. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) taxonomy: Current challenges and future directions

PubMed Central

Harrup, L.E.; Bellis, G.A.; Balenghien, T.; Garros, C.

2015-01-01

Culicoides Latreille biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) cause a significant biting nuisance to humans, livestock and equines, and are the biological vectors of a range of internationally important pathogens of both veterinary and medical importance. Despite their economic significance, the delimitation and identification of species and evolutionary relationships between species within this genus remains at best problematic. To date no phylogenetic study has attempted to validate the subgeneric classification of the genus and the monophyly of many of the subgenera remains doubtful. Many informal species groupings are also known to exist but few are adequately described, further complicating accurate identification. Recent contributions to Culicoides taxonomy at the species level have revealed a high correlation between morphological and molecular analyses although molecular analyses are revealing the existence of cryptic species. This review considers the methods for studying the systematics of Culicoides using both morphological and genetic techniques, with a view to understanding the factors limiting our current understanding of Culicoides biology and hence arbovirus epidemiology. In addition, we examine the global status of Culicoides identification, highlighting areas that are poorly addressed, including the potential implementation of emerging technologies. PMID:25535946

Proton-induced knockout reactions with polarized and unpolarized beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wakasa, T.; Ogata, K.; Noro, T.

2017-09-01

Proton-induced knockout reactions provide a direct means of studying the single particle or cluster structures of target nuclei. In addition, these knockout reactions are expected to play a unique role in investigations of the effects of the nuclear medium on nucleon-nucleon interactions as well as the properties of nucleons and mesons. However, due to the nature of hadron probes, these reactions can suffer significant disturbances from the nuclear surroundings and the quantitative theoretical treatment of such processes can also be challenging. In this article, we review the experimental and theoretical progress in this field, particularly focusing on the use of these reactions as a spectroscopic tool and as a way to examine the medium modification of nucleon-nucleon interactions. With regard to the former aspect, the review presents a semi-quantitative evaluation of these reactions based on existing experimental data. In terms of the latter point, we introduce a significant body of evidence that suggests, although does not conclusively prove, the existence of medium effects. In addition, this paper also provides information and comments on other related subjects.

Challenges in the implementation of dense wavelength division multiplexed (DWDM) optical interconnects using resonant silicon photonics (invited)

DOE PAGES

Lentine, Anthony L.; DeRose, Christopher T.

2016-02-12

In this study, small silicon photonics micro-resonator modulators and filters hold the promise for multi-terabit per-second interconnects at energy consumptions well below 1 pJ/bit. To date, no products exist and little known commercial development is occurring using this technology. Why? In this talk, we review the many challenges that remain to be overcome in bringing this technology from the research labs to the field where they can overcome important commercial, industrial, and national security limitations of existing photonic technologies.

Perceptions of caring for children with disabilities: Experiences from Moshi, Tanzania

PubMed Central

McNally, Anna

2013-01-01

Background Although there exist laws, policies and standards in Tanzania that serve to protect and improve the lives of children with disabilities, the individual human experiences and feelings of the carers and parents still remain the realities of caring for children with disabilities. There is a lack of qualitative studies examining experiences in a developing context. This research aimed to fill that gap. Objectives The objective of this research was to gain an insight into how having a child with a disability impacts upon participants lives and to examine both negative and positive experiences of care through the use of qualitative methods. Method This was a qualitative, exploratory study and followed a phenomenological method. Purposive convenience sampling methods were used to recruit 14 carers in Moshi, Tanzania. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with all 14 participants. Results Five main themes emerged from the data which shed light on the carers experiences, namely, objective challenges in terms of financial challenges, employment issues and demands of care; subjective challenges in the form of stigma, isolation and pity; positive experiences such as the child’s progress, respect and happiness; material and financial needs; and coping mechanisms which included beliefs, support and attitudes. Conclusion The findings of this research were that objective challenges are common and more significant than subjective challenges. Positive experiences were not as easily identified by the participants as the challenges faced. However, having analysed the data, carers do not experience their roles as entirely negative. They simply need the resources to deal with objective challenges which in a developing context are not easily attainable. PMID:28729981

Lessons learned in induced fit docking and metadynamics in the Drug Design Data Resource Grand Challenge 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baumgartner, Matthew P.; Evans, David A.

2018-01-01

Two of the major ongoing challenges in computational drug discovery are predicting the binding pose and affinity of a compound to a protein. The Drug Design Data Resource Grand Challenge 2 was developed to address these problems and to drive development of new methods. The challenge provided the 2D structures of compounds for which the organizers help blinded data in the form of 35 X-ray crystal structures and 102 binding affinity measurements and challenged participants to predict the binding pose and affinity of the compounds. We tested a number of pose prediction methods as part of the challenge; we found that docking methods that incorporate protein flexibility (Induced Fit Docking) outperformed methods that treated the protein as rigid. We also found that using binding pose metadynamics, a molecular dynamics based method, to score docked poses provided the best predictions of our methods with an average RMSD of 2.01 Å. We tested both structure-based (e.g. docking) and ligand-based methods (e.g. QSAR) in the affinity prediction portion of the competition. We found that our structure-based methods based on docking with Smina (Spearman ρ = 0.614), performed slightly better than our ligand-based methods (ρ = 0.543), and had equivalent performance with the other top methods in the competition. Despite the overall good performance of our methods in comparison to other participants in the challenge, there exists significant room for improvement especially in cases such as these where protein flexibility plays such a large role.

Science, technology, and application of THz air photonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, X. F.; Clough, B.; Ho, I.-C.; Kaur, G.; Liu, J.; Karpowicz, N.; Dai, J. M.; Zhang, X.-C.

2010-11-01

The significant scientific and technological potential of terahertz (THz) wave sensing and imaging has been attracted considerable attention within many fields of research. However, the development of remote, broadband THz wave sensing technology is lagging behind the compelling needs that exist in the areas of astronomy, global environmental monitoring, and homeland security. This is due to the challenge posed by high absorption of ambient moisture in the THz range. Although various time-domain THz detection techniques have recently been demonstrated, the requirement for an on-site bias or forward collection of the optical signal inevitably prohibits their applications for remote sensing. The objective of this paper is to report updated THz air-plasma technology to meet this great challenge of remote sensing. A focused optical pulse (mJ pulse energy and femtosecond pulse duration) in gas creates a plasma, which can serve to generate intense, broadband, and directional THz waves in the far field.

The Interface Between Chemical and Oxide Materials in the DSPEC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meyer, Thomas; Alibabaei, Leila; Sherman, Benjamin; Sheridan, Matthew; Ashford, Dennis; Lapides, Alex; Brennaman, Kyle; Nayak, Animesh; Roy, Subhangi

Significant challenges exist for both chemical and oxide materials in the Dye Sensitized Photoelectrosynthesis Cell (DSPEC) for water oxidation or CO2 reduction. They arise from light absorption, the energetics of electron or hole injection, the accumulation of multiple redox equivalents at catalysts for water oxidation or water/CO2 reduction in competition with back electron transfer, and sustained, long term performance. These challenges are being met by the use of a variety of chromophores (metal complexes, organic dyes, porphyrins), broad application of nanoparticle mesoscopic oxide films, atomic layer deposition (ALD) to prepare core/shell and stabilizing overlayer structures, and recent advances in the molecular catalysis of water oxidation and CO2 reduction. UNC EFRC Center for Solar Fuels, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award Number DE-SC0001011.

Anaerobic digestion of food waste - Challenges and opportunities.

PubMed

Xu, Fuqing; Li, Yangyang; Ge, Xumeng; Yang, Liangcheng; Li, Yebo

2018-01-01

The disposal of large amounts of food waste has caused significant environmental pollution and financial costs globally. Compared with traditional disposal methods (i.e., landfilling, incineration, and composting), anaerobic digestion (AD) is a promising technology for food waste management, but has not yet been fully applied due to a few technical and social challenges. This paper summarizes the quantity, composition, and methane potential of various types of food waste. Recent research on different strategies to enhance AD of food waste, including co-digestion, addition of micronutrients, control of foaming, and process design, is discussed. It is envisaged that AD of food waste could be combined with an existing AD facility or be integrated with the production of value-added products to reduce costs and increase revenue. Further understanding of the fundamental biological and physicochemical processes in AD is required to improve the technology. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Incorporating CCSDS telemetry standards and philosophy on Cassini

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Day, John C.; Elson, Anne B.

1995-01-01

The Cassini project at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is implementing a spacecraft telemetry system based on the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) packet telemetry standards. Resolving the CCSDS concepts with a Ground Data System designed to handle time-division-multiplexed telemetry and also handling constraints unique to a deep-space planetary spacecraft (such as fixed downlink opportunities, small downlink rates and requirements for on-board data storage) have resulted in spacecraft and ground system design challenges. Solving these design challenges involved adapting and extending the CCSDS telemetry standards as well as changes to the spacecraft and ground system designs. The resulting spacecraft/ground system design is an example of how new ideas and philosophies can be incorporated into existing systems and design approaches without requiring significant rework. In addition, it shows that the CCSDS telemetry standards can be successfully applied to deep-space planetary spacecraft.

The evolution of adenoviral vectors through genetic and chemical surface modifications.

PubMed

Capasso, Cristian; Garofalo, Mariangela; Hirvinen, Mari; Cerullo, Vincenzo

2014-02-17

A long time has passed since the first clinical trial with adenoviral (Ad) vectors. Despite being very promising, Ad vectors soon revealed their limitations in human clinical trials. The pre-existing immunity, the marked liver tropism and the high toxicity of first generation Ad (FG-Ad) vectors have been the main challenges for the development of new approaches. Significant effort toward the development of genetically and chemically modified adenoviral vectors has enabled researchers to create more sophisticated vectors for gene therapy, with an improved safety profile and a higher transduction ability of different tissues. In this review, we will describe the latest findings in the high-speed, evolving field of genetic and chemical modifications of adenoviral vectors, a field in which different disciplines, such as biomaterial research, virology and immunology, co-operate synergistically to create better gene therapy tools for modern challenges.

On the viability of supporting institutional sharing of remote laboratory facilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lowe, David; Dang, Bridgette; Daniel, Keith; Murray, Stephen; Lindsay, Euan

2015-11-01

Laboratories are generally regarded as critical to engineering education, and yet educational institutions face significant challenges in developing and maintaining high-quality laboratory facilities. Remote laboratories are increasingly being explored as a partial solution to this challenge, with research showing that - for the right learning outcomes - they can be viable adjuncts or alternatives to conventional hands-on laboratories. One consequential opportunity arising from the inherent support for distributed access is the possibility of cross-institutional shared facilities. While both technical feasibility and pedagogic implications of remote laboratories have been well studied within the literature, the organisational and logistical issues associated with shared facilities have received limited consideration. This paper uses an existing national-scale laboratory sharing initiative, along with a related survey and laboratory sharing data, to analyse a range of factors that can affect engagement in laboratory sharing. The paper also discusses the implications for supporting ongoing laboratory sharing.

The influence of authentic leadership and empowerment on new-graduate nurses' perceptions of interprofessional collaboration.

PubMed

Laschinger, Heather K S; Smith, Lesley Marie

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine new-graduate nurses' perceptions of the influence of authentic leadership and structural empowerment on the quality of interprofessional collaboration in healthcare work environments. Although the challenges associated with true interprofessional collaboration are well documented, new-graduate nurses may feel particularly challenged in becoming contributing members. Little research exists to inform nurse leaders' efforts to facilitate effective collaboration in acute care settings. A predictive nonexperimental design was used to test a model integrating authentic leadership and workplace empowerment as resources that support interprofessional collaboration. Multiple regression analysis revealed that 24% of the variance in perceived interprofessional collaboration was explained by unit-leader authentic leadership and structural empowerment (R = 0.24, F = 29.55, P = .001). Authentic leadership (β = .294) and structural empowerment (β = .288) were significant independent predictors. Results suggest that authentic leadership and structural empowerment may promote interprofessional collaborative practice in new nurses.

Phonon thermal conduction in novel 2D materials.

PubMed

Xu, Xiangfan; Chen, Jie; Li, Baowen

2016-12-07

Recently, there has been increasing interest in phonon thermal transport in low-dimensional materials, due to the crucial importance of dissipating and managing heat in micro- and nano-electronic devices. Significant progress has been achieved for one-dimensional (1D) systems, both theoretically and experimentally. However, the study of heat conduction in two-dimensional (2D) systems is still in its infancy due to the limited availability of 2D materials and the technical challenges of fabricating suspended samples that are suitable for thermal measurements. In this review, we outline different experimental techniques and theoretical approaches for phonon thermal transport in 2D materials, discuss the problems and challenges of phonon thermal transport measurements and provide a comparison between existing experimental data. Special attention will be given to the effects of size, dimensionality, anisotropy and mode contributions in novel 2D systems, including graphene, boron nitride, MoS 2 , black phosphorous and silicene.

Enterprise-wide implementation of digital radiography in oral and maxillofacial imaging: the University of Florida Dentistry System.

PubMed

Nair, Madhu K; Pettigrew, James C; Loomis, Jeffrey S; Bates, Robert E; Kostewicz, Stephen; Robinson, Boyd; Sweitzer, Jean; Dolan, Teresa A

2009-06-01

The implementation of digital radiography in dentistry in a large healthcare enterprise setting is discussed. A distinct need for a dedicated dental picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) exists for seamless integration of different vendor products across the system. Complex issues are contended with as each clinical department migrated to a digital environment with unique needs and workflow patterns. The University of Florida has had a dental PACS installed over 2 years ago. This paper describes the process of conversion from film-based imaging from the planning stages through clinical implementation. Dentistry poses many unique challenges as it strives to achieve better integration with systems primarily designed for imaging; however, the technical requirements for high-resolution image capture in dentistry far exceed those in medicine, as most routine dental diagnostic tasks are challenging. The significance of specification, evaluation, vendor selection, installation, trial runs, training, and phased clinical implementation is emphasized.

Disease management: old wine in new bottles?

PubMed

Ritterband, D R

2000-01-01

Disease management is a holistic, patient-focused approach to the treatment of disease across the spectrum of healthcare delivery. In its current form, disease management was created in response to the societal and economic burden that chronic illness contributes. There has recently been rapid growth in the development of disease management programs and sponsors are widespread within the industry, with the largest increase in independent vendors. Although growth has been substantial, the hurdles these programs have encountered have kept them from reaching their full potential. The challenges that exist include clinical, financial, and regulatory issues, and these challenges have significant meaning to healthcare managers. In deciding whether to develop or enhance programs, executives must consider their capability of outcomes measurement, their provider relationships, and the arrangements for program implementation. Ultimately, if programs provide improved health and quality of life for participants, cost savings will follow.

A pervasive parallel framework for visualization: final report for FWP 10-014707

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

Moreland, Kenneth D.

2014-01-01

We are on the threshold of a transformative change in the basic architecture of highperformance computing. The use of accelerator processors, characterized by large core counts, shared but asymmetrical memory, and heavy thread loading, is quickly becoming the norm in high performance computing. These accelerators represent significant challenges in updating our existing base of software. An intrinsic problem with this transition is a fundamental programming shift from message passing processes to much more fine thread scheduling with memory sharing. Another problem is the lack of stability in accelerator implementation; processor and compiler technology is currently changing rapidly. This report documentsmore » the results of our three-year ASCR project to address these challenges. Our project includes the development of the Dax toolkit, which contains the beginnings of new algorithms for a new generation of computers and the underlying infrastructure to rapidly prototype and build further algorithms as necessary.« less

Schistosomiasis elimination strategies and potential role of a vaccine in achieving global health goals.

PubMed

Mo, Annie X; Agosti, Jan M; Walson, Judd L; Hall, B Fenton; Gordon, Lance

2014-01-01

In March 2013, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation co-sponsored a meeting entitled "Schistosomiasis Elimination Strategy and Potential Role of a Vaccine in Achieving Global Health Goals" to discuss the potential role of schistosomiasis vaccines and other tools in the context of schistosomiasis control and elimination strategies. It was concluded that although schistosomiasis elimination in some focal areas may be achievable through current mass drug administration programs, global control and elimination will face several significant scientific and operational challenges, and will require an integrated approach with other, additional interventions. These challenges include vector (snail) control; environmental modification; water, sanitation, and hygiene; and other future innovative tools such as vaccines. Defining a clear product development plan that reflects a vaccine strategy as complementary to the existing control programs to combat different forms of schistosomiasis will be important to develop a vaccine effectively.

Trojan Horse Antibiotics—A Novel Way to Circumvent Gram-Negative Bacterial Resistance?

PubMed Central

Tillotson, Glenn S.

2016-01-01

Antibiotic resistance has been emerged as a major global health problem. In particular, gram-negative species pose a significant clinical challenge as bacteria develop or acquire more resistance mechanisms. Often, these bacteria possess multiple resistance mechanisms, thus nullifying most of the major classes of drugs. Novel approaches to this issue are urgently required. However, the challenges of developing new agents are immense. Introducing novel agents is fraught with hurdles, thus adapting known antibiotic classes by altering their chemical structure could be a way forward. A chemical addition to existing antibiotics known as a siderophore could be a solution to the gram-negative resistance issue. Siderophore molecules rely on the bacterial innate need for iron ions and thus can utilize a Trojan Horse approach to gain access to the bacterial cell. The current approaches to using this potential method are reviewed. PMID:27773991

Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks: Current Trends and Future Directions

PubMed Central

Almalkawi, Islam T.; Zapata, Manel Guerrero; Al-Karaki, Jamal N.; Morillo-Pozo, Julian

2010-01-01

Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs) have emerged and shifted the focus from the typical scalar wireless sensor networks to networks with multimedia devices that are capable to retrieve video, audio, images, as well as scalar sensor data. WMSNs are able to deliver multimedia content due to the availability of inexpensive CMOS cameras and microphones coupled with the significant progress in distributed signal processing and multimedia source coding techniques. In this paper, we outline the design challenges of WMSNs, give a comprehensive discussion of the proposed architectures, algorithms and protocols for the different layers of the communication protocol stack for WMSNs, and evaluate the existing WMSN hardware and testbeds. The paper will give the reader a clear view of the state of the art at all aspects of this research area, and shed the light on its main current challenges and future trends. We also hope it will foster discussions and new research ideas among its researchers. PMID:22163571

Trojan Horse Antibiotics-A Novel Way to Circumvent Gram-Negative Bacterial Resistance?

PubMed

Tillotson, Glenn S

2016-01-01

Antibiotic resistance has been emerged as a major global health problem. In particular, gram-negative species pose a significant clinical challenge as bacteria develop or acquire more resistance mechanisms. Often, these bacteria possess multiple resistance mechanisms, thus nullifying most of the major classes of drugs. Novel approaches to this issue are urgently required. However, the challenges of developing new agents are immense. Introducing novel agents is fraught with hurdles, thus adapting known antibiotic classes by altering their chemical structure could be a way forward. A chemical addition to existing antibiotics known as a siderophore could be a solution to the gram-negative resistance issue. Siderophore molecules rely on the bacterial innate need for iron ions and thus can utilize a Trojan Horse approach to gain access to the bacterial cell. The current approaches to using this potential method are reviewed.

Personal and Relationship Challenges of Adults With Type 1 Diabetes

PubMed Central

Trief, Paula M.; Sandberg, Jonathan G.; Dimmock, Jacqueline A.; Forken, Patricia J.; Weinstock, Ruth S.

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE Little is known about the psychosocial challenges of adults living with type 1 diabetes or its impact on partner relationships. This qualitative study was undertaken to gain better understanding of these issues. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Four focus groups were held, two with adult type 1 diabetic patients (n = 16) and two with partners (n = 14). Two broad questions were posed: “What are the emotional and interpersonal challenges you have experienced because you have (your partner has) type 1 diabetes?” and “How does the fact that you have (your partner has) type 1 diabetes affect your relationship with your partner, positively and/or negatively?” Sessions were recorded and transcribed, and analyzed by a team of four researchers, using constant comparative methods to identify core domains and concepts. RESULTS Four main domains were identified: 1) impact of diabetes on the relationship, including level of partner involvement, emotional impact of diabetes on the relationship, and concerns about child-rearing; 2) understanding the impact of hypoglycemia; 3) stress of potential complications; and 4) benefits of technology. Themes suggest that, although partner involvement varies (very little to significant), there exists significant anxiety about hypoglycemia and future complications and sources of conflict that may increase relationship stress. Partner support is highly valued, and technology has a positive influence. CONCLUSIONS Adults with type 1 diabetes face unique emotional and interpersonal challenges. Future research should focus on gaining a better understanding of how they cope and the effect of psychosocial stressors and coping on adherence, quality of life, and glycemic control. PMID:23474590

Adenosine-Associated Delivery Systems

PubMed Central

Kazemzadeh-Narbat, Mehdi; Annabi, Nasim; Tamayol, Ali; Oklu, Rahmi; Ghanem, Amyl; Khademhosseini, Ali

2016-01-01

Adenosine is a naturally occurring purine nucleoside in every cell. Many critical treatments such as modulating irregular heartbeat (arrhythmias), regulation of central nervous system (CNS) activity, and inhibiting seizural episodes can be carried out using adenosine. Despite the significant potential therapeutic impact of adenosine and its derivatives, the severe side effects caused by their systemic administration have significantly limited their clinical use. In addition, due to adenosine’s extremely short half-life in human blood (less than 10 s), there is an unmet need for sustained delivery systems to enhance efficacy and reduce side effects. In this paper, various adenosine delivery techniques, including encapsulation into biodegradable polymers, cell-based delivery, implantable biomaterials, and mechanical-based delivery systems, are critically reviewed and the existing challenges are highlighted. PMID:26453156

Enabling all young Australians to grow up safe, happy, healthy and resilient: a Collaboration for Young People, Technology and Wellbeing.

PubMed

2011-07-01

This paper describes a framework for a multi-disciplinary collaboration to investigate the role of technology for improving young Australians' mental health and wellbeing. The poor mental health of young Australians poses a significant challenge to Australia's future. Half of all Australians will experience a mental health difficulty in their lifetime and 75% of mental illness has its onset before age 25. Cross-sectoral collaboration is critical for meeting this challenge. In order to establish a world-first multi-partner collaboration, leading researchers and institutes, commercial, non-profit and end-user organization and young people were identified and invited to participate. Together we have developed an international research framework that explores the role of technologies in young people's lives, their potential and how this can be harnessed to address challenges facing young people. This research framework will: (i) conduct empirical research that tests the utility of technology across mental health promotion, prevention, early intervention and treatment and, (ii) translate existing and new knowledge into products and services that help create a generation of safe, happy, healthy and resilient young people. Research undertaken by the Collaboration will be the most comprehensive investigation of technologies' potential to improve the wellbeing of young people ever conducted, leading to significant benefits for Australian young people and their mental health.

A Vision for Incorporating Environmental Effects into Nitrogen Management Decision Support Tools for U.S. Maize Production

PubMed Central

Banger, Kamaljit; Yuan, Mingwei; Wang, Junming; Nafziger, Emerson D.; Pittelkow, Cameron M.

2017-01-01

Meeting crop nitrogen (N) demand while minimizing N losses to the environment has proven difficult despite significant field research and modeling efforts. To improve N management, several real-time N management tools have been developed with a primary focus on enhancing crop production. However, no coordinated effort exists to simultaneously address sustainability concerns related to N losses at field- and regional-scales. In this perspective, we highlight the opportunity for incorporating environmental effects into N management decision support tools for United States maize production systems by integrating publicly available crop models with grower-entered management information and gridded soil and climate data in a geospatial framework specifically designed to quantify environmental and crop production tradeoffs. To facilitate advances in this area, we assess the capability of existing crop models to provide in-season N recommendations while estimating N leaching and nitrous oxide emissions, discuss several considerations for initial framework development, and highlight important challenges related to improving the accuracy of crop model predictions. Such a framework would benefit the development of regional sustainable intensification strategies by enabling the identification of N loss hotspots which could be used to implement spatially explicit mitigation efforts in relation to current environmental quality goals and real-time weather conditions. Nevertheless, we argue that this long-term vision can only be realized by leveraging a variety of existing research efforts to overcome challenges related to improving model structure, accessing field data to enhance model performance, and addressing the numerous social difficulties in delivery and adoption of such tool by stakeholders. PMID:28804490

A Vision for Incorporating Environmental Effects into Nitrogen Management Decision Support Tools for U.S. Maize Production.

PubMed

Banger, Kamaljit; Yuan, Mingwei; Wang, Junming; Nafziger, Emerson D; Pittelkow, Cameron M

2017-01-01

Meeting crop nitrogen (N) demand while minimizing N losses to the environment has proven difficult despite significant field research and modeling efforts. To improve N management, several real-time N management tools have been developed with a primary focus on enhancing crop production. However, no coordinated effort exists to simultaneously address sustainability concerns related to N losses at field- and regional-scales. In this perspective, we highlight the opportunity for incorporating environmental effects into N management decision support tools for United States maize production systems by integrating publicly available crop models with grower-entered management information and gridded soil and climate data in a geospatial framework specifically designed to quantify environmental and crop production tradeoffs. To facilitate advances in this area, we assess the capability of existing crop models to provide in-season N recommendations while estimating N leaching and nitrous oxide emissions, discuss several considerations for initial framework development, and highlight important challenges related to improving the accuracy of crop model predictions. Such a framework would benefit the development of regional sustainable intensification strategies by enabling the identification of N loss hotspots which could be used to implement spatially explicit mitigation efforts in relation to current environmental quality goals and real-time weather conditions. Nevertheless, we argue that this long-term vision can only be realized by leveraging a variety of existing research efforts to overcome challenges related to improving model structure, accessing field data to enhance model performance, and addressing the numerous social difficulties in delivery and adoption of such tool by stakeholders.

A Systematic Screen of FDA-Approved Drugs for Inhibitors of Biological Threat Agents

PubMed Central

Madrid, Peter B.; Chopra, Sidharth; Manger, Ian D.; Gilfillan, Lynne; Keepers, Tiffany R.; Shurtleff, Amy C.; Green, Carol E.; Iyer, Lalitha V.; Dilks, Holli Hutcheson; Davey, Robert A.; Kolokoltsov, Andrey A.; Carrion, Ricardo; Patterson, Jean L.; Bavari, Sina; Panchal, Rekha G.; Warren, Travis K.; Wells, Jay B.; Moos, Walter H.; Burke, RaeLyn L.; Tanga, Mary J.

2013-01-01

Background The rapid development of effective medical countermeasures against potential biological threat agents is vital. Repurposing existing drugs that may have unanticipated activities as potential countermeasures is one way to meet this important goal, since currently approved drugs already have well-established safety and pharmacokinetic profiles in patients, as well as manufacturing and distribution networks. Therefore, approved drugs could rapidly be made available for a new indication in an emergency. Methodology/Principal Findings A large systematic effort to determine whether existing drugs can be used against high containment bacterial and viral pathogens is described. We assembled and screened 1012 FDA-approved drugs for off-label broad-spectrum efficacy against Bacillus anthracis; Francisella tularensis; Coxiella burnetii; and Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa fever viruses using in vitro cell culture assays. We found a variety of hits against two or more of these biological threat pathogens, which were validated in secondary assays. As expected, antibiotic compounds were highly active against bacterial agents, but we did not identify any non-antibiotic compounds with broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. Lomefloxacin and erythromycin were found to be the most potent compounds in vivo protecting mice against Bacillus anthracis challenge. While multiple virus-specific inhibitors were identified, the most noteworthy antiviral compound identified was chloroquine, which disrupted entry and replication of two or more viruses in vitro and protected mice against Ebola virus challenge in vivo. Conclusions/Significance The feasibility of repurposing existing drugs to face novel threats is demonstrated and this represents the first effort to apply this approach to high containment bacteria and viruses. PMID:23577127

The Challenges and Successes of Department Governance: A Look at HBCU Journalism and Mass Communications Unit Administrators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crawford, Jerry, II.

2012-01-01

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are facing challenges to their continued existence on several fronts. One is fiscally, as federal funding for education has been cut and the responsibility for paying for higher education has been levied on students and parents. Another challenge is the amount of endowment dollars available to…

"Coming Out" as Pregnant or Having a Baby While Attending School: Experiences and Challenges of Scottish Schoolgirl Mothers/Mothers-to-Be

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferguson, Beverley

2016-01-01

Concerns exist about schoolgirls disengaging from education, becoming pregnant, dropping out of school and having lower-level or fewer qualifications. Few studies have considered the experiences and challenges that schoolgirls who become mothers face when continuing in education. This article discusses the experiences and challenges of Scottish…

A General Practice-Based Study of the Relationship between Indicators of Mental Illness and Challenging Behaviour among Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Felce, D.; Kerr, M.; Hastings, R. P.

2009-01-01

Background: Existing studies tend to show a positive association between mental illness and challenging behaviour among adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). However, whether the association is direct or artefactual is less clear. The purpose was to explore the association between psychiatric status and level of challenging behaviour, while…

A challenging entanglement: health care providers’ perspectives on caring for ill and injured tourists on Cozumel Island, Mexico

PubMed Central

Crooks, Valorie A.; Snyder, Jeremy

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT Purpose: Despite established knowledge that tourists often fall ill or are injured abroad, little is known about their treatment. The intent of this study was to explore health care professionals’ treatment provision experiences on Cozumel Island, Mexico. Methods: 13 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with professionals across a number of health care vocations on Cozumel Island. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed to determine common challenges faced in the provision of treatment for transnational tourists. Results: Three thematic challenges emerged from the data: human and physical resource deficiencies, medical (mis)perceptions held by patients and complexities surrounding remuneration of care. Health care providers employ unique strategies to mitigate these challenges. Conclusion: Although many of these challenges exist within other touristic and peripheral spaces, we suggest that the challenges experienced by Cozumel Island’s health care professionals, and their mitigation strategies, exist as part of a complex entanglement between the island’s health care sector and its dominant tourism landscape. We call on tangential tourism services to take a larger role in ensuring the ease of access to, and provision of quality health care services for tourists on Cozumel Island. PMID:29869593

A challenging entanglement: health care providers' perspectives on caring for ill and injured tourists on Cozumel Island, Mexico.

PubMed

Hoffman, Leon; Crooks, Valorie A; Snyder, Jeremy

2018-12-01

Despite established knowledge that tourists often fall ill or are injured abroad, little is known about their treatment. The intent of this study was to explore health care professionals' treatment provision experiences on Cozumel Island, Mexico. 13 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with professionals across a number of health care vocations on Cozumel Island. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed to determine common challenges faced in the provision of treatment for transnational tourists. Three thematic challenges emerged from the data: human and physical resource deficiencies, medical (mis)perceptions held by patients and complexities surrounding remuneration of care. Health care providers employ unique strategies to mitigate these challenges. Although many of these challenges exist within other touristic and peripheral spaces, we suggest that the challenges experienced by Cozumel Island's health care professionals, and their mitigation strategies, exist as part of a complex entanglement between the island's health care sector and its dominant tourism landscape. We call on tangential tourism services to take a larger role in ensuring the ease of access to, and provision of quality health care services for tourists on Cozumel Island.

Energy and carbon accounting to compare bioenergy crops

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

To compare the utility of current and future biofuels and biofuel feedstocks in an objective manner can be extremely challenging. This challenge exists because agricultural data are inherently variable, experimental techniques are cropdependent,and the literatures usually report relative, rather tha...

A Randomized Controlled Trial to Improve Social Skills in Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: The UCLA PEERS(®) Program.

PubMed

Laugeson, Elizabeth A; Gantman, Alexander; Kapp, Steven K; Orenski, Kaely; Ellingsen, Ruth

2015-12-01

Research suggests that impaired social skills are often the most significant challenge for those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet few evidence-based social skills interventions exist for adults on the spectrum. This replication trial tested the effectiveness of PEERS, a caregiver-assisted social skills program for high-functioning young adults with ASD. Using a randomized controlled design, 22 young adults 18-24 years of age were randomly assigned to a treatment (n = 12) or delayed treatment control (n = 10) group. Results revealed that the treatment group improved significantly in overall social skills, frequency of social engagement, and social skills knowledge, and significantly reduced ASD symptoms related to social responsiveness following PEERS. Most treatment gains were maintained at a 16-week follow-up assessment with new improvements observed.

Atoms for Peace After 50 Years: The New Challenges and Opportunities

DOE R&D Accomplishments Database

2003-12-01

This report draws on a series of international workshops held to mark the fiftieth anniversary of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace address before the United Nations General Assembly. A half-century after President Eisenhower's landmark speech, the world is vastly different, but mankind still faces the challenge he identified--gaining the benefits of nuclear technology in a way that limits the risks to security. Fifty years after Eisenhower declared that the people of the world should be "armed with the significant facts of today's existence," the consequences of his bold vision should be evaluated to provide a foundation upon which to shape the next fifty years. Policy and technology communities cannot escape the legacy of a half-century of nuclear technology expansion. At the same time, citizens need to consider the future role of military and civilian nuclear technology in a global strategy to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. The new century brought with it a set of contradictions regarding nuclear technology. Nuclear knowledge, technology, materials, and facilities have spread around the world, but control and management of the nuclear genie have not kept pace. The Cold War is over, but not the threat from weapons of mass destruction, including the prospect that nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons may get into the hands of terrorists. Nevertheless, mankind continues to explore the frontiers of technology, including nuclear technology. Public concern about nuclear safety and security--exacerbated by accidents, nuclear weapon proliferation, and terrorism--confronts major growth in applications of nuclear technology in nuclear power, medicine, agriculture, and industry. While some developed countries have essentially stopped civilian nuclear-power expansion, mainly for economic reasons, several developing states--notably China and India--plan increases in the nuclear generation of electricity. Ironically, while governments still seek answers to long-term, nuclear waste disposal, other concerns about the environmental health of the planet such as climate change, regional air pollution, and possible rising natural gas prices have also renewed interest in nuclear power, even in countries that once sought to terminate their own nuclear programs. Many of these contradictions can and will be resolved--for better or worse. A wide range of forces--economic, political, and technical--will determine the impact of nuclear technology in the future, and no consensus exists on the outcome. The significance of nuclear technology for civilian or military purposes may expand, contract, or remain the same. This suggests a matrix of basic possibilities from which we focus on five alternative futures: (1) More civilian/Less military significance, (2) Less civilian/Less military significance, (3) Less civilian/More military significance, and (4) More civilian/More military significance. Of course, changed circumstances could also result in (5) the significance of both civilian and military nuclear technologies remaining about the same as today. Experts offer compelling logic why each of these alternatives is more likely or desirable. For each of these futures or their modifications, a more comprehensive vision can be presented and specific measures recommended. Some call for a new nuclear "compact" or "bargain" to share benefits and reduce risks. No matter which alternative future emerges, however, dealing with the legacy of existing civilian and military nuclear materials and infrastructure will keep important nuclear issues active for the next half-century.

Towards the prevention of lead exposure in South Africa: contemporary and emerging challenges.

PubMed

Mathee, Angela

2014-12-01

The prevention of lead exposure continues to constitute a major public health challenge in developed countries. In well-resourced countries major lead exposure reduction interventions have resulted in significant improvements in childhood blood lead distributions. In developing countries on the other hand, while lead exposure and poisoning remain serious public health concerns, a range of prevailing factors and circumstances, such as poverty, a large informal sector, competing public health challenges, low levels of awareness of lead hazards and weak capacity to enforce legislation, contribute to an increase in the scale and intensity of the challenge, and limit the prospects of comparable success in the foreseeable future. This paper collates available information to illustrate that despite some progress, a wide range of sources of lead exist in South Africa, and that certain settings and groups continue to be at high risk of lead exposure. Lead exposure in relation to paint, mining, lead melting in subsistence fishing communities, the consumption of Ayurvedic medicines and food production is described, and discussed with regard to the key factors hindering efforts to prevent lead poisoning and exposure in South Africa and many other developing countries. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experience and challenges for biologic use in the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis in Africa and the Middle East region.

PubMed

Al Hammadi, Anwar; Al-Sheikh, Afaf; Ammoury, Alfred; Ghosn, Samer; Gisondi, Paolo; Hamadah, Issam; Kibbi, Abdul-Ghani; Shirazy, Khalid

2017-03-01

The incidence of psoriasis in Africa and the Middle East (AfME) is high as in other regions and represents a significant problem for both dermatologists and patients. Psoriasis co-morbidities such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are also particularly common in these regions and may be under-recognized and under-treated. Despite this, regional guidelines to aid physicians on the appropriate use of biologic agents in their clinical practice are limited. A group of expert dermatologists from across the AfME region were surveyed to help establish best practice across the region, alongside supporting data from the literature. Although biologics have significantly improved patient outcomes since their introduction, the results of this survey identified several unmet needs, including the lack of consensus regarding their use in clinical practice. Discrepancy also exists among AfME physicians concerning the clinical relevance of immunogenicity to biologics, despite increasing data across inflammatory diseases. Significant treatment and management of challenges for psoriasis patients remain, and a move towards individualized, tailored care may help to address these issues. The development of specific local guidelines for the treatment of both psoriasis and PsA could also be a step towards understanding the distinct patient profiles in these regions.

Visual social network analysis: effective approach to model complex human social, behaviour & culture.

PubMed

Ahram, Tareq Z; Karwowski, Waldemar

2012-01-01

The advent and adoption of internet-based social networking has significantly altered our daily lives. The educational community has taken notice of the positive aspects of social networking such as creation of blogs and to support groups of system designers going through the same challenges and difficulties. This paper introduces a social networking framework for collaborative education, design and modeling of the next generation of smarter products and services. Human behaviour modeling in social networking application aims to ensure that human considerations for learners and designers have a prominent place in the integrated design and development of sustainable, smarter products throughout the total system lifecycle. Social networks blend self-directed learning and prescribed, existing information. The self-directed element creates interest within a learner and the ability to access existing information facilitates its transfer, and eventual retention of knowledge acquired.

Al-in-olivine thermometry evidence for the mantle plume origin of the Emeishan large igneous province

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Rong; Liu, Yongsheng

2016-12-01

The Emeishan large igneous province (ELIP) is renowned for its world-class Ni-Cu-(PGE) deposits and its link with the Capitanian mass extinction. The ELIP is generally thought to be associated with a deep mantle plume; however, evidence for such a model has been challenged through geology, geophysics and geochemistry. In many large igneous province settings, olivine-melt equilibrium thermometry has been used to argue for or against the existence of plumes. However, this method involves large uncertainties such as assumptions regarding melt compositions and crystallisation pressures. The Al-in-olivine thermometer avoids these uncertainties and is used here to estimate the temperatures of picrites in the ELIP. The calculated maximum temperature (1440 °C) is significantly ( 250 °C) higher than the Al-in-olivine temperature estimated for the average MORB, thus providing compelling evidence for the existence of thermal mantle plumes in the ELIP.

Optimizing the performance of Ice-storage Systems in Electricity Load Management through a credit mechanism. An analytical work for Jiangsu, China

DOE PAGES

Han, Yafeng; Shen, Bo; Hu, Huajin; ...

2015-01-12

Ice-storage air-conditioning is a technique that uses ice for thermal energy storage. Replacing existing air conditioning systems with ice storage has the advantage of shifting the load from on-peak times to off-peak times that often have excess generation. However, increasing the use of ice-storage faces significant challenges in China. One major barrier is the inefficiency in the current electricity tariff structure. There is a lack of effective incentive mechanism that induces ice-storage systems from achieving optimal load-shifting results. This study presents an analysis that compares the potential impacts of ice-storage systems on load-shifting under a new credit-based incentive scheme andmore » the existing incentive arrangement in Jiangsu, China. The study indicates that by changing how ice-storage systems are incentivized in Jiangsu, load-shifting results can be improved.« less

The business of self-monitoring of blood glucose: a market profile.

PubMed

Hughes, Mark D

2009-09-01

The market for self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) approached $8.8 billion worldwide in 2008. Yet despite dramatic double-digit growth in sales of SMBG products since 1980, the business is now facing declining prices and slower dollar growth. Given that SMBG meters and test strips are viewed by consumers and insurers as essentially generic products, it will be extremely challenging for new market entrants to displace well-entrenched existing competitors without a truly innovative technology. Also, in the face of declining glucose test strip prices, market expansion can only occur through identification of more of the undiagnosed diabetes population and convincing existing diabetes patients to adopt glucose testing or to test more frequently. Ultimately, a combination of technology innovations, patient education, and economic incentives may be needed to significantly expand the SMBG market and build sustainable long-term dollar growth for SMBG vendors. 2009 Diabetes Technology Society.

Child Sexual Abuse in Zimbabwe.

PubMed

Mantula, Fennie; Saloojee, Haroon

2016-01-01

Although child sexual abuse is a significant public health problem globally, its incidence, prevention, and management is less well described in resource-poor settings. In poorer settings prevention initiatives assume even more importance since resources for managing abused children are severely limited. This article examines the current status of policy and practice related to the prevention of child sexual abuse in Zimbabwe. It identifies implementation challenges and highlights opportunities that could be embraced to reduce CSA in Zimbabwe, based on evidence synthesized from recent work. Although Zimbabwe has a well-established legal and regulatory framework to protect children from child sexual abuse, implementation of existing policies is weak. Financial, human, and material resource constraints are frequently cited to explain limited prevention activity. Effective strategies for the prevention of child sexual abuse should focus on implementing existing legislation, targeting schoolchildren, and getting community involvement. A dedicated budget would help entrench these strategies, but gains can be achieved even in the absence of this.

Classification of Ion Mobility Data Using the Neural Network Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duong, T. A.; Kanik, I.

2005-01-01

Determination of atmospheric and surface elemental and molecular composition of various solar system bodies is essential to the development of a firm understanding of the origin and evolution of the solar system. Furthermore, such data is needed to address the intriguing question of whether or not life exists or once existed elsewhere in the Solar System. As such, these measurements are among the primary scientific goals of NASA s current and future planetary missions. In recent years, significant progress toward both miniaturization and field portability of in situ analytical separation and detection devices have been made with future planetary explorations in mind. However, despite all these advances, accurate in situ identification of atmospheric and surface compounds remains a big challenge. In response to that we are developing various hardware and software tools which would enable us to uniquely identify species of interest in a complex chemical environment.

Microfluidic on-chip biomimicry for 3D cell culture: a fit-for-purpose investigation from the end user standpoint

PubMed Central

Liu, Ye; Gill, Elisabeth; Shery Huang, Yan Yan

2017-01-01

A plethora of 3D and microfluidics-based culture models have been demonstrated in the recent years with the ultimate aim to facilitate predictive in vitro models for pharmaceutical development. This article summarizes to date the progress in the microfluidics-based tissue culture models, including organ-on-a-chip and vasculature-on-a-chip. Specific focus is placed on addressing the question of what kinds of 3D culture and system complexities are deemed desirable by the biological and biomedical community. This question is addressed through analysis of a research survey to evaluate the potential use of microfluidic cell culture models among the end users. Our results showed a willingness to adopt 3D culture technology among biomedical researchers, although a significant gap still exists between the desired systems and existing 3D culture options. With these results, key challenges and future directions are highlighted. PMID:28670465

The Business of Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose: A Market Profile

PubMed Central

Hughes, Mark D.

2009-01-01

The market for self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) approached $8.8 billion worldwide in 2008. Yet despite dramatic double-digit growth in sales of SMBG products since 1980, the business is now facing declining prices and slower dollar growth. Given that SMBG meters and test strips are viewed by consumers and insurers as essentially generic products, it will be extremely challenging for new market entrants to displace well-entrenched existing competitors without a truly innovative technology. Also, in the face of declining glucose test strip prices, market expansion can only occur through identification of more of the undiagnosed diabetes population and convincing existing diabetes patients to adopt glucose testing or to test more frequently. Ultimately, a combination of technology innovations, patient education, and economic incentives may be needed to significantly expand the SMBG market and build sustainable long-term dollar growth for SMBG vendors. PMID:20144440

Microfluidic on-chip biomimicry for 3D cell culture: a fit-for-purpose investigation from the end user standpoint.

PubMed

Liu, Ye; Gill, Elisabeth; Shery Huang, Yan Yan

2017-06-01

A plethora of 3D and microfluidics-based culture models have been demonstrated in the recent years with the ultimate aim to facilitate predictive in vitro models for pharmaceutical development. This article summarizes to date the progress in the microfluidics-based tissue culture models, including organ-on-a-chip and vasculature-on-a-chip. Specific focus is placed on addressing the question of what kinds of 3D culture and system complexities are deemed desirable by the biological and biomedical community. This question is addressed through analysis of a research survey to evaluate the potential use of microfluidic cell culture models among the end users. Our results showed a willingness to adopt 3D culture technology among biomedical researchers, although a significant gap still exists between the desired systems and existing 3D culture options. With these results, key challenges and future directions are highlighted.

Identification of advantageous electricity generation options in sub-Saharan Africa integrating existing resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szabó, Sándor; Moner-Girona, Magda; Kougias, Ioannis; Bailis, Rob; Bódis, Katalin

2016-10-01

Pioneering approaches are needed to accelerate universal access to electricity while simultaneously transitioning to reliable, sustainable and affordable energy systems. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the challenges lie in attracting the private sector to complement public investments. Here, we present an integrated ‘low-hanging-fruit’ approach aimed at boosting private investment and speeding up the deployment of renewable energy systems in SSA. We analyse the potential of existing energy infrastructure, where a significant upfront investment has already been made, to be exploited for electricity generation. We develop a comprehensive methodology to identify and select suitable locations in SSA and estimate their potential for exploitation. These locations have been further analysed in terms of power capacity potential, electricity output, investments needed and population to be benefited. This strategy to attract additional finance can easily be reproduced, engaging private investors while simultaneously helping to achieve the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals on energy.

A New Adaptive Framework for Collaborative Filtering Prediction

PubMed Central

Almosallam, Ibrahim A.; Shang, Yi

2010-01-01

Collaborative filtering is one of the most successful techniques for recommendation systems and has been used in many commercial services provided by major companies including Amazon, TiVo and Netflix. In this paper we focus on memory-based collaborative filtering (CF). Existing CF techniques work well on dense data but poorly on sparse data. To address this weakness, we propose to use z-scores instead of explicit ratings and introduce a mechanism that adaptively combines global statistics with item-based values based on data density level. We present a new adaptive framework that encapsulates various CF algorithms and the relationships among them. An adaptive CF predictor is developed that can self adapt from user-based to item-based to hybrid methods based on the amount of available ratings. Our experimental results show that the new predictor consistently obtained more accurate predictions than existing CF methods, with the most significant improvement on sparse data sets. When applied to the Netflix Challenge data set, our method performed better than existing CF and singular value decomposition (SVD) methods and achieved 4.67% improvement over Netflix’s system. PMID:21572924

A New Adaptive Framework for Collaborative Filtering Prediction.

PubMed

Almosallam, Ibrahim A; Shang, Yi

2008-06-01

Collaborative filtering is one of the most successful techniques for recommendation systems and has been used in many commercial services provided by major companies including Amazon, TiVo and Netflix. In this paper we focus on memory-based collaborative filtering (CF). Existing CF techniques work well on dense data but poorly on sparse data. To address this weakness, we propose to use z-scores instead of explicit ratings and introduce a mechanism that adaptively combines global statistics with item-based values based on data density level. We present a new adaptive framework that encapsulates various CF algorithms and the relationships among them. An adaptive CF predictor is developed that can self adapt from user-based to item-based to hybrid methods based on the amount of available ratings. Our experimental results show that the new predictor consistently obtained more accurate predictions than existing CF methods, with the most significant improvement on sparse data sets. When applied to the Netflix Challenge data set, our method performed better than existing CF and singular value decomposition (SVD) methods and achieved 4.67% improvement over Netflix's system.

Educating Citizens in Diverse Societies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Banks, James A.

2011-01-01

Immigration is increasing racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistics, and religious diversity in nations around the world, which is challenging existing concepts of citizenship and citizenship education. In this article, I challenge assimilationist conceptions of citizenship education and argue that citizenship education should be transformed so that…

Current limitations and recommendations to improve testing for the environmental assessment of endocrine active substances

EPA Science Inventory

In this paper existing regulatory frameworks and test systems for assessing potential endocrine-active chemicals are described, and associated challenges discussed, along with proposed approaches to address these challenges. Regulatory frameworks vary somewhat across organizatio...

Bell's facial nerve palsy in pregnancy: a clinical review.

PubMed

Hussain, Ahsen; Nduka, Charles; Moth, Philippa; Malhotra, Raman

2017-05-01

Bell's facial nerve palsy (FNP) during pregnancy and the puerperium can present significant challenges for the patient and clinician. Presentation and prognosis can be worse in this group of patients. This article reviews the background, manifestation and management options of FNP. In particular, it focuses on the controversies that exist regarding corticosteroid use during pregnancy and outlines approaches to diagnosis and treatment. Based on this review, we recommend an early evidence-based approach using guidelines derived from non-pregnant populations. This includes assessment for atypical causes, a multidisciplinary input and early introduction of corticosteroids to limit progression and improve prognosis.

Atrial Macroreentry in Congenital Heart Disease

PubMed Central

Twomey, Darragh J; Sanders, Prashanthan; Roberts-Thomson, Kurt C

2015-01-01

Macroreentrant atrial tachycardia is a common complication following surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD), and is often highly symptomatic with potentially significant hamodynamic consequences. Medical management is often unsuccessful, requiring the use of invasive procedures. Cavotricuspid isthmus dependent flutter is the most common circuit but atypical circuits also exist, involving sites of surgical intervention or areas of scar related to abnormal hemodynamics. Ablation can be technically challenging, due to complex anatomy, and difficulty with catheter stability. A thorough assessment of the pa-tients status and pre-catheter ablation planning is critical to successfully managing these patients. PMID:25308809

Temporary Mechanical Circulatory Support: A Review of the Options, Indications, and Outcomes

PubMed Central

Gilotra, Nisha A; Stevens, Gerin R

2014-01-01

Cardiogenic shock remains a challenging disease entity and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Temporary mechanical circulatory support (MCS) can be implemented in an acute setting to stabilize acutely ill patients with cardiomyopathy in a variety of clinical situations. Currently, several options exist for temporary MCS. We review the indications, contraindications, clinical applications, and evidences for a variety of temporary circulatory support options, including the intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), CentriMag blood pump, and percutaneous ventricular assist devices (pVADs), specifically the TandemHeart and Impella. PMID:25674024

High Efficiency Photonic Switch for Data Centers

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

LaComb, Lloyd J.; Bablumyan, Arkady; Ordyan, Armen

2016-12-06

The worldwide demand for instant access to information is driving internet growth rates above 50% annually. This rapid growth is straining the resources and architectures of existing data centers, metro networks and high performance computer centers. If the current business as usual model continues, data centers alone will require 400TWhr of electricity by 2020. In order to meet the challenges of a faster and more cost effective data centers, metro networks and supercomputing facilities, we have demonstrated a new type of optical switch that will support transmissions speeds up to 1Tb/s, and requires significantly less energy per bit than

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

Schaidle, Joshua A; Talmadge, Michael S; Biddy, Mary J

The United States has the potential to sustainably produce over 1 billion dry tons of nonfood biomass per year by 2030. While conversion of this biomass into fuels has garnished significant attention, these renewable feedstocks can also be converted into valuable chemicals. Analogous to petroleum refining, the coproduction of fuels and chemicals from biomass enables more complete utilization of the feedstock and supports the growth of a bio-economy by improving biorefinery economics. This chapter provides an overview of biomass thermolysis and gasification technologies, highlights existing and future chemical production opportunities, and elaborates on specific challenges associated with product separation andmore » purification.« less

The status of indoor air pollution.

PubMed Central

Esmen, N A

1985-01-01

Indoor air pollution, specifically restricted in its meaning to chemicals in home indoor air environment, presents a new and probably an important challenge to the researchers of the air pollution field. The general overview of this topic suggests that the voluminous data generated in the past ten or so years have only defined the rudiments of the problem, and significant areas of research still exist. Among the important areas where information is lacking, the exposures to contaminants generated by the use of consumer products and through hobbies and crafts represent perhaps the most urgent need for substantial research. PMID:4085429

[Management abilities of the head surgeon: essential for survival!].

PubMed

Jähne, J

2012-04-01

Due to increased economic challenges in the management of hospitals head surgeons do not only need excellent surgical expertise but also significant management qualities. The personality of head surgeons should include authenticity, sincerity, fairness and the ability to cooperate. Visionary leadership, strategic thinking and strategic management of the personnel are further prerequisites for success. Besides good abilities in communication head surgeons need knowledge of the operating figures for interpretation. To keep up with the own capabilities time and self-management is essential. A survival as head surgeon is likely if these qualities and abilities exist.

The Europa Ocean Discovery mission

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

Edwards, B.C.; Chyba, C.F.; Abshire, J.B.

1997-06-01

Since it was first proposed that tidal heating of Europa by Jupiter might lead to liquid water oceans below Europa`s ice cover, there has been speculation over the possible exobiological implications of such an ocean. Liquid water is the essential ingredient for life as it is known, and the existence of a second water ocean in the Solar System would be of paramount importance for seeking the origin and existence of life beyond Earth. The authors present here a Discovery-class mission concept (Europa Ocean Discovery) to determine the existence of a liquid water ocean on Europa and to characterize Europa`smore » surface structure. The technical goal of the Europa Ocean Discovery mission is to study Europa with an orbiting spacecraft. This goal is challenging but entirely feasible within the Discovery envelope. There are four key challenges: entering Europan orbit, generating power, surviving long enough in the radiation environment to return valuable science, and complete the mission within the Discovery program`s launch vehicle and budget constraints. The authors will present here a viable mission that meets these challenges.« less

Challenges in aerospace medicine education.

PubMed

Grenon, S Marlene; Saary, Joan

2011-11-01

Aerospace medicine training and research represents a dream for many and a challenge for most. In Canada, although some opportunities exist for the pursuit of education and research in the aerospace medicine field, they are limited despite the importance of this field for enabling safe human space exploration. In this commentary, we aim to identify some of the challenges facing individuals wishing to get involved in the field as well as the causal factors for these challenges. We also explore strategies to mitigate against these.

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

NONE

The global burden of cancer is growing rapidly with an estimated 15 million new cases per year worldwide in 2015, growing to 19 million by 2025 and 24 million by 2035. The largest component of this growth will occur in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs). About half of these cases will require radiation treatment. The gap for available cancer treatment, including radiation therapy, between high-income countries (HICs) and LMICs is enormous. Accurate data and quantitative models to project the needs and the benefits of cancer treatment are a critical first step in closing the large cancer divide between LMICs and HICs.more » In this context, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) has developed a Global Task Force on Radiotherapy for Cancer Control (GTFRCC) with a charge to answer the question as to what it will take to close the gap between what exists today and reasonable access to radiation therapy globally by 2035 and what the potential clinical and economic benefits are for doing this. The Task Force has determined the projections of cancer incidence and the infrastructure required to provide access to radiation therapy globally. Furthermore it has shown that appropriate investment not only yields improved clinical outcomes for millions of patients but that it also provides an overall economic gain throughout all the income settings where this investment is made. This symposium will summarize the facets associated with this global cancer challenge by reviewing the cancer burden, looking at the requirements for radiation therapy, reviewing the benefits of providing such therapy both from a clinical and economic perspective and finally by looking at what approaches can be used to aid in the alleviation of this global cancer challenge. The speakers are world renowned experts in global public health issues (R. Atun), medical physics (D. Jaffray) and radiation oncology (N. Coleman). Learning Objectives: To describe the global cancer challenge and the corresponding potential benefits of addressing this challenge. To describe what radiation therapy infrastructure, in terms of facilities, equipment and personnel, will be required to address this challenge. To describe models of addressing personnel and infrastructure mobilization and capacity building within regions where significant cancer treatment disparities exist.« less

Second Chances

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyd, Karen Anne

2007-01-01

Accommodating change in existing buildings on a college campus or in a school district is challenging, but manageable. The key to successful adaptive reuse is thoughtful and thorough decision-making. Why consider recycling existing buildings? There are many reasons, including limited institutional resources, the increasing cost of new…

Significance of direct and indirect impacts of climate change on groundwater resources in the Olifants River basin: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nkhonjera, German K.; Dinka, Megersa O.

2017-11-01

This paper considers the extent and usefulness of reviewing existing literature on the significance of direct and indirect impacts of climate change on groundwater resources with emphasis on examples from the Olifants River basin. Here, the existing literature were extensively reviewed, with discussions centred mainly on the impacts of climate change on groundwater resources and challenges in modelling climate change impacts on groundwater resources. Since in the hydrological cycle, the hydrological components such as evaporation, temperature, precipitation, and groundwater, are the major drivers of the present and future climate, a detailed discussion is done on the impact of climate change on these hydrological components to determine to what extent the hydrological cycle has already been affected as a result of climate change. The uncertainties, constraints and limitations in climate change research have also been reviewed. In addition to the research gaps discussed here, the emphasis on the need of extensive climate change research on the continent, especially as climate change impacts on groundwater, is discussed. Overall, the importance of conducting further research in climate change, understanding the significance of the impact of climate change on water resources such as groundwater, and taking actions to effectively meet the adaptation needs of the people, emerge as an important theme in this review.

The safety of paediatric dentistry procedures under general anaesthesia. A five-year experience of a tertiary care center.

PubMed

Bartella, A K; Lechner, C; Kamal, M; Steegmann, J; Hölzle, F; Lethaus, B

2018-03-01

Frequently general anaesthesia (GA) is used to treat noncompliant children. Especially in children with morbid diseases general anaesthesia can be a challenging procedure for anaesthetists. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the risks and adverse reactions with a special focus on the impact of existing medication conditions and syndromes. and methods Records of children up to 10 years of age, who were admitted for paediatric dentistry procedures under GA from January 2011 to December 2016 at the University Hospital of the University of Aachen (Germany), were reviewed. A special attention was paid to the intra- and perioperative critical adverse reactions and concomitant systemic conditions and their impact on treatment outcome. Two hundred and twenty patients were admitted for dental restorations. Critical adverse reactions occurred in 4% of the treated patients and they were statistically significantly (p=0.004) related to the ASA classification above II. The use of a laryngeal mask airway was significantly associated (p<0.001) with a shorter duration of surgery. Most common concomitant medical conditions were congenital heart disease, mental retardation and inherited syndromes. Although the administration of general anaesthesia in infants and children can be regarded as a safe procedure, clinically significant adverse reactions can occur, especially in patients with an existing medical condition.

Disclosing incidental findings in brain research: the rights of minors in decision-making.

PubMed

Di Pietro, Nina C; Illes, Judy

2013-11-01

MRI is used routinely in research with children to generate new knowledge about brain development. The detection of unexpected brain abnormalities (incidental findings; IFs) in these studies presents unique challenges. While key issues surrounding incidence and significance, duty of care, and burden of disclosure have been addressed substantially for adults, less empirical data and normative analyses exist for minors who participate in minimal risk research. To identify ethical concerns and fill existing gaps, we conducted a comprehensive review of papers that focused explicitly on the discovery of IFs in minors. The discourse in the 21 papers retrieved for this analysis amply covered practical issues such as informed consent and screening, difficulties in ascertaining clinical significance, the economic costs and burden of responsibility on researchers, and risks (physical or psychological). However, we found little discussion about the involvement of minors in decisions about disclosure of IFs in the brain, especially for IFs of low clinical significance. In response, we propose a framework for managing IFs that integrates practical considerations with explicit appreciation of rights along the continuum of maturity. This capacity-adjusted framework emphasizes the importance of involving competent minors and respecting their right to make decisions about disclosure. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

MO-FG-BRB-01: Investing to Address the Global Cancer Challenge

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

Atun, R.

2015-06-15

The global burden of cancer is growing rapidly with an estimated 15 million new cases per year worldwide in 2015, growing to 19 million by 2025 and 24 million by 2035. The largest component of this growth will occur in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs). About half of these cases will require radiation treatment. The gap for available cancer treatment, including radiation therapy, between high-income countries (HICs) and LMICs is enormous. Accurate data and quantitative models to project the needs and the benefits of cancer treatment are a critical first step in closing the large cancer divide between LMICs and HICs.more » In this context, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) has developed a Global Task Force on Radiotherapy for Cancer Control (GTFRCC) with a charge to answer the question as to what it will take to close the gap between what exists today and reasonable access to radiation therapy globally by 2035 and what the potential clinical and economic benefits are for doing this. The Task Force has determined the projections of cancer incidence and the infrastructure required to provide access to radiation therapy globally. Furthermore it has shown that appropriate investment not only yields improved clinical outcomes for millions of patients but that it also provides an overall economic gain throughout all the income settings where this investment is made. This symposium will summarize the facets associated with this global cancer challenge by reviewing the cancer burden, looking at the requirements for radiation therapy, reviewing the benefits of providing such therapy both from a clinical and economic perspective and finally by looking at what approaches can be used to aid in the alleviation of this global cancer challenge. The speakers are world renowned experts in global public health issues (R. Atun), medical physics (D. Jaffray) and radiation oncology (N. Coleman). Learning Objectives: To describe the global cancer challenge and the corresponding potential benefits of addressing this challenge. To describe what radiation therapy infrastructure, in terms of facilities, equipment and personnel, will be required to address this challenge. To describe models of addressing personnel and infrastructure mobilization and capacity building within regions where significant cancer treatment disparities exist.« less

MO-FG-BRB-03: Addressing the Cancer Challenge: International Cancer Experts Corps

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

Coleman, N.

The global burden of cancer is growing rapidly with an estimated 15 million new cases per year worldwide in 2015, growing to 19 million by 2025 and 24 million by 2035. The largest component of this growth will occur in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs). About half of these cases will require radiation treatment. The gap for available cancer treatment, including radiation therapy, between high-income countries (HICs) and LMICs is enormous. Accurate data and quantitative models to project the needs and the benefits of cancer treatment are a critical first step in closing the large cancer divide between LMICs and HICs.more » In this context, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) has developed a Global Task Force on Radiotherapy for Cancer Control (GTFRCC) with a charge to answer the question as to what it will take to close the gap between what exists today and reasonable access to radiation therapy globally by 2035 and what the potential clinical and economic benefits are for doing this. The Task Force has determined the projections of cancer incidence and the infrastructure required to provide access to radiation therapy globally. Furthermore it has shown that appropriate investment not only yields improved clinical outcomes for millions of patients but that it also provides an overall economic gain throughout all the income settings where this investment is made. This symposium will summarize the facets associated with this global cancer challenge by reviewing the cancer burden, looking at the requirements for radiation therapy, reviewing the benefits of providing such therapy both from a clinical and economic perspective and finally by looking at what approaches can be used to aid in the alleviation of this global cancer challenge. The speakers are world renowned experts in global public health issues (R. Atun), medical physics (D. Jaffray) and radiation oncology (N. Coleman). Learning Objectives: To describe the global cancer challenge and the corresponding potential benefits of addressing this challenge. To describe what radiation therapy infrastructure, in terms of facilities, equipment and personnel, will be required to address this challenge. To describe models of addressing personnel and infrastructure mobilization and capacity building within regions where significant cancer treatment disparities exist.« less

Visualization and characterization of engineered nanoparticles in complex environmental and food matrices using atmospheric scanning electron microscopy.

PubMed

Luo, P; Morrison, I; Dudkiewicz, A; Tiede, K; Boyes, E; O'Toole, P; Park, S; Boxall, A B

2013-04-01

Imaging and characterization of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in water, soils, sediment and food matrices is very important for research into the risks of ENPs to consumers and the environment. However, these analyses pose a significant challenge as most existing techniques require some form of sample manipulation prior to imaging and characterization, which can result in changes in the ENPs in a sample and in the introduction of analytical artefacts. This study therefore explored the application of a newly designed instrument, the atmospheric scanning electron microscope (ASEM), which allows the direct characterization of ENPs in liquid matrices and which therefore overcomes some of the limitations associated with existing imaging methods. ASEM was used to characterize the size distribution of a range of ENPs in a selection of environmental and food matrices, including supernatant of natural sediment, test medium used in ecotoxicology studies, bovine serum albumin and tomato soup under atmospheric conditions. The obtained imaging results were compared to results obtained using conventional imaging by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and SEM as well as to size distribution data derived from nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). ASEM analysis was found to be a complementary technique to existing methods that is able to visualize ENPs in complex liquid matrices and to provide ENP size information without extensive sample preparation. ASEM images can detect ENPs in liquids down to 30 nm and to a level of 1 mg L(-1) (9×10(8) particles mL(-1) , 50 nm Au ENPs). The results indicate ASEM is a highly complementary method to existing approaches for analyzing ENPs in complex media and that its use will allow those studying to study ENP behavior in situ, something that is currently extremely challenging to do. © 2013 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2013 Royal Microscopical Society.

The Formation of Igneous CAIs and Chondrules by Impacts?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Connolly, Harold C., Jr.; Love, Stanley G.

2001-01-01

Numerous challenges exist with forming the igneous spheres found within chondrites via collision events in the early solar nebula. We explore these challenges and discuss potential methods to overcome them. Collision models should be received cautiously. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

College Is Not a Restaurant: Challenging Cultural Hegemony in the US Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kittler, Juraj

2014-01-01

In the post 9/11 world, a nonnative US teacher who attempts to challenge existing cultural assumptions may easily trigger hostility and suspicion in the classroom. This chapter conveys the experience of a college professor whose approach often deliberately crosses that line.

The Future of Educational Entrepreneurship: Possibilities for School Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hess, Frederick M., Ed.

2008-01-01

"The Future of Educational Entrepreneurship" examines the challenge of creating innovative and productive entrepreneurial activity in American education. In the course of exploring these challenges, the book considers a number of crucial issues and circumstances: existing "barriers to entry" that prohibit or obstruct entrepreneurial efforts; the…

Linked Data: Opportunities and Challenges in Disability Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glasson, Emma J.; Hussain, Rafat

2008-01-01

Background: Disability research data often exist in the form of individual records located within discrete registers that may extend across sensitive political boundaries. Method: This paper discusses the opportunities and challenges associated with using linked health and administrative data for disability research, with examples from research…

Network Motif Basis of Threshold Responses

EPA Science Inventory

There has been a long-running debate over the existence of thresholds for adverse effects. The difficulty stems from two fundamental challenges: (i) statistical analysis by itself cannot prove the existence of a threshold, i.e., a dose below which there is no effect; and (ii) the...

Microgrid Enabled Distributed Energy Solutions (MEDES) - Fort Bliss Military Reservation

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-01

Security Act EPA Environmental Protection Agency EPAct05 Energy Policy Act of 2005 EPDF Enlisted Personnel Dining Facility EPEC El Paso Electric Company...Retrofitting the existing electrical infrastructure was a challenge, especially with the existing switchboard layout restricting the addition of motor ...operators (to allow for load shedding). The Lockheed Martin team installed as many motor operators as physically possible in the existing

Challenges in Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Modelling of HPV Vaccines in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Practice Recommendations.

PubMed

Ekwunife, Obinna I; O'Mahony, James F; Gerber Grote, Andreas; Mosch, Christoph; Paeck, Tatjana; Lhachimi, Stefan K

2017-01-01

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face a number of challenges in implementing cervical cancer prevention programmes that do not apply in high-income countries. This review assessed how context-specific challenges of implementing cervical cancer prevention strategies in LMICs were accounted for in existing cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) models of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. The databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE, NHS Economic Evaluation Database, EconLit, Web of Science, and the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health (CEA) Registry were searched for studies published from 2006 to 2015. A descriptive, narrative, and interpretative synthesis of data was undertaken. Of the 33 studies included in the review, the majority acknowledged cost per vaccinated girl (CVG) (26 studies) and vaccine coverage rate (21 studies) as particular challenges for LMICs, while nine studies identified screening coverage rate as a challenge. Most of the studies estimated CVG as a composite of different cost items. However, the basis for the items within this composite cost was unclear. The majority used an assumption rather than an observed rate to represent screening and vaccination coverage rates. CVG, vaccine coverage and screening coverage were shown by some studies through sensitivity analyses to reverse the conclusions regarding cost-effectiveness, thereby significantly affecting policy recommendations. While many studies recognized aspects of the particular challenges of HPV vaccination in LMICs, greater efforts need to be made in adapting models to account for these challenges. These include adapting costings of HPV vaccine delivery from other countries, learning from the outcomes of cervical cancer screening programmes in the same geographical region, and taking into account the country's previous experience with other vaccination programmes.

Trade treaties and alcohol advertising policy.

PubMed

Gould, Ellen

2005-09-01

Restrictions on alcohol advertising are vulnerable to challenge under international trade agreements. As countries negotiate new trade treaties and expand the scope of existing ones, the risk of such a challenge increases. While alcohol advertising restrictions normally do not distinguish between foreign and domestic products, this neutral character does not protect them from being challenged under trade rules. The article analyzes four provisions of trade agreements--expropriation, de facto discrimination, market access, and necessity--in relation to the jeopardy they pose for alcohol advertising restrictions. Key cases are reviewed to illustrate how these provisions have been used to either overturn existing advertising restrictions or prevent new ones from coming into force. The article also reports on the mixed results governments have had in trying to justify their regulations to trade panels and the stringent criteria imposed for proving that a regulation is "necessary."

Developing a new syndromic surveillance system for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

PubMed

Harcourt, S E; Fletcher, J; Loveridge, P; Bains, A; Morbey, R; Yeates, A; McCloskey, B; Smyth, B; Ibbotson, S; Smith, G E; Elliot, A J

2012-12-01

Syndromic surveillance is vital for monitoring public health during mass gatherings. The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games represents a major challenge to health protection services and community surveillance. In response to this challenge the Health Protection Agency has developed a new syndromic surveillance system that monitors daily general practitioner out-of-hours and unscheduled care attendances. This new national system will fill a gap identified in the existing general practice-based syndromic surveillance systems by providing surveillance capability of general practice activity during evenings/nights, over weekends and public holidays. The system will complement and supplement the existing tele-health phone line, general practitioner and emergency department syndromic surveillance systems. This new national system will contribute to improving public health reassurance, especially to meet the challenges of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

DCMS: A data analytics and management system for molecular simulation.

PubMed

Kumar, Anand; Grupcev, Vladimir; Berrada, Meryem; Fogarty, Joseph C; Tu, Yi-Cheng; Zhu, Xingquan; Pandit, Sagar A; Xia, Yuni

Molecular Simulation (MS) is a powerful tool for studying physical/chemical features of large systems and has seen applications in many scientific and engineering domains. During the simulation process, the experiments generate a very large number of atoms and intend to observe their spatial and temporal relationships for scientific analysis. The sheer data volumes and their intensive interactions impose significant challenges for data accessing, managing, and analysis. To date, existing MS software systems fall short on storage and handling of MS data, mainly because of the missing of a platform to support applications that involve intensive data access and analytical process. In this paper, we present the database-centric molecular simulation (DCMS) system our team developed in the past few years. The main idea behind DCMS is to store MS data in a relational database management system (DBMS) to take advantage of the declarative query interface ( i.e. , SQL), data access methods, query processing, and optimization mechanisms of modern DBMSs. A unique challenge is to handle the analytical queries that are often compute-intensive. For that, we developed novel indexing and query processing strategies (including algorithms running on modern co-processors) as integrated components of the DBMS. As a result, researchers can upload and analyze their data using efficient functions implemented inside the DBMS. Index structures are generated to store analysis results that may be interesting to other users, so that the results are readily available without duplicating the analysis. We have developed a prototype of DCMS based on the PostgreSQL system and experiments using real MS data and workload show that DCMS significantly outperforms existing MS software systems. We also used it as a platform to test other data management issues such as security and compression.

Short communication: Identifying challenges and opportunities for improved nutrient management through the USDA's Dairy Agroecosystem Working Group.

PubMed

Holly, M A; Kleinman, P J; Bryant, R B; Bjorneberg, D L; Rotz, C A; Baker, J M; Boggess, M V; Brauer, D K; Chintala, R; Feyereisen, G W; Gamble, J D; Leytem, A B; Reed, K F; Vadas, P A; Waldrip, H M

2018-04-25

Nutrient management on US dairy farms must balance an array of priorities, some of which conflict. To illustrate nutrient management challenges and opportunities across the US dairy industry, the USDA Agricultural Research Service Dairy Agroecosystems Working Group (DAWG) modeled 8 confinement and 2 grazing operations in the 7 largest US dairy-producing states using the Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM). Opportunities existed across all of the dairies studied to increase on-farm feed production and lower purchased feed bills, most notably on large dairies (>1,000 cows) with the highest herd densities. Purchased feed accounted for 18 to 44% of large dairies' total operating costs compared with 7 to 14% on small dairies (<300 milk cows) due to lower stocking rates. For dairies with larger land bases, in addition to a reduction in environmental impact, financial incentives exist to promote prudent nutrient management practices by substituting manure nutrients or legume nutrients for purchased fertilizers. Environmental priorities varied regionally and were principally tied to facility management for dry-lot dairies of the semi-arid western United States (ammonia-N emissions), to manure handling and application for humid midwestern and eastern US dairies (nitrate-N leaching and P runoff), and pasture management for dairies with significant grazing components (nitrous oxide emissions). Many of the nutrient management challenges identified by DAWG are beyond slight modifications in management and require coordinated solutions to ensure an environmentally and economically sustainable US dairy industry. The Authors. Published by FASS Inc. and Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).

Implantation, removal and replacement of subretinal electronic implants for restoration of vision in patients with retinitis pigmentosa.

PubMed

Gekeler, Katrin; Bartz-Schmidt, Karl Ulrich; Sachs, Helmut; MacLaren, Robert E; Stingl, Katarina; Zrenner, Eberhart; Gekeler, Florian

2018-05-01

The purpose of this review is to provide an update on the efforts to restore vision through subretinal implants in patients with degenerative retinal diseases. In addition to the current technique and its latest improvements, it will focus on the surgical technique of implantation as well as explantation and reimplantation. The durability of the current subretinal implant RETINA IMPLANT Alpha AMS has increased substantially compared with the predecessor model RETINA IMPLANT Alpha IMS. According to validated examinations in the laboratory, a median lifetime of 4.7 years will be reached in clinical use; in similar examinations, the previous model has reached only 8 months. Visual function has slightly increased. The surgical technique for subretinal implants is complex and demanding for ophthalmic surgeons, as it is multifaceted and combines novel surgical steps in areas, which are not commonly entered such as the suprachoroidal and the subretinal space. The surgical approach for implantation has matured considerably and has led to successful implantation in 64 patient cases. Surgical challenges are now mainly encountered with the exact subfoveal positioning of the device. The explantation procedure is relatively straight-forward because the implant can be withdrawn in a reverse direction along the already existent subretinal path. Reimplantations, however, are more challenging because some degree of scar tissue may exist along the path of the chip and around the scleral trapdoor. Nevertheless, reimplantations have now been carried out successfully in four patients. The new RETINA IMPLANT Alpha AMS shows significantly improved durability compared with the predecessor model RETINA IMPLANT Alpha IMS. The subretinal implant offers excellent visual results but requires experienced surgeons. Explantation of devices is straight-forward, and reimplantations are challenging but have been successful in four patients.

Relieved residual damage in the hematopoietic system of mice rescued by radiation-induced adaptive response (Yonezawa Effect)

PubMed Central

Wang, Bing; Tanaka, Kaoru; Ninomiya, Yasuharu; Maruyama, Kouichi; VarèS, Guillaume; Eguchi-Kasai, Kiyomi; Nenoi, Mitsuru

2013-01-01

Existence of adaptive response (AR) was previously demonstrated in C57BL/6J mice. Irradiations were performed by delivering a priming low dose of X-rays (0.50 Gy) in combination with a challenge high dose of accelerated carbon or neon ion particles. AR was characterized by significantly decreased mortality in the 30-day survival test. This mouse AR model (‘Yonezawa Effect’) was originally established by using X-rays as both the priming and challenge irradiations. The underlying mechanism was due to radio-resistance occurring in blood-forming tissues. In this study, we verified the existence of AR and further investigated residual damage in the hematopoietic system in surviving animals. Results showed that the priming low dose of X-rays could relieve the detrimental effects on the hematopoietic system. We observed both an improvement in the blood platelet count and the ratio of polychromatic erythrocytes (PCEs) to the sum of PCEs and normochromatic erythrocytes (NCEs) and a marked reduction of the incidences of micronucleated PCEs and micronucleated NCEs. These findings suggest that the priming low dose of low linear energy transfer (LET) X-rays induced a protective effect on the hematopoietic system, which may play an important role in both rescue from acute lethal damage (mouse killing) and prevention of late detrimental consequences (residual anhematopoiesis and delayed genotoxic effects) caused by exposure to a high challenge dose from low-LET (X-ray) or high-LET (carbon and neon ion) irradiations. These findings provide new knowledge of the characterization of the Yonezawa Effect by providing new insight into the mechanistic study of AR in vivo. PMID:22923746

Recurrent Dreams and Psychosocial Adjustment in Preteenaged Children

PubMed Central

Gauchat, Aline; Zadra, Antonio; Tremblay, Richard E.; Zelazo, Philip David; Séguin, Jean R.

2014-01-01

Research indicates that recurrent dreams in adults are associated with impoverished psychological well-being. Whether similar associations exist in children remains unknown. The authors hypothesized that children reporting recurrent dreams would show poorer psychosocial adjustment than children without recurrent dreams. One hundred sixty-eight 11-year-old children self-reported on their recurrent dreams and on measures of psychosocial adjustment. Although 35% of children reported having experienced a recurrent dream during the past year, our hypothesis was only partially supported. Multivariate analyses revealed a marginally significant interaction between gender and recurrent dream presence and a significant main effect of gender. Univariate analyses revealed that boys reporting recurrent dreams reported significantly higher scores on reactive aggression than those who did not (d = 0.58). This suggests that by age 11 years, the presence of recurrent dreams may already reflect underlying emotional difficulties in boys but not necessarily in girls. Challenges in addressing this developmental question are discussed. PMID:24976740

Refining each process step to accelerate the development of biorefineries

DOE PAGES

Chandra, Richard P.; Ragauskas, Art J.

2016-06-21

Research over the past decade has been mainly focused on overcoming hurdles in the pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and fermentation steps of biochemical processing. Pretreatments have improved significantly in their ability to fractionate and recover the cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin components of biomass while producing substrates containing carbohydrates that can be easily broken down by hydrolytic enzymes. There is a rapid movement towards pretreatment processes that incorporate mechanical treatments that make use of existing infrastructure in the pulp and paper industry, which has experienced a downturn in its traditional markets. Enzyme performance has also made great strides with breakthrough developments inmore » nonhydrolytic protein components, such as lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases, as well as the improvement of enzyme cocktails.The fermentability of pretreated and hydrolyzed sugar streams has been improved through strategies such as the use of reducing agents for detoxification, strain selection, and strain improvements. Although significant progress has been made, tremendous challenges still remain to advance each step of biochemical conversion, especially when processing woody biomass. In addition to technical and scale-up issues within each step of the bioconversion process, biomass feedstock supply and logistics challenges still remain at the forefront of biorefinery research.« less

Real-time classification of vehicles by type within infrared imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kundegorski, Mikolaj E.; Akçay, Samet; Payen de La Garanderie, Grégoire; Breckon, Toby P.

2016-10-01

Real-time classification of vehicles into sub-category types poses a significant challenge within infra-red imagery due to the high levels of intra-class variation in thermal vehicle signatures caused by aspects of design, current operating duration and ambient thermal conditions. Despite these challenges, infra-red sensing offers significant generalized target object detection advantages in terms of all-weather operation and invariance to visual camouflage techniques. This work investigates the accuracy of a number of real-time object classification approaches for this task within the wider context of an existing initial object detection and tracking framework. Specifically we evaluate the use of traditional feature-driven bag of visual words and histogram of oriented gradient classification approaches against modern convolutional neural network architectures. Furthermore, we use classical photogrammetry, within the context of current target detection and classification techniques, as a means of approximating 3D target position within the scene based on this vehicle type classification. Based on photogrammetric estimation of target position, we then illustrate the use of regular Kalman filter based tracking operating on actual 3D vehicle trajectories. Results are presented using a conventional thermal-band infra-red (IR) sensor arrangement where targets are tracked over a range of evaluation scenarios.

Memory T Cells Generated by Prior Exposure to Influenza Cross React with the Novel H7N9 Influenza Virus and Confer Protective Heterosubtypic Immunity

PubMed Central

McMaster, Sean R.; Gabbard, Jon D.; Koutsonanos, Dimitris G.; Compans, Richard W.; Tripp, Ralph A.; Tompkins, S. Mark; Kohlmeier, Jacob E.

2015-01-01

Influenza virus is a source of significant health and economic burden from yearly epidemics and sporadic pandemics. Given the potential for the emerging H7N9 influenza virus to cause severe respiratory infections and the lack of exposure to H7 and N9 influenza viruses in the human population, we aimed to quantify the H7N9 cross-reactive memory T cell reservoir in humans and mice previously exposed to common circulating influenza viruses. We identified significant cross-reactive T cell populations in humans and mice; we also found that cross-reactive memory T cells afforded heterosubtypic protection by reducing morbidity and mortality upon lethal H7N9 challenge. In context with our observation that PR8-primed mice have limited humoral cross-reactivity with H7N9, our data suggest protection from H7N9 challenge is indeed mediated by cross-reactive T cell populations established upon previous priming with another influenza virus. Thus, pre-existing cross-reactive memory T cells may limit disease severity in the event of an H7N9 influenza virus pandemic. PMID:25671696

The ACO paradox impacting physicians.

PubMed

Bansal, Gunjan; West, Daniel J

2012-01-01

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) would hold care providers jointly accountable for the quality and costs of care, allow consumers the freedom to choose their providers, and involve physicians and consumers in their shared decision-making. Even though the ACO model proposes physician empowerment, it also poses significant financial and change-management challenges for physicians. Furthermore, the "patient-centered" ACOs that have been established to safeguard consumer sovereignty pose the risks of concentrating healthcare markets further and exacerbating the existing disparities in healthcare. We conducted a survey study to understand physicians' perspectives of ACOs by seeking their first-hand feedback. The survey results suggest that there are significant communication gaps between physicians and healthcare administrators; and efficient communication can help improve physician-administrator alignment and help them identify opportunities that would be critical to the success of ACOs.

NIRS-based noninvasive cerebrovascular regulation assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, S.; Richmond, I.; Borgos, J.; Mitra, K.

2016-03-01

Alterations to cerebral blood flow (CBF) have been implicated in diverse neurological conditions, including mild traumatic brain injury, microgravity induced intracranial pressure (ICP) increases, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)-measured regional cerebral tissue oxygen saturation (rSO2) provides an estimate of oxygenation of the interrogated cerebral volume that is useful in identifying trends and changes in oxygen supply to cerebral tissue and has been used to monitor cerebrovascular function during surgery and ventilation. In this study, CO2-inhalation-based hypercapnic breathing challenges were used as a tool to simulate CBF dysregulation, and NIRS was used to monitor the CBF autoregulatory response. A breathing circuit for the selective administration of CO2-compressed air mixtures was designed and used to assess CBF regulatory responses to hypercapnia in 26 healthy young adults using non-invasive methods and real-time sensors. After a 5 or 10 minute baseline period, 1 to 3 hypercapnic challenges of 5 or 10 minutes duration were delivered to each subject while rSO2, partial pressure of end tidal CO2 (PETCO2), and vital signs were continuously monitored. Change in rSO2 measurements from pre- to intrachallenge (ΔrSO2) detected periods of hypercapnic challenges. Subjects were grouped into three exercise factor levels (hr/wk), 1: 0, 2:>0 and <10, and 3:>10. Exercise factor level 3 subjects showed significantly greater ΔrSO2 responses to CO2 challenges than level 2 and 1 subjects. No significant difference in ΔPETCO2 existed between these factor levels. Establishing baseline values of rSO2 in clinical practice may be useful in early detection of CBF changes.

Drop-in biofuel production via conventional (lipid/fatty acid) and advanced (biomass) routes. Part I

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

Karatzos, Sergios; van Dyk, J. Susan; McMillan, James D.

Drop-in biofuels that are 'functionally identical to petroleum fuels and fully compatible with existing infrastructure' are needed for sectors such as aviation where biofuels such as bioethanol/biodiesel cannot be used. The technologies used to produce drop-in biofuels can be grouped into the four categories: oleochemical, thermochemical, biochemical, and hybrid technologies. Commercial volumes of conventional drop-in biofuels are currently produced through the oleochemical pathway, to make products such as renewable diesel and biojet fuel. However, the cost, sustainability, and availability of the lipid/fatty acid feedstocks are significant challenges that need to be addressed. In the longer-term, it is likely that commercialmore » growth in drop-in biofuels will be based on lignocellulosic feedstocks. However, these technologies have been slow to develop and have been hampered by several technoeconomic challenges. For example, the gasification/Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis route suffers from high capital costs and economies of scale difficulties, while the economical production of high quality syngas remains a significant challenge. Although pyrolysis/hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) based technologies are promising, the upgrading of pyrolysis oils to higher specification fuels has encountered several technical challenges, such as high catalyst cost and short catalyst lifespan. Biochemical routes to drop-in fuels have the advantage of producing single molecules with simple chemistry. Moreover, the high value of these molecules in other markets such as renewable chemical precursors and fragrances will limit their use for fuel. In the near-term, (1-5 years) it is likely that, 'conventional' drop-in biofuels will be produced predominantly via the oleochemical route, due to the relative simplicity and maturity of this pathway.« less

Drop-in biofuel production via conventional (lipid/fatty acid) and advanced (biomass) routes. Part I

DOE PAGES

Karatzos, Sergios; van Dyk, J. Susan; McMillan, James D.; ...

2017-01-23

Drop-in biofuels that are 'functionally identical to petroleum fuels and fully compatible with existing infrastructure' are needed for sectors such as aviation where biofuels such as bioethanol/biodiesel cannot be used. The technologies used to produce drop-in biofuels can be grouped into the four categories: oleochemical, thermochemical, biochemical, and hybrid technologies. Commercial volumes of conventional drop-in biofuels are currently produced through the oleochemical pathway, to make products such as renewable diesel and biojet fuel. However, the cost, sustainability, and availability of the lipid/fatty acid feedstocks are significant challenges that need to be addressed. In the longer-term, it is likely that commercialmore » growth in drop-in biofuels will be based on lignocellulosic feedstocks. However, these technologies have been slow to develop and have been hampered by several technoeconomic challenges. For example, the gasification/Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis route suffers from high capital costs and economies of scale difficulties, while the economical production of high quality syngas remains a significant challenge. Although pyrolysis/hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) based technologies are promising, the upgrading of pyrolysis oils to higher specification fuels has encountered several technical challenges, such as high catalyst cost and short catalyst lifespan. Biochemical routes to drop-in fuels have the advantage of producing single molecules with simple chemistry. Moreover, the high value of these molecules in other markets such as renewable chemical precursors and fragrances will limit their use for fuel. In the near-term, (1-5 years) it is likely that, 'conventional' drop-in biofuels will be produced predominantly via the oleochemical route, due to the relative simplicity and maturity of this pathway.« less

How to Extend the Capabilities of Space Systems for Long Duration Space Exploration Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marzwell, Neville I.; Waterman, Robert D.; KrishnaKumar, Kalmanje; Waterman, Susan J.

2005-01-01

For sustainable Exploration Missions the need exists to assemble systems-of-systems in space, on the Moon or on other planetary surfaces. To fulfill this need new and innovative system architecture is needed that can be satisfied with the present lift capability of existing rocket technology without the added cost of developing a new heavy lift vehicle. To enable ultra-long life missions with minimum redundancy and lighter mass the need exists to develop system soft,i,are and hardware reconfigurability, which enables increasing functionality and multiple use of launched assets while at the same time overcoming any components failures. Also the need exists to develop the ability to dynamically demate and reassemble individual system elements during a mission in order to work around failed hardware or changed mission requirements. Therefore to meet the goals of Space Exploration Missions in hiteroperability and Reconfigurability, many challenges must be addressed to transform the traditional static avionics architecture into architecture with dynamic capabilities. The objective of this paper is to introduce concepts associated with reconfigurable computer systems; review the various needs and challenges associated with reconfigurable avionics space systems; provide an operational example that illustrates the needs applicable to either the Crew Exploration Vehicle or a collection of "Habot like" mobile surface elements; summarize the approaches that address key challenges to acceptance of a Flexible, Intelligent, Modular and Affordable reconfigurable avionics space system.

Formal Versus Informal Interventions for Challenging Behaviour in Persons with Intellectual Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feldman, M. A.; Atkinson, L.; Foti-Gervais, L.; Condillac, R.

2004-01-01

Although effective, humane treatments exist for persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) who have challenging behaviour, little research has examined the extent to which clients receive formal, documented vs. undocumented interventions. Caregivers (of 625 persons with ID living in community and institutional residences in Ontario, Canada) were…

Success in challenging time: Important lessons learned from the US beekeeping industry

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The United States plays a leadership role in the global beekeeping and honey industries. This article summarizes the roles of honey bees in agriculture and the key challenges facing the US beekeeping industry as well as innovative solutions to existing problems. The article also provides a review ...

THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE: THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S RESPONSE TO INVASIVE SPECIES

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responding to the scientific and regulatory challenges of invasive species in a variety of ways. One response has been to use existing programs and regulations, as appropriate, to address invasive species. A recent example is th...

Development of a sheep challenge model for Rift Valley fever

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a zoonotic disease that causes severe epizootic disease in ruminants, characterized by mass abortion and high mortality rates in younger animals. The development of a reliable challenge model is an important prerequisite for evaluation of existing and novel vaccines. A stu...

Institutional Potential for Online Learning: A Hong Kong Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donoghue, Sue L.

2006-01-01

Hong Kong's tertiary education environment has changed dramatically in recent years with universities now facing specific educational challenges in the areas of critical thinking, "life-long learning" and English language. The question exists as to what pedagogic developments will best allow the universities to address these challenges.…

"That's Not Quite the Way We See It": The Epistemological Challenge of Visual Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wall, Kate; Higgins, Steve; Hall, Elaine; Woolner, Pam

2013-01-01

In research textbooks, and much of the research practice, they describe, qualitative processes and interpretivist epistemologies tend to dominate visual methodology. This article challenges the assumptions behind this dominance. Using exemplification from three existing visual data sets produced through one large education research project, this…

Potential and challenges in use of thermal imaging for humid region irrigation system management

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Thermal imaging has shown potential to assist with many aspects of irrigation management including scheduling water application, detecting leaky irrigation canals, and gauging the overall effectiveness of water distribution networks used in furrow irrigation. Many challenges exist for the use of the...

Striving for consistency in a national assessment: The challengest of applying a reference-condition approach at a continental scale

EPA Science Inventory

One of the biggest challenges when conducting a continental-scale assessment of streams is setting appropriate expectations for the assessed sites. The challenge occurs for 2 reasons: 1) tremendous natural environmental heterogeneity exists within a continental landscape and 2) r...

Career Advancement of Women Senior Academic Administrators in Indonesia: Supports and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murniati, Cecilia Titiek

2012-01-01

Increasing numbers of women have gained access to college and the college teaching profession worldwide. However, women continue to be underrepresented in academic, research, and leadership positions. Women who have aspirations for top leadership positions still encounter numerous internal and external challenges. Existent literature on women…

Learning to Lead Together: The Promise and Challenge of Sharing Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chrispeels, Janet H., Ed.

2004-01-01

"Learning to Lead Together: The Promise and Challenge of Sharing Leadership" examines the dilemmas for school leaders and administrators, and the benefits for schools and students, when principals work with teachers (and their communities) to share leadership. Most schools function within existing hierarchical structures that contradict…

Challenges Facing Chinese International Students Studying in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ching, Yuerong; Renes, Susan L.; McMurrow, Samantha; Simpson, Joni; Strange, Anthony T.

2017-01-01

Chinese international students often find it challenging to adjust to attending college in the United States (US). There is limited research addressing Chinese international college students' adjustment in the US. Drawing on what literature exists combined with research addressing Chinese immigrants' transition and international students'…

Current Challenges in Commercially Producing Biofuels from Lignocellulosic Biomass

PubMed Central

Balan, Venkatesh

2014-01-01

Biofuels that are produced from biobased materials are a good alternative to petroleum based fuels. They offer several benefits to society and the environment. Producing second generation biofuels is even more challenging than producing first generation biofuels due the complexity of the biomass and issues related to producing, harvesting, and transporting less dense biomass to centralized biorefineries. In addition to this logistic challenge, other challenges with respect to processing steps in converting biomass to liquid transportation fuel like pretreatment, hydrolysis, microbial fermentation, and fuel separation still exist and are discussed in this review. The possible coproducts that could be produced in the biorefinery and their importance to reduce the processing cost of biofuel are discussed. About $1 billion was spent in the year 2012 by the government agencies in US to meet the mandate to replace 30% existing liquid transportation fuels by 2022 which is 36 billion gallons/year. Other countries in the world have set their own targets to replace petroleum fuel by biofuels. Because of the challenges listed in this review and lack of government policies to create the demand for biofuels, it may take more time for the lignocellulosic biofuels to hit the market place than previously projected. PMID:25937989

Physiological predictors of Hypoxic Challenge Testing (HCT) outcomes in Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD).

PubMed

Barratt, Shaney L; Shaw, Jonathon; Jones, Rachel; Bibby, Anna; Adamali, Huzaifa; Mustfa, Naveed; Cliff, Ian; Stone, Helen; Chaudhuri, Nazia

2018-02-01

Pre-flight risk assessments are currently recommended for all Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) patients. Hypoxic challenge testing (HCT) can inform regarding the need for supplemental in-flight oxygen but variables which might predict the outcome of HCT and thus guide referral for assessment, are unknown. A retrospective analysis of ILD patients attending for HCT at three tertiary care ILD referral centres was undertaken to investigate the concordance between HCT and existing predictive equations for prediction of in-flight hypoxia. Physiological variables that might predict a hypoxaemic response to HCT were also explored with the aim of developing a practical pre-flight assessment algorithm for ILD patients. A total of 106 ILD patients (69 of whom (65%) had Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)) underwent HCT. Of these, 54 (51%) patients (of whom 37 (69%) had IPF) failed HCT and were recommended supplemental in-flight oxygen. Existing predictive equations were unable to accurately predict the outcome of HCT. ILD patients who failed HCT had significantly lower resting SpO 2 , baseline PaO 2, reduced walking distance, FEV1, FVC and TLCO, but higher GAP index than those who passed HCT. TLCO >50% predicted and PaO 2 >9.42 kPa were independent predictors for passing HCT. Using these discriminators, a novel, practical pre-flight algorithm for evaluation of ILD patients is proposed. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Toward Fully in Silico Melting Point Prediction Using Molecular Simulations

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

Zhang, Y; Maginn, EJ

2013-03-01

Melting point is one of the most fundamental and practically important properties of a compound. Molecular computation of melting points. However, all of these methods simulation methods have been developed for the accurate need an experimental crystal structure as input, which means that such calculations are not really predictive since the melting point can be measured easily in experiments once a crystal structure is known. On the other hand, crystal structure prediction (CSP) has become an active field and significant progress has been made, although challenges still exist. One of the main challenges is the existence of many crystal structuresmore » (polymorphs) that are very close in energy. Thermal effects and kinetic factors make the situation even more complicated, such that it is still not trivial to predict experimental crystal structures. In this work, we exploit the fact that free energy differences are often small between crystal structures. We show that accurate melting point predictions can be made by using a reasonable crystal structure from CSP as a starting point for a free energy-based melting point calculation. The key is that most crystal structures predicted by CSP have free energies that are close to that of the experimental structure. The proposed method was tested on two rigid molecules and the results suggest that a fully in silico melting point prediction method is possible.« less

Integrating community-based participatory research and informatics approaches to improve the engagement and health of underserved populations

PubMed Central

Schaefbauer, Chris L; Campbell, Terrance R; Senteio, Charles; Siek, Katie A; Bakken, Suzanne; Veinot, Tiffany C

2016-01-01

Objective We compare 5 health informatics research projects that applied community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches with the goal of extending existing CBPR principles to address issues specific to health informatics research. Materials and methods We conducted a cross-case analysis of 5 diverse case studies with 1 common element: integration of CBPR approaches into health informatics research. After reviewing publications and other case-related materials, all coauthors engaged in collaborative discussions focused on CBPR. Researchers mapped each case to an existing CBPR framework, examined each case individually for success factors and barriers, and identified common patterns across cases. Results Benefits of applying CBPR approaches to health informatics research across the cases included the following: developing more relevant research with wider impact, greater engagement with diverse populations, improved internal validity, more rapid translation of research into action, and the development of people. Challenges of applying CBPR to health informatics research included requirements to develop strong, sustainable academic-community partnerships and mismatches related to cultural and temporal factors. Several technology-related challenges, including needs to define ownership of technology outputs and to build technical capacity with community partners, also emerged from our analysis. Finally, we created several principles that extended an existing CBPR framework to specifically address health informatics research requirements. Conclusions Our cross-case analysis yielded valuable insights regarding CBPR implementation in health informatics research and identified valuable lessons useful for future CBPR-based research. The benefits of applying CBPR approaches can be significant, particularly in engaging populations that are typically underserved by health care and in designing patient-facing technology. PMID:26228766

Effects by periodontitis on pristane-induced arthritis in rats.

PubMed

Eriksson, Kaja; Lönnblom, Erik; Tour, Gregory; Kats, Anna; Mydel, Piotr; Georgsson, Pierre; Hultgren, Catharina; Kharlamova, Nastya; Norin, Ulrika; Jönsson, Jörgen; Lundmark, Anna; Hellvard, Annelie; Lundberg, Karin; Jansson, Leif; Holmdahl, Rikard; Yucel-Lindberg, Tülay

2016-11-03

An infection-immune association of periodontal disease with rheumatoid arthritis has been suggested. This study aimed to investigate the effect of pre-existing periodontitis on the development and the immune/inflammatory response of pristane-induced arthritis. We investigated the effect of periodontitis induced by ligature placement and Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) infection, in combination with Fusobacterium nucleatum to promote its colonization, on the development of pristane-induced arthritis (PIA) in rats (Dark Agouti). Disease progression and severity of periodontitis and arthritis was monitored using clinical assessment, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT)/intraoral radiographs, antibody response, the inflammatory markers such as α-1-acid glycoprotein (α-1-AGP) and c-reactive protein (CRP) as well as cytokine multiplex profiling at different time intervals after induction. Experimentally induced periodontitis manifested clinically (P < 0.05) prior to pristane injection and progressed steadily until the end of experiments (15 weeks), as compared to the non-ligated arthritis group. Injection of pristane 8 weeks after periodontitis-induction led to severe arthritis in all rats demonstrating that the severity of arthritis was not affected by the pre-existence of periodontitis. Endpoint analysis showed that 89% of the periodontitis-affected animals were positive for antibodies against arginine gingipain B and furthermore, the plasma antibody levels to a citrullinated P. gingivalis peptidylarginine deiminase (PPAD) peptide (denoted CPP3) were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in periodontitis rats with PIA. Additionally, there was a trend towards increased pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels, and increased α-1-AGP levels in plasma from periodontitis-challenged PIA rats. Pre-existence of periodontitis induced antibodies against citrullinated peptide derived from PPAD in rats with PIA. However, there were no differences in the development or severity of PIA between periodontitis challenged and periodontitis free rats.

Distributed Energy Systems Integration and Demand Optimization for Autonomous Operations and Electric Grid Transactions

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

Ghatikar, Girish; Mashayekh, Salman; Stadler, Michael

Distributed power systems in the U.S. and globally are evolving to provide reliable and clean energy to consumers. In California, existing regulations require significant increases in renewable generation, as well as identification of customer-side distributed energy resources (DER) controls, communication technologies, and standards for interconnection with the electric grid systems. As DER deployment expands, customer-side DER control and optimization will be critical for system flexibility and demand response (DR) participation, which improves the economic viability of DER systems. Current DER systems integration and communication challenges include leveraging the existing DER and DR technology and systems infrastructure, and enabling optimized cost,more » energy and carbon choices for customers to deploy interoperable grid transactions and renewable energy systems at scale. Our paper presents a cost-effective solution to these challenges by exploring communication technologies and information models for DER system integration and interoperability. This system uses open standards and optimization models for resource planning based on dynamic-pricing notifications and autonomous operations within various domains of the smart grid energy system. It identifies architectures and customer engagement strategies in dynamic DR pricing transactions to generate feedback information models for load flexibility, load profiles, and participation schedules. The models are tested at a real site in California—Fort Hunter Liggett (FHL). Furthermore, our results for FHL show that the model fits within the existing and new DR business models and networked systems for transactive energy concepts. Integrated energy systems, communication networks, and modeling tools that coordinate supply-side networks and DER will enable electric grid system operators to use DER for grid transactions in an integrated system.« less

A lack of consistent evidence for cortisol dysregulation in premenstrual syndrome/premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

PubMed

Kiesner, Jeff; Granger, Douglas A

2016-03-01

Although decades of research has examined the association between cortisol regulation and premenstrual syndrome/premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMS/PMDD), no review exists to provide a general set of conclusions from the extant research. In the present review we summarize and interpret research that has tested for associations between PMS/PMDD and cortisol levels and reactivity (n=38 original research articles). Three types of studies are examined: correlational studies, environmental-challenge studies, and pharmacological-challenge studies. Overall, there was very little evidence that women with and without PMS/PMDD demonstrate systematic and predictable mean-level differences in cortisol, or differences in cortisol response/reactivity to challenges. Methodological differences in sample size, the types of symptoms used for diagnosis (physical and psychological vs. only affective), or the type of cortisol measure used (serum vs. salivary), did not account for differences between studies that did and did not find significant effects. Caution is recommended before accepting the conclusion of null effects, and recommendations are made that more rigorous research be conducted, considering symptom-specificity, within-person analyses, and multiple parameters of cortisol regulation, before final conclusions are drawn. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Early detection of sporadic pancreatic cancer: summative review.

PubMed

Chari, Suresh T; Kelly, Kimberly; Hollingsworth, Michael A; Thayer, Sarah P; Ahlquist, David A; Andersen, Dana K; Batra, Surinder K; Brentnall, Teresa A; Canto, Marcia; Cleeter, Deborah F; Firpo, Matthew A; Gambhir, Sanjiv Sam; Go, Vay Liang W; Hines, O Joe; Kenner, Barbara J; Klimstra, David S; Lerch, Markus M; Levy, Michael J; Maitra, Anirban; Mulvihill, Sean J; Petersen, Gloria M; Rhim, Andrew D; Simeone, Diane M; Srivastava, Sudhir; Tanaka, Masao; Vinik, Aaron I; Wong, David

2015-07-01

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is estimated to become the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States by 2020. Early detection is the key to improving survival in PC. Addressing this urgent need, the Kenner Family Research Fund conducted the inaugural Early Detection of Sporadic Pancreatic Cancer Summit Conference in 2014 in conjunction with the 45th Anniversary Meeting of the American Pancreatic Association and Japan Pancreas Society. This seminal convening of international representatives from science, practice, and clinical research was designed to facilitate challenging interdisciplinary conversations to generate innovative ideas leading to the creation of a defined collaborative strategic pathway for the future of the field. An in-depth summary of current efforts in the field, analysis of gaps in specific areas of expertise, and challenges that exist in early detection is presented within distinct areas of inquiry: Case for Early Detection: Definitions, Detection, Survival, and Challenges; Biomarkers for Early Detection; Imaging; and Collaborative Studies. In addition, an overview of efforts in familial PC is presented in an addendum to this article. It is clear from the summit deliberations that only strategically designed collaboration among investigators, institutions, and funders will lead to significant progress in early detection of sporadic PC.

Early Detection of Sporadic Pancreatic Cancer

PubMed Central

Chari, Suresh T.; Kelly, Kimberly; Hollingsworth, Michael A.; Thayer, Sarah P.; Ahlquist, David A.; Andersen, Dana K.; Batra, Surinder K.; Brentnall, Teresa A.; Canto, Marcia; Cleeter, Deborah F.; Firpo, Matthew A.; Gambhir, Sanjiv Sam; Go, Vay Liang W.; Hines, O. Joe; Kenner, Barbara J.; Klimstra, David S.; Lerch, Markus M.; Levy, Michael J.; Maitra, Anirban; Mulvihill, Sean J.; Petersen, Gloria M.; Rhim, Andrew D.; Simeone, Diane M.; Srivastava, Sudhir; Tanaka, Masao; Vinik, Aaron I.; Wong, David

2015-01-01

Abstract Pancreatic cancer (PC) is estimated to become the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States by 2020. Early detection is the key to improving survival in PC. Addressing this urgent need, the Kenner Family Research Fund conducted the inaugural Early Detection of Sporadic Pancreatic Cancer Summit Conference in 2014 in conjunction with the 45th Anniversary Meeting of the American Pancreatic Association and Japan Pancreas Society. This seminal convening of international representatives from science, practice, and clinical research was designed to facilitate challenging interdisciplinary conversations to generate innovative ideas leading to the creation of a defined collaborative strategic pathway for the future of the field. An in-depth summary of current efforts in the field, analysis of gaps in specific areas of expertise, and challenges that exist in early detection is presented within distinct areas of inquiry: Case for Early Detection: Definitions, Detection, Survival, and Challenges; Biomarkers for Early Detection; Imaging; and Collaborative Studies. In addition, an overview of efforts in familial PC is presented in an addendum to this article. It is clear from the summit deliberations that only strategically designed collaboration among investigators, institutions, and funders will lead to significant progress in early detection of sporadic PC. PMID:25931254

Experiences of care by Australians with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder

PubMed Central

McMahon, J.

2015-01-01

Accessible summary Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a complex and challenging mental health condition for the person and service providers who support them.This paper reports on the results of a survey of 153 people with a diagnosis of BPD about their experiences of attempting to receive support in managing this mental health condition. It provides their perceptions of a range of experiences not reported in the existing literature, including general practitioner roles, urban and rural differences, public and private hospital differences, and comparison of usefulness of support across multiple support types.People with a diagnosis of BPD continue to experience significant discrimination when attempting to get their needs met within both public and private health services. Further education for nurses and other health professionals is indicated to address pervasive negative attitudes towards people with a diagnosis of BPD. Abstract There is limited understanding of the experience of seeking and receiving treatment and care by people with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD), their perceptions of barriers to care and the quality of services they receive. This study aimed to explore these experiences from the perspective of Australians with this diagnosis. An invitation to participate in an online survey was distributed across multiple consumer and carer organizations and mental health services, by the Private Mental Health Consumer Carer Network (Australia) in 2011. Responses from 153 people with a diagnosis of BPD showed that they experience significant challenges and discrimination when attempting to get their needs met within both public and private health services, including general practice. Seeking help from hospital emergency departments during crises was particularly challenging. Metropolitan and rural differences, and gender differences, were also apparent. Community supports were perceived as inadequate to meet their needs. This study provides data on a range of experiences not reported in existing literature, including general practitioner roles, urban and rural differences, public and private hospital differences, and comparison of usefulness of support across multiple support types. Its findings can help inform better training for health professionals and better care for this population. PMID:26122817

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

Crolley, R.; Thompson, M.

There has been a need for a faster and cheaper deployment model for information technology (IT) solutions to address waste management needs at US Department of Energy (DOE) complex sites for years. Budget constraints, challenges in deploying new technologies, frequent travel, and increased job demands for existing employees have prevented IT organizations from staying abreast of new technologies or deploying them quickly. Despite such challenges, IT organizations have added significant value to waste management handling through better worker safety, tracking, characterization, and disposition at DOE complex sites. Systems developed for site-specific missions have broad applicability to waste management challenges andmore » in many cases have been expanded to meet other waste missions. Radio frequency identification (RFID) and global positioning satellite (GPS)-enabled solutions have reduced the risk of radiation exposure and safety risks. New web-based and mobile applications have enabled precision characterization and control of nuclear materials. These solutions have also improved operational efficiencies and shortened schedules, reduced cost, and improved regulatory compliance. Collaboration between US Department of Energy (DOE) complex sites is improving time to delivery and cost efficiencies for waste management missions with new information technologies (IT) such as wireless computing, global positioning satellite (GPS), and radio frequency identification (RFID). Integrated solutions developed at separate DOE complex sites by new technology Centers of Excellence (CoE) have increased material control and accountability, worker safety, and environmental sustainability. CoEs offer other DOE sister sites significant cost and time savings by leveraging their technology expertise in project scoping, implementation, and ongoing operations.« less

Current Advances in Developing Inhibitors of Bacterial Multidrug 
Efflux Pumps

PubMed Central

Mahmood, Hannah Y.; Jamshidi, Shirin; Sutton, J. Mark; Rahman, Khondaker M.

2016-01-01

Antimicrobial resistance represents a significant challenge to future healthcare provision. An acronym ESKAPEE has been derived from the names of the organisms recognised as the major threats although there are a number of other organisms, notably Neisseria gonorrhoeae, that have become equally challenging to treat in the clinic. These pathogens are characterised by the ability to rapidly develop and/or acquire resistance mechanisms in response to exposure to different antimicrobial agents. A key part of the armoury of these pathogens is a series of efflux pumps, which effectively exclude or reduce the intracellular concentration of a large number of antibiotics, making the pathogens significantly more resistant. These efflux pumps are the topic of considerable interest, both from the perspective of basic understanding of efflux pump function, and its role in drug resistance but also as targets for the development of novel adjunct therapies. The necessity to overcome antimicrobial resistance has encouraged investigations into the characterisation of resistance-modifying efflux pump inhibitors to block the mechanisms of drug extrusion, thereby restoring antibacterial susceptibility and returning existing antibiotics into the clinic. A greater understanding of drug recognition and transport by multidrug efflux pumps is needed to develop clinically useful inhibitors, given the breadth of molecules that can be effluxed by these systems. This review discusses different bacterial EPIs originating from both natural source and chemical synthesis and examines the challenges to designing successful EPIs that can be useful against multidrug resistant bacteria. PMID:26947776

Investigational drugs in early development for treating dengue infection.

PubMed

Beesetti, Hemalatha; Khanna, Navin; Swaminathan, Sathyamangalam

2016-09-01

Dengue has emerged as the most significant arboviral disease of the current century. A drug for dengue is an urgent unmet need. As conventional drug discovery efforts have not produced any promising clinical candidates, there is a shift toward re-positioning pre-existing drugs for dengue to fast-track dengue drug development. This article provides an update on the current status of recently completed and ongoing dengue drug trials. All dengue drug trials described in this article were identified from a list of >230 trials that were returned upon searching the World Health Organization's International Clinical Trials Registry Platform web portal using the search term 'dengue' on December 31(st), 2015. None of the handful of drugs tested so far has yielded encouraging results. Early trial experience has served to emphasize the challenge of drug testing in the short therapeutic time window available, the need for tools to predict 'high-risk' patients early on and the limitations of the existing pre-clinical model systems. Significant investment of efforts and resources is a must before the availability of a safe, effective and inexpensive dengue drug becomes a reality. Currently, supportive fluid therapy remains the only option available for dengue treatment.

Statistical Methods Applied to Gamma-ray Spectroscopy Algorithms in Nuclear Security Missions

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

Fagan, Deborah K.; Robinson, Sean M.; Runkle, Robert C.

2012-10-01

In a wide range of nuclear security missions, gamma-ray spectroscopy is a critical research and development priority. One particularly relevant challenge is the interdiction of special nuclear material for which gamma-ray spectroscopy supports the goals of detecting and identifying gamma-ray sources. This manuscript examines the existing set of spectroscopy methods, attempts to categorize them by the statistical methods on which they rely, and identifies methods that have yet to be considered. Our examination shows that current methods effectively estimate the effect of counting uncertainty but in many cases do not address larger sources of decision uncertainty—ones that are significantly moremore » complex. We thus explore the premise that significantly improving algorithm performance requires greater coupling between the problem physics that drives data acquisition and statistical methods that analyze such data. Untapped statistical methods, such as Bayes Modeling Averaging and hierarchical and empirical Bayes methods have the potential to reduce decision uncertainty by more rigorously and comprehensively incorporating all sources of uncertainty. We expect that application of such methods will demonstrate progress in meeting the needs of nuclear security missions by improving on the existing numerical infrastructure for which these analyses have not been conducted.« less

A Double Whammy: Health Promotion Among Cancer Survivors with Pre-Existing Functional Limitations

PubMed Central

Volker, Deborah L.; Becker, Heather; Kang, Sook Jung; Kullberg, Vicki

2012-01-01

Purpose/Objectives To explore the experience of living with a cancer diagnosis within the context of a pre-existing functional disability and to identify strategies to promote health in this growing population of cancer survivors. Research Approach Qualitative descriptive Setting Four sites in the United States Participants 19 female cancer survivors with pre-existing disabling conditions Methodologic Approach Four focus groups were conducted. The audiotapes were transcribed and analyzed using content analysis techniques. Main Research Variables cancer survivor, disability, health promotion Findings Analytic categories included living with a cancer diagnosis, health promotion strategies, and wellness program development for survivors with pre-existing functional limitations. Participants described many challenges associated with managing a cancer diagnosis on top of living with a chronic disabling functional limitation. They identified strategies they used to maintain their health and topics to be included in health promotion programs tailored for this unique group of cancer survivors. Conclusions The “double whammy” of a cancer diagnosis for persons with pre-existing functional limitations requires modification of health promotion strategies and programs to promote wellness in this group of cancer survivors. Interpretation Nurses and other health care providers must attend to patients’ pre-existing conditions as well as the challenges of the physical, emotional, social, and economic sequelae of a cancer diagnosis. PMID:23269771

Slavery, Sambo, and Separatism.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rockett, Rocky L.

The question addressed refers to the consequences which accrue for sociologists when an accepted historical interpretation is suddenly challenged by rival historians who present either additional data or simply a new interpretation of the existing data. As of 1974, such a controversial situation exists with respect to the history of slavery, and a…

Teenage Social Relationships: Effect on Social Adjustment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wyche, Yolandria; McGahey, James Todd; Jenkins, Marvin

2017-01-01

High school female students often have challenges transitioning to high school. There are many possible obstacles that exist but some female students may experience difficulties with maintaining interpersonal relationship with their female peers. It is very common for high school settings to have various types of social cliques that exist. In some…

Developing Culturally Responsive Teaching through Professional Noticing within Teacher Educator Modelling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Averill, Robin; Anderson, Dayle; Drake, Michael

2015-01-01

Much evidence exists that culturally responsive and equitable teaching practices are challenging to develop. Evidence exists that in-the-moment coaching of "rehearsals" of practice can help foster mathematics teaching strategies, but how such coaching can assist the development of culturally responsive practice is less clear. Drawn from…

Multi-channel probes to understand fission dynamics

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

Mosby, Shea Morgan

2016-04-15

Explaining the origin of the elements is a major outstanding question in nuclear astrophysics. Observed elemental abundance distribution shows strong nuclear physics effects. In conclusion, neutron-induced reactions are important for nuclear astrophysics and applied fields in nuclear energy and security. LANSCE has a program to address many of these questions directly with neutron beams on (near-)stable nuclei. Increasing demand for correlated data to test details of fission models poses additional challenges. Possibilities exist to extend existing experimental efforts to radioactive beam facilities. Kinematic focusing from using inverse kinematics has potential to circumvent some challenges associated with measuring correlations between fissionmore » output channels.« less

Co-management of Water, Energy, and Food Systems: Where Are We and What Does it Take for Implementation?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akhbari, M.

2015-12-01

Water, energy, and food are closely bound in consumption and production patterns. To increase resource efficiency and productivity in a sustainable fashion, co-management of water, energy, and food resources is becoming inevitable. These co-management schemes require implementation of nexus-based approaches, which takes the interconnections of water, energy, and food systems into account and considers that development in one area may have major effects on others. While society, economy and environment are the action areas to implement a nexus approach, finance, governance, infrastructure and technology can create solutions. Existing obstacles in the action areas and challenges associated with creating solutions increase the complexities to develop nexus-based approaches and complicate their implementation. This study, identifies existing social, economic, and environmental obstacles, financial demands and constraints, shortcomings in governance, and infrastructure problems in the United States as the main challenges that need to be overcome. Then, it will be discussed how advanced technology could be employed to facilitate implementation of nexus-based approaches, followed by providing some recommendations to enable institutions to employ new technology, overcome existing obstacles, and address challenges in order to implement nexus-based management approaches.

Mastering the broadband challenge: next-generation SONET in a packet world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farhi, Eyal

2001-10-01

The continuing liberalization of the world's telecommunications markets and the progressive convergence of voice, data, video and Internet communication are prompting telecommunication service providers to both expand and enhance their service capabilities. As bandwidth-hungry applications proliferate, and the demand for data and data services grows, the requirement for broadband communications appears to be insatiable. To provide the expected level of service in this environment of rapidly increasing demand, telcos and service providers must invest in an expanded network. However, to remain competitive and profitable, they must also continue to leverage their existing infrastructure investment. This paper will examine the current challenges network operators are facing today with the deployment of broadband technologies as they strive to maintain existing infrastructure investments while providing new services to their customers and developing added value network operations. This paper will explore various broadband technologies (optical/wireless) that operate on the primary SDH/SONET standards, their topologies and inherent benefits, which provide operators with solutions to the broadband challenge. New customer demands, such as high-speed Data transmissions (increased Internet use), coupled with operators' continuous need for network optimization, have thrown a wrench into daily operations. Therefore, the need to modernize existing networks has become paramount.

Incorporation of the HIV-1 microbicide cyanovirin-N in a food product

PubMed Central

Li, Ming; Patton, Dorothy L.; Cosgrove-Sweeney, Yvonne; Ratner, Deena; Rohan, Lisa C.; Cole, Alexander M.; Tarwater, Patrick M.; Gupta, Phalguni; Ramratnam, Bharat

2012-01-01

An urgent need exists for HIV-1 microbicides. Here, we describe the in vivo testing of lactic acid bacteria bioengineered to secrete cyanovirin-N. We fed pigtail macaques a yogurt formulation that used bioengineered strains as a starter culture. Cyanovirin-N expression could be detected in the rectal vault during and immediately after feeding. Ex vivo viral challenge of rectal tissue biopsies revealed that peak viral burden was significantly lower in tissue obtained from experimental animals compared to control animals. Formulation of candidate compounds in lactic acid bacteria and their oral administration appears to be a feasible strategy for mucosal delivery of microbicides. PMID:21926631

Politics, culture, and the legitimacy of disease: the case of Buerger's disease.

PubMed

Lockwood, Stephen J; Bresler, Scott C; Granter, Scott R

2016-09-01

Thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) or Buerger's disease is a rare form of vasculitis with distinctive clinical and pathological features that carries significant morbidity, often leading to amputation, and is strongly associated with tobacco smoking. Despite its distinctive clinicopathological characteristics, the existence of TAO as an entity sui generis was challenged for many years as it languished in relative obscurity. Then, as societal attitudes towards smoking changed, TAO not only became accepted as a disease entity, it quite literally became a poster child to illustrate the ills of smoking. Herein, we examine the history of TAO to illustrate the power of societal attitudes and politics in shaping medicine.

Analysis of the physiotherapy industry: challenges for marketing.

PubMed

Sheppard, L

1996-01-01

The physiotherapy industry can be analysed using Porter's (1979) five forces. Physiotherapy uses medical, geographic and funding segmentation. The power of the buyers in these segments is considerable. Substitutes are posing a threat to physiotherapy with few barriers to entry to operate in the health care environment. The suppliers, particularly doctors, have significant power in referring clients. Competitive rivalry for these clients can exist between individual physiotherapists and multi-disciplinary clinics. The difference in orientation of private and public physiotherapy can also be a basis for rivalry. Repositioning to view the client as both the supplier and recipients enables the physiotherapy industry to gain competitive advantage and ensures long term growth.

Managing Weight: What Do People with an Intellectual Disability Want from Mobile Technology?

PubMed

Smyth, Phil; McDowell, Claire; Leslie, Julian C; Leader, Geraldine; Donnelly, Mark; Simpson, Elizabeth; Skelly, Laura

2017-01-01

Obesity is a significant health challenge. People with Intellectual Disability (ID) are particularly vulnerable to developing obesity. Mobile technology has been developed to support the management of weight and obesity in the form of apps, although not with people with an ID in mind. As a result existing off-the-shelf weight management apps currently available may not be functional in supporting weight reduction within this population. This paper presents the results of consultations with people with ID regarding weight management, comfort with mobile technology and desired characteristics in apps designed for people with ID that target weight management.

Trends in the consumption of low-calorie sweeteners.

PubMed

Sylvetsky, Allison C; Rother, Kristina I

2016-10-01

Low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) offer a palatable alternative to caloric sugars such as sucrose (table sugar) and high fructose corn syrup and are commonly found in soft drinks, sweetener packets, grains, snack foods, dairy products, hygiene products, and medications. Consumption of LCS has increased significantly in recent years and while this trend is expected to continue, controversy exists surrounding their use. The purpose of this article is to review trends in the consumption of LCS, to summarize differences in LCS consumption across socio-demographic subgroups and subtypes of LCS-containing products, and to highlight important challenges in the accurate assessment of LCS consumption. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The case for undergraduate medical education in healthcare business and management.

PubMed

Hsu, Benson S; Hosokawa, Michael C; Maria, Bernard

2007-01-01

Current undergraduate medical education does notprepare students to approach the intricacies of healthcare business. This absence within medical education creates significant challenges for physicians throughout their careers. The field of academic medicine has clearly documented the need for medical education to prepare students for practice management, yet there exist only a small number of attempts at exposing students to healthcare business and management. The authors argue that this curriculum must start at the level ofundergraduate medical education. Furthermore, this curriculum must possess the basic components of support, integration, practicality, application, and continuation. Fulfilling these requirements will allow for the successful adaptation of the healthcare business and management curriculum.

Biodiversity and parasites of wildlife: helminths of Australasian marsupials.

PubMed

Beveridge, Ian; Spratt, David M

2015-04-01

Despite current attempts to document the extent of biodiversity on Earth, significant problems exist in fully documenting the helminth parasites of wildlife. Using the Australasian marsupials as an example, we examine some of these difficulties, including challenges in collecting uncommon host species, the ongoing description of new species of marsupials, the presence of cryptic species, and the decline in taxonomic expertise in Australia. Although optimistic global predictions have been made concerning the rate of discovery and description of new species of animals, these predictions may not apply in the case of specific groups of animals such as the Australasian marsupials. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using a Human Challenge Model of Infection to Measure Vaccine Efficacy: A Randomised, Controlled Trial Comparing the Typhoid Vaccines M01ZH09 with Placebo and Ty21a.

PubMed

Darton, Thomas C; Jones, Claire; Blohmke, Christoph J; Waddington, Claire S; Zhou, Liqing; Peters, Anna; Haworth, Kathryn; Sie, Rebecca; Green, Christopher A; Jeppesen, Catherine A; Moore, Maria; Thompson, Ben A V; John, Tessa; Kingsley, Robert A; Yu, Ly-Mee; Voysey, Merryn; Hindle, Zoe; Lockhart, Stephen; Sztein, Marcelo B; Dougan, Gordon; Angus, Brian; Levine, Myron M; Pollard, Andrew J

2016-08-01

Typhoid persists as a major cause of global morbidity. While several licensed vaccines to prevent typhoid are available, they are of only moderate efficacy and unsuitable for use in children less than two years of age. Development of new efficacious vaccines is complicated by the human host-restriction of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) and lack of clear correlates of protection. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the protective efficacy of a single dose of the oral vaccine candidate, M01ZH09, in susceptible volunteers by direct typhoid challenge. We performed a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in healthy adult participants at a single centre in Oxford (UK). Participants were allocated to receive one dose of double-blinded M01ZH09 or placebo or 3-doses of open-label Ty21a. Twenty-eight days after vaccination, participants were challenged with 104CFU S. Typhi Quailes strain. The efficacy of M01ZH09 compared with placebo (primary outcome) was assessed as the percentage of participants reaching pre-defined endpoints constituting typhoid diagnosis (fever and/or bacteraemia) during the 14 days after challenge. Ninety-nine participants were randomised to receive M01ZH09 (n = 33), placebo (n = 33) or 3-doses of Ty21a (n = 33). After challenge, typhoid was diagnosed in 18/31 (58.1% [95% CI 39.1 to 75.5]) M01ZH09, 20/30 (66.7% [47.2 to 87.2]) placebo, and 13/30 (43.3% [25.5 to 62.6]) Ty21a vaccine recipients. Vaccine efficacy (VE) for one dose of M01ZH09 was 13% [95% CI -29 to 41] and 35% [-5 to 60] for 3-doses of Ty21a. Retrospective multivariable analyses demonstrated that pre-existing anti-Vi antibody significantly reduced susceptibility to infection after challenge; a 1 log increase in anti-Vi IgG resulting in a 71% decrease in the hazard ratio of typhoid diagnosis ([95% CI 30 to 88%], p = 0.006) during the 14 day challenge period. Limitations to the study included the requirement to limit the challenge period prior to treatment to 2 weeks, the intensity of the study procedures and the high challenge dose used resulting in a stringent model. Despite successfully demonstrating the use of a human challenge study to directly evaluate vaccine efficacy, a single-dose M01ZH09 failed to demonstrate significant protection after challenge with virulent Salmonella Typhi in this model. Anti-Vi antibody detected prior to vaccination played a major role in outcome after challenge. ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01405521) and EudraCT (number 2011-000381-35).

A Discussion of Two Challenges of Non-cooperative Satellite Refueling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coll, Gregory C.; Aranyos, Thomas; Nufer, Brian M.; Kandula, Max; Tomasic, David J.

2015-01-01

There is interest from government and commercial aerospace communities in advancing propellant transfer technology for in-orbit refueling of satellites. This paper introduces two challenges to a Propellant Transfer System (PTS) under development for demonstration of non-cooperative satellite refueling. The PTS is being developed to transfer storable propellant (heritage hypergolic fuels and oxidizers as well as xenon) safely and reliably from one servicer satellite to a non-cooperative typical existing client satellite. NASA is in the project evaluation planning stages for conducting a first time on-orbit demonstration to an existing government asset. The system manages pressure, flow rate totalization, temperature and other parameters to control the condition of the propellant being transferred to the client. It keeps the propellant isolated while performing leak checks of itself and the client interface before transferring propellant. A major challenge is to design a safe, reliable system with some new technologies while maintaining a reasonable cost.

A Vision for the Exploration of Mars: Robotic Precursors Followed by Humans to Mars Orbit in 2033

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sellers, Piers J.; Garvin, James B.; Kinney, Anne L.; Amato, Michael J.; White, Nicholas E.

2012-01-01

The reformulation of the Mars program gives NASA a rare opportunity to deliver a credible vision in which humans, robots, and advancements in information technology combine to open the deep space frontier to Mars. There is a broad challenge in the reformulation of the Mars exploration program that truly sets the stage for: 'a strategic collaboration between the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) and the Office of the Chief Technologist, for the next several decades of exploring Mars'.Any strategy that links all three challenge areas listed into a true long term strategic program necessitates discussion. NASA's SMD and HEOMD should accept the President's challenge and vision by developing an integrated program that will enable a human expedition to Mars orbit in 2033 with the goal of returning samples suitable for addressing the question of whether life exists or ever existed on Mars

A Discussion of Two Challenges of Non-Cooperative Satellite Refueling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coll, Gregory T.; Aranyos, Thomas J.; Nufer, Brian M.; Tomasic, David; Kandula, Max

2015-01-01

There is interest from government and commercial aerospace communities in advancing propellant transfer technology for in-orbit refueling of satellites. This paper introduces two challenges to a Propellant Transfer System (PTS) under development for demonstration of non-cooperative satellite refueling. The PTS is being developed to transfer storable propellant (heritage hypergolic fuels and oxidizers as well as xenon) safely and reliably from one servicer satellite to a non-cooperative typical existing client satellite. NASA is in the project evaluation planning stages for conducting a first time on-orbit demonstration to an existing government asset. The system manages pressure, flow rate totalization, temperature and other parameters to control the condition of the propellant being transferred to the client. It keeps the propellant isolated while performing leak checks of itself and the client interface before transferring propellant. A major challenge is to design a safe, reliable system with some new technologies while maintaining a reasonable cost.

Hierarchical event selection for video storyboards with a case study on snooker video visualization.

PubMed

Parry, Matthew L; Legg, Philip A; Chung, David H S; Griffiths, Iwan W; Chen, Min

2011-12-01

Video storyboard, which is a form of video visualization, summarizes the major events in a video using illustrative visualization. There are three main technical challenges in creating a video storyboard, (a) event classification, (b) event selection and (c) event illustration. Among these challenges, (a) is highly application-dependent and requires a significant amount of application specific semantics to be encoded in a system or manually specified by users. This paper focuses on challenges (b) and (c). In particular, we present a framework for hierarchical event representation, and an importance-based selection algorithm for supporting the creation of a video storyboard from a video. We consider the storyboard to be an event summarization for the whole video, whilst each individual illustration on the board is also an event summarization but for a smaller time window. We utilized a 3D visualization template for depicting and annotating events in illustrations. To demonstrate the concepts and algorithms developed, we use Snooker video visualization as a case study, because it has a concrete and agreeable set of semantic definitions for events and can make use of existing techniques of event detection and 3D reconstruction in a reliable manner. Nevertheless, most of our concepts and algorithms developed for challenges (b) and (c) can be applied to other application areas. © 2010 IEEE

Challenges to sustainability of hand hygiene at a rural hospital in Rwanda.

PubMed

Holmen, Ian C; Niyokwizerwa, Dan; Nyiranzayisaba, Berthine; Singer, Timothy; Safdar, Nasia

2017-08-01

Many hand hygiene (HH) programs have been implemented across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA); however, most of these have been in large, referral hospitals. Our objective was to assess the impact of HH programs aimed at improving compliance at a rural hospital, and to identify unique challenges to HH sustainability. Interventions to improve HH through providing handwashing stations, health care worker (HCW) training, and alcohol handrub were completed in 2014 and 2015. HH infrastructure, compliance, and glove use were assessed among HCWs after the intervention in 2015 and 2016. HCWs were interviewed about challenges to sustainability of HH compliance. Total HH compliance decreased 32.1% between 2015 and 2016 (P < .001). HH for patient protection was completed significantly less than HH for HCW protection in 2016, and HCWs appeared to substitute HH for patient protection with glove use. A high rate of physician turnover was associated with a larger decrease in HH compliance compared with nurses, and interviews suggested recruiting and retention of key personnel might play a role in HH sustainability. Availability of alcohol-based handrub in patient rooms decreased from 100% in 2015 to 79.5% in 2016 (P < .01). Many challenges exist to sustaining HH compliance in SSA. In rural settings, difficulty recruiting and retaining trained personnel, inconsistent availability in HH infrastructure, and variability in HCW HH training may be contributing factors. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Turner Syndrome: Four Challenges Across the Lifespan

PubMed Central

Sutton, Erica J; McInerney-Leo, Aideen; Bondy, Carolyn A; Gollust, Sarah E; King, Donnice; Biesecker, Barbara

2008-01-01

Turner syndrome (TS) is a sex chromosome condition that occurs in approximately 1/2500 live female births. Despite the prevalence of this chromosomal condition, the challenges these women face throughout their lives are not fully understood. This qualitative research study aimed to characterize the subjective experiences of individuals with Turner syndrome throughout their lifespan, to investigate their concerns and obstacles, and to offer insight into the strengths and weaknesses of health care delivery, as they perceived them. Ninety-seven girls and women with TS and 21 parents consented to participate in this interview study. Interviews were semi-structured and open-ended in design. Questions sought to elicit responses relating to existing concerns associated with their condition and positive and negative health care experiences. Participants were divided into four age categories (childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and mature adulthood) to facilitate a comparative analysis across the age spectrum. Regardless of age, infertility was the most frequently cited concern followed closely by short stature. Sexual development and function and general health were also viewed as challenges by a number of participants in each age group. Although the relative weight of these four concerns tended to shift based upon the individual’s age and life experiences, all four issues remained significant throughout the lifespan. Enhanced awareness of the evolving physical and psychological challenges faced by girls and women with TS may help health care providers improve the quality of life for these individuals. PMID:16252273

The 20-20-20 Airships NASA Centennial Challenge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiessling, Alina; Diaz, Ernesto; Rhodes, Jason; Ortega, Sam; Eberly, Eric

2015-08-01

A 2013 Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) study examined airships as a possible platform for Earth and space science. Airships, lighter than air, powered, maneuverable vehicles, could offer significant gains in observing time, sky and ground coverage, data downlink capability, and continuity of observations over existing suborbital options at competitive prices. The KISS study recommended three courses of action to spur the development and use of airships as a science platform. One of those recommendations was that a prize competition be developed to demonstrate a stratospheric airship. Consequently, we have been developing a NASA Centennial Challenge; (www.nasa.gov/challenges) to spur innovation in stratospheric airships as a science platform. We anticipate a multi-million dollar class prize for the first organization to fly a powered airship that remains stationary at 20km (65,000 ft) altitude for over 20 hours with a 20kg payload. The design must be scalable to longer flights with more massive payloads. A second prize tier, for a 20km flight lasting 200 hours with a 200kg payload would incentivize a further step toward a scientifically compelling and viable new platform. This technology would also have broad commercial applications including communications, asset tracking, and surveillance. Via the 20-20-20 Centennial Challenge, we are seeking to spur private industry (or non-profit institutions, including Universities) to demonstrate the capability for sustained airship flights as astronomy and Earth science platforms.

Bridging the Chasm: Challenges, Opportunities, and Resources for Integrating a Dissemination and Implementation Science Curriculum into Medical Education.

PubMed

Ginossar, Tamar; Heckman, Carolyn J; Cragun, Deborah; Quintiliani, Lisa M; Proctor, Enola K; Chambers, David A; Skolarus, Ted; Brownson, Ross C

2018-01-01

Physicians are charged with implementing evidence-based medicine, yet few are trained in the science of Dissemination and Implementation (D&I). In view of the potential of evidence-based training in D&I to help close the gap between research and practice, the goal of this review is to examine the importance of D&I training in medical education, describe challenges to implementing such training, and provide strategies and resources for building D&I capacity. We conducted (1) a systematic review to identify US-based D&I training efforts and (2) a critical review of additional literature to inform our evaluation of the challenges and opportunities of integrating D&I training in medical education. Out of 269 unique articles reviewed, 11 described US-based D&I training. Although vibrant and diverse training opportunities exist, their capacity is limited, and they are not designed to meet physicians' needs. Synthesis of relevant literature using a critical review approach identified challenges inherent to changing medical education, as well as challenges related to D&I science. Finally, selected strategies and resources are available for facilitating incorporation of D&I training into medical education and overcoming existing challenges. Integrating D&I training in the medical education curriculum, and particularly in residency and fellowship training, holds promise for bridging the chasm between scientific discoveries and improved patient care and outcomes. However, unique challenges should be addressed, including the need for greater evidence.

Cattle Immunized with a Recombinant Subunit Vaccine Formulation Exhibits a Trend towards Protection against Histophilus somni Bacterial Challenge

PubMed Central

Madampage, Claudia Avis; Wilson, Don; Townsend, Hugh; Crockford, Gordon; Rawlyk, Neil; Dent, Donna; Evans, Brock; Van Donkersgoed, Joyce; Dorin, Craig; Potter, Andrew

2016-01-01

Histophilosis, a mucosal and septicemic infection of cattle is caused by the Gram negative pathogen Histophilus somni (H. somni). As existing vaccines against H. somni infection have shown to be of limited efficacy, we used a reverse vaccinology approach to identify new vaccine candidates. Three groups (B, C, D) of cattle were immunized with subunit vaccines and a control group (group A) was vaccinated with adjuvant alone. All four groups were challenged with H. somni. The results demonstrate that there was no significant difference in clinical signs, joint lesions, weight change or rectal temperature between any of the vaccinated groups (B,C,D) vs the control group A. However, the trend to protection was greatest for group C vaccinates. The group C vaccine was a pool of six recombinant proteins. Serum antibody responses determined using ELISA showed significantly higher titers for group C, with P values ranging from < 0.0148 to < 0.0002, than group A. Even though serum antibody titers in group B (5 out of 6 antigens) and group D were significantly higher compared to group A, they exerted less of a trend towards protection. In conclusion, the vaccine used in group C exhibits a trend towards protective immunity in cattle and would be a good candidate for further analysis to determine which proteins were responsible for the trend towards protection. PMID:27501390

Root caries prevention via sodium fluoride, chlorhexidine and silver diamine fluoride in vitro.

PubMed

Göstemeyer, Gerd; Kohls, Anna; Paris, Sebastian; Schwendicke, Falk

2018-01-31

Uncertainty exists as to how to best prevent root caries development. The aim of the present study was to compare sodium fluoride (NaF), chlorhexidine (CHX) and silver diamine fluoride (SDF) varnishes (V) and rinses (R) regarding their caries preventive effect in an artificial caries biofilm model. 140 bovine root dentin samples were cut, polished and embedded. Samples were allocated to seven treatment groups (n = 20/group): Four varnishes (applied once prior biofilm challenge): 38% SDF (SDFV), 35% CHX-varnish (CHXV), 22,600 ppm NaF-varnish (NaFV), placebo-varnish (PV); two rinses (applied once daily during biofilm challenge): 500 ppm NaF solution (NaFR), 0.1% CHX solution (CHXR); one untreated group. Caries was induced in a multi-station, continuous-culture Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) biofilm model. Bacteria were inoculated 1 × daily, while 2% sucrose was supplied 8 ×/day followed by artificial saliva for 10 min. After 12 days, mineral loss (ΔZ) was measured in the effect area and adjacent to the varnished areas. Bacterial counts were assessed on de-Man-Rogosa-Sharpe agar. ΔZ was significantly lower in the NaFR group compared with all other groups. Varnishes did not significantly prevent mineral loss in adjacent areas. None of the agents had a significant antimicrobial effect on LGG. Regular fluoride rinses showed highest root caries-preventive effect.

Cattle Immunized with a Recombinant Subunit Vaccine Formulation Exhibits a Trend towards Protection against Histophilus somni Bacterial Challenge.

PubMed

Madampage, Claudia Avis; Wilson, Don; Townsend, Hugh; Crockford, Gordon; Rawlyk, Neil; Dent, Donna; Evans, Brock; Van Donkersgoed, Joyce; Dorin, Craig; Potter, Andrew

2016-01-01

Histophilosis, a mucosal and septicemic infection of cattle is caused by the Gram negative pathogen Histophilus somni (H. somni). As existing vaccines against H. somni infection have shown to be of limited efficacy, we used a reverse vaccinology approach to identify new vaccine candidates. Three groups (B, C, D) of cattle were immunized with subunit vaccines and a control group (group A) was vaccinated with adjuvant alone. All four groups were challenged with H. somni. The results demonstrate that there was no significant difference in clinical signs, joint lesions, weight change or rectal temperature between any of the vaccinated groups (B,C,D) vs the control group A. However, the trend to protection was greatest for group C vaccinates. The group C vaccine was a pool of six recombinant proteins. Serum antibody responses determined using ELISA showed significantly higher titers for group C, with P values ranging from < 0.0148 to < 0.0002, than group A. Even though serum antibody titers in group B (5 out of 6 antigens) and group D were significantly higher compared to group A, they exerted less of a trend towards protection. In conclusion, the vaccine used in group C exhibits a trend towards protective immunity in cattle and would be a good candidate for further analysis to determine which proteins were responsible for the trend towards protection.

22 CFR 1422.20 - Certification; objections to election; determination on objections and challenged ballots.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... interpretation or policy exists, the Regional Director shall notify the parties in the report and findings and...; objections to election; determination on objections and challenged ballots. (a) The Regional Director shall... Regional Director and copies shall be served on the parties. A statement of such service shall be filed...

22 CFR 1422.20 - Certification; objections to election; determination on objections and challenged ballots.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... interpretation or policy exists, the Regional Director shall notify the parties in the report and findings and...; objections to election; determination on objections and challenged ballots. (a) The Regional Director shall... Regional Director and copies shall be served on the parties. A statement of such service shall be filed...

A Donor-Focused Fundraising Model: An Essential Tool in Community College Foundations' Toolkit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, Linnie S.

2011-01-01

The increased focus on private fundraising poses challenges for community colleges (Jackson & Glass, 2000). A challenge is a lack of fundraising experience within community colleges and their foundations. There now exists a donor-focused fundraising model for community colleges to use to enhance their fundraising initiatives and increase the…

A Context-Aware Solution in Mobile Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fatahipour, Majid; Ghaseminajm, Mahnaz

2014-01-01

Despite obvious benefits, some challenges exist in the way of sustainable utilization of mobile phone technology for language learning tasks. This paper shows how these challenges can be better addressed in the light of recent advancements in mobile phone technology, like context aware mobile learning, informed with a sound pedagogical basis for…

Using Public Posting as a Motivation Strategy in Physical Education, Sport, and Adult Exercise Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Matt; Sharpe, Tom

2009-01-01

One of the ongoing challenges that physical educators, coaches, and fitness professionals face is discovering and implementing motivational strategies that encourage long-term participation and effort. This challenge exists in public school physical education classes, on the playing field, and in structured adult physical activity settings. In…

Data Sharing in Interpretive Engineering Education Research: Challenges and Opportunities from a Research Quality Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walther, Joachim; Sochacka, Nicola W.; Pawley, Alice L.

2016-01-01

This article explores challenges and opportunities associated with sharing qualitative data in engineering education research. This exploration is theoretically informed by an existing framework of interpretive research quality with a focus on the concept of Communicative Validation. Drawing on practice anecdotes from the authors' work, the…

The Challenge of Teaching "Brown"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waite, Cally L.

2004-01-01

This paper examines the issues on whether Brown really desegregate school. Study shows that many cases of large number of segregated schools still exist today. This was the complexity of addressing this issue that makes teaching Brown a challenge. The 1954 Supreme Court decision--Brown v. Board of Education was the basis of their study for the…

Instructional Leadership Challenges and Practices of Novice Principals in Rural Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiezorek, Douglas; Manard, Carolyn

2018-01-01

We report on a phenomenological study of the leadership experiences of six novice, rural public school principals in a midwestern U.S. state. We situated our analysis within existing research on leadership for learning, particularly how novice principals interpreted instructional leadership challenges in the context of rural school leadership. Our…

Cooperative Learning in Middle Schools: Interrelationship of Relationships and Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, David W.; Johnson, Roger T.; Roseth, Cary

2010-01-01

When students enter middle school, they face 2 major challenges, one involving the biological, cognitive, and socioemotional changes they are going through, and another involving the transition from elementary to middle school. Peer learning has considerable influence on how well they manage these challenges. The research that exists on peer…

Treatment of Challenging Behavior Exhibited by Children with Prenatal Drug Exposure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kurtz, Patricia F.; Chin, Michelle D.; Rush, Karena S.; Dixon, Dennis R.

2008-01-01

A large body of literature exists describing the harmful effects of prenatal drug exposure on infant and child development. However, there is a paucity of research examining strategies to ameliorate sequelae such as externalizing behavior problems. In the present study, functional analysis procedures were used to assess challenging behavior…

Challenge 98: Sustaining the Work of a Regional Technology Integration Initiative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Billig, Shelley H.; Sherry, Lorraine; Havelock, Bruce

2005-01-01

In this article, we offer a research-based theoretical framework for sustainability, describing the proven qualities of a project and the innovations that support its sustained existence over time. We then describe how a US Department of Education Technology Innovation Challenge grantee, working to promote technology integration in a…

Adaptive Teaching for English Language Arts: Following the Pathway of Classroom Data in Preservice Teacher Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Athanases, Steven Z.; Bennett, Lisa H.; Wahleithner, Juliet Michelsen

2015-01-01

Consensus exists that effective teaching includes capacity to adapt instruction to respond to student learning challenges as they arise. Adaptive teachers may keep pace with rapidly evolving youth literacies and students' increasing cultural and linguistic diversity. Teachers are challenged to critically examine pedagogy when some contexts expect…

Challenges to Common Core State Standards Implementation: Views from Six States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Joanna; Thier, Michael

2017-01-01

The implementation of the Common Core State Standards has posed a number of challenges for school leaders. This study applies a policy implementation conceptual framework to analyze data gathered from 46 interviews in six states. Findings suggest the existence of multiple barriers to Common Core State Standards implementation. To promote…

Street Soccer USA Cup: Preliminary Findings of a Sport-for-Homeless Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peachey, Jon Welty; Lyras, Alexis; Borland, John; Cohen, Adam

2013-01-01

Over the last decade, the emerging field of sport-for-development (SFD) has advanced global efforts of related and applied scholarship and programming. While most of the existing SFD body of knowledge addresses social challenges of the "global south", today's economic global recession spreads challenges beyond these regions.…

GATEWAY Report Brief: SSL Evaluation: Philadelphia International Airport Apron Lighting

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

None, None

Summary of report that documents a trial installation of LED apron lighting that replaced the existing high-pressure sodium luminaires at Philadelphia International Airport. Such high-mast applications remain challenging for LED technology, and the lessons learned from this project may help facility managers and LED product manufacturers better meet those challenges.

Close up on Capital Punishment: Challenging Students' Ideas of Justice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrison, Christopher W.

2012-01-01

Capital punishment, still practiced in many countries around the world, represents a highly controversial human rights issue. As citizens of the world, the existence of a diversity of death penalties challenges some of the most cherished and universal values. For social studies educators seeking to move their students toward finding their voice as…

Cosmopolitan China? Lessons from international collaboration in low-carbon innovation.

PubMed

Tyfield, David; Urry, John

2009-12-01

Cosmopolitanism is the focus of much current debate. This literature, however, is marked by a relative paucity of detailed research that examines the impact of cosmopolitanism as a social force within different societies. In particular, two topics that have received little attention despite their utter importance for current global challenges are the scale and impact of cosmopolitanism in China and the significance of 'cosmopolitan innovation'. This paper explores both on the basis of evidence from over 70 interviews with parties involved in low-carbon innovation, a field that may be considered to be particularly propitious for cosmopolitan motivation. We argue that there is distinct evidence of cosmopolitanism in China but that this is a relatively fragile and elite development, despite China's increasingly deep integration into global networks and flows. Furthermore, the cosmopolitanism in evidence is a distinctly Chinese version, thereby offering important lessons regarding the nature of cosmopolitanism per se and the reciprocal challenge of China to the existing cosmopolitanism of the global North.

Reducing Obesity Among People With Disabilities

PubMed Central

Fox, Michael H.; Witten, Mary Helen; Lullo, Carolyn

2015-01-01

Achieving healthy weight for people with disabilities in the United States is a challenge. Obesity rates for adults and children with disabilities are significantly higher than for those without disabilities, with differences remaining even when controlling for other factors. Reasons for this disparity include lack of healthy food options for many people with disabilities living in restrictive environments, difficulty with chewing or swallowing food, medication use contributing to changes in appetite, physical limitations that can reduce a person’s ability to exercise, constant pain, energy imbalance, lack of accessible environments in which to exercise or fully participate in other activities, and resource scarcity among many segments of the disability population. In order for there to be a coordinated national effort to address this issue, a framework needs to be developed from which research, policy, and practice can emerge. This paper reviews existing literature and presents a conceptual model that can be used to inform such a framework, provides examples of promising practices, and discusses challenges and opportunities moving forward. PMID:26113785

Smart approaches to glucose-responsive drug delivery.

PubMed

Webber, Matthew J; Anderson, Daniel G

2015-01-01

A grand challenge in the field of "smart" drug delivery has been the quest to create formulations that can sense glucose and respond by delivering an appropriate dose of insulin. This approach, referred to as the "fully synthetic pancreas", envisions closed-loop insulin therapy. The strategies for incorporating glucose sensing into formulations can be broadly categorized into three subsets: enzymatic sensing, natural glucose-binding proteins and synthetic molecular recognition. Here, we highlight some examples of each of these approaches. The challenges remaining en route to the realization of closed-loop insulin therapy are substantial, and include improved response time, more authentic fidelity in glycemic control, improved biocompatibility for delivery materials and assurance of both safety and efficacy. The ubiquitous existence of glucose, combined with the unstable and toxic properties of insulin, further compound efforts towards the generation of a fully synthetic pancreas. However, given the growing incidence of both type-1 and type-2 diabetes, there is significant potential impact from the realization of such an approach on improving therapeutic management of the disease.

Mechanism and Design Analysis of Articulated Ankle Foot Orthoses for Drop-Foot

PubMed Central

Choudhury, Imtiaz Ahmed; Mamat, Azuddin Bin

2014-01-01

Robotic technologies are being employed increasingly in the treatment of lower limb disabilities. Individuals suffering from stroke and other neurological disorders often experience inadequate dorsiflexion during swing phase of the gait cycle due to dorsiflexor muscle weakness. This type of pathological gait, mostly known as drop-foot gait, has two major complications, foot-slap during loading response and toe-drag during swing. Ankle foot orthotic (AFO) devices are mostly prescribed to resolve these complications. Existing AFOs are designed with or without articulated joint with various motion control elements like springs, dampers, four-bar mechanism, series elastic actuator, and so forth. This paper examines various AFO designs for drop-foot, discusses the mechanism, and identifies limitations and remaining design challenges. Along with two commercially available AFOs some designs possess promising prospective to be used as daily-wear device. However, the design and mechanism of AFO must ensure compactness, light weight, low noise, and high efficiency. These entailments present significant engineering challenges to develop a new design with wide consumer adoption. PMID:24892102

‘The Solution to his Own Enigma’: Connecting the Life of Montague David Eder (1865–1936), Socialist, Psychoanalyst, Zionist and Modern Saint1

PubMed Central

THOMSON, MATHEW

2011-01-01

This article examines the career of pioneer British psychoanalyst David Eder (1865–1936). Credited by Freud as the first practising psychoanalyst in England, active in early British socialism and then a significant figure in Zionism in post-war Palestine, and in between an adventurer in South America, a pioneer in the field of school medicine, and a writer on shell-shock, Eder is a strangely neglected figure in existing historiography. The connections between his interest in medicine, psychoanalysis, socialism and Zionism are also explored. In doing so, this article contributes to our developing understanding of the psychoanalytic culture of early twentieth-century Britain, pointing to its shifting relationship to broader ideology and the practical social and political challenges of the period. The article also reflects on the challenges for both Eder’s contemporaries and his biographers in making sense of such a life. PMID:23752865

The clinical manifestations of vestibular migraine: A review.

PubMed

O'Connell Ferster, Ashley P; Priesol, Adrian J; Isildak, Huseyin

2017-06-01

To provide an overview of vestibular migraines presentation, pathology, and diagnosis, as well as an update on current diagnostic criteria. A review of the most recent literature on vestibular migraines was performed. Vestibular migraine is a process with significant impact on the quality of life for those afflicted with the disease, with attacks of spontaneous or positional vertigo and migraine symptoms lasting several minutes to 72h. Inner ear disease can co-exist with migraine and the vestibular symptoms occurring with vestibular migraine can mimic inner ear disorders providing a challenge for clinicians in establishing diagnosis. Recent diagnostic criteria for vestibular migraine proposed by a joint committee of the Bárány Society and the International Headache Society provide an important standard for clinical diagnosis and research endeavor. Vestibular migraine is a challenging disease process to both diagnose and treat. Proper diagnosis and treatment requires a thorough understanding of the current literature. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The DarkSide veto: muon and neutron detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pagani, L.; Agnes, P.; Alexander, T.; Alton, A.; Arisaka, K.; O. Back, H.; Baldin, B.; Biery, K.; Bonfini, G.; Bossa, M.; Brigatti, A.; Brodsky, J.; Budano, F.; Cadonati, L.; Calaprice, F.; Canci, N.; Candela, A.; Cao, H.; Cariello, M.; Cavalcante, P.; Chavarria, A.; Chepurnov, A.; Cocco, A. G.; D'Angelo, D.; D'Incecco, M.; Davini, S.; De Deo, M.; Derbin, A.; Devoto, A.; Di Eusanio, F.; Di Pietro, G.; Edkins, E.; Empl, A.; Fan, A.; Fiorillo, G.; Fomenko, K.; Forster, G.; Franco, D.; Gabriele, F.; Galbiati, C.; Goretti, A.; Grandi, L.; Gromov, M.; Y. Guan, M.; Guardincerri, Y.; Hackett, B.; Herner, K.; Humble, P.; Hungerford, E. V.; Ianni, Al.; Ianni, An.; Jollet, C.; Keeter, K.; Kendziora, C.; Kidner, S.; Kobychev, V.; Koh, G.; Korablev, D.; Korga, G.; Kurlej, A.; X. Li, P.; Lombardi, P.; Love, C.; Ludhova, L.; Luitz, S.; Ma, Y. Q.; Machulin, I.; Mandarano, A.; Mari, S.; Maricic, J.; Marini, L.; Martoff, C. J.; Meregaglia, A.; Meroni, E.; Meyers, P. D.; Milincic, R.; Montanari, D.; Montuschi, M.; Monzani, M. E.; Mosteiro, P.; Mount, B.; Muratova, V.; Musico, P.; Nelson, A.; Odrowski, S.; Okounkova, M.; Orsini, M.; Ortica, F.; Pallavicini, M.; Pantic, E.; Papp, L.; Parmeggiano, S.; Parsells, R.; Pelczar, K.; Pelliccia, N.; Perasso, S.; Pocar, A.; Pordes, S.; Pugachev, D.; Qian, H.; Randle, K.; Ranucci, G.; Razeto, A.; Reinhold, B.; Renshaw, A.; Romani, A.; Rossi, B.; Rossi, N.; D. Rountree, S.; Sablone, D.; Saggese, P.; Saldanha, R.; Sands, W.; Sangiorgio, S.; Segreto, E.; Semenov, D.; Shields, E.; Skorokhvatov, M.; Smirnov, O.; Sotnikov, A.; Stanford, C.; Suvorov, Y.; Tartaglia, R.; Tatarowicz, J.; Testera, G.; Tonazzo, A.; Unzhakov, E.; Vogelaar, R. B.; Wada, M.; Walker, S.; Wang, H.; Wang, Y.; Watson, A.; Westerdale, S.; Wojcik, M.; Wright, A.; Xiang, X.; Xu, J.; G. Yang, C.; Yoo, J.; Zavatarelli, S.; Zec, A.; Zhu, C.; Zuzel, G.; DarkSide Collaboration

2015-01-01

The existence of dark matter is known because of its gravitational effects, and although its nature remains undisclosed, there is a growing indication that the galactic halo could be permeated by weakly interactive massive particles (WIMPs) with mass of the order of 100GeV. Direct observation of WIMP-nuclear collisions in a laboratory detector plays a key role in dark matter searches. However, it also poses significant challenges, as the expected signals are low in energy and very rare. DarkSide is a project for direct observation of WIMPs in a liquid argon time-projection chamber specifically designed to overtake the difficulties of these challenges. A limiting background for all dark matter detectors is the production in their active volumes of nuclear recoils from the elastic scattering of radiogenic and cosmogenic neutrons. To rule out this background, DarkSide-50 is surrounded by a water tank serving as a Cherenkov detector for muons, and a boron-doped liquid scintillator acting as an active, high-efficiency neutron detector.

From Here to Autonomy.

PubMed

Endsley, Mica R

2017-02-01

As autonomous and semiautonomous systems are developed for automotive, aviation, cyber, robotics and other applications, the ability of human operators to effectively oversee and interact with them when needed poses a significant challenge. An automation conundrum exists in which as more autonomy is added to a system, and its reliability and robustness increase, the lower the situation awareness of human operators and the less likely that they will be able to take over manual control when needed. The human-autonomy systems oversight model integrates several decades of relevant autonomy research on operator situation awareness, out-of-the-loop performance problems, monitoring, and trust, which are all major challenges underlying the automation conundrum. Key design interventions for improving human performance in interacting with autonomous systems are integrated in the model, including human-automation interface features and central automation interaction paradigms comprising levels of automation, adaptive automation, and granularity of control approaches. Recommendations for the design of human-autonomy interfaces are presented and directions for future research discussed.

Immune Tolerant Chronic Hepatitis B: The Unrecognized Risks

PubMed Central

Kennedy, Patrick T. F.; Litwin, Samuel; Dolman, Grace E.; Bertoletti, Antonio; Mason, William S.

2017-01-01

Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) progresses through multiple phases, including immune tolerant, immune active, immune control, and, in a subset of patients who achieve immune control, reactivation. The first, the immune tolerant phase, is considered to be prolonged in duration but essentially benign in nature, lacking long-term consequences, and thus not recommended for antiviral therapy. This review challenges the notion that the immune tolerant phase is truly benign and considers the possibility that events during this phase may contribute significantly to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and the premature death of 25% of HBV carriers worldwide. Thus, earlier treatment than recommended by current guidelines should be considered. Low therapeutic coverage exacerbated by restrictive treatment guidelines may facilitate disease progression in many patients but also increase the risk of neonatal and horizontal transmission from untreated mothers to their children. While a prophylactic vaccine exists, there are many areas worldwide where the treatment of adults and the delivery of an effective vaccination course to newborns present difficult challenges. PMID:28468285

A Novel Device Addressing Design Challenges for Passive Fluid Phase Separations Aboard Spacecraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weislogel, M. M.; Thomas, E. A.; Graf, J. C.

2009-07-01

Capillary solutions have long existed for the control of liquid inventories in spacecraft fluid systems such as liquid propellants, cryogens and thermal fluids for temperature control. Such large length scale, `low-gravity,' capillary systems exploit container geometry and fluid properties—primarily wetting—to passively locate or transport fluids to desired positions for a variety of purposes. Such methods have only been confidently established if the wetting conditions are known and favorable. In this paper, several of the significant challenges for `capillary solutions' to low-gravity multiphase fluids management aboard spacecraft are briefly reviewed in light of applications common to life support systems that emphasize the impact of the widely varying wetting properties typical of aqueous systems. A restrictive though no less typifying example of passive phase separation in a urine collection system is highlighted that identifies key design considerations potentially met by predominately capillary solutions. Sample results from novel scale model prototype testing aboard a NASA low-g aircraft are presented that support the various design considerations.

Physicochemical Property Guidelines for Modern Agrochemicals.

PubMed

Zhang, Yu; Lorsbach, Beth; Castetter, Scott; Lambert, William T; Kister, Jeremy; Wang, Nick X; Klittich, Carla; Roth, Joshua; Sparks, Thomas C; Loso, Mike R

2018-04-17

The relentless need for the discovery and development of new agrochemicals continues due to driving forces such as loss of existing products through the development of resistance, the necessity for products with more favorable environmental and toxicological profiles, shifting pest spectra, and the changing agricultural needs and practices of the farming community. These new challenges underscore the demand for novel, high quality starting points to accelerate the discovery of new agrochemicals that address market challenges. This article discusses the efforts to identify the optimum ranges of physicochemical properties of agrochemicals through analysis of modern commercial products. Specifically, we reviewed literature studies examining physicochemical property effects and analyzed the properties typical of successful fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides (chewing and sap-feeding pests). From the analysis, a new set of physicochemical property guidelines for each discipline, as well as building block class, are proposed. These new guidelines should significantly aid in the discovery of next generation agrochemicals. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Schistosomiasis Elimination Strategies and Potential Role of a Vaccine in Achieving Global Health Goals

PubMed Central

Mo, Annie X.; Agosti, Jan M.; Walson, Judd L.; Hall, B. Fenton; Gordon, Lance

2014-01-01

In March 2013, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation co-sponsored a meeting entitled “Schistosomiasis Elimination Strategy and Potential Role of a Vaccine in Achieving Global Health Goals” to discuss the potential role of schistosomiasis vaccines and other tools in the context of schistosomiasis control and elimination strategies. It was concluded that although schistosomiasis elimination in some focal areas may be achievable through current mass drug administration programs, global control and elimination will face several significant scientific and operational challenges, and will require an integrated approach with other, additional interventions. These challenges include vector (snail) control; environmental modification; water, sanitation, and hygiene; and other future innovative tools such as vaccines. Defining a clear product development plan that reflects a vaccine strategy as complementary to the existing control programs to combat different forms of schistosomiasis will be important to develop a vaccine effectively. PMID:24402703

A wireless trust model for healthcare.

PubMed

Wickramasinghe, Nilmini; Misra, Santosh K

2004-01-01

In today's context of escalating costs, managed care, regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and a technology savvy patient, the healthcare industry can no longer be complacent regarding embracing technologies to enable better, more effective and efficient practice management. In such an environment, many healthcare organisations are turning to m-commerce or wireless solutions. These solutions, in particular the mobile electronic patient record, have many advantages over their wired counterparts, including significant cost advantages, higher levels of physician acceptance, more functionalities as well as enabling easy accessibility to healthcare in remote geographic regions, however, they also bring with them challenges of their own. One such major challenge is security. To date, few models exist that help establish an appropriate framework, in the context of wireless in healthcare, in which to understand and evaluate all the security issues let alone facilitate the development of systematic and robust solutions. Our paper addresses this need by outlining an appropriate mobile trust model for such a scenario in healthcare organisations.

Using Decision Analysis to Improve Malaria Control Policy Making

PubMed Central

Kramer, Randall; Dickinson, Katherine L.; Anderson, Richard M.; Fowler, Vance G.; Miranda, Marie Lynn; Mutero, Clifford M.; Saterson, Kathryn A.; Wiener, Jonathan B.

2013-01-01

Malaria and other vector-borne diseases represent a significant and growing burden in many tropical countries. Successfully addressing these threats will require policies that expand access to and use of existing control methods, such as insecticide-treated bed nets and artemesinin combination therapies for malaria, while weighing the costs and benefits of alternative approaches over time. This paper argues that decision analysis provides a valuable framework for formulating such policies and combating the emergence and re-emergence of malaria and other diseases. We outline five challenges that policy makers and practitioners face in the struggle against malaria, and demonstrate how decision analysis can help to address and overcome these challenges. A prototype decision analysis framework for malaria control in Tanzania is presented, highlighting the key components that a decision support tool should include. Developing and applying such a framework can promote stronger and more effective linkages between research and policy, ultimately helping to reduce the burden of malaria and other vector-borne diseases. PMID:19356821

Anharmonic and Quantum Fluctuations in Molecular Crystals from Ab Initio Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossi, Mariana; Gasparotto, Piero; Ceriotti, Michele

Molecular crystals often exist in multiple competing polymorphs which are challenging to be predicted computationally, but show significantly different physicochemical properties. This challenge is not due only to the combinatorial search space, but also to the complex interplay of subtle effects determine the relative stability of different structures. Here we estimate all contributions to the free energies of these systems with density-functional theory, including the oft-neglected anharmonic contributions and nuclear quantum effects, by using a series of different flavors of thermodynamic integration. As an example, for the two most stable forms of paracetamol we find that anharmonic contributions, different descriptions of van der Waals interactions, and nuclear quantum effects all matter to quantitatively determine the stability of different phases. Our studies indicate that anharmonic free energies could play an important role for molecular crystals composed by large molecules and opens the way for a systematic inclusion of these effects in order to obtain a predictive screening of structures.

Mobile phone tools for field-based health care workers in low-income countries.

PubMed

Derenzi, Brian; Borriello, Gaetano; Jackson, Jonathan; Kumar, Vikram S; Parikh, Tapan S; Virk, Pushwaz; Lesh, Neal

2011-01-01

In low-income regions, mobile phone-based tools can improve the scope and efficiency of field health workers. They can also address challenges in monitoring and supervising a large number of geographically distributed health workers. Several tools have been built and deployed in the field, but little comparison has been done to help understand their effectiveness. This is largely because no framework exists in which to analyze the different ways in which the tools help strengthen existing health systems. In this article we highlight 6 key functions that health systems currently perform where mobile tools can provide the most benefit. Using these 6 health system functions, we compare existing applications for community health workers, an important class of field health workers who use these technologies, and discuss common challenges and lessons learned about deploying mobile tools. © 2011 Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Deep sub-micron low-Tc Josephson technology - The opportunities and the challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ketchen, M. B.

1993-03-01

It is suggested that the possibility now exists of highly leveraging existing semiconductor technology to explore submicrometer Josephson technology. Some of the opportunities and challenges of such an undertaking are discussed in the context of SQUIDs and digital applications. In the area of digital Josephson, a 50-100-ps cycle-time 64-b reduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessor is proposed as a long-term goal. While it is unlikely that one will see a sub-100-ps system like this in the near term, research results supporting its feasibility may ultimately help build the case for the resources needed to produce it. Fabrication has been and will probably continue to be an impediment to the exploration of sub- and deep sub-micrometer Josephson technology. Coupling to existing semiconductor fabrication capability should help considerably in this area and should help to lay the groundwork for eventual manufacturing of sub-micrometer Josephson products.

[Further challenges in collaboration and cross-specialization work in psychiatric services].

PubMed

Sakano, Yuji; Nakamura, Touru; Nakajima, Kimihiro

2011-01-01

Using a case illustrating cognitive behavioral treatment for a patient with obsessive-compulsive disorder, clinical tips and challenges are described in the context of collaboration between multiple health professionals from different backgrounds in a psychiatric hospital. Furthermore, after reviewing the current status of education and training issues related to collaboration, and introducing the fundamental concept of cross-specialization work, existing tasks and future challenges involved in the education and training of multiple health professions are discussed.

Data Modeling Challenges of Advanced Interoperability.

PubMed

Blobel, Bernd; Oemig, Frank; Ruotsalainen, Pekka

2018-01-01

Progressive health paradigms, involving many different disciplines and combining multiple policy domains, requires advanced interoperability solutions. This results in special challenges for modeling health systems. The paper discusses classification systems for data models and enterprise business architectures and compares them with the ISO Reference Architecture. On that basis, existing definitions, specifications and standards of data models for interoperability are evaluated and their limitations are discussed. Amendments to correctly use those models and to better meet the aforementioned challenges are offered.

Addressing the Grand Challenge of atmospheric carbon dioxide: geologic sequestration vs. biological recycling

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

On February 15, 2008, the National Academy of Engineering unveiled their list of 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering. Building off of tremendous advancements in the past century, these challenges were selected for their role in assuring a sustainable existence for the rapidly increasing global community. It is no accident that the first five Challenges on the list involve the development of sustainable energy sources and management of environmental resources. While the focus of this review is to address the single Grand Challenge of "develop carbon sequestration methods", is will soon be clear that several other Challenges are intrinsically tied to it through the principles of sustainability. How does the realm of biological engineering play a role in addressing these Grand Challenges? PMID:22047501

Psychogeriatric inpatient unit design: a literature review.

PubMed

Dobrohotoff, John T; Llewellyn-Jones, Robert H

2011-03-01

In many parts of the world the provision of psychogeriatric inpatient units (PGUs) remains limited. More units will be required over coming decades given rapid population aging. Medline (1950-2010), psycINFO (1806-2009), EMBASE (1980-2009) and CINAHL (1982-2009) were searched for papers about PGU design. Selected non-peer reviewed literature such as government reports and unpublished academic dissertations were also reviewed. Data were also obtained from the literature related to general adult psychiatry inpatient units where there was limited information from studies of units designed for older people. Over 200 papers were reviewed and 130 were included. There are few good quality studies to guide the design of acute PGUs and much of the existing literature is based on opinion and anecdote or, at best, based on observational studies. Randomized controlled studies comparing different designs and assessing outcomes are virtually non-existent. Several studies have identified violence and trauma resulting from hospitalization as significant problems with current acute PGU care. Despite its limitations the available literature provides useful guidance on how PGU design can optimize patient and staff safety and improve clinical outcomes. There are significant problems with current acute PGUs, and patient mix on existing units is an important issue. Future research should examine patient and staff perceptions of different PGU ward environments, the relationship between ward design and clinical outcomes, the effects of segregating patients with challenging behaviors in dementia and the benefits or otherwise of gender segregation.

Evolution of multi-drug resistant HCV clones from pre-existing resistant-associated variants during direct-acting antiviral therapy determined by third-generation sequencing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takeda, Haruhiko; Ueda, Yoshihide; Inuzuka, Tadashi; Yamashita, Yukitaka; Osaki, Yukio; Nasu, Akihiro; Umeda, Makoto; Takemura, Ryo; Seno, Hiroshi; Sekine, Akihiro; Marusawa, Hiroyuki

2017-03-01

Resistance-associated variant (RAV) is one of the most significant clinical challenges in treating HCV-infected patients with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). We investigated the viral dynamics in patients receiving DAAs using third-generation sequencing technology. Among 283 patients with genotype-1b HCV receiving daclatasvir + asunaprevir (DCV/ASV), 32 (11.3%) failed to achieve sustained virological response (SVR). Conventional ultra-deep sequencing of HCV genome was performed in 104 patients (32 non-SVR, 72 SVR), and detected representative RAVs in all non-SVR patients at baseline, including Y93H in 28 (87.5%). Long contiguous sequences spanning NS3 to NS5A regions of each viral clone in 12 sera from 6 representative non-SVR patients were determined by third-generation sequencing, and showed the concurrent presence of several synonymous mutations linked to resistance-associated substitutions in a subpopulation of pre-existing RAVs and dominant isolates at treatment failure. Phylogenetic analyses revealed close genetic distances between pre-existing RAVs and dominant RAVs at treatment failure. In addition, multiple drug-resistant mutations developed on pre-existing RAVs after DCV/ASV in all non-SVR cases. In conclusion, multi-drug resistant viral clones at treatment failure certainly originated from a subpopulation of pre-existing RAVs in HCV-infected patients. Those RAVs were selected for and became dominant with the acquisition of multiple resistance-associated substitutions under DAA treatment pressure.

Resource allocation and funding challenges for regional local health departments in Nebraska.

PubMed

Chen, Li-Wu; Jacobson, Janelle; Roberts, Sara; Palm, David

2012-01-01

This study examined the mechanism of resource allocation among member counties and the funding challenges of regional health departments (RHDs) in Nebraska. DESIGN AND STUDY SETTING: In 2009, we conducted a qualitative case study of 2 Nebraska RHDs to gain insight into their experiences of making resource allocation decisions and confronting funding challenges. The 2 RHD sites were selected for this case study on the basis of their heterogeneity in terms of population distribution in member counties. Sixteen semistructured in-person interviews were conducted with RHD directors, staff, and board of health members. Interview data were coded and analyzed using NVivo qualitative analysis software (QSR International [Americas] Inc., Cambridge, MA). Our findings suggested that the directors of RHDs play an integral role in making resource allocation decisions on the basis of community needs, not on a formula or on individual county population size. Interviewees also reported that the size of the vulnerable population served by the RHD had a significant impact on the level of resources for RHD's programs. The RHD's decisions about resource allocation were also dependent on the amount and type of resources received from the state. Interviewees identified inadequacy and instability of funding as the 2 main funding challenges for their RHD. These challenges negatively impacted workforce capacity and the long-term sustainability of some programs. Regional health departments may not benefit from better leveraging resources and building a stronger structural capacity unless the issues of funding inadequacy and instability are addressed. Strategies that can be used by RHDs to address these funding challenges include seeking grants to support programs, leveraging existing resources, and building community partnerships to share resources. Future research is needed to identify RHDs' optimal workforce capacity, required funding level, and potential funding mechanisms.

Sequence variation in the env gene of simian immunodeficiency virus recovered from immunized macaques is predominantly in the V1 region.

PubMed

Almond, N; Jenkins, A; Heath, A B; Kitchin, P

1993-05-01

Three cynomolgus macaques were immunized with recombinant envelope protein preparations derived from simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). Although humoral and cellular responses were elicited by the immunization regime, all macaques became infected upon challenge with 10 MID50 of the 11/88 virus challenge stock of SIVmac251-32H. The polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify proviral SIV gp120 sequences present in the blood of both immunized and control macaques at 2 months post-infection. A comparison of the predominant sequences found in the region from V2 to V5 of gp120 failed to differentiate provirus recovered from either immunized or control animals. A detailed investigation of sequences obtained from the hypervariable V1 region identified a mixture of sequences in both immunized and control macaques. Some sequences were identical to those previously detected in the virus challenge stock, whereas others had not been detected previously. Phenogram analysis of the new V1 sequences found in immunized animals revealed that they were quite distinct from those from the virus challenge stock and that they included alterations to potential N-linked glycosylation sites. In contrast, new sequence variants recovered from the control animals were closely related to sequences from the virus challenge stock. The difference in diversity of new V1 sequences recovered from immunized and control macaques was highly significant (P < 0.001). Thus, the presence of pre-existing immune responses to SIV envelope protein is associated with greater genetic change in the V1 region of gp120. These data are discussed in relation to the epitopes of SIV gp120 that may confer protection from in vivo challenge.

Polarization and Persuasion: Integrating the Elaboration Likelihood Model with Explanations of Group Polarization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mongeau, Paul A.

Interest has recently focused on group polarization as a function of attitude processes. Several recent reviewers have challenged polarization researchers to integrate the explanations of polarization to existing theories of attitude change. This review suggests that there exists a clear similarity between the social comparison and persuasive…

The Ambitious Elementary School: Its Conception, Design, and Implications for Educational Equality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hassrick, Elizabeth McGhee; Raudenbush, Stephen W.; Rosen, Lisa

2017-01-01

The challenge of overcoming educational inequality in the United States can sometimes appear overwhelming, and great controversy exists as to whether or not elementary schools are up to the task, whether they can ameliorate existing social inequalities and initiate opportunities for economic and civic flourishing for all children. This book shows…

Challenges in Diagnosing and Treating Postpartum Blues, Depression and Psychosis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Carol A.; Byers, Alison Daly; Malard, Sarah Deann; Dawson, Gregory A.

2010-01-01

With recent media attention and a growing awareness in popular culture, the appropriate treatment for postpartum depression has taken center stage as a prevalent women's health issue. There is little agreement on the definition, existence and treatment of postpartum depression. Contributing to this factor is the lack of research that exists to…

Digital Broadband Content: Digital Content Strategies and policies. OECD Digital Economy Papers, No. 119

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

OECD Publishing (NJ1), 2006

2006-01-01

The development of digital content raises new issues as rapid technological developments challenge existing business models and government policies. This OECD study identifies and discusses six groups of business and public policy issues and illustrates these with existing and potential OECD Digital Content Strategies and Policies: (1) Innovation…

Core Aims for Three Credits of First-Year Communications: Written Communications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richmond, Alexandra

2008-01-01

The objective of this project is to establish a statement of core aims for first-year Communications writing courses that will serve to: (1) Facilitate the process of establishing equivalence of existing and future Communications courses for transfer purposes; (2) Address evolving challenges to the existing transfer and articulation process,…

Models of Integrating Physical Therapists into Family Health Teams in Ontario, Canada: Challenges and Opportunities

PubMed Central

Mandoda, Shilpa; Landry, Michel D.

2011-01-01

ABSTRACT Purpose: To explore the potential for different models of incorporating physical therapy (PT) services within the emerging network of family health teams (FHTs) in Ontario and to identify challenges and opportunities of each model. Methods: A two-phase mixed-methods qualitative descriptive approach was used. First, FHTs were mapped in relation to existing community-based PT practices. Second, semi-structured key-informant interviews were conducted with representatives from urban and rural FHTs and from a variety of community-based PT practices. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using a categorizing/editing approach. Results: Most participants agreed that the ideal model involves embedding physical therapists directly into FHTs; in some situations, however, partnering with an existing external PT provider may be more feasible and sustainable. Access and funding remain the key issues, regardless of the model adopted. Conclusion: Although there are differences across the urban/rural divide, there exist opportunities to enhance and optimize existing delivery models so as to improve client access and address emerging demand for community-based PT services. PMID:22654231

Dietary Supplements: Regulatory Challenges and Research Resources.

PubMed

Dwyer, Johanna T; Coates, Paul M; Smith, Michael J

2018-01-04

Many of the scientific and regulatory challenges that exist in research on the safety, quality and efficacy of dietary supplements are common to all countries as the marketplace for them becomes increasingly global. This article summarizes some of the challenges in supplement science and provides a case study of research at the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health, USA, along with some resources it has developed that are available to all scientists. It includes examples of some of the regulatory challenges faced and some resources for those who wish to learn more about them.

Dietary Supplements: Regulatory Challenges and Research Resources

PubMed Central

Dwyer, Johanna T.; Coates, Paul M.; Smith, Michael J.

2018-01-01

Many of the scientific and regulatory challenges that exist in research on the safety, quality and efficacy of dietary supplements are common to all countries as the marketplace for them becomes increasingly global. This article summarizes some of the challenges in supplement science and provides a case study of research at the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health, USA, along with some resources it has developed that are available to all scientists. It includes examples of some of the regulatory challenges faced and some resources for those who wish to learn more about them. PMID:29300341

Current Challenges in Commercially Producing Biofuels from Lignocellulosic Biomass

DOE PAGES

Balan, Venkatesh

2014-01-01

Biofuels that are produced from biobased materials are a good alternative to petroleum based fuels. They offer several benefits to society and the environment. Producing second generation biofuels is even more challenging than producing first generation biofuels due the complexity of the biomass and issues related to producing, harvesting, and transporting less dense biomass to centralized biorefineries. In addition to this logistic challenge, other challenges with respect to processing steps in converting biomass to liquid transportation fuel like pretreatment, hydrolysis, microbial fermentation, and fuel separation still exist and are discussed in this review. The possible coproducts that could be producedmore » in the biorefinery and their importance to reduce the processing cost of biofuel are discussed. About $1 billion was spent in the year 2012 by the government agencies in US to meet the mandate to replace 30% existing liquid transportation fuels by 2022 which is 36 billion gallons/year. Other countries in the world have set their own targets to replace petroleum fuel by biofuels. Because of the challenges listed in this review and lack of government policies to create the demand for biofuels, it may take more time for the lignocellulosic biofuels to hit the market place than previously projected.« less

A Generalized Framework for Modeling Next Generation 911 Implementations.

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

Kelic, Andjelka; Aamir, Munaf Syed; Kelic, Andjelka

This document summarizes the current state of Sandia 911 modeling capabilities and then addresses key aspects of Next Generation 911 (NG911) architectures for expansion of existing models. Analysis of three NG911 implementations was used to inform heuristics , associated key data requirements , and assumptions needed to capture NG911 architectures in the existing models . Modeling of NG911 necessitates careful consideration of its complexity and the diversity of implementations. Draft heuristics for constructing NG911 models are pres ented based on the analysis along with a summary of current challenges and ways to improve future NG911 modeling efforts . We foundmore » that NG911 relies on E nhanced 911 (E911) assets such as 911 selective routers to route calls originating from traditional tel ephony service which are a majority of 911 calls . We also found that the diversity and transitional nature of NG911 implementations necessitates significant and frequent data collection to ensure that adequate model s are available for crisis action support .« less

Health Disparity and Cancer Health Disparity in China.

PubMed

Wang, Qi; Jiao, Jie

2016-01-01

China is one of the largest and most populated countries in the world. It has undergone rapid economic growth in recent years. However, the development is not equitable, and the distribution of wealth significantly varies among the regions in China. Geographical and socioeconomic inequalities, together with the lack of an equitable national social support system, cause the high variance of health outcomes among the regions. Furthermore, the fast growth of the economy has evoked many environmental challenges and puts much pressure on the population. The severe environmental deterioration, especially of the atmosphere and water bodies, has affected the health of the people living in China. As a result, cancer has become a major public health issue, and an alarming increase in incidence and mortality has been reported. However, cancer incidence and mortality vary in different areas in China. Cancer and cancer treatment disparities have existed for years. This article will discuss the existing health and cancer disparities associated with the risk factors and how these disparities are managed in China.

Macro-Level Approaches to HIV Prevention Among Ethnic Minority Youth

PubMed Central

Prado, Guillermo; Lightfoot, Marguerita; Brown, C. Hendricks

2013-01-01

The HIV epidemic continues to disproportionately affect ethnic minority youth. These disconcerting health disparities indicate that although existing HIV preventive strategies for ethnic minority youth have been efficacious, they have not significantly reduced the impact of the epidemic in this population. Macro-level interventions, such as structural or policy interventions, have the potential to impact the HIV epidemic at a population level, and thus reduce the HIV health disparities that exist among ethnic minority youth and other segments of the U.S. population. This article calls for a paradigm shift to develop, evaluate, and disseminate interventions that target upstream/macro-level factors or that, at a minimum, integrate both a macro and individual level perspective. The article also discusses the challenges in developing and evaluating such interventions. Psychologists and other behavioral scientists can play a critical role in reducing the impact of HIV on ethnic minority youth by integrating macro-level approaches to future HIV prevention strategies. PMID:23688095

Thriving on Pressure: A Factor Mixture Analysis of Sport Performers' Responses to Competitive Encounters.

PubMed

Brown, Daniel J; Arnold, Rachel; Standage, Martyn; Fletcher, David

2017-12-01

Although considerable research exists on performers' responses to sporting encounters, little is known about thriving in sport contexts. The current study examined if distinct response patterns existed between sport performers who thrived in competitive encounters compared with those who did not. Participants were 535 sport performers (134 women; M age  = 23.60 years, SD age  = 8.08; M competing  = 11.84 years, SD competing  = 7.11). Results of factor mixture analysis supported a four-profile solution comprising a thriving group (n = 146), a low-functioning group (n = 38), and two groups characterized by scores marginally above (n = 131) and below (n = 209) the sample mean. Profile membership was found to be predicted by personal enablers (viz., personal resilient qualities, psychological skills use) and process variables (viz., basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration, challenge appraisal). This examination of thriving in sport performers offers significant implications for research and practice.

Imprecision in the Era of Precision Medicine in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

PubMed Central

Sundar, Raghav; Chénard-Poirier, Maxime; Collins, Dearbhaile Catherine; Yap, Timothy A.

2017-01-01

Over the past decade, major advances have been made in the management of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). There has been a particular focus on the identification and targeting of putative driver aberrations, which has propelled NSCLC to the forefront of precision medicine. Several novel molecularly targeted agents have now achieved regulatory approval, while many others are currently in late-phase clinical trial testing. These antitumor therapies have significantly impacted the clinical outcomes of advanced NSCLC and provided patients with much hope for the future. Despite this, multiple deficiencies still exist in our knowledge of this complex disease, and further research is urgently required to overcome these critical issues. This review traces the path undertaken by the different therapeutics assessed in NSCLC and the impact of precision medicine in this disease. We also discuss the areas of “imprecision” that still exist in NSCLC and the modern hypothesis-testing studies being conducted to address these key challenges. PMID:28443282

The relationship between 2D static features and 2D dynamic features used in gait recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alawar, Hamad M.; Ugail, Hassan; Kamala, Mumtaz; Connah, David

2013-05-01

In most gait recognition techniques, both static and dynamic features are used to define a subject's gait signature. In this study, the existence of a relationship between static and dynamic features was investigated. The correlation coefficient was used to analyse the relationship between the features extracted from the "University of Bradford Multi-Modal Gait Database". This study includes two dimensional dynamic and static features from 19 subjects. The dynamic features were compromised of Phase-Weighted Magnitudes driven by a Fourier Transform of the temporal rotational data of a subject's joints (knee, thigh, shoulder, and elbow). The results concluded that there are eleven pairs of features that are considered significantly correlated with (p<0.05). This result indicates the existence of a statistical relationship between static and dynamics features, which challenges the results of several similar studies. These results bare great potential for further research into the area, and would potentially contribute to the creation of a gait signature using latent data.

Targeting Hispanic populations: future research and prevention strategies.

PubMed Central

Ramirez, A G; McAlister, A; Gallion, K J; Villarreal, R

1995-01-01

Minority populations face a wide variety of economic, institutional, and cultural barriers to health care. These barriers and low levels of education and income pose significant challenges for health professionals in developing cancer research and prevention-control strategies. It is suggested that specific segments of Hispanic populations fit the model of an underdeveloped country in the intermediate stage of epidemiological transition. Since noncommunicable diseases have not yet fully emerged in some of these Hispanic population segments, the opportunity exists to apply primordial prevention strategies. Such campaigns would focus on dissuading members of these populations from adopting negative health behaviors while promoting positive lifestyle choices. Optimal programs would increase cancer screening participation and discourage risk behaviors through community-oriented, population-based interventions. Future directions in prevention and control efforts for minority populations should include expanded health insurance coverage, improved access to health care, greater emphasis on minority recruitment in health care fields, focused epidemiologic and clinical research, and identification and replication of effective components within existing prevention-control programs. PMID:8741800

The state of genetically modified crop regulation in Canada

PubMed Central

Smyth, Stuart J

2014-01-01

Genetically modified (GM) crops were first commercialized in Canada in 1995 and the 2014 crop represents the 20th year of successful production. Prior to the first commercialization of GM crops, Canada reviewed its existing science-based regulatory framework and adapted the existing framework to allow for risk assessments on the new technology to be undertaken in a timely and efficient manner. The result has been the rapid and widespread adoption of GM varieties of canola, corn and soybeans. The first decade of GM crop production precipitated 2 landmark legal cases relating to patent infringement and economic liability, while the second decade witnessed increased political efforts to have GM crops labeled in Canada as well as significant challenges from the low level comingling of GM crops with non-GM commodities. This article reviews the 20 y of GM crop production in Canada from a social science perspective that includes intellectual property, consumer acceptance and low level presence. PMID:25437238

Empowering Nurses to Lead Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Environments Through a Nurse Leadership Institute.

PubMed

Embree, Jennifer L; Wagnes, Lisa; Hendricks, Susan; LaMothe, Julie; Halstead, Judith; Wright, Lauren

2018-02-01

A year-long Nurse Leadership Institute (NLI) for emerging leaders in primary care clinics and acute care environments was developed, implemented, and evaluated. The NLI's goal was to foster empowerment in interprofessional collaborative practice environments for nurses in the three cohorts of NLIs. The NLI was framed around the Five Leadership Practices of modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart. To create a professional learning environment, foster community, and enhance leadership skills, the Lean In Circle materials developed by Sandberg were adapted for content reorganization and discussion. Minimal literature exists specifically addressing nursing leadership professionals' development based on Sandberg's Circle materials. The findings of the three NLI cohorts reported in this article begin to fill this existing knowledge gap. Participants reported a significant increase in leadership skills. Recommendations for refinement of future NLI offerings are provided. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2018;49(2):61-71. Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.

Recommendations for the management of food allergies in a preschool/childcare setting and prevention of anaphylaxis.

PubMed

Ford, Lara S; Turner, Paul J; Campbell, Dianne E

2014-07-01

Food allergy and anaphylaxis occur most commonly in children under five, the majority of whom attend preschool and early childcare. Children under five differ significantly from school-aged children, as do their care environments, yet specific strategies for managing food allergies in early childcare settings are generally lacking in existing guidelines and legislation. In this review, we outline the scope of the problem, the unique challenges encountered in the preschool environment and existing policy and legislation in Australia, the US, Canada and the UK. We outline the management guidelines and resources available from specialist societies, and the evidence base for specific management strategies including voluntary versus legislative approaches, staff training and education, banning of foods, and availability of multiple and generic adrenaline auto-injectors. We call for greater uniformity and consistency of policy in regards to the recognition and management of infants and children with food allergy in the preschool environment and specific programmes and policies tailored to this environment.

Analysis on Multicast Routing Protocols for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiang, Ma

As the Mobile Ad Hoc Networks technologies face a series of challenges like dynamic changes of topological structure, existence of unidirectional channel, limited wireless transmission bandwidth, the capability limitations of mobile termination and etc, therefore, the research to mobile Ad Hoc network routings inevitablely undertake a more important task than those to other networks. Multicast is a mode of communication transmission oriented to group computing, which sends the data to a group of host computers by using single source address. In a typical mobile Ad Hoc Network environment, multicast has a significant meaning. On the one hand, the users of mobile Ad Hoc Network usually need to form collaborative working groups; on the other hand, this is also an important means of fully using the broadcast performances of wireless communication and effectively using the limited wireless channel resources. This paper summarizes and comparatively analyzes the routing mechanisms of various existing multicast routing protocols according to the characteristics of mobile Ad Hoc network.

Health Disparity and Cancer Health Disparity in China

PubMed Central

Wang, Qi; Jiao, Jie

2016-01-01

China is one of the largest and most populated countries in the world. It has undergone rapid economic growth in recent years. However, the development is not equitable, and the distribution of wealth significantly varies among the regions in China. Geographical and socioeconomic inequalities, together with the lack of an equitable national social support system, cause the high variance of health outcomes among the regions. Furthermore, the fast growth of the economy has evoked many environmental challenges and puts much pressure on the population. The severe environmental deterioration, especially of the atmosphere and water bodies, has affected the health of the people living in China. As a result, cancer has become a major public health issue, and an alarming increase in incidence and mortality has been reported. However, cancer incidence and mortality vary in different areas in China. Cancer and cancer treatment disparities have existed for years. This article will discuss the existing health and cancer disparities associated with the risk factors and how these disparities are managed in China. PMID:28083550

Making an APPropriate Care Program for Indigenous Cardiac Disease: Customization of an Existing Cardiac Rehabilitation Program.

PubMed

Bradford, DanaKai; Hansen, David; Karunanithi, Mohan

2015-01-01

Cardiovascular disease is a major health problem for all Australians and is the leading cause of death in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. In 2010, more then 50% of all heart attack deaths were due to repeated events. Cardiac rehabilitation programs have been proven to be effective in preventing the recurrence of cardiac events and readmission to hospitals. There are however, many barriers to the use of these programs. To address these barriers, CSIRO developed an IT enabled cardiac rehabilitation program delivered by mobile phone through a smartphone app and succesfully trialed it in an urban general population. If these results can be replicated in Indigenous populations, the program has the potential to significantly improve life expectancy and help close the gap in health outcomes. The challenge described in this paper is customizing the existing cardiac health program to make it culturally relevant and suitable for Indigenous Australians living in urban and remote communities.

Measuring carbon in forests: current status and future challenges.

PubMed

Brown, Sandra

2002-01-01

To accurately and precisely measure the carbon in forests is gaining global attention as countries seek to comply with agreements under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Established methods for measuring carbon in forests exist, and are best based on permanent sample plots laid out in a statistically sound design. Measurements on trees in these plots can be readily converted to aboveground biomass using either biomass expansion factors or allometric regression equations. A compilation of existing root biomass data for upland forests of the world generated a significant regression equation that can be used to predict root biomass based on aboveground biomass only. Methods for measuring coarse dead wood have been tested in many forest types, but the methods could be improved if a non-destructive tool for measuring the density of dead wood was developed. Future measurements of carbon storage in forests may rely more on remote sensing data, and new remote data collection technologies are in development.

Information Fusion Issues in the UK Environmental Science Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giles, J. R.

2010-12-01

The Earth is a complex, interacting system which cannot be neatly divided by discipline boundaries. To gain an holistic understanding of even a component of an Earth System requires researchers to draw information from multiple disciplines and integrate these to develop a broader understanding. But the barriers to achieving this are formidable. Research funders attempting to encourage the integration of information across disciplines need to take into account culture issues, the impact of intrusion of projects on existing information systems, ontologies and semantics, scale issues, heterogeneity and the uncertainties associated with combining information from diverse sources. Culture - There is a cultural dualism in the environmental sciences were information sharing is both rewarded and discouraged. Researchers who share information both gain new opportunities and risk reducing their chances of being first author in an high-impact journal. The culture of the environmental science community has to be managed to ensure that information fusion activities are encouraged. Intrusion - Existing information systems have an inertia of there own because of the intellectual and financial capital invested within them. Information fusion activities must recognise and seek to minimise the potential impact of their projects on existing systems. Low intrusion information fusions systems such as OGC web-service and the OpenMI Standard are to be preferred to whole-sale replacement of existing systems. Ontology and Semantics - Linking information across disciplines requires a clear understanding of the concepts deployed in the vocabulary used to describe them. Such work is a critical first step to creating routine information fusion. It is essential that national bodies, such as geological surveys organisations, document and publish their ontologies, semantics, etc. Scale - Environmental processes operate at scales ranging from microns to the scale of the Solar System and potentially beyond. The many different scales involved provide serious challenges to information fusion which need to be researched. Heterogeneity - Natural systems are heterogeneous, that is a system consisting of multiple components each of which may have considerable internal variation. Modelling Earth Systems requires recognition of the inherent complexity. Uncertainty - Understanding the uncertainties within a single information source can be difficult. Understanding the uncertainties across a system of linked models, each drawn from multiple information resources, represents a considerable challenge that must be addressed. The challenges to overcome appear insurmountable to individual research groups; but the potential rewards, in terms of a fuller scientific understanding of Earth Systems, are significant. A major international effort must be mounted to tackle these barriers and enable routine information fusion.

The Aftermath of the New 403(b) Regulations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lowder, Eleanor

2009-01-01

In late July 2007, the Internal Revenue Service dropped a bombshell in the form of new 403(b) regulations, which present great challenges for public school districts and community colleges. The challenge for employees participating in 403(b) plans is the new environment created by the requirement that 403(b) programs in existence since 1961…

Use of Point-of-Service Systems in School Nutrition Programs: Types, Challenges, and Employee Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Yee Ming; Kwon, Junehee; Park, Eunhye; Wang, Yujia; Rushing, Keith

2017-01-01

Purpose/Objectives: This study investigated the use of electronic and paper-based point-of-service (POS) systems in school nutrition programs (SNPs), including associated challenges and the desired skills and existing training practices for personnel handling such systems. Methods: A questionnaire was developed based on interviews with 25 SNP…

State Law Challenges to School Discipline: An Outline of Claims and Case Summaries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pressman, Robert

This publication presents topic headings that may be used as a checklist of state law grounds for challenging a disciplinary action. Topics include: (1) illegality in rule adoption; (2) inadequate notice that conduct is subject to discipline; (3) existence of a protected interest; (4) inadequate notice of hearing; (5) inadequate hearing…

Challenging Gender Inequalities in Education and in Working Life--A Mission Possible?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brunila, Kristiina; Ylöstalo, Hanna

2015-01-01

This article deals with challenging the gender inequalities that exist in education and working life. It contemplates the kinds of discursive power relations that have led to gender equality work in Finland. In today's conditions where equality issues are being harnessed more strongly to serve the aims of economic efficiency and productivity, it…

Educational Elements of a Comprehensive State Policy on Aging.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York State Education Dept., Albany. Office for Policy Analysis.

The aging of New York State's population poses both a challenge and an opportunity for the major institutions of society. The challenge facing educators is to develop a comprehensive strategy to mobilize the capacity of the educational system to address the multiple needs of an aging population in the context of existing social and economic…

Bebras--A Sustainable Community Building Model for the Concept Based Learning of Informatics and Computational Thinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dagiene, Valentina; Stupuriene, Gabriele

2016-01-01

As an international informatics contest, or challenge, Bebras has started the second decade of its existence. The contest attracts more and more countries every year, recently there have been over 40 participating countries. From a single contest-focused annual event Bebras developed to a multifunctional challenge and an activities-based…

Account Credibility and Public Image: Excuses, Justifications, Denials, and Sexual Harassment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunn, Deborah; Cody, Michael J.

2000-01-01

Examines and challenges theories of account giving and public image following an accusation of sexual harassment in the workplace, using college students and working adults as subjects. Challenges the existing theories of account giving and public image, and lays to rest the notion that full apologies and excuses are mitigating in serious account…

To Read or Not to Read: Understanding Book Censorship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connelly, Deborah S.

2009-01-01

The controversy involving the challenge and possible banning of books has existed since the first person set pen to paper. These challenges have historically been based upon political and religious differences, but as time has passed, have become increasingly more to do with sex, race and culture. With these issues facing libraries, the role of…

Design and Development of Virtual Reality: Analysis of Challenges Faced by Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanson, Kami; Shelton, Brett E.

2008-01-01

There exists an increasingly attractive lure of using virtual reality applications for teaching in all areas of education, but perhaps the largest detriment to its use is the intimidating nature of VR technology for non-technical instructors. What are the challenges to using VR technology for the design and development of VR-based instructional…

The Relationship between Emotional Recognition Ability and Challenging Behaviour in Adults with an Intellectual Disability. A Systematic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davies, Bronwen; Frude, Neil; Jenkins, Rosemary

2015-01-01

This review questions whether a relationship exists between emotional recognition ability and challenging behaviour in people with an intellectual disability. A search was completed of a number of databases to identify relevant articles, and these were then evaluated against defined criteria. Eight articles were reviewed and their aims, study…

Effect of Acquisition Rates on Off-Task Behavior with Children Identified as Having Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Matthew K.; Dean, Vincent J.

2005-01-01

Research has consistently demonstrated the importance of providing an appropriate level of challenge, called the instructional level, within curricular material. Although the instructional level is a generally well-defined and researched construct, much less data exist on the acquisition rate (AR) component of an appropriate level of challenge.…

Education for Sustainable Development in Chemistry--Challenges, Possibilities and Pedagogical Models in Finland and Elsewhere

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juntunen, M. K.; Aksela, M. K.

2014-01-01

This article analyses Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in chemistry by reviewing existing challenges and future possibilities on the levels of the teacher and the student. Pedagogical frameworks that are found eligible in practice are reviewed. Lesson themes that are suitable for implementing socioscientific issues (SSI) related to ESD…

Accommodating Extension Clients Who Face Language, Vision, or Hearing Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Angima, Sam; Etuk, Lena; Maddy, Deborah

2016-01-01

A survey-based study explored approaches used by one land-grant university to meet the needs of Extension clients who face language, vision, or hearing challenges. In attempts to serve such clients, the greatest gaps existed for clients whose main language was Spanish, followed by those who had vision impairments and then those who had hearing…

GATEWAY Demonstrations: Philadelphia International Airport Apron Lighting: LED System Performance in a Trial Installation

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

Davis, Robert G.; Wilkerson, Andrea M.

This report documents a trial installation of LED apron lighting that replaced the existing high-pressure sodium luminaires at Philadelphia International Airport. Such high-mast applications remain challenging for LED technology, and the lessons learned from this project may help facility managers and LED product manufacturers better meet those challenges.

High Voltage Hybrid Electric Propulsion - Multilayered Functional Insulation System (MFIS) NASA-GRC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lizcano, M.

2017-01-01

High power transmission cables pose a key challenge in future Hybrid Electric Propulsion Aircraft. The challenge arises in developing safe transmission lines that can withstand the unique environment found in aircraft while providing megawatts of power. High voltage AC, variable frequency cables do not currently exist and present particular electrical insulation challenges since electrical arcing and high heating are more prevalent at higher voltages and frequencies. Identifying and developing materials that maintain their dielectric properties at high voltage and frequencies is crucial.

Useful Sensor Web Capabilities to Enable Progressive Mission Autonomy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mandl, Dan

2007-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews using the Sensor Web capabilities as an enabling technology to allow for progressive autonomy of NASA space missions. The presentation reviews technical challenges for future missions, and some of the capabilities that exist to meet those challenges. To establish the ability of the technology to meet the challenges, experiments were conducted on three missions: Earth Observing 1 (EO-1), Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS) and Space Technology 5 (ST-5). These experiments are reviewed.

Crude oil impairs immune function and increases susceptibility to pathogenic bacteria in southern flounder

PubMed Central

Bayha, Keith M.; Ortell, Natalie; Ryan, Caitlin N.; Griffitt, Kimberly J.; Krasnec, Michelle; Sena, Johnny; Ramaraj, Thiruvarangan; Takeshita, Ryan; Mayer, Gregory D.; Schilkey, Faye; Griffitt, Robert J.

2017-01-01

Exposure to crude oil or its individual constituents can have detrimental impacts on fish species, including impairment of the immune response. Increased observations of skin lesions in northern Gulf of Mexico fish during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill indicated the possibility of oil-induced immunocompromisation resulting in bacterial or viral infection. This study used a full factorial design of oil exposure and bacterial challenge to examine how oil exposure impairs southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma) immune function and increases susceptibility to the bacteria Vibrio anguillarum, a causative agent of vibriosis. Fish exposed to oil prior to bacterial challenge exhibited 94.4% mortality within 48 hours of bacterial exposure. Flounder challenged with V. anguillarum without prior oil exposure had <10% mortality. Exposure resulted in taxonomically distinct gill and intestine bacterial communities. Mortality strongly correlated with V. anguillarum levels, where it comprised a significantly higher percentage of the microbiome in Oil/Pathogen challenged fish and was nearly non-existent in the No Oil/Pathogen challenged fish bacterial community. Elevated V. anguillarum levels were a direct result of oil exposure-induced immunosuppression. Oil-exposure reduced expression of immunoglobulin M, the major systemic fish antibody, and resulted in an overall downregulation in transcriptome response, particularly in genes related to immune function, response to stimulus and hemostasis. Ultimately, sediment-borne oil exposure impairs immune function, leading to increased incidences of bacterial infections. This type of sediment-borne exposure may result in long-term marine ecosystem effects, as oil-bound sediment in the northern Gulf of Mexico will likely remain a contamination source for years to come. PMID:28464028

Global surgery for pediatric hydrocephalus in the developing world: a review of the history, challenges, and future directions.

PubMed

Muir, Ryan T; Wang, Shelly; Warf, Benjamin C

2016-11-01

OBJECTIVE Pediatric hydrocephalus is one of the most common neurosurgical conditions and is a major contributor to the global burden of surgically treatable diseases. Significant health disparities exist for the treatment of hydrocephalus in developing nations due to a combination of medical, environmental, and socioeconomic factors. This review aims to provide the international neurosurgery community with an overview of the current challenges and future directions of neurosurgical care for children with hydrocephalus in low-income countries. METHODS The authors conducted a literature review around the topic of pediatric hydrocephalus in the context of global surgery, the unique challenges to creating access to care in low-income countries, and current international efforts to address the problem. RESULTS Developing countries face the greatest burden of pediatric hydrocephalus due to high birth rates and greater risk of neonatal infections. This burden is related to more general global health challenges, including malnutrition, infectious diseases, maternal and perinatal risk factors, and education gaps. Unique challenges pertaining to the treatment of hydrocephalus in the developing world include a preponderance of postinfectious hydrocephalus, limited resources, and restricted access to neurosurgical care. In the 21st century, several organizations have established programs that provide hydrocephalus treatment and neurosurgical training in Africa, Central and South America, Haiti, and Southeast Asia. These international efforts have employed various models to achieve the goals of providing safe, sustainable, and cost-effective treatment. CONCLUSIONS Broader commitment from the pediatric neurosurgery community, increased funding, public education, surgeon training, and ongoing surgical innovation will be needed to meaningfully address the global burden of untreated hydrocephalus.

Outcome Measures for Clinical Trials in Down Syndrome

PubMed Central

Esbensen, Anna J.; Hooper, Stephen R.; Fidler, Deborah; Hartley, Sigan; Edgin, Jamie; d’Ardhuy, Xavier Liogier; Capone, George; Conners, Frances; Mervis, Carolyn B.; Abbeduto, Leonard; Rafii, Michael; Krinsky-McHale, Sharon J.; Urv, Tiina

2017-01-01

Increasingly individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including Down syndrome, are being targeted for clinical trials. However, a challenge exists in effectively evaluating the outcomes of these new pharmacological interventions. Few empirically evaluated, psychometrically sound outcome measures appropriate for use in clinical trials with individuals with Down syndrome have been identified. To address this challenge, the NIH assembled leading clinicians and scientists to review existing measures and identify those that currently are appropriate for trials; those that may be appropriate after expansion of age range addition of easier items, and/or downward extension of psychometric norms; and areas where new measures need to be developed. This paper focuses on measures in the areas of cognition and behavior. PMID:28452584

What is an "ideal" antibiotic? Discovery challenges and path forward.

PubMed

Singh, Sheo B; Young, Katherine; Silver, Lynn L

2017-06-01

An ideal antibiotic is an antibacterial agent that kills or inhibits the growth of all harmful bacteria in a host, regardless of site of infection without affecting beneficial gut microbes (gut flora) or causing undue toxicity to the host. Sadly, no such antibiotics exist. What exist are many effective Gram-positive antibacterial agents as well as broad-spectrum agents that provide treatment of certain Gram-negative bacteria but not holistic treatment of all bacteria. However effectiveness of all antibacterial agents is being rapidly eroded due to resistance. This viewpoint provides an overview of today's antibiotics, challenges and potential path forward of discovery and development of new (ideal) antibiotics. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Management of Dynamic Biomedical Terminologies: Current Status and Future Challenges

PubMed Central

Dos Reis, J. C.; Pruski, C.

2015-01-01

Summary Objectives Controlled terminologies and their dependent artefacts provide a consensual understanding of a domain while reducing ambiguities and enabling reasoning. However, the evolution of a domain’s knowledge directly impacts these terminologies and generates inconsistencies in the underlying biomedical information systems. In this article, we review existing work addressing the dynamic aspect of terminologies as well as their effects on mappings and semantic annotations. Methods We investigate approaches related to the identification, characterization and propagation of changes in terminologies, mappings and semantic annotations including techniques to update their content. Results and conclusion Based on the explored issues and existing methods, we outline open research challenges requiring investigation in the near future. PMID:26293859

MO-FG-BRB-04: Panel discussion [Global burden of cancer

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

Van Dyk, J.

2015-06-15

The global burden of cancer is growing rapidly with an estimated 15 million new cases per year worldwide in 2015, growing to 19 million by 2025 and 24 million by 2035. The largest component of this growth will occur in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs). About half of these cases will require radiation treatment. The gap for available cancer treatment, including radiation therapy, between high-income countries (HICs) and LMICs is enormous. Accurate data and quantitative models to project the needs and the benefits of cancer treatment are a critical first step in closing the large cancer divide between LMICs and HICs.more » In this context, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) has developed a Global Task Force on Radiotherapy for Cancer Control (GTFRCC) with a charge to answer the question as to what it will take to close the gap between what exists today and reasonable access to radiation therapy globally by 2035 and what the potential clinical and economic benefits are for doing this. The Task Force has determined the projections of cancer incidence and the infrastructure required to provide access to radiation therapy globally. Furthermore it has shown that appropriate investment not only yields improved clinical outcomes for millions of patients but that it also provides an overall economic gain throughout all the income settings where this investment is made. This symposium will summarize the facets associated with this global cancer challenge by reviewing the cancer burden, looking at the requirements for radiation therapy, reviewing the benefits of providing such therapy both from a clinical and economic perspective and finally by looking at what approaches can be used to aid in the alleviation of this global cancer challenge. The speakers are world renowned experts in global public health issues (R. Atun), medical physics (D. Jaffray) and radiation oncology (N. Coleman). Learning Objectives: To describe the global cancer challenge and the corresponding potential benefits of addressing this challenge. To describe what radiation therapy infrastructure, in terms of facilities, equipment and personnel, will be required to address this challenge. To describe models of addressing personnel and infrastructure mobilization and capacity building within regions where significant cancer treatment disparities exist.« less

MO-FG-BRB-02: Uniform Access to Radiation Therapy by 2035: Global Task Force on Radiotherapy for Cancer Control

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

Jaffray, D.

The global burden of cancer is growing rapidly with an estimated 15 million new cases per year worldwide in 2015, growing to 19 million by 2025 and 24 million by 2035. The largest component of this growth will occur in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs). About half of these cases will require radiation treatment. The gap for available cancer treatment, including radiation therapy, between high-income countries (HICs) and LMICs is enormous. Accurate data and quantitative models to project the needs and the benefits of cancer treatment are a critical first step in closing the large cancer divide between LMICs and HICs.more » In this context, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) has developed a Global Task Force on Radiotherapy for Cancer Control (GTFRCC) with a charge to answer the question as to what it will take to close the gap between what exists today and reasonable access to radiation therapy globally by 2035 and what the potential clinical and economic benefits are for doing this. The Task Force has determined the projections of cancer incidence and the infrastructure required to provide access to radiation therapy globally. Furthermore it has shown that appropriate investment not only yields improved clinical outcomes for millions of patients but that it also provides an overall economic gain throughout all the income settings where this investment is made. This symposium will summarize the facets associated with this global cancer challenge by reviewing the cancer burden, looking at the requirements for radiation therapy, reviewing the benefits of providing such therapy both from a clinical and economic perspective and finally by looking at what approaches can be used to aid in the alleviation of this global cancer challenge. The speakers are world renowned experts in global public health issues (R. Atun), medical physics (D. Jaffray) and radiation oncology (N. Coleman). Learning Objectives: To describe the global cancer challenge and the corresponding potential benefits of addressing this challenge. To describe what radiation therapy infrastructure, in terms of facilities, equipment and personnel, will be required to address this challenge. To describe models of addressing personnel and infrastructure mobilization and capacity building within regions where significant cancer treatment disparities exist.« less

In vivo indices for predicting acidosis risk of grains in cattle: Comparison with in vitro methods.

PubMed

Lean, I J; Golder, H M; Black, J L; King, R; Rabiee, A R

2013-06-01

Our objective was to evaluate a near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) used in the feed industry to estimate the potential for grains to increase the risk of ruminal acidosis. The existing NIRS calibration was developed from in sacco and in vitro measures in cattle and grain chemical composition measurements. To evaluate the existing model, 20 cultivars of 5 grain types were fed to 40 Holstein heifers using a grain challenge protocol and changes in rumen VFA, ammonia, lactic acids, and pH that are associated with acidosis were measured. A method development study was performed to determine a grain feeding rate sufficient to induce non-life threatening but substantial ruminal changes during grain challenge. Feeding grain at a rate of 1.2% of BW met these criteria, lowering rumen pH (P = 0.01) and increasing valerate (P < 0.01) and propionate concentrations (P = 0.01). Valerate was the most discriminatory measure indicating ruminal change during challenge. Heifers were assigned using a row by column design in an in vivo study to 1 of 20 grain cultivars and were reassigned after a 9 d period (n = 4 cattle/treatment). The test grains were dry rolled oats (n = 3), wheat (n = 6), barley (n = 4), triticale (n = 4), and sorghum (n = 3) cultivars. Cattle were adapted to the test grain and had ad libitum access to grass silage 11 d before the challenge. Feed was withheld for 14 h before challenge feeding with 0.3 kg DM of silage followed by the respective test grain fed at 1.2% of BW. A rumen sample was taken by stomach tube 5, 65, 110, 155, and 200 min after grain consumption. The rumen is not homogenous and samples of rumen fluid obtained by stomach tube will differ from those gained by other methods. Rumen pH was measured immediately; individual VFA, ammonia, and D- and L-lactate concentrations were analyzed later. Rumen pH (P = 0.002) and all concentrations of fermentation products differed among grains (P = 0.001). A previously defined discriminant score calculated at 200 min after challenge was used to rank grains for acidosis risk. A significant correlation between the discriminant score and the NIRS ranking (r = 0.731, P = 0.003) demonstrated the potential for using NIRS calibrations for predicting acidosis risk of grains in cattle. The overall rankings of grains for acidosis risk were wheat > triticale > barley > oats > sorghum.

Recent progress toward the identification of anti-viral immune mechanisms in decapod crustaceans.

PubMed

Hauton, Chris

2017-07-01

The sustainable intensification of crustacean aquaculture, which is dominated by the farming of penaeid shrimp species, continues to be beset by viral disease outbreaks. Despite this, reports exist of differential susceptibility to viral infection between different shrimp species and populations, and between shrimp and other decapod crustaceans. These reports have, in part, provided the motivation to identify key mechanisms of antiviral resistance, or refractivity, in commercially-important species. Within the last decade these studies have created significant advances in our understanding of host virus interactions in decapod models. However, at the same time, the complexity of host virus interactions has presented significant challenges for interpretation of anti-viral immune responses. In this short review, recent progress in our understanding of the complexity of host virus interactions are considered, and challenges to the unequivocal identification of anti-viral immunity are highlighted. Special consideration is given to the advances in understanding being created by the use of RNA interference approaches. Based on the 'state of the art', it is concluded that the identification of effective intervention strategies for application at farm scale currently presents an unrealistic target for the aquaculture industry. Future technical developments necessary to support continued progress are also considered. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

'Is it the crime of the century?': factors for psychiatrists and service users that influence the long-term prescription of hypnosedatives.

PubMed

MacDonald, Joanna; Garvie, Christopher; Gordon, Sarah; Huthwaite, Mark; Mathieson, Fiona; Wood, Amber-Jane; Romans, Sarah

2015-07-01

Given the longstanding controversy about hypnosedative use, we aimed to investigate the attitudes of prescribing psychiatrists and service users towards long-term use of hypnosedative medication, and their perceptions of barriers to evidence-based nonmedication alternatives. Qualitative data from focus groups in Aotearoa/NZ were analysed thematically. A novel research design involved a service user researcher contributing throughout the research design and process. Service users and psychiatrists met to discuss each other's views, initially separately, and subsequently together. Analysis of the data identified four key themes: the challenge, for both parties, of sleep disturbance among service users with mental health problems; the conceptual and ethical conflicts for service users and psychiatrists in managing this challenge; the significant barriers to service users accessing evidence-based nonmedication alternatives; and the initial sense of disempowerment, shared by both service users and psychiatrists, which was transformed during the research process. Our results raise questions about the relevance of the existing guidelines for this group of service users, highlight the resource and time pressures that discourage participants from embarking on withdrawal regimes and education programmes on alternatives, highlight the lack of knowledge about alternatives and reflect the complex interaction between sleep and mental health problems, which poses a significant dilemma for service users and psychiatrists.

Will the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Proposed Standards for Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica Reduce Workplace Risk?

PubMed

Dudley, Susan E; Morriss, Andrew P

2015-07-01

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is developing regulations to amend existing standards for occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica by establishing a new permissible exposure limit as well as a series of ancillary provisions for controlling exposure. This article briefly reviews OSHA's proposed regulatory approach and the statutory authority on which it is based. It then evaluates OSHA's preliminary determination of significant risk and its analysis of the risk reduction achievable by its proposed controls. It recognizes that OSHA faces multiple challenges in devising a regulatory approach that reduces exposures and health risks and meets its statutory goal. However, the greatest challenge to reducing risks associated with silica exposure is not the lack of incentives (for either employers or employees) but rather lack of information, particularly information on the relative toxicity of different forms of silica. The article finds that OSHA's proposed rule would contribute little in the way of new information, particularly since it is largely based on information that is at least a decade old--a significant deficiency, given the rapidly changing conditions observed over the last 45 years. The article concludes with recommendations for alternative approaches that would be more likely to generate information needed to improve worker health outcomes. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

Radiation Oncology Quality and Safety Considerations in Low-Resource Settings: A Medical Physics Perspective.

PubMed

Van Dyk, Jacob; Meghzifene, Ahmed

2017-04-01

The past few years have seen a significant growth of interest in the global radiation therapy (RT) crisis. Various organizations have quantified the need and are providing aid in support of addressing the shortfalls existing in many low-to-middle income countries. With the tremendous demand for new facilities, equipment, and personnel, it is very important to recognize the quality and safety challenges and to address them directly. An examination of publications on quality and safety in RT indicates a consistency in a number of the recommendations; however, these authoritative reports were generally based on input from high-resourced contexts. Here, we review these recommendations with a special emphasis on issues that are significant in low-to-middle income countries. Although multidimensional, training, and staffing are top priorities, any support provided to lower-resourced settings must address the numerous facets associated with quality and safety indicators. Strong partnerships between high income and other countries will enhance the development of safe and resource-appropriate strategies for advancing the radiation treatment process. The real challenge is the engagement of a strong spirit of cooperation, collaboration, and communication among the multiple organizations in support of reducing the cancer divide and improving the provision of safe and effective RT. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Digital technology to enable aging in place.

PubMed

Kim, Kwang-Il; Gollamudi, Shreya S; Steinhubl, Steven

2017-02-01

Aging, both of individuals and populations, presents challenges and opportunities. The multitude of morbidities and disabilities that are a too common component of aging represent significant challenges to individuals, their families and to healthcare systems. Aging in place is the ability to safely and comfortably maintain an independent and high quality of life in one's own home and community and is a highly desirable goal of most individuals with the additional benefit of significantly impacting the impending enormous healthcare burden. In order to make this possible, new care models that take advantage of novel technologies for tracking important physiologic and safety parameters need to be developed and implemented. By thoughtfully doing so, it can be possible to seamlessly provide preventative interventions when and as needed, detect the earliest signs of aggravation of chronic conditions, or identify and respond to any emergency situations, such as falls or cardiac arrest. In contrast to current approaches, caring for elderly individuals in their homes based on a digital technology infrastructure could be effective and cost-saving. In this review, we provide an overview of the characteristics of potential digital solutions applicable to creative aging along with the existing evidence supporting their ability to improve care, increase quality of life, and substantially decrease the emotional and financial costs associated with aging. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Challenges in Transitioning Research Data to Operations: The SPoRT Paradigm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jedloved, Gary J.; Smith, Matt; McGrath, Kevin

2010-01-01

Established in 2002 to demonstrate the weather and forecasting application of real-time EOS measurements, the NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) program has grown to be an end-to-end research to operations activity focused on the use of advanced NASA modeling and data assimilation approaches, nowcasting techniques, and unique high-resolution multispectral data from EOS satellites to improve short-term weather forecasts on a regional and local scale. With the ever-broadening application of real-time high resolution satellite data from current EOS and planned NPP, JPSS, and GOES-R sensors to weather forecast problems, significant challenges arise in the acquisition, delivery, and integration of the new capabilities into the decision making process of the operational weather community. For polar orbiting sensors such as MODIS, AIRS, VIIRS, and CRiS, the use of direct broadcast ground stations is key to the real-time delivery of the data and derived products in a timely fashion. With the ABI on the geostationary GOES-R satellite, the data volume will likely increase by a factor of 5- 10 from current data streams. However, the high data volume and limited bandwidth of end user facilities presents a formidable obstacle to timely access to the data. This challenge can be addressed through the use of subsetting techniques, innovative web services, and the judicious selection of data formats. Many of these approaches have been implemented by SPoRT for the delivery of real-time products to NWS forecast offices and other weather entities. Once available in decision support systems like AWIPS II, these new data and products must be integrated into existing and new displays that allow for the integration of the data with existing operational products in these systems. SPoRT is leading the way in demonstrating this enhanced capability. This paper will highlight the ways SPoRT is overcoming many of the challenges presented by the enormous data volumes of current and future satellite systems to get unique high quality research data into the operational weather environment.

Use of existing systematic reviews for evidence assessments in infectious disease prevention: a comparative case study.

PubMed

Harder, Thomas; Remschmidt, Cornelius; Haller, Sebastian; Eckmanns, Tim; Wichmann, Ole

2016-10-11

Given limited resources and time constraints, the use of existing systematic reviews (SR) for the development of evidence-based public health recommendations has become increasingly important. Recently, a five-step approach for identifying, analyzing, appraising and using existing SRs based on recent guidance by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) was proposed within the Project on a Framework for Rating Evidence in Public Health (PRECEPT). However, case studies are needed to test whether this approach is useful, what challenges arise and how problems can be solved. In two case studies, the five-step approach was applied to integrate existing SRs in the development of evidence-based public health recommendations. Case study A focused on the role of neonatal sepsis as a risk factor for adverse neurodevelopmental outcome. Case study B examined the efficacy, effectiveness and safety of influenza vaccination during pregnancy. For each step, we report the approach of the review team, discuss challenges and describe solutions. For case study A, one existing SR was identified, while in case study B four SRs were eligible for analysis. We found that comparison of inclusion criteria alone was sufficient to judge on relevance of SRs in case study A, but not B. Although methodological quality of all identified SRs was acceptable, risk of bias assessments of individual studies included in the SRs had to be repeated in both case studies. Particular challenges appeared in case study B where multiple SRs addressed the same research question. With the help of spreadsheets comparing the characteristics of the existing SR we decided to use the most comprehensive one for our evidence synthesis and supplemented the results with those from the other SRs. In both case studies using the complete SR was not possible. The five-step approach provided useful and structured guidance and should be routinely applied when using existing SRs as a basis for evidence-based recommendations in public health. In situations where more than one SR has to be considered, the development of spreadsheets comparing characteristics, inclusion criteria, risk of bias, included studies and outcomes seems useful.

CREM monitoring: a wireless RF application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valencia, J. D.; Burghard, B. J.; Skorpik, J. R.; Silvers, K. L.; Schwartz, M. J.

2005-05-01

Recent security lapses within the Department of Energy laboratories prompted the establishment and implementation of additional procedures and training for operations involving classified removable electronic media (CREM) storage. In addition, the definition of CREM has been expanded and the number of CREM has increased significantly. Procedures now require that all CREM be inventoried and accounted for on a weekly basis. Weekly inventories consist of a physical comparison of each item against the reportable inventory listing. Securing and accounting for CREM is a continuous challenge for existing security systems. To address this challenge, an innovative framework, encompassing a suite of technologies, has been developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to monitor, track, and locate CREM in safes, vaults, and storage areas. This Automated Removable Media Observation and Reporting (ARMOR)framework, described in this paper, is an extension of an existing PNNL program, SecureSafe. The key attributes of systems built around the ARMOR framework include improved accountability, reduced risk of human error, improved accuracy and timeliness of inventory data, and reduced costs. ARMOR solutions require each CREM to be tagged with a unique electronically readable ID code. Inventory data is collected from tagged CREM at regular intervals and upon detection of an access event. Automated inventory collection and report generation eliminates the need for hand-written inventory sheets and allows electronic transfer of the collected inventory data to a modern electronic reporting system. An electronic log of CREM access events is maintained, providing enhanced accountability for daily/weekly checks, routine audits, and follow-up investigations.

Computer vision-based technologies and commercial best practices for the advancement of the motion imagery tradecraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phipps, Marja; Capel, David; Srinivasan, James

2014-06-01

Motion imagery capabilities within the Department of Defense/Intelligence Community (DoD/IC) have advanced significantly over the last decade, attempting to meet continuously growing data collection, video processing and analytical demands in operationally challenging environments. The motion imagery tradecraft has evolved accordingly, enabling teams of analysts to effectively exploit data and generate intelligence reports across multiple phases in structured Full Motion Video (FMV) Processing Exploitation and Dissemination (PED) cells. Yet now the operational requirements are drastically changing. The exponential growth in motion imagery data continues, but to this the community adds multi-INT data, interoperability with existing and emerging systems, expanded data access, nontraditional users, collaboration, automation, and support for ad hoc configurations beyond the current FMV PED cells. To break from the legacy system lifecycle, we look towards a technology application and commercial adoption model course which will meet these future Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) challenges. In this paper, we explore the application of cutting edge computer vision technology to meet existing FMV PED shortfalls and address future capability gaps. For example, real-time georegistration services developed from computer-vision-based feature tracking, multiple-view geometry, and statistical methods allow the fusion of motion imagery with other georeferenced information sources - providing unparalleled situational awareness. We then describe how these motion imagery capabilities may be readily deployed in a dynamically integrated analytical environment; employing an extensible framework, leveraging scalable enterprise-wide infrastructure and following commercial best practices.

Is enough attention given to climate change in health service planning? An Australian perspective.

PubMed

Burton, Anthony J; Bambrick, Hilary J; Friel, Sharon

2014-01-01

Within an Australian context, the medium to long-term health impacts of climate change are likely to be wide, varied and amplify many existing disorders and health inequities. How the health system responds to these challenges will be best considered in the context of existing health facilities and services. This paper provides a snapshot of the understanding that Australian health planners have of the potential health impacts of climate change. The first author interviewed (n=16) health service planners from five Australian states and territories using an interpretivist paradigm. All interviews were digitally recorded, key components transcribed and thematically analysed. Results indicate that the majority of participants were aware of climate change but not of its potential health impacts. Despite this, most planners were of the opinion that they would need to plan for the health impacts of climate change on the community. With the best available evidence pointing towards there being significant health impacts as a result of climate change, now is the time to undertake proactive service planning that address market failures within the health system. If considered planning is not undertaken then Australian health system can only deal with climate change in an expensive ad hoc, crisis management manner. Without meeting the challenges of climate change to the health system head on, Australia will remain unprepared for the health impacts of climate change with negative consequences for the health of the Australian population.

Legal Briefing: Adult Orphans and the Unbefriended: Making Medical Decisions for Unrepresented Patients without Surrogates.

PubMed

Pope, Thaddeus Mason

2015-01-01

This issue's "Legal Briefing" column covers recent legal developments involving medical decision making for incapacitated patients who have no available legally authorized surrogate decision maker. These individuals are frequently referred to either as "adult orphans" or as "unbefriended," "isolated," or "unrepresented" patients. The challenges involved in obtaining consent for medical treatment on behalf of these individuals have been the subject of major policy reports. Indeed, caring for the unbefriended has even been described as the "single greatest category of problems" encountered in bioethics consultation. In 2012, JCE published a comprehensive review of the available mechanisms by which to make medical decisions for the unbefriended. The purpose of this "Legal Briefing" is to update the 2012 study. Accordingly, this "Legal Briefing" collects and describes significant legal developments from only the past three years. My basic assessment has not changed. "Existing mechanisms to address the issue of decision making for the unbefriended are scant and not uniform." Most facilities are "muddling through on an ad hoc basis." But the situation is not wholly negative. There have been a number of promising new initiatives. I group these developments into the following seven categories: 1. Increased Attention and Discussion 2. Prevention through Better Advance Care Planning 3. Prevention through Expanded Default Surrogate Lists 4. Statutorily Authorized Intramural Mechanisms 5. California Litigation Challenging the Team Approach 6. Public Guardianship 7. Improving Existing Guardianship Processes. Copyright 2015 The Journal of Clinical Ethics. All rights reserved.

Weight and the Future of Space Flight Hardware Cost Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prince, Frank A.

2003-01-01

Weight has been used as the primary input variable for cost estimating almost as long as there have been parametric cost models. While there are good reasons for using weight, serious limitations exist. These limitations have been addressed by multi-variable equations and trend analysis in models such as NAFCOM, PRICE, and SEER; however, these models have not be able to address the significant time lags that can occur between the development of similar space flight hardware systems. These time lags make the cost analyst's job difficult because insufficient data exists to perform trend analysis, and the current set of parametric models are not well suited to accommodating process improvements in space flight hardware design, development, build and test. As a result, people of good faith can have serious disagreement over the cost for new systems. To address these shortcomings, new cost modeling approaches are needed. The most promising approach is process based (sometimes called activity) costing. Developing process based models will require a detailed understanding of the functions required to produce space flight hardware combined with innovative approaches to estimating the necessary resources. Particularly challenging will be the lack of data at the process level. One method for developing a model is to combine notional algorithms with a discrete event simulation and model changes to the total cost as perturbations to the program are introduced. Despite these challenges, the potential benefits are such that efforts should be focused on developing process based cost models.

Engine Technology Challenges for the High-Speed Civil Transport Plane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Plencner, Robert M.; Misra, Ajay; Graber, Edwin J., Jr.; Shaw, Robert J.; Seng, Gary T.

1998-01-01

Ongoing NASA-funded and privately funded studies continue to indicate that an opportunity exists for a second generation supersonic commercial airliner, or High-Speed Civil Transport (HSCT), to become a key part of the 21 st century international air transportation system. Long distance air travel is projected to be the fastest growing segment of the air transportation market by the turn of the century with increases at about 5 percent per annum over the next two decades. This projection suggests that by the year 2015, more than 600,000 passengers per day will be traveling long distances, predominantly over water. These routes would provide the greatest potential for an HSCT to become a significant part of the international air transportation system. The potential market for an HSCT is currently projected to be anywhere from 500-1500 aircraft over the 2005-2030 time period. Such an aircraft fleet size would represent a considerable share of the potential long-range aircraft market. However, this projected HSCT fleet can become a reality only if technologies are developed which will allow an HSCT design that is (1) environmentally compatible and (2) economically viable. Simply stated, the HSCT will be a technology driven airplane. Without significant advances in airframe and propulsion technologies over the levels currently available, there will be no second generation supersonic airliner! This paper will briefly describe the propulsion technology challenges which must be met prior to any product launch decision being made by industry and the progress toward meeting these challenges through NASAs High-Speed Research (HSR) Program, a partnership between NASA and Boeing, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney.

Rheumatic heart disease: progress and challenges in India.

PubMed

Shah, Bela; Sharma, Meenakshi; Kumar, Rajesh; Brahmadathan, K N; Abraham, Vinod Joseph; Tandon, Rajan

2013-03-01

Rheumatic heart disease, a neglected disease, continues to be a burden in India and other developing countries. It is a result of an autoimmune sequalae in response to group A beta hemolytic streptococcus (GAS) infection of the pharynx. Acute rheumatic fever (RF), a multisystem inflammatory disease, is followed by rheumatic heart disease (RHD) and has manifestations of joints, skin and central nervous system involvement. A review of epidemiological studies indicates unchanged GAS pharyngitis and carrier rates in India. The apparent decline in RHD rates in India as indicated by the epidemiological studies has to be taken with caution as methodological differences exist among studies. Use of echocardiography increases case detection rates of RHD in population surveys. However, the significance of echo based diagnosis of carditis needs further evaluation to establish the significance. Research in this area through prospective follow up studies will have to be undertaken by the developing countries as the interest of developed countries in the disease has waned due the declined burden in their populations. Prevention of RHD is possible through treatment of GAS pharyngitis (primary prophylaxis) and continued antibiotic treatment for number of years in patients with history of RF to prevent recurrences (secondary prophylaxis). The cost effectiveness and practicality of secondary prophylaxis is well documented. The challenge to any secondary prophylaxis program for prevention of RF in India will be the availability of benzathine penicillin G and dissipation of fears of allergic reactions to penicillin among practitioners, general public and policy makers. The authors review here the progress and challenges in epidemiology, diagnosis and primary and secondary prevention of RF and RHD.

The Contribution of Upper Body Movements to Dynamic Balance Regulation during Challenged Locomotion

PubMed Central

Boström, Kim J.; Dirksen, Tim; Zentgraf, Karen; Wagner, Heiko

2018-01-01

Recent studies suggest that in addition to movements between ankle and hip joints, movements of the upper body, in particular of the arms, also significantly contribute to postural control. In line with these suggestions, we analyzed regulatory movements of upper and lower body joints supporting dynamic balance regulation during challenged locomotion. The participants walked over three beams of varying width and under three different verbally conveyed restrictions of arm posture, to control the potential influence of arm movements on the performance: The participants walked (1) with their arms stretched out perpendicularly in the frontal plane, (2) spontaneously, i.e., without restrictions to the arm movements, and (3) with their hands on their thighs. After applying an inverse-dynamics analysis to the measured joint kinematics, we investigated the contribution of upper and lower body joints to balance regulation in terms of torque amplitude and variation. On the condition with the hands on the thighs, the contribution of the upper body remains significantly lower than the contribution of the lower body irrespective of beam widths. For spontaneous arm movements and for outstretched arms we find that the upper body (including the arms) contributes to the balancing to a similar extent as the lower body. Moreover, when the task becomes more difficult, i.e., for narrower beam widths, the contribution of the upper body increases, while the contribution of the lower body remains nearly constant. These findings lend further support to the hypothetical existence of an “upper body strategy” complementing the ankle and hip strategies especially during challenging dynamic balance tasks. PMID:29434544

A Key Challenge in Global HRM: Adding New Insights to Existing Expatriate Spouse Adjustment Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gupta, Ritu; Banerjee, Pratyush; Gaur, Jighyasu

2012-01-01

This study is an attempt to strengthen the existing knowledge about factors affecting the adjustment process of the trailing expatriate spouse and the subsequent impact of any maladjustment or expatriate failure. We conducted a qualitative enquiry using grounded theory methodology with 26 Indian spouses who had to deal with their partner's…

Challenges in characterizing a parcelized forest landscape: why metric, scale and threshold matter

Treesearch

Michael A. Kilgore; Stephanie A. Snyder; Kayla Block-Torgerson; Steven J. Taff

2013-01-01

Several metrics have been cited in the literature as being useful characterizations of forest land parcelization. Yet no agreed-upon standard measure exists which creates difficulties in identifying where parcelization is occurring as well as comparing the magnitude of its occurrence across different studies and geographic regions. We evaluated three existing (average...

Goal-Directed Visual Processing Differentially Impacts Human Ventral and Dorsal Visual Representations

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Recent studies have challenged the ventral/“what” and dorsal/“where” two-visual-processing-pathway view by showing the existence of “what” and “where” information in both pathways. Is the two-pathway distinction still valid? Here, we examined how goal-directed visual information processing may differentially impact visual representations in these two pathways. Using fMRI and multivariate pattern analysis, in three experiments on human participants (57% females), by manipulating whether color or shape was task-relevant and how they were conjoined, we examined shape-based object category decoding in occipitotemporal and parietal regions. We found that object category representations in all the regions examined were influenced by whether or not object shape was task-relevant. This task effect, however, tended to decrease as task-relevant and irrelevant features were more integrated, reflecting the well-known object-based feature encoding. Interestingly, task relevance played a relatively minor role in driving the representational structures of early visual and ventral object regions. They were driven predominantly by variations in object shapes. In contrast, the effect of task was much greater in dorsal than ventral regions, with object category and task relevance both contributing significantly to the representational structures of the dorsal regions. These results showed that, whereas visual representations in the ventral pathway are more invariant and reflect “what an object is,” those in the dorsal pathway are more adaptive and reflect “what we do with it.” Thus, despite the existence of “what” and “where” information in both visual processing pathways, the two pathways may still differ fundamentally in their roles in visual information representation. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Visual information is thought to be processed in two distinctive pathways: the ventral pathway that processes “what” an object is and the dorsal pathway that processes “where” it is located. This view has been challenged by recent studies revealing the existence of “what” and “where” information in both pathways. Here, we found that goal-directed visual information processing differentially modulates shape-based object category representations in the two pathways. Whereas ventral representations are more invariant to the demand of the task, reflecting what an object is, dorsal representations are more adaptive, reflecting what we do with the object. Thus, despite the existence of “what” and “where” information in both pathways, visual representations may still differ fundamentally in the two pathways. PMID:28821655

Practical lessons for bringing policy-makers on board in sexual and reproductive health research.

PubMed

Guieu, Aurore; Zhang, Wei-Hong; Lafort, Yves; Decat, Peter; De Meyer, Sara; Wang, Shuchen; Kerstens, Birgit; Duysburgh, Els

2016-11-11

The need to translate research into policy, i.e. making research findings a driving force in agenda-setting and policy change, is increasingly acknowledged. However, little is known about translation mechanisms in the field of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outside North American or European contexts. This paper seeks to give an overview of the existing knowledge on this topic as well as to document practical challenges and remedies from the perspectives of researchers involved in four SRH research consortium projects in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, China and India. A literature review and relevant project documents were used to develop an interview guide through which researchers could reflect on their experiences in engaging with policy-makers, and particularly on the obstacles met and the strategies deployed by the four project consortia to circumvent them. Our findings confirm current recommendations on an early and steady involvement of policy-makers, however they also suggest that local barriers between researchers and policy-making spheres and individuals can represent major hindrances to the realization of translation objectives. Although many of the challenges might be common to different contexts, creating locally-adapted responses is deemed key to overcome them. Researchers' experiences also indicate that - although inevitable - recognizing and addressing these challenges is a difficult, time- and energy-consuming process for all partners involved. Despite a lack of existing knowledge on translation efforts in SRH research outside North American or European contexts, and more particularly in low and middle-income countries, it is clear that existing pressure on health and policy systems in these settings further complicates them. This article brings together literature findings and researchers' own experiences in translating research results into policy and highlights the major challenges research conducted on sexual and reproductive health outside North American or European contexts can meet. Future SRH projects should be particularly attentive to these potential obstacles in order to tailor appropriate and consistent strategies within their existing resources.

Proposed Requirements-driven User-scenario Development Protocol for the Belmont Forum E-Infrastructure and Data Management Cooperative Research Agreement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wee, B.; Car, N.; Percivall, G.; Allen, D.; Fitch, P. G.; Baumann, P.; Waldmann, H. C.

2014-12-01

The Belmont Forum E-Infrastructure and Data Management Cooperative Research Agreement (CRA) is designed to foster a global community to collaborate on e-infrastructure challenges. One of the deliverables is an implementation plan to address global data infrastructure interoperability challenges and align existing domestic and international capabilities. Work package three (WP3) of the CRA focuses on the harmonization of global data infrastructure for sharing environmental data. One of the subtasks under WP3 is the development of user scenarios that guide the development of applicable deliverables. This paper describes the proposed protocol for user scenario development. It enables the solicitation of user scenarios from a broad constituency, and exposes the mechanisms by which those solicitations are evaluated against requirements that map to the Belmont Challenge. The underlying principle of traceability forms the basis for a structured, requirements-driven approach resulting in work products amenable to trade-off analyses and objective prioritization. The protocol adopts the ISO Reference Model for Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP) as a top level framework. User scenarios are developed within RM-ODP's "Enterprise Viewpoint". To harmonize with existing frameworks, the protocol utilizes the conceptual constructs of "scenarios", "use cases", "use case categories", and use case templates as adopted by recent GEOSS Architecture Implementation Project (AIP) deliverables and CSIRO's eReefs project. These constructs are encapsulated under the larger construct of "user scenarios". Once user scenarios are ranked by goodness-of-fit to the Belmont Challenge, secondary scoring metrics may be generated, like goodness-of-fit to FutureEarth science themes. The protocol also facilitates an assessment of the ease of implementing given user scenario using existing GEOSS AIP deliverables. In summary, the protocol results in a traceability graph that can be extended to coordinate across research programmes. If implemented using appropriate technologies and harmonized with existing ontologies, this approach enables queries, sensitivity analyses, and visualization of complex relationships.

Perspectives of intellectual disability in Africa: epidemiology and policy services for children and adults.

PubMed

Njenga, Frank

2009-09-01

To establish the nature of publications emanating from or relating to intellectual disability in Africa in the previous 12-18 months, and to critically analyse the nature and content of any new knowledge arising from them. Three papers satisfied the criteria set, one from Nigeria on epilepsy and intellectual disability, the other two were from South Africa. Kromberg's paper puts intellectual disability in context for South Africa, emphasizing the role potentially played by traditional healers. Pillay's paper tackles emerging issues in the psycholegal arena in South Africa, many of which are relevant to the rest of the continent. Of the many challenges facing persons with intellectual disability in Africa, high prevalence, discrimination, and access to justice and education are key considerations, in all countries, and without exception are coupled with poor resource allocation. The challenges posed by HIV, wars and internal displacement are significant and demand examination by researchers. Opportunities for beneficial research exist between Africa and the centres of academic excellence around the rest of the world. Those centres with the skill and will to collaborate with Africa will be handsomely rewarded by the wide scope of challenges in intellectual disability that are available for scientific enquiry. Opportunities for skills transfer are many and available.

Physiological Employment Standards III: physiological challenges and consequences encountered during international military deployments.

PubMed

Nindl, Bradley C; Castellani, John W; Warr, Bradley J; Sharp, Marilyn A; Henning, Paul C; Spiering, Barry A; Scofield, Dennis E

2013-11-01

Modern international military deployments in austere environments (i.e., Iraq and Afghanistan) place considerable physiological demands on soldiers. Significant physiological challenges exist: maintenance of physical fitness and body composition, rigors of external load carriage, environmental extremes (heat, cold, and altitude), medical illnesses, musculoskeletal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, and environmental exposure hazards (i.e., burn pits, vehicle exhaust, etc.). To date there is very little published research and no comprehensive reviews on the physiological effects of deployments. The purpose of this paper is to overview what is currently known from the literature related mainly to current military conflicts with regard to the challenges and consequences from deployments. Summary findings include: (1) aerobic capacity declines while muscle strength, power and muscular endurance appear to be maintained, (2) load carriage continues to tax the physical capacities of the Soldier, (3) musculoskeletal injuries comprise the highest proportion of all injury categories, (4) environmental insults occur from both terrestrial extremes and pollutant exposure, and (5) post-deployment concerns linger for traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. A full understanding of these responses will assist in identifying the most effective risk mitigation strategies to ensure deployment readiness and to assist in establishment of military employment standards.

NCCN Oncology Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies White Paper: Recommendations for Stakeholders.

PubMed

Johnson, Philip E; Dahlman, George; Eng, Kirby; Garg, Rekha; Gottlieb, Scott; Hoffman, James M; Howell, Peyton; Jahanzeb, Mohammad; Johnson, Shirley; Mackler, Emily; Rubino, Mark; Sarokhan, Brenda; Marc Stewart, F; Tyler, Tim; Vose, Julie M; Weinstein, Sharon; Li, Edward C; Demartino, Jessica

2010-09-01

REMS are a particularly important issue for oncology and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). A disproportionate number of drugs with complex REMS are used in patients with cancer or hematologic disorders. REMS policies and processes within oncology may act as a model for other clinical areas. A breadth of experience and access to a wide knowledge base exists within oncology that will ensure appropriate development and consideration of the practical implications of REMS. NCCN is uniquely positioned to assume a leadership role in this process given its status as the arbiter of high-quality cancer care based on its world-leading institutions and clinicians. Notwithstanding the potential benefits, the successful design, implementation, and analysis of the FDA's recent requirement for REMS for some high-risk drugs and biologics will present significant challenges for stakeholders, including patients, providers, cancer centers, manufacturers, payors, health information technology vendors, and regulatory agencies. To provide guidance to these stakeholders regarding REMS challenges, the NCCN assembled a work group comprised of thought leaders from NCCN Member Institutions and other outside experts. The Work Group identified challenges across the REMS spectrum, including the areas of standardization, development and assessment of REMS programs, medication guides, provider knowledge and impact on prescribing, provider burden and compensation, and incorporation of REMS into clinical practice.