The use of semantic- and phonological-based feature approaches to treat naming deficits in aphasia.

PubMed

Hashimoto, Naomi

2012-06-01

The aim of the study was to compare approaches highlighting either semantic or phonological features to treat naming deficits in aphasia. Treatment focused on improving picture naming. An alternating treatments design was used with a multiple baseline design across stimuli to examine effects of both approaches in two participants with varying degrees of anomia. The features approaches were modified in that three, rather than six, features were used. Significant differential effects were found across participants; this appeared to be a function of each participant's strengths or preferences over the course of treatment. Modest generalization effects were obtained for one participant. Naming error analyses revealed patterns suggestive of increased lexical access for both participants. These findings provide evidence that using a modified features-based protocol can improve naming when incorporating both semantic and phonological feature cues. Naming error patterns can provide additional evidence of improved naming during treatment.

Working Definitions of Terms for the Bilingual Instructional Features Study. Planning Paper 1. Bilingual Instructional Features Planning Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nieves-Squires, Sarah; Goodrich, Robert L.

This report is one of five submitted as products of a "Study Designed to Assist Planning of Research on Significant Instructional Features in Bilingual Education Programs." The reports are intended to assist the National Institute of Education (NIE) in its plans for a major new research study in bilingual education. The present volume is…

Structural health monitoring feature design by genetic programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harvey, Dustin Y.; Todd, Michael D.

2014-09-01

Structural health monitoring (SHM) systems provide real-time damage and performance information for civil, aerospace, and other high-capital or life-safety critical structures. Conventional data processing involves pre-processing and extraction of low-dimensional features from in situ time series measurements. The features are then input to a statistical pattern recognition algorithm to perform the relevant classification or regression task necessary to facilitate decisions by the SHM system. Traditional design of signal processing and feature extraction algorithms can be an expensive and time-consuming process requiring extensive system knowledge and domain expertise. Genetic programming, a heuristic program search method from evolutionary computation, was recently adapted by the authors to perform automated, data-driven design of signal processing and feature extraction algorithms for statistical pattern recognition applications. The proposed method, called Autofead, is particularly suitable to handle the challenges inherent in algorithm design for SHM problems where the manifestation of damage in structural response measurements is often unclear or unknown. Autofead mines a training database of response measurements to discover information-rich features specific to the problem at hand. This study provides experimental validation on three SHM applications including ultrasonic damage detection, bearing damage classification for rotating machinery, and vibration-based structural health monitoring. Performance comparisons with common feature choices for each problem area are provided demonstrating the versatility of Autofead to produce significant algorithm improvements on a wide range of problems.

Community Design Impacts on Health Habits in Low-income Southern Nevadans.

PubMed

Coughenour, Courtney; Burns, Mackenzie S

2016-07-01

The purposes of this exploratory study were to: (1) characterize selected community design features; and (2) determine the relationship between select features and physical activity (PA) levels and nutrition habits for a small sample of low-income southern Nevadans. Secondary analysis was conducted on data from selected participants of the Nevada Healthy Homes Partnership program; self-report data on PA and diet habits were compared to national guidelines. Community design features were identified via GIS within a one-mile radius of participants' homes. Descriptive statistics characterized these features and chi-square analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between select features and habits. Data from 71 participants were analyzed; the majority failed to reach either PA or fruit and vegetable guidelines (81.7% and 93.0%, respectively). Many neighborhoods were absent of parks (71.8%), trailheads (36.6%), or pay-for-use PA facilities (47.9%). The mean number of grocery stores was 3.4 ± 2.3 per neighborhood. Chi-square analyses were not statistically significant. Findings were insufficient to make meaningful conclusions, but support the need for health promotion to meet guidelines. More research is needed to assess the impact of health-promoting community design and healthy behaviors, particularly in vulnerable populations.

Engaging with Islamic Patterns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sugarman, Ian

2012-01-01

Islamic patterns were a regular feature in mathematics classrooms, and probably still feature in many wall displays. However, as part of the learning process, these ancient designs appear to have lost any significant contemporary appeal. Here, the power of software is engaged to bring the construction of Islamic type patterns up to date. Forget…

Student Use of Scaffolding Software: Relationships with Motivation and Conceptual Understanding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butler, Kyle A.; Lumpe, Andrew

2008-10-01

This study was designed to theoretically articulate and empirically assess the role of computer scaffolds. In this project, several examples of educational software were developed to scaffold the learning of students performing high level cognitive activities. The software used in this study, Artemis, focused on scaffolding the learning of students as they performed information seeking activities. As 5th grade students traveled through a project-based science unit on photosynthesis, researchers used a pre-post design to test for both student motivation and student conceptual understanding of photosynthesis. To measure both variables, a motivation survey and three methods of concept map analysis were used. The student use of the scaffolding features was determined using a database that tracked students' movement between scaffolding tools. The gain scores of each dependent variable was then correlated to the students' feature use (time and hits) embedded in the Artemis Interface. This provided the researchers with significant relationships between the scaffolding features represented in the software and student motivation and conceptual understanding of photosynthesis. There were a total of three significant correlations in comparing the scaffolding use by hits (clicked on) with the dependent variables and only one significant correlation when comparing the scaffold use in time. The first significant correlation ( r = .499, p < .05) was between the saving/viewing features hits and the students' task value. This correlation supports the assumption that there is a positive relationship between the student use of the saving/viewing features and the students' perception of how interesting, how important, and how useful the task is. The second significant correlation ( r = 0.553, p < 0.01) was between the searching features hits and the students' self-efficacy for learning and performance. This correlation supports the assumption that there is a positive relationship between the student use of the searching features and the students' perception of their ability to accomplish a task as well as their confidence in their skills to perform that task. The third significant correlation ( r = 0.519, p < 0.05) was between the collaborative features hits and the students' essay performance scores. This correlation supports the assumption that there is a positive relationship between the student use of the collaborative features and the students' ability to perform high cognitive tasks. Finally, the last significant correlation ( r = 0.576, p < 0.01) was between the maintenance features time and the qualitative analysis of the concept maps. This correlation supports the assumption that there is a positive relationship between the student use of the maintenance features and student conceptual understanding of photosynthesis.

Spectral feature design in high dimensional multispectral data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, Chih-Chien Thomas; Landgrebe, David A.

1988-01-01

The High resolution Imaging Spectrometer (HIRIS) is designed to acquire images simultaneously in 192 spectral bands in the 0.4 to 2.5 micrometers wavelength region. It will make possible the collection of essentially continuous reflectance spectra at a spectral resolution sufficient to extract significantly enhanced amounts of information from return signals as compared to existing systems. The advantages of such high dimensional data come at a cost of increased system and data complexity. For example, since the finer the spectral resolution, the higher the data rate, it becomes impractical to design the sensor to be operated continuously. It is essential to find new ways to preprocess the data which reduce the data rate while at the same time maintaining the information content of the high dimensional signal produced. Four spectral feature design techniques are developed from the Weighted Karhunen-Loeve Transforms: (1) non-overlapping band feature selection algorithm; (2) overlapping band feature selection algorithm; (3) Walsh function approach; and (4) infinite clipped optimal function approach. The infinite clipped optimal function approach is chosen since the features are easiest to find and their classification performance is the best. After the preprocessed data has been received at the ground station, canonical analysis is further used to find the best set of features under the criterion that maximal class separability is achieved. Both 100 dimensional vegetation data and 200 dimensional soil data were used to test the spectral feature design system. It was shown that the infinite clipped versions of the first 16 optimal features had excellent classification performance. The overall probability of correct classification is over 90 percent while providing for a reduced downlink data rate by a factor of 10.

Random Combinatorial Gradient Metasurface for Broadband, Wide-Angle and Polarization-Independent Diffusion Scattering.

PubMed

Zhuang, Yaqiang; Wang, Guangming; Liang, Jiangang; Cai, Tong; Tang, Xiao-Lan; Guo, Tongfeng; Zhang, Qingfeng

2017-11-29

This paper proposes an easy, efficient strategy for designing broadband, wide-angle and polarization-independent diffusion metasurface for radar cross section (RCS) reduction. A dual-resonance unit cell, composed of a cross wire and cross loop (CWCL), is employed to enhance the phase bandwidth covering the 2π range. Both oblique-gradient and horizontal-gradient phase supercells are designed for illustration. The numerical results agree well with the theoretical ones. To significantly reduce backward scattering, the random combinatorial gradient metasurface (RCGM) is subsequently constructed by collecting eight supercells with randomly distributed gradient directions. The proposed metasurface features an enhanced specular RCS reduction performance and less design complexity compared to other candidates. Both simulated and measured results show that the proposed RCGM can significantly suppress RCS and exhibits broadband, wide-angle and polarization independence features.

Gender differences in knee morphology and the prospects for implant design in total knee replacement.

PubMed

Asseln, Malte; Hänisch, Christoph; Schick, Fabian; Radermacher, Klaus

2018-05-14

Morphological differences between female and male knees have been reported in the literature, which led to the development of so-called gender-specific implants. However, detailed morphological descriptions covering the entire joint are rare and little is known regarding whether gender differences are real sexual dimorphisms or can be explained by overall differences in size. We comprehensively analysed knee morphology using 33 features of the femur and 21 features of the tibia to quantify knee shape. The landmark recognition and feature extraction based on three-dimensional surface data were fully automatically applied to 412 pathological (248 female and 164 male) knees undergoing total knee arthroplasty. Subsequently, an exploratory statistical analysis was performed and linear correlation analysis was used to investigate normalization factors and gender-specific differences. Statistically significant differences between genders were observed. These were pronounced for distance measurements and negligible for angular (relative) measurements. Female knees were significantly narrower at the same depth compared to male knees. The correlation analysis showed that linear correlations were higher for distance measurements defined in the same direction. After normalizing the distance features according to overall dimensions in the direction of their definition, gender-specific differences disappeared or were smaller than the related confidence intervals. Implants should not be linearly scaled according to one dimension. Instead, features in medial/lateral and anterior/posterior directions should be normalized separately (non-isotropic scaling). However, large inter-individual variations of the features remain after normalization, suggesting that patient-specific design solutions are required for an improved implant design, regardless of gender. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. 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.

A & M Consolidated Senior High School, College Station, Texas. Profiles of Significant Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clinchy, Evans

A profile of a high school is presented in which the building design features provided versatile interior space and provisions for future expansion. In briefly describing the educational bases of the building design, two items are emphasized--(1) why the school was designed as it was, and (2) how it was designed and built. Schematics and…

Representation learning: a unified deep learning framework for automatic prostate MR segmentation.

PubMed

Liao, Shu; Gao, Yaozong; Oto, Aytekin; Shen, Dinggang

2013-01-01

Image representation plays an important role in medical image analysis. The key to the success of different medical image analysis algorithms is heavily dependent on how we represent the input data, namely features used to characterize the input image. In the literature, feature engineering remains as an active research topic, and many novel hand-crafted features are designed such as Haar wavelet, histogram of oriented gradient, and local binary patterns. However, such features are not designed with the guidance of the underlying dataset at hand. To this end, we argue that the most effective features should be designed in a learning based manner, namely representation learning, which can be adapted to different patient datasets at hand. In this paper, we introduce a deep learning framework to achieve this goal. Specifically, a stacked independent subspace analysis (ISA) network is adopted to learn the most effective features in a hierarchical and unsupervised manner. The learnt features are adapted to the dataset at hand and encode high level semantic anatomical information. The proposed method is evaluated on the application of automatic prostate MR segmentation. Experimental results show that significant segmentation accuracy improvement can be achieved by the proposed deep learning method compared to other state-of-the-art segmentation approaches.

Software for math and science education for the deaf.

PubMed

Adamo-Villani, Nicoletta; Wilbur, Ronnie

2010-01-01

In this article, we describe the development of two novel approaches to teaching math and science concepts to deaf children using 3D animated interactive software. One approach, Mathsigner, is non-immersive and the other, SMILE, is a virtual reality immersive environment. The content is curriculum-based, and the animated signing characters are constructed with state-of-the art technology and design. We report preliminary development findings of usability and appeal based on programme features (e.g. 2D/3D, immersiveness, interaction type, avatar and interface design) and subject features (hearing status, gender and age). Programme features of 2D/3D, immersiveness and interaction type were very much affected by subject features. Among subject features, we find significant effects of hearing status (deaf children take longer time and make more mistakes than hearing children) and gender (girls take longer than boys; girls prefer immersive environments rather than desktop presentation; girls are more interested in content than technology compared to boys). For avatar type, we found a preference for seamless, deformable characters over segmented ones. For interface comparisons, there were no subject effects, but an animated interface resulted in reduced time to task completion compared to static interfaces with and without sound and highlighting. These findings identify numerous features that affect software design and appeal and suggest that designers must be careful in their assumptions during programme development.

Prioritizing the mHealth Design Space: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Smokers' Perspectives.

PubMed

Hartzler, Andrea Lisabeth; BlueSpruce, June; Catz, Sheryl L; McClure, Jennifer B

2016-08-05

Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. Therefore, researchers are constantly exploring new ways to promote smoking cessation. Mobile health (mHealth) technologies could be effective cessation tools. Despite the availability of commercial quit-smoking apps, little research to date has examined smokers' preferred treatment intervention components (ie, design features). Honoring these preferences is important for designing programs that are appealing to smokers and may be more likely to be adopted and used. The aim of this study was to understand smokers' preferred design features of mHealth quit-smoking tools. We used a mixed-methods approach consisting of focus groups and written surveys to understand the design preferences of adult smokers who were interested in quitting smoking (N=40). Focus groups were stratified by age to allow differing perspectives to emerge between older (>40 years) and younger (<40 years) participants. Focus group discussion included a "blue-sky" brainstorming exercise followed by participant reactions to contrasting design options for communicating with smokers, providing social support, and incentivizing program use. Participants rated the importance of preselected design features on an exit survey. Qualitative analyses examined emergent discussion themes and quantitative analyses compared feature ratings to determine which were perceived as most important. Participants preferred a highly personalized and adaptive mHealth experience. Their ideal mHealth quit-smoking tool would allow personalized tracking of their progress, adaptively tailored feedback, and real-time peer support to help manage smoking cravings. Based on qualitative analysis of focus group discussion, participants preferred pull messages (ie, delivered upon request) over push messages (ie, sent automatically) and preferred interaction with other smokers through closed social networks. Preferences for entertaining games or other rewarding incentives to encourage program use differed by age group. Based on quantitative analysis of surveys, participants rated the importance of select design features significantly differently (P<.001). Design features rated as most important included personalized content, the ability to track one's progress, and features designed to help manage nicotine withdrawal and medication side effects. Design features rated least important were quit-smoking videos and posting on social media. Communicating with stop-smoking experts was rated more important than communicating with family and friends about quitting (P=.03). Perceived importance of various design features varied by age, experience with technology, and frequency of smoking. Future mHealth cessation aids should be designed with an understanding of smokers' needs and preferences for these tools. Doing so does not guarantee treatment effectiveness, but balancing user preferences with best-practice treatment considerations could enhance program adoption and improve treatment outcomes. Grounded in the perspectives of smokers, we identify several design considerations, which should be prioritized when designing future mHealth cessation tools and which warrant additional empirical validation.

Implementation and outcome evaluation of high-fidelity simulation scenarios to integrate cognitive and psychomotor skills for Korean nursing students.

PubMed

Ahn, Heejung; Kim, Hyun-Young

2015-05-01

This study is involved in designing high-fidelity simulations reflecting the Korean nursing education environment. In addition, it evaluated the simulations by nursing students' learning outcomes and perceptions of the simulation design features. A quantitative design was used in two separate phases. For the first phase, five nursing experts participated in verifying the appropriateness of two simulation scenarios that reflected the intended learning objectives. For the second phase, 69 nursing students in the third year of a bachelor's degree at a nursing school participated in evaluating the simulations and were randomized according to their previous course grades. The first phase verified the two simulation scenarios using a questionnaire. The second phase evaluated students' perceptions of the simulation design, self-confidence, and critical thinking skills using a quasi-experimental post-test design. ANCOVA was used to compare the experimental and control groups, and correlation coefficient analysis was used to determine the correlation among them. We created 2 simulation scenarios to integrate cognitive and psychomotor skills according to the learning objectives and clinical environment in Korea. The experimental group had significantly higher scores on self-confidence in the first scenario. The positive correlations between perceptions of the simulation design features, self-confidence, and critical thinking skill scores were statistically significant. Students with a more positive perception of the design features of the simulations had better learning outcomes. Based on this result, simulations need to be designed and implemented with more differentiation in order to be perceived more appropriately by students. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Clustering-based Feature Learning on Variable Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mackenzie, Cristóbal; Pichara, Karim; Protopapas, Pavlos

2016-04-01

The success of automatic classification of variable stars depends strongly on the lightcurve representation. Usually, lightcurves are represented as a vector of many descriptors designed by astronomers called features. These descriptors are expensive in terms of computing, require substantial research effort to develop, and do not guarantee a good classification. Today, lightcurve representation is not entirely automatic; algorithms must be designed and manually tuned up for every survey. The amounts of data that will be generated in the future mean astronomers must develop scalable and automated analysis pipelines. In this work we present a feature learning algorithm designed for variable objects. Our method works by extracting a large number of lightcurve subsequences from a given set, which are then clustered to find common local patterns in the time series. Representatives of these common patterns are then used to transform lightcurves of a labeled set into a new representation that can be used to train a classifier. The proposed algorithm learns the features from both labeled and unlabeled lightcurves, overcoming the bias using only labeled data. We test our method on data sets from the Massive Compact Halo Object survey and the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment; the results show that our classification performance is as good as and in some cases better than the performance achieved using traditional statistical features, while the computational cost is significantly lower. With these promising results, we believe that our method constitutes a significant step toward the automation of the lightcurve classification pipeline.

Regression-Based Approach For Feature Selection In Classification Issues. Application To Breast Cancer Detection And Recurrence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belciug, Smaranda; Serbanescu, Mircea-Sebastian

2015-09-01

Feature selection is considered a key factor in classifications/decision problems. It is currently used in designing intelligent decision systems to choose the best features which allow the best performance. This paper proposes a regression-based approach to select the most important predictors to significantly increase the classification performance. Application to breast cancer detection and recurrence using publically available datasets proved the efficiency of this technique.

Built spaces and features associated with user satisfaction in maternity waiting homes in Malawi.

PubMed

McIntosh, Nathalie; Gruits, Patricia; Oppel, Eva; Shao, Amie

2018-07-01

To assess satisfaction with maternity waiting home built spaces and features in women who are at risk for underutilizing maternity waiting homes (i.e. residential facilities that temporarily house near-term pregnant mothers close to healthcare facilities that provide obstetrical care). Specifically we wanted to answer the questions: (1) Are built spaces and features associated with maternity waiting home user satisfaction? (2) Can built spaces and features designed to improve hygiene, comfort, privacy and function improve maternity waiting home user satisfaction? And (3) Which built spaces and features are most important for maternity waiting home user satisfaction? A cross-sectional study comparing satisfaction with standard and non-standard maternity waiting home designs. Between December 2016 and February 2017 we surveyed expectant mothers at two maternity waiting homes that differed in their design of built spaces and features. We used bivariate analyses to assess if built spaces and features were associated with satisfaction. We compared ratings of built spaces and features between the two maternity waiting homes using chi-squares and t-tests to assess if design features to improve hygiene, comfort, privacy and function were associated with higher satisfaction. We used exploratory robust regression analysis to examine the relationship between built spaces and features and maternity waiting home satisfaction. Two maternity waiting homes in Malawi, one that incorporated non-standardized design features to improve hygiene, comfort, privacy, and function (Kasungu maternity waiting home) and the other that had a standard maternity waiting home design (Dowa maternity waiting home). 322 expectant mothers at risk for underutilizing maternity waiting homes (i.e. first-time mothers and those with no pregnancy risk factors) who had stayed at the Kasungu or Dowa maternity waiting homes. There were significant differences in ratings of built spaces and features between the two differently designed maternity waiting homes, with the non-standard design having higher ratings for: adequacy of toilets, and ratings of heating/cooling, air and water quality, sanitation, toilets/showers and kitchen facilities, building maintenance, sleep area, private storage space, comfort level, outdoor spaces and overall satisfaction (p = <.0001 for all). The final regression model showed that built spaces and features that are most important for maternity waiting home user satisfaction are toilets/showers, guardian spaces, safety, building maintenance, sleep area and private storage space (R 2  = 0.28). The design of maternity waiting home built spaces and features is associated with user satisfaction in women at risk for underutilizing maternity waiting homes, especially related to toilets/showers, guardian spaces, safety, building maintenance, sleep area and private storage space. Improving maternity waiting home built spaces and features may offer a promising area for improving maternity waiting home satisfaction and reducing barriers to maternity waiting home use. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Kinetic Assessment of Golf Shoe Outer Sole Design Features

PubMed Central

Smith, Neal A.; Dyson, Rosemary J.

2009-01-01

This study assessed human kinetics in relation to golf shoe outer sole design features during the golf swing using a driver club by measuring both within the shoe, and beneath the shoe at the natural grass interface. Three different shoes were assessed: metal 7- spike shoe, alternative 7-spike shoe, and a flat soled shoe. In-shoe plantar pressure data were recorded using Footscan RS International pressure insoles and sampling at 500 Hz. Simultaneously ground reaction force at the shoe outer sole was measured using 2 natural grass covered Kistler force platforms and 1000 Hz data acquisition. Video recording of the 18 right-handed golfers at 200 Hz was undertaken while the golfer performed 5 golf shots with his own driver in each type of shoe. Front foot (nearest to shot direction) maximum vertical force and torque were greater than at the back foot, and there was no significant difference related to the shoe type. Wearing the metal spike shoe when using a driver was associated with more torque generation at the back foot (p < 0. 05) than when the flat soled shoe was worn. Within shoe regional pressures differed significantly with golf shoe outer sole design features (p < 0.05). Comparison of the metal spike and alternative spike shoe results provided indications of the quality of regional traction on the outer sole. Potential golf shoe outer sole design features and traction were presented in relation to phases of the golf swing movement. Application of two kinetic measurement methods identified that moderated (adapted) muscular control of foot and body movement may be induced by golf shoe outer sole design features. Ground reaction force measures inform comparisons of overall shoe functional performance, and insole pressure measurements inform comparisons of the underfoot conditions induced by specific regions of the golf shoe outer sole. Key points Assessments of within golf shoe pressures and beneath shoe forces at the natural grass interface were conducted during golf shots with a driver. Application of two kinetic measurement methods simultaneously identified that moderated (adapted) muscular control of the foot and body movement may be induced by golf shoe outer sole localised design features. Ground force measures inform overall shoe kinetic functional performance. Insole pressure measurement informs of underfoot conditions induced by localised specific regions of the golf outer sole. Significant differences in ground-shoe torque generation and insole regional pressures were identified when different golf shoes were worn. PMID:24149603

Semantic image segmentation with fused CNN features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geng, Hui-qiang; Zhang, Hua; Xue, Yan-bing; Zhou, Mian; Xu, Guang-ping; Gao, Zan

2017-09-01

Semantic image segmentation is a task to predict a category label for every image pixel. The key challenge of it is to design a strong feature representation. In this paper, we fuse the hierarchical convolutional neural network (CNN) features and the region-based features as the feature representation. The hierarchical features contain more global information, while the region-based features contain more local information. The combination of these two kinds of features significantly enhances the feature representation. Then the fused features are used to train a softmax classifier to produce per-pixel label assignment probability. And a fully connected conditional random field (CRF) is used as a post-processing method to improve the labeling consistency. We conduct experiments on SIFT flow dataset. The pixel accuracy and class accuracy are 84.4% and 34.86%, respectively.

Convolutional neural network features based change detection in satellite images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohammed El Amin, Arabi; Liu, Qingjie; Wang, Yunhong

2016-07-01

With the popular use of high resolution remote sensing (HRRS) satellite images, a huge research efforts have been placed on change detection (CD) problem. An effective feature selection method can significantly boost the final result. While hand-designed features have proven difficulties to design features that effectively capture high and mid-level representations, the recent developments in machine learning (Deep Learning) omit this problem by learning hierarchical representation in an unsupervised manner directly from data without human intervention. In this letter, we propose approaching the change detection problem from a feature learning perspective. A novel deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) features based HR satellite images change detection method is proposed. The main guideline is to produce a change detection map directly from two images using a pretrained CNN. This method can omit the limited performance of hand-crafted features. Firstly, CNN features are extracted through different convolutional layers. Then, a concatenation step is evaluated after an normalization step, resulting in a unique higher dimensional feature map. Finally, a change map was computed using pixel-wise Euclidean distance. Our method has been validated on real bitemporal HRRS satellite images according to qualitative and quantitative analyses. The results obtained confirm the interest of the proposed method.

Learning and Improving in Quality Improvement Collaboratives: Which Collaborative Features Do Participants Value Most?

PubMed Central

Nembhard, Ingrid M

2009-01-01

Objective To understand participants' views on the relative helpfulness of various features of collaboratives, why each feature was helpful and which features the most successful participants viewed as most central to their success. Data Sources Primary data collected from 53 teams in four 2004–2005 Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Breakthrough Series collaboratives; secondary data from IHI and demographic sources. Study Design Cross-sectional analyses were conducted to assess participants' views of 12 features, and the relationship between their views and performance improvement. Data Collection Methods Participants' views on features were obtained via self-administered surveys and semi-structured telephone interviews. Performance improvement data were obtained from IHI and demographic data from secondary sources. Principal Findings Participants viewed six features as most helpful for advancing their improvement efforts overall and knowledge acquisition in particular: collaborative faculty, solicitation of their staff's ideas, change package, Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, Learning Session interactions, and collaborative extranet. These features also provided participants with motivation, social support, and project management skills. Features enabling interorganizational learning were rated higher by teams whose organizations improved significantly than by other teams. Conclusions Findings identify features of collaborative design and implementation that participants view as most helpful and highlight the importance of interorganizational features, at least for those organizations that most improve. PMID:19040423

A Minimal-Word-Pair Model for Teaching the Linguistic Significance of Distinctive Feature Properties.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blache, Stephen E.; And Others

1981-01-01

A word level behavioral routine for the remediation of distinctive feature errors was developed and taught to seven children (5 to 6 years old) with moderate to severe nonorganic phonological disabilities. A one-group pretest-posttest design established that the number and severity of the sound substitutions decreased with training. (Author)

To Design or Not to Design (Part Three): Metacognition: How Problematizing Transforms a Complex System towards a Desired State

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-18

problematization‟s place in the entrepreneurial situation. In contrast to FM5-0 Chapter 3 Design‟s confusing graphic on design, this one conveys meaning and...system transformation graphic that, although designed for entrepreneurial application, shares many overlapping contextual features that military design...doctrine attempts. Most significantly, they bound their entrepreneurial situation around the entire system in a manner that correlates to an

Cigarette Design Features: Effects on Emission Levels, User Perception, and Behavior.

PubMed

Talhout, Reinskje; Richter, Patricia A; Stepanov, Irina; Watson, Christina V; Watson, Clifford H

2018-01-01

This paper describes the effects of non-tobacco, physical cigarette design features on smoke emissions, product appeal, and smoking behaviors - 3 factors that determine smoker's exposure and related health risks. We reviewed available evidence for the impact of filter ventilation, new filter types, and cigarettes dimensions on toxic emissions, smoker's perceptions, and behavior. For evidence sources we used scientific literature and websites providing product characteristics and marketing information. Whereas filter ventilation results in lower machine-generated emissions, it also leads to perceptions of lighter taste and relative safety in smokers who can unwittingly employ more intense smoking behavior to obtain the desired amount of nicotine and sensory appeal. Filter additives that modify smoke emissions can also modify sensory cues, resulting in changes in smoking behavior. Flavor capsules increase the cigarette's appeal and novelty, and lead to misperceptions of reduced harm. Slim cigarettes have lower yields of some smoke emissions, but smoking behavior can be more intense than with standard cigarettes. Physical design features significantly impact machine-measured emission yields in cigarette smoke, product appeal, smoking behaviors, and exposures in smokers. The influence of current and emerging design features is important in understanding the effectiveness of regulatory actions to reduce smoking-related harm.

Perceived Importance of Wellness Features at a Cancer Center: Patient and Staff Perspectives.

PubMed

Tinner, Michelle; Crovella, Paul; Rosenbaum, Paula F

2018-01-01

Determine the relative impact of 11 building wellness features on preference and on the ability to deliver/receive quality care for two groups: patients and caregivers. The impact of building features that promote wellness is of increasing interest to the building owners, designers, and occupants. This study performed a postoccupancy evaluation of two user groups at a healthcare facility with specific wellness features. Seventy-six staff and 62 patients of a cancer center were polled separately to determine their preferences in 11 categories. Results showed that all wellness features were viewed favorably by the two groups, with natural lighting, views of nature, and thermal comfort as top categories for both. The t-test comparisons were performed, and significant differences ( p < .05) between the two groups were found for three of the features (views of nature, art and murals, and indoor plants). Discussion of these differences and the interaction of competing design goals (thermal comfort, views of nature, natural light, and desire for privacy) are included. Designers and owners will want to consider the preferred use of roof gardens, art and murals, and indoor plants for patient spaces, where their relative value is greater. Access to private and quiet spaces is the top need for caregivers. Ease of movement, thermal comfort, and natural light were top needs for patients.

How Funding Instability Affects Army Programs

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

missile uses a solid-pro- pellant rocket motor, aerodynamic vane controls, and inertial guidance to navigate to an intercept point. Shortly before arrival...that significantly improves airlift responsiveness. Significant features of the C-17 include: super-critical wing design and winglets to reduce drag

Putting the Horse Back in Front of the Cart: Using Visions and Decisions about High-Quality Learning Experiences to Drive Course Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Deborah; Tanner, Kimberly

2007-01-01

This article discusses a systematic approach to designing significant learning experiences, often referred to as the "backward design process," which has been popularized by Wiggins and McTighe (1998) and is included as a central feature of L. Dee Fink's model for integrated course design (Fink, 2003). The process is referred to as backward…

36 CFR 290.3 - Nomination, evaluation, and designation of significant caves.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... governmental agencies and the public, including those who utilize caves for scientific, educational, or... is located as new cave discoveries are made. Caves nominated but not approved for designation may be... mineralogic features that are fragile, represent formation processes that are of scientific interest, or that...

36 CFR 290.3 - Nomination, evaluation, and designation of significant caves.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... governmental agencies and the public, including those who utilize caves for scientific, educational, or... is located as new cave discoveries are made. Caves nominated but not approved for designation may be... mineralogic features that are fragile, represent formation processes that are of scientific interest, or that...

36 CFR 290.3 - Nomination, evaluation, and designation of significant caves.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... governmental agencies and the public, including those who utilize caves for scientific, educational, or... is located as new cave discoveries are made. Caves nominated but not approved for designation may be... mineralogic features that are fragile, represent formation processes that are of scientific interest, or that...

36 CFR 290.3 - Nomination, evaluation, and designation of significant caves.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... governmental agencies and the public, including those who utilize caves for scientific, educational, or... is located as new cave discoveries are made. Caves nominated but not approved for designation may be... mineralogic features that are fragile, represent formation processes that are of scientific interest, or that...

Effects of prospective-user factors and sign design features on guessability of pharmaceutical pictograms.

PubMed

Chan, Alan H S; Chan, Ken W L

2013-02-01

To examine the associations between the guessing performance of 25 pharmaceutical pictograms and five sign features for naïve participants. The effect of prospective-user factors on guessing performance was also investigated. A total of 160 Hong Kong Chinese people, drawn largely from a young student population, guessed the meanings of 25 pharmaceutical pictograms that were generally not familiar to them. Participants then completed a questionnaire about their drug buying and drug label reading habits, and their demographics and medication history. Finally they rated five features (familiarity, concreteness, complexity, meaningfulness, and semantic distance) of the pharmaceutical pictograms using 0-100 scales. For all pharmaceutical pictograms, mean and standard deviation of guessability score were 64.8 and 17.1, respectively. Prospective-user factors of 'occupation', 'age' and 'education level' significantly affected guessing performance. For sign features, semantic closeness was the best predictor of guessability score, followed by simplicity, concreteness, meaningfulness and familiarity. User characteristics and sign features are critical for pharmaceutical pictograms. To be effective, pharmaceutical pictograms should have obvious and direct connections with familiar things and it is recommended that pharmaceutical pictograms should be designed with consideration of the five sign features investigated here. This study provides useful information and recommendations to assist interface designers to create and evaluate icons for pharmaceutical products and to design more user-friendly pharmaceutical pictograms. However, further work is needed to see how older people respond to such pharmaceutical pictograms. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prioritizing the mHealth Design Space: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Smokers’ Perspectives

PubMed Central

BlueSpruce, June; Catz, Sheryl L; McClure, Jennifer B

2016-01-01

Background Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. Therefore, researchers are constantly exploring new ways to promote smoking cessation. Mobile health (mHealth) technologies could be effective cessation tools. Despite the availability of commercial quit-smoking apps, little research to date has examined smokers’ preferred treatment intervention components (ie, design features). Honoring these preferences is important for designing programs that are appealing to smokers and may be more likely to be adopted and used. Objective The aim of this study was to understand smokers’ preferred design features of mHealth quit-smoking tools. Methods We used a mixed-methods approach consisting of focus groups and written surveys to understand the design preferences of adult smokers who were interested in quitting smoking (N=40). Focus groups were stratified by age to allow differing perspectives to emerge between older (>40 years) and younger (<40 years) participants. Focus group discussion included a “blue-sky” brainstorming exercise followed by participant reactions to contrasting design options for communicating with smokers, providing social support, and incentivizing program use. Participants rated the importance of preselected design features on an exit survey. Qualitative analyses examined emergent discussion themes and quantitative analyses compared feature ratings to determine which were perceived as most important. Results Participants preferred a highly personalized and adaptive mHealth experience. Their ideal mHealth quit-smoking tool would allow personalized tracking of their progress, adaptively tailored feedback, and real-time peer support to help manage smoking cravings. Based on qualitative analysis of focus group discussion, participants preferred pull messages (ie, delivered upon request) over push messages (ie, sent automatically) and preferred interaction with other smokers through closed social networks. Preferences for entertaining games or other rewarding incentives to encourage program use differed by age group. Based on quantitative analysis of surveys, participants rated the importance of select design features significantly differently (P<.001). Design features rated as most important included personalized content, the ability to track one’s progress, and features designed to help manage nicotine withdrawal and medication side effects. Design features rated least important were quit-smoking videos and posting on social media. Communicating with stop-smoking experts was rated more important than communicating with family and friends about quitting (P=.03). Perceived importance of various design features varied by age, experience with technology, and frequency of smoking. Conclusions Future mHealth cessation aids should be designed with an understanding of smokers’ needs and preferences for these tools. Doing so does not guarantee treatment effectiveness, but balancing user preferences with best-practice treatment considerations could enhance program adoption and improve treatment outcomes. Grounded in the perspectives of smokers, we identify several design considerations, which should be prioritized when designing future mHealth cessation tools and which warrant additional empirical validation. PMID:27496593

Sounds of silence: How to animate virtual worlds with sound

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Astheimer, Peter

1993-01-01

Sounds are an integral and sometimes annoying part of our daily life. Virtual worlds which imitate natural environments gain a lot of authenticity from fast, high quality visualization combined with sound effects. Sounds help to increase the degree of immersion for human dwellers in imaginary worlds significantly. The virtual reality toolkit of IGD (Institute for Computer Graphics) features a broad range of standard visual and advanced real-time audio components which interpret an object-oriented definition of the scene. The virtual reality system 'Virtual Design' realized with the toolkit enables the designer of virtual worlds to create a true audiovisual environment. Several examples on video demonstrate the usage of the audio features in Virtual Design.

Lithium Ion Battery (LIB) Charger: Spacesuit Battery Charger Design with 2-Fault Tolerance to Catastrophic Hazards

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Darcy, Eric; Davies, Frank

2009-01-01

Charger design that is 2-fault tolerant to catastrophic has been achieved for the Spacesuit Li-ion Battery with key features. Power supply control circuit and 2 microprocessors independently control against overcharge. 3 microprocessor control against undercharge (false positive: Go for EVA) conditions. 2 independent channels provide functional redundancy. Capable of charge balancing cell banks in series. Cell manufacturing and performance uniformity is excellent with both designs. Once a few outliers are removed, LV cells are slightly more uniform than MoliJ cells. If cell balance feature of charger is ever invoked, it will be an indication of a significant degradation issue, not a nominal condition.

Evaluating two process scale chromatography column header designs using CFD.

PubMed

Johnson, Chris; Natarajan, Venkatesh; Antoniou, Chris

2014-01-01

Chromatography is an indispensable unit operation in the downstream processing of biomolecules. Scaling of chromatographic operations typically involves a significant increase in the column diameter. At this scale, the flow distribution within a packed bed could be severely affected by the distributor design in process scale columns. Different vendors offer process scale columns with varying design features. The effect of these design features on the flow distribution in packed beds and the resultant effect on column efficiency and cleanability needs to be properly understood in order to prevent unpleasant surprises on scale-up. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) provides a cost-effective means to explore the effect of various distributor designs on process scale performance. In this work, we present a CFD tool that was developed and validated against experimental dye traces and tracer injections. Subsequently, the tool was employed to compare and contrast two commercially available header designs. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Overview of timing/synchronization for digital communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stover, H. A.

1978-01-01

Systems in general, and switched systems in particular, are explained. It pointed out some of the criteria that greatly influence timing/synchronization subsystem design for a military communications network but have little or no significance for civil systems. Timing techniques were evaluated in terms of fundamental features. Different combinations of these features covered most possibilities from which a synchronous timing system could be chosen.

Laminar flow burner system with infrared heated spray chamber and condenser.

PubMed

Hell, A; Ulrich, W F; Shifrin, N; Ramírez-Muñoz, J

1968-07-01

A laminar flow burner is described that provides several advantages in atomic absorption flame photometry. Included in its design is a heated spray chamber followed by a condensing system. This combination improves the concentration level of the analyte in the flame and keeps solvent concentration low. Therefore, sensitivities are significantly improved for most elements relative to cold chamber burners. The burner also contains several safety features. These various design features are discussed in detail, and performance data are given on (a) signal size, (b) signal-to-noise ratio, (c) linearity, (d) working range, (e) precision, and (g) accuracy.

USSR Report: Cybernetics, Computers and Automation Technology. No. 69.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-05-06

computers in multiprocessor and multistation design , control and scientific research automation systems. The results of comparing the efficiency of...Podvizhnaya, Scientific Research Institute of Control Computers, Severodonetsk] [Text] The most significant change in the design of the SM-2M compared to...UPRAVLYAYUSHCHIYE SISTEMY I MASHINY, Nov-Dec 82) 95 APPLICATIONS Kiev Automated Control System, Design Features and Prospects for Development (V. A

PROFILES OF SIGNIFICANT SCHOOLS--HEATHCOTE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, SCARSDALE, NEW YORK.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

WEINSTOCK, RUTH

THE DESIGN OF THE HEATHCOTE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WAS INVESTIGATED IN TERMS OF THE SCHOOL'S EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM, ARCHITECTURAL INNOVATIONS IN DESIGN, AND SPECIAL FEATURES OF INTEREST. THE PLANNERS OF HEATHCOTE WERE COMMITTED TO TWO FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION--ONE DEALING WITH THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH CHILDREN LEARN BEST, THE OTHER DEALING…

Five features of value-based insurance design plans were associated with higher rates of medication adherence.

PubMed

Choudhry, Niteesh K; Fischer, Michael A; Smith, Benjamin F; Brill, Gregory; Girdish, Charmaine; Matlin, Olga S; Brennan, Troyen A; Avorn, Jerry; Shrank, William H

2014-03-01

Value-based insurance design (VBID) plans selectively lower cost sharing to increase medication adherence. Existing plans have been structured in a variety of ways, and these variations could influence the effectiveness of VBID plans. We evaluated seventy-six plans introduced by a large pharmacy benefit manager during 2007-10. We found that after we adjusted for the other features and baseline trends, VBID plans that were more generous, targeted high-risk patients, offered wellness programs, did not offer disease management programs, and made the benefit available only for medication ordered by mail had a significantly greater impact on adherence than plans without these features. The effects were as large as 4-5 percentage points. These findings can provide guidance for the structure of future VBID plans.

The space shuttle advanced solid rocket motor: Quality control and testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

The Congressional committees that authorize the activities of NASA requested that the National Research Council (NRC) review the testing and quality assurance programs for the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM) program. The proposed ASRM design incorporates numerous features that are significant departures from the Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM). The NRC review concentrated mainly on these features. Primary among these are the steel case material, welding rather than pinning of case factory joints, a bolted field joint designed to close upon firing the rocket, continuous mixing and casting of the solid propellant in place of the current batch processes, use of asbestos-free insulation, and a lightweight nozzle. The committee's assessment of these and other features of the ASRM are presented in terms of their potential impact on flight safety.

Implications of design on infection prevention and control practice in a novel hospital unit: the Medical Ward of the 21st Century.

PubMed

VanSteelandt, Amanda; Conly, John; Ghali, William; Mather, Charles

2015-01-01

The physical design of hospital wards is associated with transmission of pathogenic organisms and hospital-acquired infections. A novel hospital unit, the Medical Ward of the 21st Century (W21C), optimizes features for infection prevention and control practices. Ethnographic research on the W21C versus conventional hospital wards examined the experiential and behavioural elements of the different designs. Three recurring themes emerged regarding the design features on the W21C and included visual cues, 'having a place for things', and less sharing of spaces and materials. Observational data of healthcare worker practices demonstrated significantly higher compliance with hand hygiene opportunities on the W21C compared with older hospital units. These findings suggest how the physical design of a hospital ward may enhance infection prevention and control practices.

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

Mackenzie, Cristóbal; Pichara, Karim; Protopapas, Pavlos

The success of automatic classification of variable stars depends strongly on the lightcurve representation. Usually, lightcurves are represented as a vector of many descriptors designed by astronomers called features. These descriptors are expensive in terms of computing, require substantial research effort to develop, and do not guarantee a good classification. Today, lightcurve representation is not entirely automatic; algorithms must be designed and manually tuned up for every survey. The amounts of data that will be generated in the future mean astronomers must develop scalable and automated analysis pipelines. In this work we present a feature learning algorithm designed for variablemore » objects. Our method works by extracting a large number of lightcurve subsequences from a given set, which are then clustered to find common local patterns in the time series. Representatives of these common patterns are then used to transform lightcurves of a labeled set into a new representation that can be used to train a classifier. The proposed algorithm learns the features from both labeled and unlabeled lightcurves, overcoming the bias using only labeled data. We test our method on data sets from the Massive Compact Halo Object survey and the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment; the results show that our classification performance is as good as and in some cases better than the performance achieved using traditional statistical features, while the computational cost is significantly lower. With these promising results, we believe that our method constitutes a significant step toward the automation of the lightcurve classification pipeline.« less

DENA: A Configurable Microarchitecture and Design Flow for Biomedical DNA-Based Logic Design.

PubMed

Beiki, Zohre; Jahanian, Ali

2017-10-01

DNA is known as the building block for storing the life codes and transferring the genetic features through the generations. However, it is found that DNA strands can be used for a new type of computation that opens fascinating horizons in computational medicine. Significant contributions are addressed on design of DNA-based logic gates for medical and computational applications but there are serious challenges for designing the medium and large-scale DNA circuits. In this paper, a new microarchitecture and corresponding design flow is proposed to facilitate the design of multistage large-scale DNA logic systems. Feasibility and efficiency of the proposed microarchitecture are evaluated by implementing a full adder and, then, its cascadability is determined by implementing a multistage 8-bit adder. Simulation results show the highlight features of the proposed design style and microarchitecture in terms of the scalability, implementation cost, and signal integrity of the DNA-based logic system compared to the traditional approaches.

A biomechanical and subjective assessment and comparison of three ambulance cot design configurations.

PubMed

Sommerich, Carolyn M; Lavender, Steven A; Radin Umar, Radin Zaid; Le, Peter; Mehta, Jay; Ko, Pei-Ling; Farfan, Rafael; Dutt, Mohini; Park, SangHyun

2012-01-01

Effects of ambulance cot design features (handle design and leg folding mechanism) were evaluated. Experienced ambulance workers performed tasks simulating loading and unloading a cot to and from an ambulance, and a cot raising task. Muscle activity, ratings of perceived exertion, and performance style were significantly affected by cot condition (p < 0.05). Erector Spinae activity was significantly less when using Cot-2's stretcher-style handles. Shoulder muscle activity was significantly less when using Cot-2's loop handle. During loading and unloading, operators allowed the cot to support its own weight most often with Cot-2's stretcher-style handles. Preference for Cot-2 (either handles) over Cot-1 (with loop handle) was consistent across tasks. Handle effects were influenced by operator stature; taller participants received more benefit from Cot-2's stretcher-style handles; shoulder muscles' demands were greater for shorter participants due to handle location. Providing handle options and automatic leg folding/unfolding operation can reduce cot operator's effort and physical strain. Practitioner Summary: Paramedics frequently incur musculoskeletal injuries associated with patient-handling tasks. A controlled experiment was conducted to assess effects of ambulance cot design features on physical stress of operators, as seen through muscle activity and operator's perceptions. Differences between cots were found, signalling that intentional design can reduce operator's physical stress.

How have changes in front air bag designs affected frontal crash death rates? An update.

PubMed

Teoh, Eric R

2014-01-01

Provide updated death rates comparing latest generations of frontal air bags in fatal crashes. Rates of driver and right-front passenger deaths in frontal crashes per 10 million registered vehicle years were compared using Poisson marginal structural models for passenger vehicles equipped with air bags certified as advanced and compliant (CAC), sled-certified air bags with advanced features, and sled-certified air bags without any advanced features. Analyses of driver death rates were disaggregated by age group, gender, and belt use. CAC air bags were associated with slightly elevated frontal crash death rates for both drivers and right-front passengers compared to sled-certified air bags with advanced features, but the differences were not statistically significant. Sled-certified air bags with advanced features were associated with significant benefits for drivers and for right-front passengers compared to sled-certified air bags without advanced features. CAC air bags were associated with a significant increase in belted driver death rate and a comparable but nonsignificant decrease in unbelted driver death rate compared to sled-certified air bags with advanced features. Sled-certified air bags with advanced features were associated with a nonsignificant 2 percent increase in belted driver death rate and a significant 26 percent decrease in unbelted driver death rate, relative to sled-certified air bags without advanced features. Implementing advanced features in sled-certified air bags was beneficial overall to drivers and right-front passengers with sled-certified air bags. No overall benefit was observed for CAC air bags compared to sled-certified air bags with advanced features. Further study is needed to understand the apparent reduction in belted driver protection observed for CAC air bags.

Current trends in the design of scaffolds for computer-aided tissue engineering.

PubMed

Giannitelli, S M; Accoto, D; Trombetta, M; Rainer, A

2014-02-01

Advances introduced by additive manufacturing have significantly improved the ability to tailor scaffold architecture, enhancing the control over microstructural features. This has led to a growing interest in the development of innovative scaffold designs, as testified by the increasing amount of research activities devoted to the understanding of the correlation between topological features of scaffolds and their resulting properties, in order to find architectures capable of optimal trade-off between often conflicting requirements (such as biological and mechanical ones). The main aim of this paper is to provide a review and propose a classification of existing methodologies for scaffold design and optimization in order to address key issues and help in deciphering the complex link between design criteria and resulting scaffold properties. Copyright © 2013 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

SU-D-BRA-07: A Phantom Study to Assess the Variability in Radiomics Features Extracted From Cone-Beam CT Images

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

Fave, X; Fried, D; UT Health Science Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX

2015-06-15

Purpose: Several studies have demonstrated the prognostic potential for texture features extracted from CT images of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The purpose of this study was to determine if these features could be extracted with high reproducibility from cone-beam CT (CBCT) images in order for features to be easily tracked throughout a patient’s treatment. Methods: Two materials in a radiomics phantom, designed to approximate NSCLC tumor texture, were used to assess the reproducibility of 26 features. This phantom was imaged on 9 CBCT scanners, including Elekta and Varian machines. Thoracic and head imaging protocols were acquired on eachmore » machine. CBCT images from 27 NSCLC patients imaged using the thoracic protocol on Varian machines were obtained for comparison. The variance for each texture measured from these patients was compared to the variance in phantom values for different manufacturer/protocol subsets. Levene’s test was used to identify features which had a significantly smaller variance in the phantom scans versus the patient data. Results: Approximately half of the features (13/26 for material1 and 15/26 for material2) had a significantly smaller variance (p<0.05) between Varian thoracic scans of the phantom compared to patient scans. Many of these same features remained significant for the head scans on Varian (12/26 and 8/26). However, when thoracic scans from Elekta and Varian were combined, only a few features were still significant (4/26 and 5/26). Three features (skewness, coarsely filtered mean and standard deviation) were significant in almost all manufacturer/protocol subsets. Conclusion: Texture features extracted from CBCT images of a radiomics phantom are reproducible and show significantly less variation than the same features measured from patient images when images from the same manufacturer or with similar parameters are used. Reproducibility between CBCT scanners may be high enough to allow the extraction of meaningful texture values for patients. This project was funded in part by the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Xenia Fave is a recipient of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Graduate Fellowship.« less

Development of 3D pseudo pin-by-pin calculation methodology in ANC

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

Zhang, B.; Mayhue, L.; Huria, H.

2012-07-01

Advanced cores and fuel assembly designs have been developed to improve operational flexibility, economic performance and further enhance safety features of nuclear power plants. The simulation of these new designs, along with strong heterogeneous fuel loading, have brought new challenges to the reactor physics methodologies currently employed in the industrial codes for core analyses. Control rod insertion during normal operation is one operational feature in the AP1000{sup R} plant of Westinghouse next generation Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) design. This design improves its operational flexibility and efficiency but significantly challenges the conventional reactor physics methods, especially in pin power calculations. Themore » mixture loading of fuel assemblies with significant neutron spectrums causes a strong interaction between different fuel assembly types that is not fully captured with the current core design codes. To overcome the weaknesses of the conventional methods, Westinghouse has developed a state-of-the-art 3D Pin-by-Pin Calculation Methodology (P3C) and successfully implemented in the Westinghouse core design code ANC. The new methodology has been qualified and licensed for pin power prediction. The 3D P3C methodology along with its application and validation will be discussed in the paper. (authors)« less

The influence of physical factors on recognizing blood cells in the computer microscopy systems of acute leukemia diagnosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikitaev, V. G.; Pronichev, A. N.; Polyakov, E. V.; Dmitrieva, V. V.; Tupitsyn, N. N.; Frenkel, M. A.; Mozhenkova, A. V.

2017-01-01

The work investigated the effect of the choice of color space component on blood cell detection based on the calculation of texture attributes of blood cells nuclei in bone marrow. The study identified the most informative color space and texture characteristics of blood cells, designed for components of these spaces. Significance ratio was introduced to assess the quality of features. We offered features that have enabled to divide lymphocytes from lymphoblasts. The selection of the features was based on the results of the data analysis.

Whirl Flutter Studies for a SSTOL Transport Demonstrator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Acree, C. W., Jr.; Hoffman, Krishna

2004-01-01

A proposed new class of aircraft - the Advanced Theater Transport (ATT) will combine strategic range and high payload with 'Super-STOL' (short take-off and landing) capability. It is also proposed to modify a YC-15 into a technology demonstrator with a 20-deg tilt wing; four, eight-bladed propellers; cross-shafted gearboxes and V-22 engines. These constitute a unique combination of design features that potentially affect performance, loads and whirl-mode stability (whirl flutter). NASA Ames Research Center is working with Boeing and Hamilton Sundstrand on technology challenges presented by the concept; the purpose of NASA involvement is to establish requirements for the demonstrator and for early design guidance, with emphasis on whirl flutter. CAMRAD II is being used to study the effects of various design features on whirl flutter, with special attention to areas where such features differ from existing aircraft, notably tiltrotors. Although the stability margins appear to be more than adequate, the concept requires significantly different analytical methods, principally including far more blade modes, than typically used for tiltrotors.

New trends in radiology workstation design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moise, Adrian; Atkins, M. Stella

2002-05-01

In the radiology workstation design, the race for adding more features is now morphing into an iterative user centric design with the focus on ergonomics and usability. The extent of the list of features for the radiology workstation used to be one of the most significant factors for a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) vendor's ability to sell the radiology workstation. Not anymore is now very much the same between the major players in the PACS market. How these features work together distinguishes different radiology workstations. Integration (with the PACS/Radiology Information System (RIS) systems, with the 3D tool, Reporting Tool etc.), usability (user specific preferences, advanced display protocols, smart activation of tools etc.) and efficiency (what is the output a radiologist can generate with the workstation) are now core factors for selecting a workstation. This paper discusses these new trends in radiology workstation design. We demonstrate the importance of the interaction between the PACS vendor (software engineers) and the customer (radiologists) during the radiology workstation design. We focus on iterative aspects of the workstation development, such as the presentation of early prototypes to as many representative users as possible during the software development cycle and present the results of a survey of 8 radiologists on designing a radiology workstation.

Natural Flood Management Plus: Scaling Up Nature Based Solutions to Larger Catchments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quinn, Paul; Nicholson, Alex; Adams, Russ

2017-04-01

It has been established that networks NFM features, such as ponds and wetlands, can have a significant effect on flood flow and pollution at local scales (less than 10km2). However, it is much less certain that NFM and NBS can impact at larger scales and protect larger cities. This is especially true for recent storms in the UK such as storm Desmond that caused devastation across the north of England. It is possible using observed rainfall and runoff data to estimate the amounts of storage that would be required to impact on extreme flood events. Here we will how a toolkit that will estimate the amount of storage that can be accrued through a dense networks of NFM features. The analysis suggest that the use of many hundreds of small NFM features can have a significant impact on peak flow, however we still require more storage in order to address extreme events and to satisfy flood engineers who may propose more traditional flood defences. We will also show case studies of larger NFM feature positioned on flood plains that can store significantly more flood flow. Examples designs of NFM plus feature will be shown. The storage aggregation tool will then show the degree to which storing large amounts of flood flow in NFM plus features can contribute to flood management and estimate the likely costs. Together smaller and larger NFM features if used together can produce significant flood storage and at a much lower cost than traditional schemes.

Impact of Hearing Aid Technology on Outcomes in Daily Life III: Localization.

PubMed

Johnson, Jani A; Xu, Jingjing; Cox, Robyn M

Compared to basic-feature hearing aids, premium-feature hearing aids have more advanced technologies and sophisticated features. The objective of this study was to explore the difference between premium-feature and basic-feature hearing aids in horizontal sound localization in both laboratory and daily life environments. We hypothesized that premium-feature hearing aids would yield better localization performance than basic-feature hearing aids. Exemplars of premium-feature and basic-feature hearing aids from two major manufacturers were evaluated. Forty-five older adults (mean age 70.3 years) with essentially symmetrical mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss were bilaterally fitted with each of the four pairs of hearing aids. Each pair of hearing aids was worn during a 4-week field trial and then evaluated using laboratory localization tests and a standardized questionnaire. Laboratory localization tests were conducted in a sound-treated room with a 360°, 24-loudspeaker array. Test stimuli were high frequency and low frequency filtered short sentences. The localization test in quiet was designed to assess the accuracy of front/back localization, while the localization test in noise was designed to assess the accuracy of locating sound sources throughout a 360° azimuth in the horizontal plane. Laboratory data showed that unaided localization was not significantly different from aided localization when all hearing aids were combined. Questionnaire data showed that aided localization was significantly better than unaided localization in everyday situations. Regarding the difference between premium-feature and basic-feature hearing aids, laboratory data showed that, overall, the premium-feature hearing aids yielded more accurate localization than the basic-feature hearing aids when high-frequency stimuli were used, and the listening environment was quiet. Otherwise, the premium-feature and basic-feature hearing aids yielded essentially the same performance in other laboratory tests and in daily life. The findings were consistent for both manufacturers. Laboratory tests for two of six major manufacturers showed that premium-feature hearing aids yielded better localization performance than basic-feature hearing aids in one out of four laboratory conditions. There was no difference between the two feature levels in self-reported everyday localization. Effectiveness research with different hearing aid technologies is necessary, and more research with other manufacturers' products is needed. Furthermore, these results confirm previous observations that research findings in laboratory conditions might not translate to everyday life.

A Pilot Study of the Attractive Features of Active Videogames Among Chinese Primary School Children.

PubMed

Lau, Patrick W C; Lau, Erica Y; Wang, Jing Jing; Choi, Cheong-Rak; Kim, Chang Gyun

2017-04-01

The present study (1) explored the attractive features that affect Chinese primary school children's preferences of active videogames (AVGs) and (2) contrasted these findings with those in the Western literature. A total of 22 Chinese primary school children were recruited and interviewed. Four AVGs (Wii "Boxing," "Wii Fit™ Plus Obstacle Run"; "EyeToy Knockout", "EyeToy Keep ups") from two commercial consoles (Nintendo® Wii™ and Sony PlayStation ® 2 "EyeToy ® ") were employed. Participants used four selected AVGs for 3 minutes each. After each play period, children (1) described the strengths and weaknesses of each game as well as rated the attractive features of each game based on a 16-item questionnaire and (2) rated up to 5 items that were most influential regarding their AVG preferences. Participants indicated that control was the most significant feature, followed by feedback, goal, and graphics. The top five rated features imply that the perception of competence was the most appealing aspect and expected outcome of Chinese children who play AVGs. Compared with the Western findings regarding attractive AVG features, the present study found certain similarities as well as significant differences among Chinese AVG players. Based on the present study, control, feedback, goal, and graphics are the most significant features that attract Chinese children to play AVGs. Physical exertion, social interaction, competition, and learning outcomes, which are valued according to Western studies, were not mentioned as significant features by Chinese children. These findings demonstrate a need to investigate the effect of cultural background in AVG study design.

Development of the biology card sorting task to measure conceptual expertise in biology.

PubMed

Smith, Julia I; Combs, Elijah D; Nagami, Paul H; Alto, Valerie M; Goh, Henry G; Gourdet, Muryam A A; Hough, Christina M; Nickell, Ashley E; Peer, Adrian G; Coley, John D; Tanner, Kimberly D

2013-01-01

There are widespread aspirations to focus undergraduate biology education on teaching students to think conceptually like biologists; however, there is a dearth of assessment tools designed to measure progress from novice to expert biological conceptual thinking. We present the development of a novel assessment tool, the Biology Card Sorting Task, designed to probe how individuals organize their conceptual knowledge of biology. While modeled on tasks from cognitive psychology, this task is unique in its design to test two hypothesized conceptual frameworks for the organization of biological knowledge: 1) a surface feature organization focused on organism type and 2) a deep feature organization focused on fundamental biological concepts. In this initial investigation of the Biology Card Sorting Task, each of six analytical measures showed statistically significant differences when used to compare the card sorting results of putative biological experts (biology faculty) and novices (non-biology major undergraduates). Consistently, biology faculty appeared to sort based on hypothesized deep features, while non-biology majors appeared to sort based on either surface features or nonhypothesized organizational frameworks. Results suggest that this novel task is robust in distinguishing populations of biology experts and biology novices and may be an adaptable tool for tracking emerging biology conceptual expertise.

Peculiarities of Clutch Forming Rails and Wheel Block Construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiler, V. V.; Galiev, I. I.; Shiler, A. V.

2018-03-01

The clutch of the wheel and rail is significantly influenced by the design features of the standard wheel pair, which are manifested in the presence of "parasitic" slipping of the wheels along the rails during its movement. The purpose of the presented work is to evaluate new design solutions for wheel sets. The research was carried out using methods of comparative simulation modelling and physical prototyping. A new design of the wheel pair (block wheel pair) is proposed, which features an independent rotation of all surfaces of the wheels in contact with the rails. The block construction of the wheel pair forms open mechanical contours with the track gauge, which completely eliminates the "parasitic" slippage. As a result, in the process of implementing traction or braking forces, the coupling coefficient of the block construction of the wheel pair is significantly higher than that of existing structures. In addition, in the run-out mode, the resistance to movement of the block wheel pair is half as much. All this will allow one to significantly reduce the energy consumption for traction of trains, wear of track elements and crew, and to increase the speed and safety of train traffic.

Cytological features of "noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features" and their correlation with tumor histology.

PubMed

Maletta, Francesca; Massa, Federica; Torregrossa, Liborio; Duregon, Eleonora; Casadei, Gian Piero; Basolo, Fulvio; Tallini, Giovanni; Volante, Marco; Nikiforov, Yuri E; Papotti, Mauro

2016-08-01

Among thyroid papillary carcinomas (PTCs), the follicular variant is the most common and includes encapsulated forms (EFVPTCs). Noninvasive EFVPTCs have very low risk of recurrence or other adverse events and have been recently proposed to be designated as noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features or NIFTP, thus eliminating the term carcinoma. This proposal is expected to significantly impact the risk of malignancy associated with the currently used diagnostic categories of thyroid cytology. In this study, we analyzed the fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) cytology features of 96 histologically proven NIFTPs and determined how the main nuclear features of NIFTP correlate between cytological and histological samples. Blind review of FNAB cytology from NIFTP nodules yielded the diagnosis of "follicular neoplasm" (Bethesda category IV) in 56% of cases, "suspicious for malignancy" (category V) in 27%, "atypia of undetermined significance/follicular lesion of undetermined significance" (category III) in 15%, and "malignant" (category VI) in 2%. We found good correlation (κ=0.62) of nuclear features between histological and cytological specimens. NIFTP nuclear features (size, irregularities of contours, and chromatin clearing) were significantly different from those of benign nodules but not from those of invasive EFVPTC. Our data indicate that most of the NIFTP nodules yield an indeterminate cytological diagnosis in FNAB cytology and nuclear features found in cytology samples are reproducibly identified in corresponding histology samples. Because of the overlapping nuclear features with invasive EFVPTC, NIFTP cannot be reliably diagnosed preoperatively but should be listed in differential diagnosis of all indeterminate categories of thyroid cytology. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An improved asynchronous brain interface: making use of the temporal history of the LF-ASD feature vectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bashashati, Ali; Mason, Steve; Ward, Rabab K.; Birch, Gary E.

2006-06-01

The low-frequency asynchronous switch design (LF-ASD) has been introduced as a direct brain interface (BI) for asynchronous control applications. Asynchronous interfaces, as opposed to synchronous interfaces, have the advantage of being operational at all times and not only at specific system-defined periods. This paper modifies the LF-ASD design by incorporating into the system more knowledge about the attempted movements. Specifically, the history of feature values extracted from the EEG signal is used to detect a right index finger movement attempt. Using data collected from individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries and able-bodied subjects, it is shown that the error characteristics of the modified design are significantly better than the previous LF-ASD design. The true positive rate percentage increased by up to 15 which corresponds to 50% improvement when the system is operating with false positive rates in the 1-2% range.

Reactor Design and Decommissioning - An Overview of International Activities in Post Fukushima Era1 - 12396

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

Devgun, Jas S.; Laraia, Michele; Pescatore, Claudio

Accidents at the Fukushima Dai-ichi reactors as a result of the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011 have not only dampened the nuclear renaissance but have also initiated a re-examination of the design and safety features for the existing and planned nuclear reactors. Even though failures of some of the key site features at Fukushima can be attributed to events that in the past would have been considered as beyond the design basis, the industry as well as the regulatory authorities are analyzing what features, especially passive features, should be designed into the new reactor designs to minimizemore » the potential for catastrophic failures. It is also recognized that since the design of the Fukushima BWR reactors which were commissioned in 1971, many advanced safety features are now a part of the newer reactor designs. As the recovery efforts at the Fukushima site are still underway, decisions with respect to the dismantlement and decommissioning of the damaged reactors and structures have not yet been finalized. As it was with Three Mile Island, it could take several decades for dismantlement, decommissioning and clean up, and the project poses especially tough challenges. Near-term assessments have been issued by several organizations, including the IAEA, the USNRC and others. Results of such investigations will lead to additional improvements in system and site design measures including strengthening of the anti-tsunami defenses, more defense-in-depth features in reactor design, and better response planning and preparation involving reactor sites. The question also arises what would the effect be on the decommissioning scene worldwide, and what would the effect be on the new reactors when they are eventually retired and dismantled. This paper provides an overview of the US and international activities related to recovery and decommissioning including the decommissioning features in the reactor design process and examines these from a new perspective in the post Fukushima -accident era. Accidents at the Fukushima Daiichi reactors in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011 have slowed down the nuclear renaissance world-wide and may have accelerated decommissioning either because some countries have decided to halt or reduce nuclear, or because the new safety requirements may reduce life-time extensions. Even in countries such as the UK and France that favor nuclear energy production existing nuclear sites are more likely to be chosen as sites for future NPPs. Even as the site recovery efforts continue at Fukushima and any decommissioning decisions are farther into the future, the accidents have focused attention on the reactor designs in general and specifically on the Fukushima type BWRs. The regulatory authorities in many countries have initiated a re-examination of the design of the systems, structures and components and considerations of the capability of the station to cope with beyond-design basis events. Enhancements to SSCs and site features for the existing reactors and the reactors that will be built will also impact the decommissioning phase activities. The newer reactor designs of today not only have enhanced safety features but also take into consideration the features that will facilitate future decommissioning. Lessons learned from past management and operation of reactors as well as the lessons from decommissioning are incorporated into the new designs. However, in the post-Fukushima era, the emphasis on beyond-design-basis capability may lead to significant changes in SSCs, which eventually will also have impact on the decommissioning phase. Additionally, where some countries decide to phase out the nuclear power, many reactors may enter the decommissioning phase in the coming decade. While the formal updating and expanding of existing guidance documents for accident cleanup and decommissioning would benefit by waiting until the Fukushima project has progressed sufficiently for that experience to be reliably interpreted, the development of structured on-line sharing of information and especially the creation of an on-line compendium of methods, tools, and techniques by which damaged fuel and other unique situations have been addressed can be addressed sooner and maintained as new problems and solutions arise and are resolved. The IAEA's new 'WEB 2.0 tool' CONNECT is expected to play a significant role in this and related information-sharing activities. The trend in some countries such as the United States has been to re-license the existing reactors for additional twenty years, beyond the original design life. Given the advances in technology over the past four decades, and considering that the newer designs incorporate significant improvements in safety systems, it may not be economical or technically feasible to retrofit enhancements into some of the older reactors. In such cases, the reactors may be retired from service and decommissioned. Overall, the energy demand in the world continues to rise, with sharp increases in the Asian countries, and nuclear power's role in the world's energy supply is expected to continue. Events at Fukushima have led to a re-examination on many fronts, including reactor design and regulatory requirements. Further changes may occur in these areas in the post-Fukushima era. These changes in turn will also impact the world-wide decommissioning scene and the decommissioning phase of the future reactors. (authors)« less

Achieving reutilization of scheduling software through abstraction and generalization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilkinson, George J.; Monteleone, Richard A.; Weinstein, Stuart M.; Mohler, Michael G.; Zoch, David R.; Tong, G. Michael

1995-01-01

Reutilization of software is a difficult goal to achieve particularly in complex environments that require advanced software systems. The Request-Oriented Scheduling Engine (ROSE) was developed to create a reusable scheduling system for the diverse scheduling needs of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). ROSE is a data-driven scheduler that accepts inputs such as user activities, available resources, timing contraints, and user-defined events, and then produces a conflict-free schedule. To support reutilization, ROSE is designed to be flexible, extensible, and portable. With these design features, applying ROSE to a new scheduling application does not require changing the core scheduling engine, even if the new application requires significantly larger or smaller data sets, customized scheduling algorithms, or software portability. This paper includes a ROSE scheduling system description emphasizing its general-purpose features, reutilization techniques, and tasks for which ROSE reuse provided a low-risk solution with significant cost savings and reduced software development time.

Automated Extraction of Secondary Flow Features

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dorney, Suzanne M.; Haimes, Robert

2005-01-01

The use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has become standard practice in the design and development of the major components used for air and space propulsion. To aid in the post-processing and analysis phase of CFD many researchers now use automated feature extraction utilities. These tools can be used to detect the existence of such features as shocks, vortex cores and separation and re-attachment lines. The existence of secondary flow is another feature of significant importance to CFD engineers. Although the concept of secondary flow is relatively understood there is no commonly accepted mathematical definition for secondary flow. This paper will present a definition for secondary flow and one approach for automatically detecting and visualizing secondary flow.

Design features to enhance external hip protector adherence in the nursing home setting.

PubMed

Honkanen, Lisa A; Dehner, Melissa L; Lachs, Mark S

2006-11-01

To determine the preferences for external hip protector (EHP) design features of both certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and nursing home laundry personnel, and to test the durability of favored model features. Cross-sectional descriptive study of CNAs' and laundry personnels' preferences and a prospective experimental study of EHP fastener durability under institutional laundry conditions. Three urban nursing homes and a hospital-based laundry service. Twenty-seven CNAs, 4 laundry service supervisors. Five focus groups with CNAs and a survey of laundry supervisors were conducted to elicit preferences of EHP design features with an emphasis on convenience and durability. A laundry test of 20 EHPs was conducted to compare these design features. There was wide agreement among CNAs and laundry personnel that EHPs with soft pads in garments of light neutral colors, and cotton-blend fabrics were most preferred. CNAs preferred sewn-in pads to removeable ones, but laundry personnel had no consensus on this issue. For dependent residents, wraparound (front opening) garments using Velcro were preferred by CNAs, whereas laundry supervisors preferred snap closures. When EHP underwent repeated washing in the laundry test, Velcro and snaps were functionally comparable at 52 cycles. Garments constructed of heavyweight cotton blends, polyester, or cotton with spandex maintained elasticity at 52 weeks, whereas the lightweight cotton blend stretched significantly. Based on CNAs' preferences, laundry personnels' input, and a laundry test, EHP design features that could enhance both caregiver efficiency and resident comfort include soft pads sewn into a light-colored (but non-white) heavier weight cotton-blend garment, with the availability of both a pull-up style and a wraparound style using Velcro fasteners. Snaps did not demonstrate superior durability in the laundry test, but further comparison with Velcro under clinical conditions is indicated. Education and inclusion of CNAs in EHP decision making are important ways to improve EHP adherence.

Mass support for global climate agreements depends on institutional design.

PubMed

Bechtel, Michael M; Scheve, Kenneth F

2013-08-20

Effective climate mitigation requires international cooperation, and these global efforts need broad public support to be sustainable over the long run. We provide estimates of public support for different types of climate agreements in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Using data from a large-scale experimental survey, we explore how three key dimensions of global climate cooperation--costs and distribution, participation, and enforcement--affect individuals' willingness to support these international efforts. We find that design features have significant effects on public support. Specifically, our results indicate that support is higher for global climate agreements that involve lower costs, distribute costs according to prominent fairness principles, encompass more countries, and include a small sanction if a country fails to meet its emissions reduction targets. In contrast to well-documented baseline differences in public support for climate mitigation efforts, opinion responds similarly to changes in climate policy design in all four countries. We also find that the effects of institutional design features can bring about decisive changes in the level of public support for a global climate agreement. Moreover, the results appear consistent with the view that the sensitivity of public support to design features reflects underlying norms of reciprocity and individuals' beliefs about the potential effectiveness of specific agreements.

Survey on the novel hybrid aquatic-aerial amphibious aircraft: Aquatic unmanned aerial vehicle (AquaUAV)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Xingbang; Wang, Tianmiao; Liang, Jianhong; Yao, Guocai; Liu, Miao

2015-04-01

The aquatic unmanned aerial vehicle (AquaUAV), a kind of vehicle that can operate both in the air and the water, has been regarded as a new breakthrough to broaden the application scenario of UAV. Wide application prospects in military and civil field are more than bright, therefore many institutions have focused on the development of such a vehicle. However, due to the significant difference of the physical properties between the air and the water, it is rather difficult to design a fully-featured AquaUAV. Until now, majority of partially-featured AquaUAVs have been developed and used to verify the feasibility of an aquatic-aerial vehicle. In the present work, we classify the current partially-featured AquaUAV into three categories from the scope of the whole UAV field, i.e., the seaplane UAV, the submarine-launched UAV, and the submersible UAV. Then the recent advancements and common characteristics of the three kinds of AquaUAVs are reviewed in detail respectively. Then the applications of bionics in the design of AquaUAV, the transition mode between the air and the water, the morphing wing structure for air-water adaptation, and the power source and the propulsion type are summarized and discussed. The tradeoff analyses for different transition methods between the air and the water are presented. Furthermore, it indicates that applying the bionics into the design and development of the AquaUAV will be essential and significant. Finally, the significant technical challenges for the AquaUAV to change from a conception to a practical prototype are indicated.

Optimizing defect inspection strategy through the use of design-aware database control layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stoler, Dvori; Ruch, Wayne; Ma, Weimin; Chakravarty, Swapnajit; Liu, Steven; Morgan, Ray; Valadez, John; Moore, Bill; Burns, John

2007-10-01

Resolution limitations in the mask making process can cause differences between the features that appear in a database and those printed to a reticle. These differences may result from intentional or unintentional features in the database exceeding the resolution limit of the mask making process such as small gaps or lines in the data, line end shortening on small sub-resolution assist features etc creating challenges to both mask writing and mask inspection. Areas with high variance from design to mask, often referred to as high MEEF areas (mask error enhancement factor), become highly problematic and can directly impact mask and device yield, mask manufacturing cycle time and ultimately mask costs. Specific to mask inspection it may be desirable to inspect certain non-critical or non-relevant features at reduced sensitivity so as not to detect real, but less significant process defects. In contrast there may also be times where increased sensitivity is required for critical mask features or areas. Until recently, this process was extremely manual, creating added time and cost to the mask inspection cycle. Shifting to more intelligent and automated inspection flows is the key focus of this paper. A novel approach to importing design data directly into the mask inspection to include both MDP generated MRC errors files and LRC generated MEEF files. The results of recently developed inspection and review capability based upon controlling defect inspection using design aware data base control layers on a pixel basis are discussed. Typical mask shop applications and implementations will be shown.

Lewis and Clark Elementary School Riverview Gardens School District, St. Louis, Missouri. Profile of a Significant School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilliland, John W.

Development of a design for a new elementary school facility is traced through evaluation of various innovative facilities. Significant features include--(1) the spiral plan form, (2) centralized core levels including teacher work center, "perception" core, and interior stream aquariam, (3) the learning laboratory classroom suites, (4) a unique…

Designing action games for appealing to buyers.

PubMed

Hsu, Shang Hwa; Lee, Feng-Liang; Wu, Muh-Cherng

2005-12-01

This study aims to identify design features for action games that would appeal to game-buyers, rather than game-players. Sixteen frequent-buyers of computer games identified 39 design features that appeal to buyers by contrasting different versions of Pacman games. Twenty-eight versions of Pacman were then evaluated in terms of the identified design features by 45 participants (27 male and 18 female college students). Qnet2000 neural network software was used to determine the relative importance of these design features. The results indicated that the top 10 most important design features could account for more than 50% of "perceived fun" among these 39 design features. The feature of avatar is important to game-buyers, yet not revealed in previous player-oriented studies. Moreover, six design factors underlying the 39 features were identified through factor analysis. These factors included "novelty and powerfulness," "appealing presentation," "interactivity," "challenging," "sense of control," and "rewarding," and could account for 54% of total variance. Among these six factors, appealing presentation has not been emphasized by player-oriented research. Implications of the findings were discussed.

[Application of Kohonen Self-Organizing Feature Maps in QSAR of human ADMET and kinase data sets].

PubMed

Hegymegi-Barakonyi, Bálint; Orfi, László; Kéri, György; Kövesdi, István

2013-01-01

QSAR predictions have been proven very useful in a large number of studies for drug design, such as kinase inhibitor design as targets for cancer therapy, however the overall predictability often remains unsatisfactory. To improve predictability of ADMET features and kinase inhibitory data, we present a new method using Kohonen's Self-Organizing Feature Map (SOFM) to cluster molecules based on explanatory variables (X) and separate dissimilar ones. We calculated SOFM clusters for a large number of molecules with human ADMET and kinase inhibitory data, and we showed that chemically similar molecules were in the same SOFM cluster, and within such clusters the QSAR models had significantly better predictability. We used also target variables (Y, e.g. ADMET) jointly with X variables to create a novel type of clustering. With our method, cells of loosely coupled XY data could be identified and separated into different model building sets.

REVIEW OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF REFRIGERATOR/FREEZER GASKETS

EPA Science Inventory

The report gives results of an investigation of the significance of heat leakage through gaskets in household refrigerator/freezers, explores different design features, and suggests further study if necessary. he report gives results of an extensive literature review, interviews ...

REVIEW OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF REFRIGERATOR/FREEZER GASKETS

EPA Science Inventory

The report gives results of an investigation of the significance of heat leakage through gaskets in household refrigerator/freezers, explores different design features, and suggests further study if necessary. The report gives results of an extensive literature review, interviews...

Work zone traffic management synthesis : work zone pedestrian protection

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-08-01

This Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) data analysis was intended to examine, in a practical way, the LTPP database and to identify the site conditions and design features that significantly affect transverse joint faulting. Key products develope...

Analytical study of beam handling and emittance control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, James R.; Sloan, M. L.

1993-12-01

The thrust of our research on beam handling and emittance control was to explore how one might design high current electron accelerators, with the preservation of high beam quality designed as the primary design consideration. We considered high current, induction linacs in the parameter class of the ETA/ATA accelerators at LLNL, but with improvements to the accelerator gap design and other features to permit a significant increase in the deliverable beam brightness. Our approach for beam quality control centered on the use of solenoidal magnetic focusing through such induction accelerators, together with gently-shaped (adiabatic) acceleration gaps. This approach offers several tools for the control of beam quality. The strength and axial variation in the solenoidal magnetic field may be designed, as may the length and shape of the acceleration gaps, the loading of the gaps, and the axial spacing from gap to gap. This research showed that each of these design features may individually be optimized to contribute to improved beam quality control, and by exploiting these features, it appears feasible to produce high current, high energy electron beams possessing breakthrough beam quality and brightness. Applications which have been technologically unachievable may for the first time become possible. One such application is the production of high performance free electron lasers at very short wavelengths, extending down to the optical (less than 1 micron) regime.

Designing using manufacturing features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szecsi, T.; Hoque, A. S. M.

2012-04-01

This paper presents a design system that enables the composition of a part using manufacturing features. Features are selected from feature libraries. Upon insertion, the system ensures that the feature does not contradict the design-for-manufacture rules. This helps eliminating costly manufacturing problems. The system is developed as an extension to a commercial CAD/CAM system Pro/Engineer.

Quantitative Comparison of Minimum Inductance and Minimum Power Algorithms for the Design of Shim Coils for Small Animal Imaging

PubMed Central

HUDSON, PARISA; HUDSON, STEPHEN D.; HANDLER, WILLIAM B.; SCHOLL, TIMOTHY J.; CHRONIK, BLAINE A.

2010-01-01

High-performance shim coils are required for high-field magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy. Complete sets of high-power and high-performance shim coils were designed using two different methods: the minimum inductance and the minimum power target field methods. A quantitative comparison of shim performance in terms of merit of inductance (ML) and merit of resistance (MR) was made for shim coils designed using the minimum inductance and the minimum power design algorithms. In each design case, the difference in ML and the difference in MR given by the two design methods was <15%. Comparison of wire patterns obtained using the two design algorithms show that minimum inductance designs tend to feature oscillations within the current density; while minimum power designs tend to feature less rapidly varying current densities and lower power dissipation. Overall, the differences in coil performance obtained by the two methods are relatively small. For the specific case of shim systems customized for small animal imaging, the reduced power dissipation obtained when using the minimum power method is judged to be more significant than the improvements in switching speed obtained from the minimum inductance method. PMID:20411157

What housing features should inform the development of housing solutions for adults with neurological disability?: A systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Wright, Courtney J; Zeeman, Heidi; Kendall, Elizabeth; Whitty, Jennifer A

2017-07-01

Despite the recent emphasis in Australian political, academic, and legislative narratives to more actively promote real housing choice for people with high healthcare and support needs, there is a lack of understanding regarding the specific housing features that might constitute better housing solutions for this population. Inclusive housing provision in Australia rightly emphasises safety and accessibility issues but often fails to incorporate factors related to broader psychosocial elements of housing such as dwelling location, neighbourhood quality, and overall design. While the importance of these broader elements appears obvious, it is not yet clear what specific housing features relate to these elements and how they might contribute to housing solutions for people with high healthcare and support needs. For individuals with complex neurological conditions such as brain injury or cerebral palsy, who require maximum support on a daily basis yet want to live independently and away from a primary care hospital or health facility, a more detailed understanding of the housing features that might influence design and development is needed. Thus, in order to clarify the broader factors related to housing solutions for this population, a systematic review was conducted to identify and synthesise the current research evidence (post-2003) and guide future housing design and development opportunities. From the included studies (n=26), 198 unique housing features were identified. From the 198 features, 142 related to housing design (i.e., internal or external characteristics of the dwelling and its land), 12 related to the dwelling's location (i.e., its proximity to available resources), and 54 related to the nature of the surrounding neighbourhood (i.e., the physical, social, and economic conditions of the area). The findings of this review contribute significantly to the literature by reporting a broader scope of relevant housing features for people with neurological disability, presenting preliminary guiding principles for housing design and development for this population, and identifying opportunities for future research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Receptive fields selection for binary feature description.

PubMed

Fan, Bin; Kong, Qingqun; Trzcinski, Tomasz; Wang, Zhiheng; Pan, Chunhong; Fua, Pascal

2014-06-01

Feature description for local image patch is widely used in computer vision. While the conventional way to design local descriptor is based on expert experience and knowledge, learning-based methods for designing local descriptor become more and more popular because of their good performance and data-driven property. This paper proposes a novel data-driven method for designing binary feature descriptor, which we call receptive fields descriptor (RFD). Technically, RFD is constructed by thresholding responses of a set of receptive fields, which are selected from a large number of candidates according to their distinctiveness and correlations in a greedy way. Using two different kinds of receptive fields (namely rectangular pooling area and Gaussian pooling area) for selection, we obtain two binary descriptors RFDR and RFDG .accordingly. Image matching experiments on the well-known patch data set and Oxford data set demonstrate that RFD significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art binary descriptors, and is comparable with the best float-valued descriptors at a fraction of processing time. Finally, experiments on object recognition tasks confirm that both RFDR and RFDG successfully bridge the performance gap between binary descriptors and their floating-point competitors.

A Pulsed Thermographic Imaging System for Detection and Identification of Cotton Foreign Matter

PubMed Central

Kuzy, Jesse; Li, Changying

2017-01-01

Detection of foreign matter in cleaned cotton is instrumental to accurately grading cotton quality, which in turn impacts the marketability of the cotton. Current grading systems return estimates of the amount of foreign matter present, but provide no information about the identity of the contaminants. This paper explores the use of pulsed thermographic analysis to detect and identify cotton foreign matter. The design and implementation of a pulsed thermographic analysis system is described. A sample set of 240 foreign matter and cotton lint samples were collected. Hand-crafted waveform features and frequency-domain features were extracted and analyzed for statistical significance. Classification was performed on these features using linear discriminant analysis and support vector machines. Using waveform features and support vector machine classifiers, detection of cotton foreign matter was performed with 99.17% accuracy. Using frequency-domain features and linear discriminant analysis, identification was performed with 90.00% accuracy. These results demonstrate that pulsed thermographic imaging analysis produces data which is of significant utility for the detection and identification of cotton foreign matter. PMID:28273848

Prediction of residue-residue contact matrix for protein-protein interaction with Fisher score features and deep learning.

PubMed

Du, Tianchuan; Liao, Li; Wu, Cathy H; Sun, Bilin

2016-11-01

Protein-protein interactions play essential roles in many biological processes. Acquiring knowledge of the residue-residue contact information of two interacting proteins is not only helpful in annotating functions for proteins, but also critical for structure-based drug design. The prediction of the protein residue-residue contact matrix of the interfacial regions is challenging. In this work, we introduced deep learning techniques (specifically, stacked autoencoders) to build deep neural network models to tackled the residue-residue contact prediction problem. In tandem with interaction profile Hidden Markov Models, which was used first to extract Fisher score features from protein sequences, stacked autoencoders were deployed to extract and learn hidden abstract features. The deep learning model showed significant improvement over the traditional machine learning model, Support Vector Machines (SVM), with the overall accuracy increased by 15% from 65.40% to 80.82%. We showed that the stacked autoencoders could extract novel features, which can be utilized by deep neural networks and other classifiers to enhance learning, out of the Fisher score features. It is further shown that deep neural networks have significant advantages over SVM in making use of the newly extracted features. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Development of the Biology Card Sorting Task to Measure Conceptual Expertise in Biology

PubMed Central

Smith, Julia I.; Combs, Elijah D.; Nagami, Paul H.; Alto, Valerie M.; Goh, Henry G.; Gourdet, Muryam A. A.; Hough, Christina M.; Nickell, Ashley E.; Peer, Adrian G.; Coley, John D.; Tanner, Kimberly D.

2013-01-01

There are widespread aspirations to focus undergraduate biology education on teaching students to think conceptually like biologists; however, there is a dearth of assessment tools designed to measure progress from novice to expert biological conceptual thinking. We present the development of a novel assessment tool, the Biology Card Sorting Task, designed to probe how individuals organize their conceptual knowledge of biology. While modeled on tasks from cognitive psychology, this task is unique in its design to test two hypothesized conceptual frameworks for the organization of biological knowledge: 1) a surface feature organization focused on organism type and 2) a deep feature organization focused on fundamental biological concepts. In this initial investigation of the Biology Card Sorting Task, each of six analytical measures showed statistically significant differences when used to compare the card sorting results of putative biological experts (biology faculty) and novices (non–biology major undergraduates). Consistently, biology faculty appeared to sort based on hypothesized deep features, while non–biology majors appeared to sort based on either surface features or nonhypothesized organizational frameworks. Results suggest that this novel task is robust in distinguishing populations of biology experts and biology novices and may be an adaptable tool for tracking emerging biology conceptual expertise. PMID:24297290

A Unified Fisher's Ratio Learning Method for Spatial Filter Optimization.

PubMed

Li, Xinyang; Guan, Cuntai; Zhang, Haihong; Ang, Kai Keng

To detect the mental task of interest, spatial filtering has been widely used to enhance the spatial resolution of electroencephalography (EEG). However, the effectiveness of spatial filtering is undermined due to the significant nonstationarity of EEG. Based on regularization, most of the conventional stationary spatial filter design methods address the nonstationarity at the cost of the interclass discrimination. Moreover, spatial filter optimization is inconsistent with feature extraction when EEG covariance matrices could not be jointly diagonalized due to the regularization. In this paper, we propose a novel framework for a spatial filter design. With Fisher's ratio in feature space directly used as the objective function, the spatial filter optimization is unified with feature extraction. Given its ratio form, the selection of the regularization parameter could be avoided. We evaluate the proposed method on a binary motor imagery data set of 16 subjects, who performed the calibration and test sessions on different days. The experimental results show that the proposed method yields improvement in classification performance for both single broadband and filter bank settings compared with conventional nonunified methods. We also provide a systematic attempt to compare different objective functions in modeling data nonstationarity with simulation studies.To detect the mental task of interest, spatial filtering has been widely used to enhance the spatial resolution of electroencephalography (EEG). However, the effectiveness of spatial filtering is undermined due to the significant nonstationarity of EEG. Based on regularization, most of the conventional stationary spatial filter design methods address the nonstationarity at the cost of the interclass discrimination. Moreover, spatial filter optimization is inconsistent with feature extraction when EEG covariance matrices could not be jointly diagonalized due to the regularization. In this paper, we propose a novel framework for a spatial filter design. With Fisher's ratio in feature space directly used as the objective function, the spatial filter optimization is unified with feature extraction. Given its ratio form, the selection of the regularization parameter could be avoided. We evaluate the proposed method on a binary motor imagery data set of 16 subjects, who performed the calibration and test sessions on different days. The experimental results show that the proposed method yields improvement in classification performance for both single broadband and filter bank settings compared with conventional nonunified methods. We also provide a systematic attempt to compare different objective functions in modeling data nonstationarity with simulation studies.

Hydraulic Design of Stepped Spillways Workshop

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Stepped chutes and spillways are commonly used for routing discharges during flood events. In addition, stepped chutes are used for overtopping protection of earthen embankments. Stepped spillways provide significant energy dissipation due to its stepped feature; as a result, the stilling basin as...

Dental Implant Macro-Design Features Can Impact the Dynamics of Osseointegration.

PubMed

Vivan Cardoso, Marcio; Vandamme, Katleen; Chaudhari, Amol; De Rycker, Judith; Van Meerbeek, Bart; Naert, Ignace; Duyck, Joke

2015-08-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical performance of two dental implant types possessing a different macro-design in the in vivo pig model. Titanium Aadva(TM) implants (GC, Tokyo, Japan) were compared with OsseoSpeed(TM) implants (Astra, Mölndal, Sweden), with the Aadva implant displaying significant larger inter-thread dimensions than the OsseoSpeed implant. Implants were installed in the parietal bone of 12 domestic pigs and left for healing for either 1 or 3 months. Implant osseointegration was evaluated by quantitative histology (bone volume relative to the tissue volume [BV/TV]; bone-to-implant contact [BIC]) for distinct implant regions (collar, body, total implant length) with specific implant thread features. The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney nonparametric test with α = 0.05 was performed. An inferior amount of bone enveloping the Aadva implant compared with the OsseoSpeed implant was observed, in particular at the implant body part with its considerable inter-thread gaps (p < .05). Concomitantly, the Aadva macro-design negatively affected the amount of bone in direct contact with the implant for this specific implant part (p < .05), and resulted in an overall impaired implant osseointegration at the initial healing stage (total implant length; 1-month healing; p < .05). Although the Aadva implant displayed a clinically acceptable level of osseointegration, the findings demonstrate that implant macro-design features can impact the dynamics of implant osseointegration. Consideration of specific implant macro-design features should be made relative to the biological and mechanical microenvironment. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

High-level intuitive features (HLIFs) for intuitive skin lesion description.

PubMed

Amelard, Robert; Glaister, Jeffrey; Wong, Alexander; Clausi, David A

2015-03-01

A set of high-level intuitive features (HLIFs) is proposed to quantitatively describe melanoma in standard camera images. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer. With rising incidence rates and subjectivity in current clinical detection methods, there is a need for melanoma decision support systems. Feature extraction is a critical step in melanoma decision support systems. Existing feature sets for analyzing standard camera images are comprised of low-level features, which exist in high-dimensional feature spaces and limit the system's ability to convey intuitive diagnostic rationale. The proposed HLIFs were designed to model the ABCD criteria commonly used by dermatologists such that each HLIF represents a human-observable characteristic. As such, intuitive diagnostic rationale can be conveyed to the user. Experimental results show that concatenating the proposed HLIFs with a full low-level feature set increased classification accuracy, and that HLIFs were able to separate the data better than low-level features with statistical significance. An example of a graphical interface for providing intuitive rationale is given.

Cross-Domain Shoe Retrieval with a Semantic Hierarchy of Attribute Classification Network.

PubMed

Zhan, Huijing; Shi, Boxin; Kot, Alex C

2017-08-04

Cross-domain shoe image retrieval is a challenging problem, because the query photo from the street domain (daily life scenario) and the reference photo in the online domain (online shop images) have significant visual differences due to the viewpoint and scale variation, self-occlusion, and cluttered background. This paper proposes the Semantic Hierarchy Of attributE Convolutional Neural Network (SHOE-CNN) with a three-level feature representation for discriminative shoe feature expression and efficient retrieval. The SHOE-CNN with its newly designed loss function systematically merges semantic attributes of closer visual appearances to prevent shoe images with the obvious visual differences being confused with each other; the features extracted from image, region, and part levels effectively match the shoe images across different domains. We collect a large-scale shoe dataset composed of 14341 street domain and 12652 corresponding online domain images with fine-grained attributes to train our network and evaluate our system. The top-20 retrieval accuracy improves significantly over the solution with the pre-trained CNN features.

Multiple approaches to valuation of conservation design and low-impact development features in residential subdivisions.

PubMed

Bowman, Troy; Tyndall, John C; Thompson, Janette; Kliebenstein, James; Colletti, Joe P

2012-08-15

Residents, developers and civic officials are often faced with difficult decisions about appropriate land uses in and around metropolitan boundaries. Urban expansion brings with it the potential for negative environmental impacts, but there are alternatives, such as conservation subdivision design (CSD) or low-impact development (LID), which offer the possibility of mitigating some of these effects at the development site. Many urban planning jurisdictions across the Midwest do not currently have any examples of these designs and lack information to identify public support or barriers to use of these methods. This is a case study examining consumer value for conservation and low-impact design features in one housing market by using four different valuation techniques to estimate residents' willingness to pay for CSD and LID features in residential subdivisions. A contingent valuation survey of 1804 residents in Ames, IA assessed familiarity with and perceptions of subdivision development and used an ordered value approach to estimate willingness to pay for CSD and LID features. A majority of residents were not familiar with CSD or LID practices. Residents indicated a willingness to pay for most CSD and LID features with the exception of clustered housing. Gender, age, income, familiarity with LID practices, perceptions of attractiveness of features and the perceived effect of CSD and LID features on ease of future home sales were important factors influencing residents' willingness to pay. A hypothetical referendum measured willingness to pay for tax-funded conservation land purchases and estimated that a property tax of around $50 would be the maximum increase that would pass. Twenty-seven survey respondents participated in a subsequent series of experimental real estate negotiations that used an experimental auction mechanism to estimate willingness to pay for CSD and LID features. Participants indicated that clustered housing (with interspersed preserved forest or open space areas), rain gardens, and neighborhood streams with a forested buffer were the features they were most willing to pay for. Participants were not willing to pay for neighborhood streams without buffers. Finally, a spatial hedonic price model using 2093 homes in Ames, IA was used to estimate the effect of public and private open space on housing values. The model indicated that presence of neighborhood association-owned forest and water features as well as proximity to public parks had significant positive effects on housing prices. However, proximity to a public lake had a negative effect on home values. The four methods used in this study include both stated and revealed preference techniques. Although the relative magnitude of value expressed varied, all methods indicated that residents value CSD and LID subdivision features. Subdivision features that included explicit environmental benefits were also consistently preferred over features that did not. Familiarity with alternative designs was an important factor influencing resident willingness to pay for neighborhood features, and developers and civic officials should consider ways to educate citizens about CSD and LID development techniques to increase interest in these designs. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Recent Improvements to the Copernicus Trajectory Design and Optimization System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, Jacob; Senent, Juan S.; Ocampo, Cesar; Lee, David E.

2012-01-01

Copernicus is a software tool for spacecraft trajectory design and optimization. The latest version (v3.0.1) was released in October 2011. It is available at no cost to NASA centers, government contractors, and organizations with a contractual affiliation with NASA. This paper is a brief overview of the recent development history of Copernicus. An overview of the evolution of the software and a discussion of significant new features and improvements is given, and how the tool is used to design spacecraft missions

Metric integration architecture for product development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sieger, David B.

1997-06-01

Present-day product development endeavors utilize the concurrent engineering philosophy as a logical means for incorporating a variety of viewpoints into the design of products. Since this approach provides no explicit procedural provisions, it is necessary to establish at least a mental coupling with a known design process model. The central feature of all such models is the management and transformation of information. While these models assist in structuring the design process, characterizing the basic flow of operations that are involved, they provide no guidance facilities. The significance of this feature, and the role it plays in the time required to develop products, is increasing in importance due to the inherent process dynamics, system/component complexities, and competitive forces. The methodology presented in this paper involves the use of a hierarchical system structure, discrete event system specification (DEVS), and multidimensional state variable based metrics. This approach is unique in its capability to quantify designer's actions throughout product development, provide recommendations about subsequent activity selection, and coordinate distributed activities of designers and/or design teams across all design stages. Conceptual design tool implementation results are used to demonstrate the utility of this technique in improving the incremental decision making process.

No-reference image quality assessment based on statistics of convolution feature maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lv, Xiaoxin; Qin, Min; Chen, Xiaohui; Wei, Guo

2018-04-01

We propose a Convolutional Feature Maps (CFM) driven approach to accurately predict image quality. Our motivation bases on the finding that the Nature Scene Statistic (NSS) features on convolution feature maps are significantly sensitive to distortion degree of an image. In our method, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is trained to obtain kernels for generating CFM. We design a forward NSS layer which performs on CFM to better extract NSS features. The quality aware features derived from the output of NSS layer is effective to describe the distortion type and degree an image suffered. Finally, a Support Vector Regression (SVR) is employed in our No-Reference Image Quality Assessment (NR-IQA) model to predict a subjective quality score of a distorted image. Experiments conducted on two public databases demonstrate the promising performance of the proposed method is competitive to state of the art NR-IQA methods.

Prediction of cervical cancer recurrence using textural features extracted from 18F-FDG PET images acquired with different scanners.

PubMed

Reuzé, Sylvain; Orlhac, Fanny; Chargari, Cyrus; Nioche, Christophe; Limkin, Elaine; Riet, François; Escande, Alexandre; Haie-Meder, Christine; Dercle, Laurent; Gouy, Sébastien; Buvat, Irène; Deutsch, Eric; Robert, Charlotte

2017-06-27

To identify an imaging signature predicting local recurrence for locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) treated by chemoradiation and brachytherapy from baseline 18F-FDG PET images, and to evaluate the possibility of gathering images from two different PET scanners in a radiomic study. 118 patients were included retrospectively. Two groups (G1, G2) were defined according to the PET scanner used for image acquisition. Eleven radiomic features were extracted from delineated cervical tumors to evaluate: (i) the predictive value of features for local recurrence of LACC, (ii) their reproducibility as a function of the scanner within a hepatic reference volume, (iii) the impact of voxel size on feature values. Eight features were statistically significant predictors of local recurrence in G1 (p < 0.05). The multivariate signature trained in G2 was validated in G1 (AUC=0.76, p<0.001) and identified local recurrence more accurately than SUVmax (p=0.022). Four features were significantly different between G1 and G2 in the liver. Spatial resampling was not sufficient to explain the stratification effect. This study showed that radiomic features could predict local recurrence of LACC better than SUVmax. Further investigation is needed before applying a model designed using data from one PET scanner to another.

10 CFR 830.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

.... Critical assembly means special nuclear devices designed and used to sustain nuclear reactions, which may... reaction becomes self-sustaining. Design features means the design features of a nuclear facility specified..., or the environment, including (1) Physical, design, structural, and engineering features; (2) Safety...

10 CFR 830.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

.... Critical assembly means special nuclear devices designed and used to sustain nuclear reactions, which may... reaction becomes self-sustaining. Design features means the design features of a nuclear facility specified..., or the environment, including (1) Physical, design, structural, and engineering features; (2) Safety...

Identifying Universal Linguistic Features Associated with Veracity and Deception

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-02

involved an eyewitness testing paradigm, in which participants from three very different language groups witnessed an actual crime and write true and...statements will include significantly more indicators of deception and significantly less indicators of veracity across all languages tested ...examine possible differential carry-over effects if participants wrote both true and false statements in a within-subjects design . The findings

What to Build for Middle-Agers to Come? Attractive and Necessary Functions of Exercise-Promotion Mobile Phone Apps: A Cross-Sectional Study

PubMed Central

Chien, Yu-Tai; Chen, Yu-Jen; Hsiung, Hsiao-Fang; Chen, Hsiao-Jung; Hsieh, Meng-Hua; Wu, Wen-Jie

2017-01-01

Background Physical activity is important for middle-agers to maintain health both in middle age and in old age. Although thousands of exercise-promotion mobile phone apps are available for download, current literature offers little understanding regarding which design features can enhance middle-aged adults’ quality perception toward exercise-promotion apps and which factor may influence such perception. Objectives The aims of this study were to understand (1) which design features of exercise-promotion apps can enhance quality perception of middle-agers, (2) whether their needs are matched by current functions offered in app stores, and (3) whether physical activity (PA) and mobile phone self-efficacy (MPSE) influence quality perception. Methods A total of 105 middle-agers participated and filled out three scales: the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), the MPSE scale, and the need for design features questionnaire. The design features were developed based on the Coventry, Aberdeen, and London—Refined (CALO-RE) taxonomy. Following the Kano quality model, the need for design features questionnaire asked participants to classify design features into five categories: attractive, one-dimensional, must-be, indifferent, and reverse. The quality categorization was conducted based on a voting approach and the categorization results were compared with the findings of a prevalence study to realize whether needs match current availability. In total, 52 multinomial logistic regression models were analyzed to evaluate the effects of PA level and MPSE on quality perception of design features. Results The Kano analysis on the total sample revealed that visual demonstration of exercise instructions is the only attractive design feature, whereas the other 51 design features were perceived with indifference. Although examining quality perception by PA level, 21 features are recommended to low level, 6 features to medium level, but none to high-level PA. In contrast, high-level MPSE is recommended with 14 design features, medium level with 6 features, whereas low-level participants are recommended with 1 feature. The analysis suggests that the implementation of demanded features could be low, as the average prevalence of demanded design features is 20% (4.3/21). Surprisingly, social comparison and social support, most implemented features in current apps, were categorized into the indifferent category. The magnitude of effect is larger for MPSE because it effects quality perception of more design features than PA. Delving into the 52 regression models revealed that high MPSE more likely induces attractive or one- dimensional categorization, suggesting the importance of technological self-efficacy on eHealth care promotion. Conclusions This study is the first to propose middle-agers’ needs in relation to mobile phone exercise-promotion. In addition to the tailor-made recommendations, suggestions are offered to app designers to enhance the performance of persuasive features. An interesting finding on change of quality perception attributed to MPSE is proposed as future research. PMID:28546140

Effects of a kinesthetic cursive handwriting intervention for grade 4-6 students.

PubMed

Roberts, Gwenyth I; Siever, Jodi E; Mair, Judith A

2010-01-01

We studied whether Grade 4-6 students who participated in a kinesthetic writing intervention improved in legibility, speed, and personal satisfaction with cursive handwriting. Small groups of students with handwriting difficulties were seen weekly for 7 wk using a kinesthetic writing system. A repeated measures design was used to evaluate change in global legibility, individual letter formation, specific features of handwriting, and personal satisfaction. Analysis revealed (1) a significant increase in ratings of global legibility (p <.01; clinically significant improvements in 39% of students); (2) significant improvements in letter formation and legibility features of baseline, closure, and line quality (all p < .05); (3) increased handwriting speed (p < .05; not clinically significant); and (4) significant increase in measures with personal satisfaction of handwriting (p < .01). CONCLUSION. A kinesthetic handwriting intervention may be effective in improving the skills of students with handwriting challenges.

Requirements for satisfactory flying qualities of airplanes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gilruth, R R

1943-01-01

Report discusses the results of an analysis of available data to determine what measured characteristics are significant in defining satisfactory flying qualities, what characteristics are reasonable to require of an airplane, and what influence the various design features have on the observed flying qualities.

How Funding Instability Affects Army Programs

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

rocket motor, aerodynamic vane controls, and inertial guidance to navigate to an intercept point. Shortly before arrival at the intercept point, the...responsiveness. Significant features of the C-17 include: super-critical wing design and winglets to reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency and

Multivariate analysis of full-term neonatal polysomnographic data.

PubMed

Gerla, V; Paul, K; Lhotska, L; Krajca, V

2009-01-01

Polysomnography (PSG) is one of the most important noninvasive methods for studying maturation of the child brain. Sleep in infants is significantly different from sleep in adults. This paper addresses the problem of computer analysis of neonatal polygraphic signals. We applied methods designed for differentiating three important neonatal behavioral states: quiet sleep, active sleep, and wakefulness. The proportion of these states is a significant indicator of the maturity of the newborn brain in clinical practice. In this study, we used data provided by the Institute for Care of Mother and Child, Prague (12 newborn infants of similar postconceptional age). The data were scored by an experienced physician to four states (wake, quiet sleep, active sleep, movement artifact). For accurate classification, it was necessary to determine the most informative features. We used a method based on power spectral density (PSD) applied to each EEG channel. We also used features derived from electrooculogram (EOG), electromyogram (EMG), ECG, and respiration [pneumogram (PNG)] signals. The most informative feature was the measure of regularity of respiration from the PNG signal. We designed an algorithm for interpreting these characteristics. This algorithm was based on Markov models. The results of automatic detection of sleep states were compared to the "sleep profiles" determined visually. We evaluated both the success rate and the true positive rate of the classification, and statistically significant agreement of the two scorings was found. Two variants, for learning and for testing, were applied, namely learning from the data of all 12 newborns and tenfold cross-validation, and learning from the data of 11 newborns and testing on the data from the 12th newborn. We utilized information obtained from several biological signals (EEG, ECG, PNG, EMG, EOG) for our final classification. We reached the final success rate of 82.5%. The true positive rate was 81.8% and the false positive rate was 6.1%. The most important step in the whole process is feature extraction and feature selection. In this process, we used visualization as an additional tool that helped us to decide which features to select. Proper selection of features may significantly influence the success rate of the classification. We made a visual comparison of the computed features with the manual scoring provided by the expert. A hidden Markov model was used for classification. The advantage of this model is that it determines the future behavior of the process by its present state. In this way, it preserves information about temporal development.

Effects of fuselage forebody geometry on low-speed lateral-directional characteristics of twin-tail fighter model at high angles of attack

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carr, P. C.; Gilbert, W. P.

1979-01-01

Low-speed, static wind-tunnel tests were conducted to explore the effects of fighter fuselage forebody geometry on lateral-directional characteristics at high angles of attack and to provide data for general design procedures. Effects of eight different forebody configurations and several add-on devices (e.g., nose strakes, boundary-layer trip wires, and nose booms) were investigated. Tests showed that forebody design features such as fineness ratio, cross-sectional shape, and add-on devices can have a significant influence on both lateral-directional and longitudinal aerodynamic stability. Several of the forebodies produced both lateral-directional symmetry and strong favorable changes in lateral-directional stability. However, the same results also indicated that such forebody designs can produce significant reductions in longitudinal stability near maximum lift and can significantly change the influence of other configuration variables. The addition of devices to highly tailored forebody designs also can significantly degrade the stability improvements provided by the clean forebody.

Additive Manufacturing Design Considerations for Liquid Engine Components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitten, Dave; Hissam, Andy; Baker, Kevin; Rice, Darron

2014-01-01

The Marshall Space Flight Center's Propulsion Systems Department has gained significant experience in the last year designing, building, and testing liquid engine components using additive manufacturing. The department has developed valve, duct, turbo-machinery, and combustion device components using this technology. Many valuable lessons were learned during this process. These lessons will be the focus of this presentation. We will present criteria for selecting part candidates for additive manufacturing. Some part characteristics are 'tailor made' for this process. Selecting the right parts for the process is the first step to maximizing productivity gains. We will also present specific lessons we learned about feature geometry that can and cannot be produced using additive manufacturing machines. Most liquid engine components were made using a two-step process. The base part was made using additive manufacturing and then traditional machining processes were used to produce the final part. The presentation will describe design accommodations needed to make the base part and lessons we learned about which features could be built directly and which require the final machine process. Tolerance capabilities, surface finish, and material thickness allowances will also be covered. Additive Manufacturing can produce internal passages that cannot be made using traditional approaches. It can also eliminate a significant amount of manpower by reducing part count and leveraging model-based design and analysis techniques. Information will be shared about performance enhancements and design efficiencies we experienced for certain categories of engine parts.

The 1991 3rd NASA Symposium on VLSI Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maki, Gary K.

1991-01-01

Papers from the symposium are presented from the following sessions: (1) featured presentations 1; (2) very large scale integration (VLSI) circuit design; (3) VLSI architecture 1; (4) featured presentations 2; (5) neural networks; (6) VLSI architectures 2; (7) featured presentations 3; (8) verification 1; (9) analog design; (10) verification 2; (11) design innovations 1; (12) asynchronous design; and (13) design innovations 2.

High performance cryogenic turboexpanders

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

Agahi, R.R.; Ershaghi, B.; Lin, M.C.

1996-12-31

The use of turboexpanders for deep cryogenic temperatures has been constrained because of thermal efficiency limitations. This limited thermal efficiency was mostly due to mechanical constraints. Recent improvements in analytical techniques, bearing technology, and design features have made it possible to design and operate turboexpanders at more favorable conditions, such as of higher rotational speeds. Several turboexpander installations in helium and hydrogen processes have shown a significant improvement in plant performance over non-turboexpander options.

What vehicle features are considered important when buying an automobile? An examination of driver preferences by age and gender.

PubMed

Vrkljan, Brenda H; Anaby, Dana

2011-02-01

Certain vehicle features can help drivers avoid collisions and/or protect occupants in the event of a crash, and therefore, might play an important role when deciding which vehicle to purchase. The objective of this study was to examine the importance attributed to key vehicle features (including safety) that drivers consider when buying a car and its association with age and gender. A sample of 2,002 Canadian drivers aged 18 years and older completed a survey that asked them to rank the importance of eight vehicle features if they were to purchase a vehicle (storage, mileage, safety, price, comfort, performance, design, and reliability). ANOVA tests were performed to: (a) determine if there were differences in the level of importance between features and; (b) examine the effect of age and gender on the importance attributed to these features. Of the features examined, safety and reliability were the most highly rated in terms of importance, whereas design and performance had the lowest rating. Differences in safety and performance across age groups were dependent on gender. This effect was most evident in the youngest and oldest age groups. Safety and reliability were considered the most important features. Age and gender play a significant role in explaining the importance of certain features. Targeted efforts for translating safety-related information to the youngest and oldest consumers should be emphasized due to their high collision, injury, and fatality rates. Copyright © 2011 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of Shock Wave on the Flutter Behavior of Fan Blades Investigated

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Srivastava, Rakesh; Bakhle, Milind A.; Stefko, George L.

2003-01-01

Modern fan designs have blades with forward sweep; a lean, thin cross section; and a wide chord to improve performance and reduce noise. These geometric features coupled with the presence of a shock wave can lead to flutter instability. Flutter is a self-excited dynamic instability arising because of fluid-structure interaction, which causes the energy from the surrounding fluid to be extracted by the vibrating structure. An in-flight occurrence of flutter could be catastrophic and is a significant design issue for rotor blades in gas turbines. Understanding the flutter behavior and the influence of flow features on flutter will lead to a better and safer design. An aeroelastic analysis code, TURBO, has been developed and validated for flutter calculations at the NASA Glenn Research Center. The code has been used to understand the occurrence of flutter in a forward-swept fan design. The forward-swept fan, which consists of 22 inserted blades, encountered flutter during wind tunnel tests at part speed conditions.

Toward a Model-Based Predictive Controller Design in Brain–Computer Interfaces

PubMed Central

Kamrunnahar, M.; Dias, N. S.; Schiff, S. J.

2013-01-01

A first step in designing a robust and optimal model-based predictive controller (MPC) for brain–computer interface (BCI) applications is presented in this article. An MPC has the potential to achieve improved BCI performance compared to the performance achieved by current ad hoc, nonmodel-based filter applications. The parameters in designing the controller were extracted as model-based features from motor imagery task-related human scalp electroencephalography. Although the parameters can be generated from any model-linear or non-linear, we here adopted a simple autoregressive model that has well-established applications in BCI task discriminations. It was shown that the parameters generated for the controller design can as well be used for motor imagery task discriminations with performance (with 8–23% task discrimination errors) comparable to the discrimination performance of the commonly used features such as frequency specific band powers and the AR model parameters directly used. An optimal MPC has significant implications for high performance BCI applications. PMID:21267657

Toward a model-based predictive controller design in brain-computer interfaces.

PubMed

Kamrunnahar, M; Dias, N S; Schiff, S J

2011-05-01

A first step in designing a robust and optimal model-based predictive controller (MPC) for brain-computer interface (BCI) applications is presented in this article. An MPC has the potential to achieve improved BCI performance compared to the performance achieved by current ad hoc, nonmodel-based filter applications. The parameters in designing the controller were extracted as model-based features from motor imagery task-related human scalp electroencephalography. Although the parameters can be generated from any model-linear or non-linear, we here adopted a simple autoregressive model that has well-established applications in BCI task discriminations. It was shown that the parameters generated for the controller design can as well be used for motor imagery task discriminations with performance (with 8-23% task discrimination errors) comparable to the discrimination performance of the commonly used features such as frequency specific band powers and the AR model parameters directly used. An optimal MPC has significant implications for high performance BCI applications.

Electronic nicotine delivery systems: is there a need for regulation?

PubMed

Trtchounian, Anna; Talbot, Prue

2011-01-01

Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) purport to deliver nicotine to the lungs of smokers. Five brands of ENDS were evaluated for design features, accuracy and clarity of labelling and quality of instruction manuals and associated print material supplied with products or on manufacturers' websites. ENDS were purchased from online vendors and analysed for various parameters. While the basic design of ENDS was similar across brands, specific design features varied significantly. Fluid contained in cartridge reservoirs readily leaked out of most brands, and it was difficult to assemble or disassemble ENDS without touching nicotine-containing fluid. Two brands had designs that helped lessen this problem. Labelling of cartridges was very poor; labelling of some cartridge wrappers was better than labelling of cartridges. In general, packs of replacement cartridges were better labelled than the wrappers or cartridges, but most packs lacked cartridge content and warning information, and sometimes packs had confusing information. Used cartridges contained fluid, and disposal of nicotine-containing cartridges was not adequately addressed on websites or in manuals. Orders were sometimes filled incorrectly, and safety features did not always function properly. Print and internet material often contained information or made claims for which there is currently no scientific support. Design flaws, lack of adequate labelling and concerns about quality control and health issues indicate that regulators should consider removing ENDS from the market until their safety can be adequately evaluated.

Nutrition warnings as front-of-pack labels: influence of design features on healthfulness perception and attentional capture.

PubMed

Cabrera, Manuel; Machín, Leandro; Arrúa, Alejandra; Antúnez, Lucía; Curutchet, María Rosa; Giménez, Ana; Ares, Gastón

2017-12-01

Warnings are a new directive front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labelling scheme that highlights products with high content of key nutrients. The design of warnings influences their ability to catch consumers' attention and to clearly communicate their intended meaning, which are key determinants of their effectiveness. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the influence of design features of warnings as a FOP nutrition labelling scheme on perceived healthfulness and attentional capture. Five studies with a total of 496 people were carried out. In the first study, the association of colour and perceived healthfulness was evaluated in an online survey in which participants had to rate their perceived healthfulness of eight colours. In the second study, the influence of colour, shape and textual information on perceived healthfulness was evaluated using choice-conjoint analysis. The third study focused on implicit associations between two design features (shape and colour) on perceived healthfulness. The fourth and fifth studies used visual search to evaluate the influence of colour, size and position of the warnings on attentional capture. Perceived healthfulness was significantly influenced by shape, colour and textual information. Colour was the variable with the largest contribution to perceived healthfulness. Colour, size and position of the warnings on the labels affected attentional capture. Results from the experiments provide recommendations for the design of warnings to identify products with unfavourable nutrient profile.

Development of an improved GTA (gas tungsten arc) weld temperature monitor fixture

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

Hollar, D.L.

1990-05-01

An initial design weld temperature control fixture was implemented into final closure of an electronic assembly in November 1986. Use of this fixture indicated several areas that could be improved. Review of these areas with the process engineer and the weld operator provided the ideas to be incorporated into the new design Phase 2 fixture. Some primary areas of change and improvement included fixture mobility to provide better accessibility to the weld joint area, automatic timed blow cooling of the weld joint, and a feature to assure proper thermocouple placement. The resulting Phase 2 fixture design provided all of themore » essential weld temperature monitoring features in addition to several significant improvements. Technology developed during this project will pave the way to similar process monitoring of other manual gas tungsten arc (GTA) welding applications. 9 figs.« less

SymptomCare@Home: Developing an Integrated Symptom Monitoring and Management System for Outpatients Receiving Chemotherapy.

PubMed

Beck, Susan L; Eaton, Linda H; Echeverria, Christina; Mooney, Kathi H

2017-10-01

SymptomCare@Home, an integrated symptom monitoring and management system, was designed as part of randomized clinical trials to help patients with cancer who receive chemotherapy in ambulatory clinics and often experience significant symptoms at home. An iterative design process was informed by chronic disease management theory and features of assessment and clinical decision support systems used in other diseases. Key stakeholders participated in the design process: nurse scientists, clinical experts, bioinformatics experts, and computer programmers. Especially important was input from end users, patients, and nurse practitioners participating in a series of studies testing the system. The system includes both a patient and clinician interface and fully integrates two electronic subsystems: a telephone computer-linked interactive voice response system and a Web-based Decision Support-Symptom Management System. Key features include (1) daily symptom monitoring, (2) self-management coaching, (3) alerting, and (4) nurse practitioner follow-up. The nurse practitioner is distinctively positioned to provide assessment, education, support, and pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions to intensify management of poorly controlled symptoms at home. SymptomCare@Home is a model for providing telehealth. The system facilitates using evidence-based guidelines as part of a comprehensive symptom management approach. The design process and system features can be applied to other diseases and conditions.

Stepwise Regression Analysis of MDOE Balance Calibration Data Acquired at DNW

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DeLoach, RIchard; Philipsen, Iwan

2007-01-01

This paper reports a comparison of two experiment design methods applied in the calibration of a strain-gage balance. One features a 734-point test matrix in which loads are varied systematically according to a method commonly applied in aerospace research and known in the literature of experiment design as One Factor At a Time (OFAT) testing. Two variations of an alternative experiment design were also executed on the same balance, each with different features of an MDOE experiment design. The Modern Design of Experiments (MDOE) is an integrated process of experiment design, execution, and analysis applied at NASA's Langley Research Center to achieve significant reductions in cycle time, direct operating cost, and experimental uncertainty in aerospace research generally and in balance calibration experiments specifically. Personnel in the Instrumentation and Controls Department of the German Dutch Wind Tunnels (DNW) have applied MDOE methods to evaluate them in the calibration of a balance using an automated calibration machine. The data have been sent to Langley Research Center for analysis and comparison. This paper reports key findings from this analysis. The chief result is that a 100-point calibration exploiting MDOE principles delivered quality comparable to a 700+ point OFAT calibration with significantly reduced cycle time and attendant savings in direct and indirect costs. While the DNW test matrices implemented key MDOE principles and produced excellent results, additional MDOE concepts implemented in balance calibrations at Langley Research Center are also identified and described.

Impact of front-of-pack nutrition information and label design on children's choice of two snack foods: Comparison of warnings and the traffic-light system.

PubMed

Arrúa, Alejandra; Curutchet, María Rosa; Rey, Natalia; Barreto, Patricia; Golovchenko, Nadya; Sellanes, Andrea; Velazco, Guillermo; Winokur, Medy; Giménez, Ana; Ares, Gastón

2017-09-01

Research on the relative influence of package features on children's perception of food products is still necessary to aid policy design and development. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the relative influence of two front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labelling schemes, the traffic light system and Chilean warning system, and label design on children's choice of two popular snack foods in Uruguay, wafer cookies and orange juice. A total of 442 children in grades 4 to 6 from 12 primary schools in Montevideo (Uruguay) participated in the study. They were asked to complete a choice-conjoint task with wafer cookies and orange juice labels, varying in label design and the inclusion of FOP nutrition information. Half of the children completed the task with labels featuring the traffic-light system (n = 217) and the other half with labels featuring the Chilean warning system (n = 225). Children's choices of wafer cookies and juice labels was significantly influenced by both label design and FOP nutritional labels. The relative impact of FOP nutritional labelling on children's choices was higher for the warning system compared to the traffic-light system. Results from the present work stress the need to regulate the design of packages and the inclusion of nutrient claims, and provide preliminary evidence of the potential of warnings to discourage children's choice of unhealthful products. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Do Particular Design Features Assist People with Aphasia to Comprehend Text? An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Lucy; Read, Jennifer

2016-01-01

Background: Much of the evidence underlying guidelines for producing accessible information for people with aphasia focuses on client preference for particular design features. There is limited evidence regarding the effects of these features on comprehension. Aims: To examine the effects of specific design features on text comprehension. It was…

Research on design connotation of hair drier system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yongchuan; Wu, Qiong

2018-04-01

After the analysis and summary of the research on the design of hair drier system, the system design is focused on. Product system design is not only to study its entity, but also is recognized as the part, element and component with a systematic feature to deeply analyze the innovation way of product system design, which is taken as its concept to carry out the association analysis on the component elements of hair driers and the overall analysis and study on the system design process of hair dryers. The product life cycle is taken as the main goal, through system analysis, system synthesis and system optimization, to solve the problems of product design. It is of great practical significance.

Concurrent Design used in the Design of Space Instruments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oxnevad, Knut I.

1998-01-01

At the Project Design Center at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a concurrent design environment is under development for supporting development and analyses of space instruments in the early, conceptual design phases. This environment is being utilized by a Team I, a multidisciplinary group of experts. Team I is providing study and proposal support. To provide the required support, the Team I concurrent design environment features effectively interconnected high-end optics, CAD, and thermal design and analysis tools. Innovative approaches for linking tools, and for transferring files between applications have been implemented. These approaches together with effective sharing of geometry between the optics, CAD, and thermal tools are already showing significant timesavings.

Escalator Design Features Evaluation

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1982-05-01

This study provides an evaluation of the effectiveness of several special design features associated with escalators in rail transit systems. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of three escalator design features: (1) mat ope...

What to Build for Middle-Agers to Come? Attractive and Necessary Functions of Exercise-Promotion Mobile Phone Apps: A Cross-Sectional Study.

PubMed

Liao, Gen-Yih; Chien, Yu-Tai; Chen, Yu-Jen; Hsiung, Hsiao-Fang; Chen, Hsiao-Jung; Hsieh, Meng-Hua; Wu, Wen-Jie

2017-05-25

Physical activity is important for middle-agers to maintain health both in middle age and in old age. Although thousands of exercise-promotion mobile phone apps are available for download, current literature offers little understanding regarding which design features can enhance middle-aged adults' quality perception toward exercise-promotion apps and which factor may influence such perception. The aims of this study were to understand (1) which design features of exercise-promotion apps can enhance quality perception of middle-agers, (2) whether their needs are matched by current functions offered in app stores, and (3) whether physical activity (PA) and mobile phone self-efficacy (MPSE) influence quality perception. A total of 105 middle-agers participated and filled out three scales: the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), the MPSE scale, and the need for design features questionnaire. The design features were developed based on the Coventry, Aberdeen, and London-Refined (CALO-RE) taxonomy. Following the Kano quality model, the need for design features questionnaire asked participants to classify design features into five categories: attractive, one-dimensional, must-be, indifferent, and reverse. The quality categorization was conducted based on a voting approach and the categorization results were compared with the findings of a prevalence study to realize whether needs match current availability. In total, 52 multinomial logistic regression models were analyzed to evaluate the effects of PA level and MPSE on quality perception of design features. The Kano analysis on the total sample revealed that visual demonstration of exercise instructions is the only attractive design feature, whereas the other 51 design features were perceived with indifference. Although examining quality perception by PA level, 21 features are recommended to low level, 6 features to medium level, but none to high-level PA. In contrast, high-level MPSE is recommended with 14 design features, medium level with 6 features, whereas low-level participants are recommended with 1 feature. The analysis suggests that the implementation of demanded features could be low, as the average prevalence of demanded design features is 20% (4.3/21). Surprisingly, social comparison and social support, most implemented features in current apps, were categorized into the indifferent category. The magnitude of effect is larger for MPSE because it effects quality perception of more design features than PA. Delving into the 52 regression models revealed that high MPSE more likely induces attractive or one- dimensional categorization, suggesting the importance of technological self-efficacy on eHealth care promotion. This study is the first to propose middle-agers' needs in relation to mobile phone exercise-promotion. In addition to the tailor-made recommendations, suggestions are offered to app designers to enhance the performance of persuasive features. An interesting finding on change of quality perception attributed to MPSE is proposed as future research. ©Gen-Yih Liao, Yu-Tai Chien, Yu-Jen Chen, Hsiao-Fang Hsiung, Hsiao-Jung Chen, Meng-Hua Hsieh, Wen-Jie Wu. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 25.05.2017.

23 CFR 771.111 - Early coordination, public involvement, and project development.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... development for the public to be involved in the identification of social, economic, and environmental impacts... substantial adverse impact on abutting property, otherwise has a significant social, economic, environmental... planning, (B) The project's alternatives, and major design features, (C) The social, economic...

23 CFR 771.111 - Early coordination, public involvement, and project development.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... development for the public to be involved in the identification of social, economic, and environmental impacts... substantial adverse impact on abutting property, otherwise has a significant social, economic, environmental... planning, (B) The project's alternatives, and major design features, (C) The social, economic...

Product information representation for feature conversion and implementation of group technology automated coding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Medland, A. J.; Zhu, Guowang; Gao, Jian; Sun, Jian

1996-03-01

Feature conversion, also called feature transformation and feature mapping, is defined as the process of converting features from one view of an object to another view of the object. In a relatively simple implementation, for each application the design features are automatically converted into features specific for that application. All modifications have to be made via the design features. This is the approach that has attracted most attention until now. In the ideal situation, however, conversions directly from application views to the design view, and to other applications views, are also possible. In this paper, some difficulties faced in feature conversion are discussed. A new representation scheme of feature-based parts models has been proposed for the purpose of one-way feature conversion. The parts models consist of five different levels of abstraction, extending from an assembly level and its attributes, single parts and their attributes, single features and their attributes, one containing the geometric reference element and finally one for detailed geometry. One implementation of feature conversion for rotational components within GT (Group Technology) has already been undertaken using an automated coding procedure operating on a design-feature database. This database has been generated by a feature-based design system, and the GT coding scheme used in this paper is a specific scheme created for a textile machine manufacturing plant. Such feature conversion techniques presented here are only in their early stages of development and further research is underway.

Nuclear fuel performance: Trends, remedies and challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rusch, C. A.

2008-12-01

It is unacceptable to have nuclear power plants unavailable or power restricted due to fuel reliability issues. 'Fuel reliability' has a much broader definition than just maintaining mechanical integrity and being leaker free - fuel must fully meet the specifications, impose no adverse impacts on plant operation and safety, and maintain quantifiable margins within design and operational envelopes. The fuel performance trends over the last decade are discussed and the significant contributors to reduced reliability experienced with commercial PWR and BWR designs are identified and discussed including grid-to-rod fretting and debris fretting in PWR designs and accelerated corrosion, debris fretting and pellet-cladding interaction in BWR designs. In many of these cases, the impacts have included not only fuel failures but also plant operating restrictions, forced shutdowns, and/or enhanced licensing authority oversight. Design and operational remedies are noted. The more demanding operating regimes and the constant quest to improve fuel performance require enhancements to current designs and/or new design features. Fuel users must continue to and enhance interaction with fuel suppliers in such areas as oversight of supplier design functions, lead test assembly irradiation programs and quality assurance oversight and surveillance. With the implementation of new designs and/or features, such fuel user initiatives can help to minimize the potential for performance problems.

Fast detection of covert visuospatial attention using hybrid N2pc and SSVEP features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Minpeng; Wang, Yijun; Nakanishi, Masaki; Wang, Yu-Te; Qi, Hongzhi; Jung, Tzyy-Ping; Ming, Dong

2016-12-01

Objective. Detecting the shift of covert visuospatial attention (CVSA) is vital for gaze-independent brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which might be the only communication approach for severely disabled patients who cannot move their eyes. Although previous studies had demonstrated that it is feasible to use CVSA-related electroencephalography (EEG) features to control a BCI system, the communication speed remains very low. This study aims to improve the speed and accuracy of CVSA detection by fusing EEG features of N2pc and steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP). Approach. A new paradigm was designed to code the left and right CVSA with the N2pc and SSVEP features, which were then decoded by a classification strategy based on canonical correlation analysis. Eleven subjects were recruited to perform an offline experiment in this study. Temporal waves, amplitudes, and topographies for brain responses related to N2pc and SSVEP were analyzed. The classification accuracy derived from the hybrid EEG features (SSVEP and N2pc) was compared with those using the single EEG features (SSVEP or N2pc). Main results. The N2pc could be significantly enhanced under certain conditions of SSVEP modulations. The hybrid EEG features achieved significantly higher accuracy than the single features. It obtained an average accuracy of 72.9% by using a data length of 400 ms after the attention shift. Moreover, the average accuracy reached ˜80% (peak values above 90%) when using 2 s long data. Significance. The results indicate that the combination of N2pc and SSVEP is effective for fast detection of CVSA. The proposed method could be a promising approach for implementing a gaze-independent BCI.

How have changes in air bag designs affected frontal crash mortality?

PubMed

Braver, Elisa R; Shardell, Michelle; Teoh, Eric R

2010-07-01

To determine whether front air bag changes have affected occupant protection, frontal crash mortality rates were compared among front outboard occupants in vehicles having certified-advanced air bags (latest generation of air bags) or sled-certified air bags with and without advanced features. Poisson marginal structural models were used to calculate standardized mortality rate ratios (MRRs) for front occupants per registered vehicle. Vehicle age-corrected mortality rates were lower for drivers of vehicles having sled-certified air bags with advanced features than for drivers having sled-certified air bags without advanced features (MRR = 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.81-0.95), including unbelted men and drivers younger than 60. The mortality rate was higher, though not statistically significant, for drivers having certified-advanced air bags compared with sled-certified air bags with advanced features (vehicle age-corrected MRR = 1.13; 95% CI: 0.97-1.32) and significantly higher for belted drivers (MRR = 1.21; 95% CI: 1.04-1.39). Advanced air bag features appeared protective for some occupants. However, increased mortality rates among belted drivers of vehicles having certified-advanced air bags relative to those having sled-certified air bags with advanced features suggest that further study is needed to identify any potential problems with requirements for certification. 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Novel Multi-Class Ensemble Model for Classifying Imbalanced Biomedical Datasets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bikku, Thulasi; Sambasiva Rao, N., Dr; Rao, Akepogu Ananda, Dr

2017-08-01

This paper mainly focuseson developing aHadoop based framework for feature selection and classification models to classify high dimensionality data in heterogeneous biomedical databases. Wide research has been performing in the fields of Machine learning, Big data and Data mining for identifying patterns. The main challenge is extracting useful features generated from diverse biological systems. The proposed model can be used for predicting diseases in various applications and identifying the features relevant to particular diseases. There is an exponential growth of biomedical repositories such as PubMed and Medline, an accurate predictive model is essential for knowledge discovery in Hadoop environment. Extracting key features from unstructured documents often lead to uncertain results due to outliers and missing values. In this paper, we proposed a two phase map-reduce framework with text preprocessor and classification model. In the first phase, mapper based preprocessing method was designed to eliminate irrelevant features, missing values and outliers from the biomedical data. In the second phase, a Map-Reduce based multi-class ensemble decision tree model was designed and implemented in the preprocessed mapper data to improve the true positive rate and computational time. The experimental results on the complex biomedical datasets show that the performance of our proposed Hadoop based multi-class ensemble model significantly outperforms state-of-the-art baselines.

Sequence determinants of improved CRISPR sgRNA design.

PubMed

Xu, Han; Xiao, Tengfei; Chen, Chen-Hao; Li, Wei; Meyer, Clifford A; Wu, Qiu; Wu, Di; Cong, Le; Zhang, Feng; Liu, Jun S; Brown, Myles; Liu, X Shirley

2015-08-01

The CRISPR/Cas9 system has revolutionized mammalian somatic cell genetics. Genome-wide functional screens using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout or dCas9 fusion-mediated inhibition/activation (CRISPRi/a) are powerful techniques for discovering phenotype-associated gene function. We systematically assessed the DNA sequence features that contribute to single guide RNA (sgRNA) efficiency in CRISPR-based screens. Leveraging the information from multiple designs, we derived a new sequence model for predicting sgRNA efficiency in CRISPR/Cas9 knockout experiments. Our model confirmed known features and suggested new features including a preference for cytosine at the cleavage site. The model was experimentally validated for sgRNA-mediated mutation rate and protein knockout efficiency. Tested on independent data sets, the model achieved significant results in both positive and negative selection conditions and outperformed existing models. We also found that the sequence preference for CRISPRi/a is substantially different from that for CRISPR/Cas9 knockout and propose a new model for predicting sgRNA efficiency in CRISPRi/a experiments. These results facilitate the genome-wide design of improved sgRNA for both knockout and CRISPRi/a studies. © 2015 Xu et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

The Effect of Early Mosquito Insecticides Exposure on Spraque Dawley Rat Testis: A Histopathological Feature Towards Malignancy?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Indah Winarni, Tri; Auzan Aziman, Milzam; Abshar Andar, Anindyo; Pawitra, Ika

2017-02-01

The incidence of health problems associated with endocrine-disruption have increased. Many studies suggesting that endocrine disruptor chemicals (EDC) do contribute to cancer through estrogen-related receptors. Many chemicals have EDCs properties including insecticides. Early life exposure to EDCs can increased the risk of testicular cancer have been reported in the last decade. This study was aimed to determine the effect of insecticides exposure on histopathological tumor cell development of germ and Leydig cell. True experiment research design with posttest only control group design was applied. Sprague Dawley (SD) rat (n = 25) were randomly divided into 5 groups (control group, 25 mg β estradiol 3-benzoate, spiral mosquito coil repellent, 3 ml of liquid mosquito repellent, and 4 ml of liquid mosquito repellent). The exposure were administered for 20 days started at aged 3 days. At the age of 100 days (older adult), testis was stained using Hematoxyllin Eosin (HE) and histological features predicting malignancy were observed. The number of tumor cell development in both testicular germ cells and Leydig cells significantly increased in all treated group compared to those of control and the changes towards malignancy were also observed in all treated group. Exposure to mosquito insecticides causes significant changes in testicular germ and Leydig cell histological features that leads to malignancy.

MULGRES: a computer program for stepwise multiple regression analysis

Treesearch

A. Jeff Martin

1971-01-01

MULGRES is a computer program source deck that is designed for multiple regression analysis employing the technique of stepwise deletion in the search for most significant variables. The features of the program, along with inputs and outputs, are briefly described, with a note on machine compatibility.

Ambulance ride: fixed or floating stretcher?

PubMed Central

Snook, R; Pacifico, R

1976-01-01

The alternatives of a purpose-bult ambulance and a specially designed stretcher suspension system were considered and the features of the latter assessed by subjective and objective tests. The results showed a significant improvement in the quality of the ride offered to the patient. Images FIG 2 PMID:947448

Classification of clinically useful sentences in clinical evidence resources.

PubMed

Morid, Mohammad Amin; Fiszman, Marcelo; Raja, Kalpana; Jonnalagadda, Siddhartha R; Del Fiol, Guilherme

2016-04-01

Most patient care questions raised by clinicians can be answered by online clinical knowledge resources. However, important barriers still challenge the use of these resources at the point of care. To design and assess a method for extracting clinically useful sentences from synthesized online clinical resources that represent the most clinically useful information for directly answering clinicians' information needs. We developed a Kernel-based Bayesian Network classification model based on different domain-specific feature types extracted from sentences in a gold standard composed of 18 UpToDate documents. These features included UMLS concepts and their semantic groups, semantic predications extracted by SemRep, patient population identified by a pattern-based natural language processing (NLP) algorithm, and cue words extracted by a feature selection technique. Algorithm performance was measured in terms of precision, recall, and F-measure. The feature-rich approach yielded an F-measure of 74% versus 37% for a feature co-occurrence method (p<0.001). Excluding predication, population, semantic concept or text-based features reduced the F-measure to 62%, 66%, 58% and 69% respectively (p<0.01). The classifier applied to Medline sentences reached an F-measure of 73%, which is equivalent to the performance of the classifier on UpToDate sentences (p=0.62). The feature-rich approach significantly outperformed general baseline methods. This approach significantly outperformed classifiers based on a single type of feature. Different types of semantic features provided a unique contribution to overall classification performance. The classifier's model and features used for UpToDate generalized well to Medline abstracts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Design and grayscale fabrication of beamfanners in a silicon substrate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ellis, Arthur Cecil

2001-11-01

This dissertation addresses important first steps in the development of a grayscale fabrication process for multiple phase diffractive optical elements (DOS's) in silicon. Specifically, this process was developed through the design, fabrication, and testing of 1-2 and 1-4 beamfanner arrays for 5-micron illumination. The 1-2 beamfanner arrays serve as a test-of- concept and basic developmental step toward the construction of the 1-4 beamfanners. The beamfanners are 50 microns wide, and have features with dimensions of between 2 and 10 microns. The Iterative Annular Spectrum Approach (IASA) method, developed by Steve Mellin of UAH, and the Boundary Element Method (BEM) are the design and testing tools used to create the beamfanner profiles and predict their performance. Fabrication of the beamfanners required the techniques of grayscale photolithography and reactive ion etching (RIE). A 2-3micron feature size 1-4 silicon beamfanner array was fabricated, but the small features and contact photolithographic techniques available prevented its construction to specifications. A second and more successful attempt was made in which both 1-4 and 1-2 beamfanner arrays were fabricated with a 5-micron minimum feature size. Photolithography for the UAH array was contracted to MEMS-Optical of Huntsville, Alabama. A repeatability study was performed, using statistical techniques, of 14 photoresist arrays and the subsequent RIE process used to etch the arrays in silicon. The variance in selectivity between the 14 processes was far greater than the variance between the individual etched features within each process. Specifically, the ratio of the variance of the selectivities averaged over each of the 14 etch processes to the variance of individual feature selectivities within the processes yielded a significance level below 0.1% by F-test, indicating that good etch-to-etch process repeatability was not attained. One of the 14 arrays had feature etch-depths close enough to design specifications for optical testing, but 5- micron IR illumination of the 1-4 and 1-2 beamfanners yielded no convincing results of beam splitting in the detector plane 340 microns from the surface of the beamfanner array.

Computational Tools and Algorithms for Designing Customized Synthetic Genes

PubMed Central

Gould, Nathan; Hendy, Oliver; Papamichail, Dimitris

2014-01-01

Advances in DNA synthesis have enabled the construction of artificial genes, gene circuits, and genomes of bacterial scale. Freedom in de novo design of synthetic constructs provides significant power in studying the impact of mutations in sequence features, and verifying hypotheses on the functional information that is encoded in nucleic and amino acids. To aid this goal, a large number of software tools of variable sophistication have been implemented, enabling the design of synthetic genes for sequence optimization based on rationally defined properties. The first generation of tools dealt predominantly with singular objectives such as codon usage optimization and unique restriction site incorporation. Recent years have seen the emergence of sequence design tools that aim to evolve sequences toward combinations of objectives. The design of optimal protein-coding sequences adhering to multiple objectives is computationally hard, and most tools rely on heuristics to sample the vast sequence design space. In this review, we study some of the algorithmic issues behind gene optimization and the approaches that different tools have adopted to redesign genes and optimize desired coding features. We utilize test cases to demonstrate the efficiency of each approach, as well as identify their strengths and limitations. PMID:25340050

Designing attractive gamification features for collaborative storytelling websites.

PubMed

Hsu, Shang Hwa; Chang, Jen-Wei; Lee, Chun-Chia

2013-06-01

Gamification design is considered as the predictor of collaborative storytelling websites' success. Although aforementioned studies have mentioned a broad range of factors that may influence gamification, they neither depicted the actual design features nor relative attractiveness among them. This study aims to identify attractive gamification features for collaborative storytelling websites. We first constructed a hierarchical system structure of gamification design of collaborative storytelling websites and conducted a focus group interview with eighteen frequent users to identify 35gamification features. After that, this study determined the relative attractiveness of these gamification features by administrating an online survey to 6333 collaborative storytelling websites users. The results indicated that the top 10 most attractive gamification features could account for more than 50% of attractiveness among these 35 gamification features. The feature of unpredictable time pressure is important to website users, yet not revealed in previous relevant studies. Implications of the findings were discussed.

Persuasive user experiences of a health Behavior Change Support System: A 12-month study for prevention of metabolic syndrome.

PubMed

Karppinen, Pasi; Oinas-Kukkonen, Harri; Alahäivälä, Tuomas; Jokelainen, Terhi; Keränen, Anna-Maria; Salonurmi, Tuire; Savolainen, Markku

2016-12-01

Obesity has become a severe health problem in the world. Even a moderate 5% weight loss can significantly reduce the prevalence of metabolic syndrome, which can be vital for preventing comorbidities caused by the obesity. Health Behavior Change Support Systems (hBCSS) emphasize an autogenous approach, where an individual uses the system to influence one's own attitude or behavior to achieve his or her own goal. Regardless of promising results, such health interventions technology has often been considered merely as a tool for delivering content that has no effect or value of its own. More research on actual system features is required. The objective of this study is to describe how users perceive persuasive software features designed and implemented into a support system. The research medium in this study is a web-based information system designed as a lifestyle intervention for participants who are at risk of developing a metabolic syndrome or who are already suffering from it. The system was designed closely following the principles of the Persuasive Systems Design (PSD) model and the Behavior Change Support Systems (BCSS) framework. A total of 43 system users were interviewed for this study during and after a 52 week intervention period. In addition, the system's login data and subjects' Body Mass Index (BMI) measures were used to interpret the results. This study explains in detail how the users perceived using the system and its persuasive features. Self-monitoring, reminders, and tunneling were perceived as especially beneficial persuasive features. The need for social support appeared to grow along the duration of the intervention. Unobtrusiveness was found to be very important in all stages of the intervention rather than only at the beginning. Persuasive software features have power to affect individuals' health behaviors. Through their systematicity the PSD model and the BCSS framework provide effective support for the design and development of technological health interventions. Designers of such systems may choose, for instance, to implement more self-monitoring tools to help individuals to adjust their personal goals with the system's offerings better. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of Genetics Understanding. Under What Conditions Do Situational Features Have an Impact on Measures?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmiemann, Philipp; Nehm, Ross H.; Tornabene, Robyn E.

2017-12-01

Understanding how situational features of assessment tasks impact reasoning is important for many educational pursuits, notably the selection of curricular examples to illustrate phenomena, the design of formative and summative assessment items, and determination of whether instruction has fostered the development of abstract schemas divorced from particular instances. The goal of our study was to employ an experimental research design to quantify the degree to which situational features impact inferences about participants' understanding of Mendelian genetics. Two participant samples from different educational levels and cultural backgrounds (high school, n = 480; university, n = 444; Germany and USA) were used to test for context effects. A multi-matrix test design was employed, and item packets differing in situational features (e.g., plant, animal, human, fictitious) were randomly distributed to participants in the two samples. Rasch analyses of participant scores from both samples produced good item fit, person reliability, and item reliability and indicated that the university sample displayed stronger performance on the items compared to the high school sample. We found, surprisingly, that in both samples, no significant differences in performance occurred among the animal, plant, and human item contexts, or between the fictitious and "real" item contexts. In the university sample, we were also able to test for differences in performance between genders, among ethnic groups, and by prior biology coursework. None of these factors had a meaningful impact upon performance or context effects. Thus some, but not all, types of genetics problem solving or item formats are impacted by situational features.

75 FR 2434 - Special Conditions: Boeing Model 747-8/-8F Series Airplanes; Design Roll Maneuver Requirement

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-15

... have novel or unusual design features when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the... standards. Additional special conditions will be issued for other novel or unusual design features of the... 747-8/-8F because of a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed under the...

The regional cerebral blood flow changes in major depressive disorder with and without psychotic features.

PubMed

Gonul, Ali Saffet; Kula, Mustafa; Bilgin, Arzu Guler; Tutus, Ahmet; Oguz, Aslan

2004-09-01

Depressive patients with psychotic features demonstrate distinct biological abnormalities in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA), dopaminergic activity, electroencephalogram sleep profiles and measures of serotonergic function when compared to nonpsychotic depressive patients. However, very few functional neuroimaging studies were specifically designed for studying the effects of psychotic features on neuroimaging findings in depressed patients. The objective of the present study was to compare brain Single Photon Emission Tomography (SPECT) images in a group of unmedicated depressive patients with and without psychotic features. Twenty-eight patients who fully met DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD, 12 had psychotic features) were included in the study. They were compared with 16 control subjects matched for age, gender and education. Both psychotic and nonpsychotic depressed patients showed significantly lower regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) values in the left and right superior frontal cortex, and left anterior cingulate cortex compared to those of controls. In comparison with depressive patients without psychotic features (DwoPF), depressive patients with psychotic features (DwPF) showed significantly lower rCBF perfusion ratios in left parietal cortex, left cerebellum but had higher rCBF perfusion ratio in the left inferior frontal cortex and caudate nucleus. The present study showed that DwPF have a different rCBF pattern compared to patients without psychotic features. Abnormalities involving inferior frontal cortex, striatum and cerebellum may play an important role in the generation of psychotic symptoms in depression.

Mapping the information landscape: Discerning peaks and valleys for ecological monitoring

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moniz, L.J.; Nichols, J.D.; Nichols, J.M.

2007-01-01

We investigate previously unreported phenomena that have a potentially significant impact on the design of surveillance monitoring programs for ecological systems. Ecological monitoring practitioners have long recognized that different species are differentially informative of a system?s dynamics, as codified in the well-known concepts of indicator or keystone species. Using a novel combination of analysis techniques from nonlinear dynamics, we describe marked variation among spatial sites in information content with respect to system dynamics in the entire region. We first observed these phenomena in a spatially extended predator?prey model, but we observed strikingly similar features in verified water-level data from a NOAA/NOS Great Lakes monitoring program. We suggest that these features may be widespread and the design of surveillance monitoring programs should reflect knowledge of their existence.

Use of Acoustic Emission and Pattern Recognition for Crack Detection of a Large Carbide Anvil

PubMed Central

Chen, Bin; Wang, Yanan; Yan, Zhaoli

2018-01-01

Large-volume cubic high-pressure apparatus is commonly used to produce synthetic diamond. Due to the high pressure, high temperature and alternative stresses in practical production, cracks often occur in the carbide anvil, thereby resulting in significant economic losses or even casualties. Conventional methods are unsuitable for crack detection of the carbide anvil. This paper is concerned with acoustic emission-based crack detection of carbide anvils, regarded as a pattern recognition problem; this is achieved using a microphone, with methods including sound pulse detection, feature extraction, feature optimization and classifier design. Through analyzing the characteristics of background noise, the cracked sound pulses are separated accurately from the originally continuous signal. Subsequently, three different kinds of features including a zero-crossing rate, sound pressure levels, and linear prediction cepstrum coefficients are presented for characterizing the cracked sound pulses. The original high-dimensional features are adaptively optimized using principal component analysis. A hybrid framework of a support vector machine with k nearest neighbors is designed to recognize the cracked sound pulses. Finally, experiments are conducted in a practical diamond workshop to validate the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed method. PMID:29382144

Use of Acoustic Emission and Pattern Recognition for Crack Detection of a Large Carbide Anvil.

PubMed

Chen, Bin; Wang, Yanan; Yan, Zhaoli

2018-01-29

Large-volume cubic high-pressure apparatus is commonly used to produce synthetic diamond. Due to the high pressure, high temperature and alternative stresses in practical production, cracks often occur in the carbide anvil, thereby resulting in significant economic losses or even casualties. Conventional methods are unsuitable for crack detection of the carbide anvil. This paper is concerned with acoustic emission-based crack detection of carbide anvils, regarded as a pattern recognition problem; this is achieved using a microphone, with methods including sound pulse detection, feature extraction, feature optimization and classifier design. Through analyzing the characteristics of background noise, the cracked sound pulses are separated accurately from the originally continuous signal. Subsequently, three different kinds of features including a zero-crossing rate, sound pressure levels, and linear prediction cepstrum coefficients are presented for characterizing the cracked sound pulses. The original high-dimensional features are adaptively optimized using principal component analysis. A hybrid framework of a support vector machine with k nearest neighbors is designed to recognize the cracked sound pulses. Finally, experiments are conducted in a practical diamond workshop to validate the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed method.

A Study of the Effect of the Front-End Styling of Sport Utility Vehicles on Pedestrian Head Injuries

PubMed Central

Qin, Qin; Chen, Zheng; Bai, Zhonghao; Cao, Libo

2018-01-01

Background The number of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) on China market is continuously increasing. It is necessary to investigate the relationships between the front-end styling features of SUVs and head injuries at the styling design stage for improving the pedestrian protection performance and product development efficiency. Methods Styling feature parameters were extracted from the SUV side contour line. And simplified finite element models were established based on the 78 SUV side contour lines. Pedestrian headform impact simulations were performed and validated. The head injury criterion of 15 ms (HIC15) at four wrap-around distances was obtained. A multiple linear regression analysis method was employed to describe the relationships between the styling feature parameters and the HIC15 at each impact point. Results The relationship between the selected styling features and the HIC15 showed reasonable correlations, and the regression models and the selected independent variables showed statistical significance. Conclusions The regression equations obtained by multiple linear regression can be used to assess the performance of SUV styling in protecting pedestrians' heads and provide styling designers with technical guidance regarding their artistic creations.

Interactive Distance Education: A Cognitive Load Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalyuga, Slava

2012-01-01

Evidence-based approaches to the design of the next generation of interactive distance education need to take into account established multimedia learning principles. Cognitive load theory is a theory that has significantly contributed to the development of such principles. It has applied our knowledge of major features and processing limitations…

Indexing and Metatag Schemes for Web-Based Information Retrieval.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torok, Andrew G.

This paper reviews indexing theory and suggests that information retrieval can be significantly improved by applying basic indexing criteria. Indexing practices are described, including the three main types of indexes: pre-coordinate, post-coordinate, and variants of both. Design features of indexes are summarized, including accuracy, consistency,…

Feedback Design Patterns for Math Online Learning Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Inventado, Paul Salvador; Scupelli, Peter; Heffernan, Cristina; Heffernan, Neil

2017-01-01

Increasingly, computer-based learning systems are used by educators to facilitate learning. Evaluations of several math learning systems show that they result in significant student learning improvements. Feedback provision is one of the key features in math learning systems that contribute to its success. We have recently been uncovering feedback…

Characteristics of Dry Chin-Tuck Swallowing Vibrations and Sounds

PubMed Central

Dudik, Joshua M; Jestrović, Iva; Luan, Bo; Coyle, James L.; Sejdić, Ervin

2015-01-01

Objective The effects of the chin-tuck maneuver, a technique commonly employed to compensate for dysphagia, on cervical auscultation are not fully understood. Characterizing a technique that is known to affect swallowing function is an important step on the way to developing a new instrumentation-based swallowing screening tool. Methods In this study, we recorded data from 55 adult participants who each completed five saliva swallows in a chin-tuck position. The resulting data was processed using previously designed filtering and segmentation algorithms. We then calculated 9 time, frequency, and time-frequency domain features for each independent signal. Results We found that multiple frequency and time domain features varied significantly between male and female subjects as well as between swallowing sounds and vibrations. However, our analysis showed that participant age did not play a significant role on the values of the extracted features. Finally, we found that various frequency features corresponding to swallowing vibrations did demonstrate statistically significant variation between the neutral and chin-tuck positions but sounds showed no changes between these two positions. Conclusion The chin-tuck maneuver affects many facets of swallowing vibrations and sounds and its effects can be monitored via cervical auscultation. Significance These results suggest that a subject’s swallowing technique does need to be accounted for when monitoring their performance with cervical auscultation based instrumentation. PMID:25974926

Examining the design features of a communication-rich, problem-centred mathematics professional development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Araujo, Zandra; Orrill, Chandra Hawley; Jacobson, Erik

2018-04-01

While there is considerable scholarship describing principles for effective professional development, there have been few attempts to examine these principles in practice. In this paper, we identify and examine the particular design features of a mathematics professional development experience provided for middle grades teachers over 14 weeks. The professional development was grounded in a set of mathematical tasks that each had one right answer, but multiple solution paths. The facilitator engaged participants in problem solving and encouraged participants to work collaboratively to explore different solution paths. Through analysis of this collaborative learning environment, we identified five design features for supporting teacher learning of important mathematics and pedagogy in a problem-solving setting. We discuss these design features in depth and illustrate them by presenting an elaborated example from the professional development. This study extends the existing guidance for the design of professional development by examining and operationalizing the relationships among research-based features of effective professional development and the enacted features of a particular design.

Statistical Analysis of Hurst Exponents of Essential/Nonessential Genes in 33 Bacterial Genomes

PubMed Central

Liu, Xiao; Wang, Baojin; Xu, Luo

2015-01-01

Methods for identifying essential genes currently depend predominantly on biochemical experiments. However, there is demand for improved computational methods for determining gene essentiality. In this study, we used the Hurst exponent, a characteristic parameter to describe long-range correlation in DNA, and analyzed its distribution in 33 bacterial genomes. In most genomes (31 out of 33) the significance levels of the Hurst exponents of the essential genes were significantly higher than for the corresponding full-gene-set, whereas the significance levels of the Hurst exponents of the nonessential genes remained unchanged or increased only slightly. All of the Hurst exponents of essential genes followed a normal distribution, with one exception. We therefore propose that the distribution feature of Hurst exponents of essential genes can be used as a classification index for essential gene prediction in bacteria. For computer-aided design in the field of synthetic biology, this feature can build a restraint for pre- or post-design checking of bacterial essential genes. Moreover, considering the relationship between gene essentiality and evolution, the Hurst exponents could be used as a descriptive parameter related to evolutionary level, or be added to the annotation of each gene. PMID:26067107

Impact of Hearing Aid Technology on Outcomes in Daily Life II: Speech Understanding and Listening Effort.

PubMed

Johnson, Jani A; Xu, Jingjing; Cox, Robyn M

2016-01-01

Modern hearing aid (HA) devices include a collection of acoustic signal-processing features designed to improve listening outcomes in a variety of daily auditory environments. Manufacturers market these features at successive levels of technological sophistication. The features included in costlier premium hearing devices are designed to result in further improvements to daily listening outcomes compared with the features included in basic hearing devices. However, independent research has not substantiated such improvements. This research was designed to explore differences in speech-understanding and listening-effort outcomes for older adults using premium-feature and basic-feature HAs in their daily lives. For this participant-blinded, repeated, crossover trial 45 older adults (mean age 70.3 years) with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss wore each of four pairs of bilaterally fitted HAs for 1 month. HAs were premium- and basic-feature devices from two major brands. After each 1-month trial, participants' speech-understanding and listening-effort outcomes were evaluated in the laboratory and in daily life. Three types of speech-understanding and listening-effort data were collected: measures of laboratory performance, responses to standardized self-report questionnaires, and participant diary entries about daily communication. The only statistically significant superiority for the premium-feature HAs occurred for listening effort in the loud laboratory condition and was demonstrated for only one of the tested brands. The predominant complaint of older adults with mild-to-moderate hearing impairment is difficulty understanding speech in various settings. The combined results of all the outcome measures used in this research suggest that, when fitted using scientifically based practices, both premium- and basic-feature HAs are capable of providing considerable, but essentially equivalent, improvements to speech understanding and listening effort in daily life for this population. For HA providers to make evidence-based recommendations to their clientele with hearing impairment it is essential that further independent research investigates the relative benefit/deficit of different levels of hearing technology across brands and manufacturers in these and other real-world listening domains.

Identification of sequence motifs significantly associated with antisense activity.

PubMed

McQuisten, Kyle A; Peek, Andrew S

2007-06-07

Predicting the suppression activity of antisense oligonucleotide sequences is the main goal of the rational design of nucleic acids. To create an effective predictive model, it is important to know what properties of an oligonucleotide sequence associate significantly with antisense activity. Also, for the model to be efficient we must know what properties do not associate significantly and can be omitted from the model. This paper will discuss the results of a randomization procedure to find motifs that associate significantly with either high or low antisense suppression activity, analysis of their properties, as well as the results of support vector machine modelling using these significant motifs as features. We discovered 155 motifs that associate significantly with high antisense suppression activity and 202 motifs that associate significantly with low suppression activity. The motifs range in length from 2 to 5 bases, contain several motifs that have been previously discovered as associating highly with antisense activity, and have thermodynamic properties consistent with previous work associating thermodynamic properties of sequences with their antisense activity. Statistical analysis revealed no correlation between a motif's position within an antisense sequence and that sequences antisense activity. Also, many significant motifs existed as subwords of other significant motifs. Support vector regression experiments indicated that the feature set of significant motifs increased correlation compared to all possible motifs as well as several subsets of the significant motifs. The thermodynamic properties of the significantly associated motifs support existing data correlating the thermodynamic properties of the antisense oligonucleotide with antisense efficiency, reinforcing our hypothesis that antisense suppression is strongly associated with probe/target thermodynamics, as there are no enzymatic mediators to speed the process along like the RNA Induced Silencing Complex (RISC) in RNAi. The independence of motif position and antisense activity also allows us to bypass consideration of this feature in the modelling process, promoting model efficiency and reducing the chance of overfitting when predicting antisense activity. The increase in SVR correlation with significant features compared to nearest-neighbour features indicates that thermodynamics alone is likely not the only factor in determining antisense efficiency.

Cloud Top Scanning radiometer (CTS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

A scanning radiometer to be used for measuring cloud radiances in each of three spectral regions is described. Significant features incorporated in the Cloud Top Scanner design are: (1) flexibility and growth potential through use of easily replaceable modular detectors and filters; (2) full aperture, multilevel inflight calibration; (3) inherent channel registration through employment of a single shared field stop; and (4) radiometric sensitivity margin in a compact optical design through use of Honeywell developed (Hg,Cd)Te detectors and preamplifiers.

77 FR 64023 - Special Conditions: Airbus Model A318, A319, A320, and A321 Series Airplanes; Design Roll...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-18

... airplanes with modification 160023 (Sharklet). These airplanes will have novel or unusual design features..., A320, and A321 series airplanes because of a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are... model that incorporates the same novel or unusual design feature, or should any other model already...

78 FR 67291 - Special Conditions: Bombardier Inc., Models BD-500-1A10 and BD-500-1A11 Series Airplanes; Design...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-12

... have a novel or unusual design feature associated with an electronic flight control system that... because of a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed under the provisions of... same or similar novel or unusual design feature, the special conditions would also apply to the other...

Sandia Advanced MEMS Design Tools, Version 2.2.5

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

Yarberry, Victor; Allen, James; Lantz, Jeffery

2010-01-19

The Sandia National Laboratories Advanced MEMS Design Tools, Version 2.2.5, is a collection of menus, prototype drawings, and executables that provide significant productivity enhancements when using AutoCAD to design MEMS components. This release is designed for AutoCAD 2000i, 2002, or 2004 and is supported under Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or XP. SUMMiT V (Sandia Ultra planar Multi level MEMS Technology) is a 5 level surface micromachine fabrication technology, which customers internal and external to Sandia can access to fabricate prototype MEMS devices. This CD contains an integrated set of electronic files that: a) Describe the SUMMiT V fabrication processmore » b) Facilitate the process of designing MEMS with the SUMMiT process (prototype file, Design Rule Checker, Standard Parts Library) New features in this version: AutoCAD 2004 support has been added. SafeExplode ? a new feature that explodes blocks without affecting polylines (avoids exploding polylines into objects that are ignored by the DRC and Visualization tools). Layer control menu ? a pull-down menu for selecting layers to isolate, freeze, or thaw. Updated tools: A check has been added to catch invalid block names. DRC features: Added username/password validation, added a method to update the user?s password. SNL_DRC_WIDTH ? a value to control the width of the DRC error lines. SNL_BIAS_VALUE ? a value use to offset selected geometry SNL_PROCESS_NAME ? a value to specify the process name Documentation changes: The documentation has been updated to include the new features. While there exist some files on the CD that are used in conjunction with software package AutoCAD, these files are not intended for use independent of the CD. Note that the customer must purchase his/her own copy of AutoCAD to use with these files.« less

Development of the Multiple Use Plug Hybrid for Nanosats (MUPHyN) miniature thruster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eilers, Shannon

The Multiple Use Plug Hybrid for Nanosats (MUPHyN) prototype thruster incorporates solutions to several major challenges that have traditionally limited the deployment of chemical propulsion systems on small spacecraft. The MUPHyN thruster offers several features that are uniquely suited for small satellite applications. These features include 1) a non-explosive ignition system, 2) non-mechanical thrust vectoring using secondary fluid injection on an aerospike nozzle cooled with the oxidizer flow, 3) a non-toxic, chemically-stable combination of liquid and inert solid propellants, 4) a compact form factor enabled by the direct digital manufacture of the inert solid fuel grain. Hybrid rocket motors provide significant safety and reliability advantages over both solid composite and liquid propulsion systems; however, hybrid motors have found only limited use on operational vehicles due to 1) difficulty in modeling the fuel flow rate 2) poor volumetric efficiency and/or form factor 3) significantly lower fuel flow rates than solid rocket motors 4) difficulty in obtaining high combustion efficiencies. The features of the MUPHyN thruster are designed to offset and/or overcome these shortcomings. The MUPHyN motor design represents a convergence of technologies, including hybrid rocket regression rate modeling, aerospike secondary injection thrust vectoring, multiphase injector modeling, non-pyrotechnic ignition, and nitrous oxide regenerative cooling that address the traditional challenges that limit the use of hybrid rocket motors and aerospike nozzles. This synthesis of technologies is unique to the MUPHyN thruster design and no comparable work has been published in the open literature.

Reliable optical card-edge (ROC) connector for avionics applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darden, Bruce V.; Pimpinella, Richard J.; Seals, John D.

1994-10-01

The Reliable Optical Card-Edge (ROC) Connector is a blind-mate backplane unit designed to meet military stress requirements for avionics applications. Its modular design represents the first significant advance in connector optics since the biconic butt-coupled connector was introduced twenty years ago. This multimode connector utilizes beam optics, micro-machined silicon, and a floating, low mass subassembly design to maintain low coupling loss under high levels of shock and vibration. The ROC connector also incorporates retracting doors to protect the unmated termini from environmental contamination and abusive handling. Design features and test results for the ROC connector are presented in this paper.

Man-Amplifying Exoskeleton

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosheim, Mark E.

1990-03-01

This paper describes a design for a man-amplifying exoskeleton, an electrically powered, articulated frame worn by an operator. The design features modular construction and employ anthropomorphic pitch-yaw joints for arms and legs. These singularity-free designs offer a significant advancement over simple pivot-type joints used in older designs. Twenty-six degrees-of-freedom excluding the hands gives the Man-Amplifier its unique dexterity. A five hundred-pound load capacity is engineered for a diverse range of tasks. Potential applications in emergency rescue work, restoring functionality to the handicapped, and military applications ranging from material handling to an elite fighting core are discussed. A bibliography concludes this paper.

76 FR 15798 - Special Conditions: Boeing 747-468, Installation of a Medical Lift

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-22

... a novel or unusual design feature associated with the installation of a medical lift. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These... airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. Type...

EPE fundamentals and impact of EUV: Will traditional design-rule calculations work in the era of EUV?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabor, Allen H.; Brendler, Andrew C.; Brunner, Timothy A.; Chen, Xuemei; Culp, James A.; Levinson, Harry J.

2018-03-01

The relationship between edge placement error, semiconductor design-rule determination and predicted yield in the era of EUV lithography is examined. This paper starts with the basics of edge placement error and then builds up to design-rule calculations. We show that edge placement error (EPE) definitions can be used as the building blocks for design-rule equations but that in the last several years the term "EPE" has been used in the literature to refer to many patterning errors that are not EPE. We then explore the concept of "Good Fields"1 and use it predict the n-sigma value needed for design-rule determination. Specifically, fundamental yield calculations based on the failure opportunities per chip are used to determine at what n-sigma "value" design-rules need to be tested to ensure high yield. The "value" can be a space between two features, an intersect area between two features, a minimum area of a feature, etc. It is shown that across chip variation of design-rule important values needs to be tested at sigma values between seven and eight which is much higher than the four-sigma values traditionally used for design-rule determination. After recommending new statistics be used for design-rule calculations the paper examines the impact of EUV lithography on sources of variation important for design-rule calculations. We show that stochastics can be treated as an effective dose variation that is fully sampled across every chip. Combining the increased within chip variation from EUV with the understanding that across chip variation of design-rule important values needs to not cause a yield loss at significantly higher sigma values than have traditionally been looked at, the conclusion is reached that across-wafer, wafer-to-wafer and lot-to-lot variation will have to overscale for any technology introducing EUV lithography where stochastic noise is a significant fraction of the effective dose variation. We will emphasize stochastic effects on edge placement error distributions and appropriate design-rule setting. While CD distributions with long tails coming from stochastic effects do bring increased risk of failure (especially on chips that may have over a billion failure opportunities per layer) there are other sources of variation that have sharp cutoffs, i.e. have no tails. We will review these sources and show how distributions with different skew and kurtosis values combine.

GATOR: Requirements capturing of telephony features

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dankel, Douglas D., II; Walker, Wayne; Schmalz, Mark

1992-01-01

We are developing a natural language-based, requirements gathering system called GATOR (for the GATherer Of Requirements). GATOR assists in the development of more accurate and complete specifications of new telephony features. GATOR interacts with a feature designer who describes a new feature, set of features, or capability to be implemented. The system aids this individual in the specification process by asking for clarifications when potential ambiguities are present, by identifying potential conflicts with other existing features, and by presenting its understanding of the feature to the designer. Through user interaction with a model of the existing telephony feature set, GATOR constructs a formal representation of the new, 'to be implemented' feature. Ultimately GATOR will produce a requirements document and will maintain an internal representation of this feature to aid in future design and specification. This paper consists of three sections that describe (1) the structure of GATOR, (2) POND, GATOR's internal knowledge representation language, and (3) current research issues.

Gamification and Adherence to Web-Based Mental Health Interventions: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Brown, Menna; O'Neill, Noelle; van Woerden, Hugo; Eslambolchilar, Parisa; Jones, Matt; John, Ann

2016-08-24

Adherence to effective Web-based interventions for common mental disorders (CMDs) and well-being remains a critical issue, with clear potential to increase effectiveness. Continued identification and examination of "active" technological components within Web-based interventions has been called for. Gamification is the use of game design elements and features in nongame contexts. Health and lifestyle interventions have implemented a variety of game features in their design in an effort to encourage engagement and increase program adherence. The potential influence of gamification on program adherence has not been examined in the context of Web-based interventions designed to manage CMDs and well-being. This study seeks to review the literature to examine whether gaming features predict or influence reported rates of program adherence in Web-based interventions designed to manage CMDs and well-being. A systematic review was conducted of peer-reviewed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) designed to manage CMDs or well-being and incorporated gamification features. Seven electronic databases were searched. A total of 61 RCTs met the inclusion criteria and 47 different intervention programs were identified. The majority were designed to manage depression using cognitive behavioral therapy. Eight of 10 popular gamification features reviewed were in use. The majority of studies utilized only one gamification feature (n=58) with a maximum of three features. The most commonly used feature was story/theme. Levels and game leaders were not used in this context. No studies explicitly examined the role of gamification features on program adherence. Usage data were not commonly reported. Interventions intended to be 10 weeks in duration had higher mean adherence than those intended to be 6 or 8 weeks in duration. Gamification features have been incorporated into the design of interventions designed to treat CMD and well-being. Further research is needed to improve understanding of gamification features on adherence and engagement in order to inform the design of future Web-based health interventions in which adherence to treatment is of concern. Conclusions were limited by varied reporting of adherence and usage data.

Gamification and Adherence to Web-Based Mental Health Interventions: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

O'Neill, Noelle; van Woerden, Hugo; Eslambolchilar, Parisa; Jones, Matt; John, Ann

2016-01-01

Background Adherence to effective Web-based interventions for common mental disorders (CMDs) and well-being remains a critical issue, with clear potential to increase effectiveness. Continued identification and examination of “active” technological components within Web-based interventions has been called for. Gamification is the use of game design elements and features in nongame contexts. Health and lifestyle interventions have implemented a variety of game features in their design in an effort to encourage engagement and increase program adherence. The potential influence of gamification on program adherence has not been examined in the context of Web-based interventions designed to manage CMDs and well-being. Objective This study seeks to review the literature to examine whether gaming features predict or influence reported rates of program adherence in Web-based interventions designed to manage CMDs and well-being. Methods A systematic review was conducted of peer-reviewed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) designed to manage CMDs or well-being and incorporated gamification features. Seven electronic databases were searched. Results A total of 61 RCTs met the inclusion criteria and 47 different intervention programs were identified. The majority were designed to manage depression using cognitive behavioral therapy. Eight of 10 popular gamification features reviewed were in use. The majority of studies utilized only one gamification feature (n=58) with a maximum of three features. The most commonly used feature was story/theme. Levels and game leaders were not used in this context. No studies explicitly examined the role of gamification features on program adherence. Usage data were not commonly reported. Interventions intended to be 10 weeks in duration had higher mean adherence than those intended to be 6 or 8 weeks in duration. Conclusions Gamification features have been incorporated into the design of interventions designed to treat CMD and well-being. Further research is needed to improve understanding of gamification features on adherence and engagement in order to inform the design of future Web-based health interventions in which adherence to treatment is of concern. Conclusions were limited by varied reporting of adherence and usage data. PMID:27558893

A Sparsity-Promoted Method Based on Majorization-Minimization for Weak Fault Feature Enhancement

PubMed Central

Hao, Yansong; Song, Liuyang; Tang, Gang; Yuan, Hongfang

2018-01-01

Fault transient impulses induced by faulty components in rotating machinery usually contain substantial interference. Fault features are comparatively weak in the initial fault stage, which renders fault diagnosis more difficult. In this case, a sparse representation method based on the Majorzation-Minimization (MM) algorithm is proposed to enhance weak fault features and extract the features from strong background noise. However, the traditional MM algorithm suffers from two issues, which are the choice of sparse basis and complicated calculations. To address these challenges, a modified MM algorithm is proposed in which a sparse optimization objective function is designed firstly. Inspired by the Basis Pursuit (BP) model, the optimization function integrates an impulsive feature-preserving factor and a penalty function factor. Second, a modified Majorization iterative method is applied to address the convex optimization problem of the designed function. A series of sparse coefficients can be achieved through iterating, which only contain transient components. It is noteworthy that there is no need to select the sparse basis in the proposed iterative method because it is fixed as a unit matrix. Then the reconstruction step is omitted, which can significantly increase detection efficiency. Eventually, envelope analysis of the sparse coefficients is performed to extract weak fault features. Simulated and experimental signals including bearings and gearboxes are employed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. In addition, comparisons are made to prove that the proposed method outperforms the traditional MM algorithm in terms of detection results and efficiency. PMID:29597280

A Sparsity-Promoted Method Based on Majorization-Minimization for Weak Fault Feature Enhancement.

PubMed

Ren, Bangyue; Hao, Yansong; Wang, Huaqing; Song, Liuyang; Tang, Gang; Yuan, Hongfang

2018-03-28

Fault transient impulses induced by faulty components in rotating machinery usually contain substantial interference. Fault features are comparatively weak in the initial fault stage, which renders fault diagnosis more difficult. In this case, a sparse representation method based on the Majorzation-Minimization (MM) algorithm is proposed to enhance weak fault features and extract the features from strong background noise. However, the traditional MM algorithm suffers from two issues, which are the choice of sparse basis and complicated calculations. To address these challenges, a modified MM algorithm is proposed in which a sparse optimization objective function is designed firstly. Inspired by the Basis Pursuit (BP) model, the optimization function integrates an impulsive feature-preserving factor and a penalty function factor. Second, a modified Majorization iterative method is applied to address the convex optimization problem of the designed function. A series of sparse coefficients can be achieved through iterating, which only contain transient components. It is noteworthy that there is no need to select the sparse basis in the proposed iterative method because it is fixed as a unit matrix. Then the reconstruction step is omitted, which can significantly increase detection efficiency. Eventually, envelope analysis of the sparse coefficients is performed to extract weak fault features. Simulated and experimental signals including bearings and gearboxes are employed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. In addition, comparisons are made to prove that the proposed method outperforms the traditional MM algorithm in terms of detection results and efficiency.

On the Use of Parmetric-CAD Systems and Cartesian Methods for Aerodynamic Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nemec, Marian; Aftosmis, Michael J.; Pulliam, Thomas H.

2004-01-01

Automated, high-fidelity tools for aerodynamic design face critical issues in attempting to optimize real-life geometry arid in permitting radical design changes. Success in these areas promises not only significantly shorter design- cycle times, but also superior and unconventional designs. To address these issues, we investigate the use of a parmetric-CAD system in conjunction with an embedded-boundary Cartesian method. Our goal is to combine the modeling capabilities of feature-based CAD with the robustness and flexibility of component-based Cartesian volume-mesh generation for complex geometry problems. We present the development of an automated optimization frame-work with a focus on the deployment of such a CAD-based design approach in a heterogeneous parallel computing environment.

A hybrid feature selection approach for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallego-Jutglà, Esteve; Solé-Casals, Jordi; Vialatte, François-Benoît; Elgendi, Mohamed; Cichocki, Andrzej; Dauwels, Justin

2015-02-01

Objective. Recently, significant advances have been made in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) from electroencephalography (EEG). However, choosing suitable measures is a challenging task. Among other measures, frequency relative power (RP) and loss of complexity have been used with promising results. In the present study we investigate the early diagnosis of AD using synchrony measures and frequency RP on EEG signals, examining the changes found in different frequency ranges. Approach. We first explore the use of a single feature for computing the classification rate (CR), looking for the best frequency range. Then, we present a multiple feature classification system that outperforms all previous results using a feature selection strategy. These two approaches are tested in two different databases, one containing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and healthy subjects (patients age: 71.9 ± 10.2, healthy subjects age: 71.7 ± 8.3), and the other containing Mild AD and healthy subjects (patients age: 77.6 ± 10.0 healthy subjects age: 69.4 ± 11.5). Main results. Using a single feature to compute CRs we achieve a performance of 78.33% for the MCI data set and of 97.56% for Mild AD. Results are clearly improved using the multiple feature classification, where a CR of 95% is found for the MCI data set using 11 features, and 100% for the Mild AD data set using four features. Significance. The new features selection method described in this work may be a reliable tool that could help to design a realistic system that does not require prior knowledge of a patient's status. With that aim, we explore the standardization of features for MCI and Mild AD data sets with promising results.

Individual MRI and radiographic features of knee OA in subjects with unilateral knee pain: Health ABC study

PubMed Central

Javaid, MK; Kiran, A; Guermazi, A; Kwoh, K; Zaim, S; Carbone, L; Harris, T.; McCulloch, C.E.; Arden, NK; Lane, NE; Felson, D; Nevitt, M

2012-01-01

Strong associations between radiographic features of knee OA and pain have been demonstrated in persons with unilateral knee symptoms. Our objectives were to compare radiographic with MRI features of knee OA and assess the discrimination between painful and non-painful knees in persons with unilateral symptoms. 283 individuals with unilateral knee pain aged 71 to 80 years from Health ABC, a study of weight-related diseases and mobility, had bilateral knee radiographs, read for KL grade and individual radiographic features, and 1.5T MRIs, read using WORMS. The association of structural features with pain was assessed using a within-person case/control design and conditional logistic regression. Receiver operator characteristics (ROC) were then used to test the discriminatory performance of structural features. In conditional logistic analyses, knee pain was significantly associated with both radiographic (any JSN grade >=1: OR 3.20 (1.79 – 5.71) and MRI (any cartilage defect:>=2: OR 3.67 (1.49 – 9.04)) features. However, most subjects had MR detected osteophytes, cartilage and bone marrow lesions in both knees and no individual structural feature discriminated well between painful and non-painful knees using ROC. The best performing MRI feature (synovitis/effusion) was not significantly more informative than KL grade >=2 (p=0.42). In persons with unilateral knee pain, MR and radiographic features were associated with knee pain confirming an important role in the etiology of pain. However, no single MRI or radiographic finding performed well in discriminating painful from non-painful knees. Further work is needed to examine how structural and non-structural factors influence knee pain. PMID:22736267

Biomimetic design processes in architecture: morphogenetic and evolutionary computational design.

PubMed

Menges, Achim

2012-03-01

Design computation has profound impact on architectural design methods. This paper explains how computational design enables the development of biomimetic design processes specific to architecture, and how they need to be significantly different from established biomimetic processes in engineering disciplines. The paper first explains the fundamental difference between computer-aided and computational design in architecture, as the understanding of this distinction is of critical importance for the research presented. Thereafter, the conceptual relation and possible transfer of principles from natural morphogenesis to design computation are introduced and the related developments of generative, feature-based, constraint-based, process-based and feedback-based computational design methods are presented. This morphogenetic design research is then related to exploratory evolutionary computation, followed by the presentation of two case studies focusing on the exemplary development of spatial envelope morphologies and urban block morphologies.

Ordering Design Tasks Based on Coupling Strengths

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rogers, J. L.; Bloebaum, C. L.

1994-01-01

The design process associated with large engineering systems requires an initial decomposition of the complex system into modules of design tasks which are coupled through the transference of output data. In analyzing or optimizing such a coupled system, it is essential to be able to determine which interactions figure prominently enough to significantly affect the accuracy of the system solution. Many decomposition approaches assume the capability is available to determine what design tasks and interactions exist and what order of execution will be imposed during the analysis process. Unfortunately, this is often a complex problem and beyond the capabilities of a human design manager. A new feature for DeMAID (Design Manager's Aid for Intelligent Decomposition) will allow the design manager to use coupling strength information to find a proper sequence for ordering the design tasks. In addition, these coupling strengths aid in deciding if certain tasks or couplings could be removed (or temporarily suspended) from consideration to achieve computational savings without a significant loss of system accuracy. New rules are presented and two small test cases are used to show the effects of using coupling strengths in this manner.

Ordering design tasks based on coupling strengths

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rogers, James L., Jr.; Bloebaum, Christina L.

1994-01-01

The design process associated with large engineering systems requires an initial decomposition of the complex system into modules of design tasks which are coupled through the transference of output data. In analyzing or optimizing such a coupled system, it is essential to be able to determine which interactions figure prominently enough to significantly affect the accuracy of the system solution. Many decomposition approaches assume the capability is available to determine what design tasks and interactions exist and what order of execution will be imposed during the analysis process. Unfortunately, this is often a complex problem and beyond the capabilities of a human design manager. A new feature for DeMAID (Design Manager's Aid for Intelligent Decomposition) will allow the design manager to use coupling strength information to find a proper sequence for ordering the design tasks. In addition, these coupling strengths aid in deciding if certain tasks or couplings could be removed (or temporarily suspended) from consideration to achieve computational savings without a significant loss of system accuracy. New rules are presented and two small test cases are used to show the effects of using coupling strengths in this manner.

Implementation of a Smart Phone for Motion Analysis.

PubMed

Yodpijit, Nantakrit; Songwongamarit, Chalida; Tavichaiyuth, Nicha

2015-01-01

In today’s information-rich environment, one of the most popular devices is a smartphone. Research has shown significant growth in the use of smartphones and apps all over the world. Accelerometer within smartphone is a motion sensor that can be used to detect human movements. Compared to other major vital signs, gait characteristics represent general health status, and can be determined using smartphones. The objective of the current study is to design and develop the alternative technology that can potentially predict health status and reduce healthcare cost. This study uses a smartphone as a wireless accelerometer for quantifying human motion characteristics from four steps of the system design and development (data acquisition operation, feature extraction algorithm, classifier design, and decision making strategy). Findings indicate that it is possible to extract features from a smartphone’s accelerometer using a peak detection algorithm. Gait characteristics obtain from the peak detection algorithm include stride time, stance time, swing time and cadence. Applications and limitations of this study are also discussed.

Detection of sub-kilometer craters in high resolution planetary images using shape and texture features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bandeira, Lourenço; Ding, Wei; Stepinski, Tomasz F.

2012-01-01

Counting craters is a paramount tool of planetary analysis because it provides relative dating of planetary surfaces. Dating surfaces with high spatial resolution requires counting a very large number of small, sub-kilometer size craters. Exhaustive manual surveys of such craters over extensive regions are impractical, sparking interest in designing crater detection algorithms (CDAs). As a part of our effort to design a CDA, which is robust and practical for planetary research analysis, we propose a crater detection approach that utilizes both shape and texture features to identify efficiently sub-kilometer craters in high resolution panchromatic images. First, a mathematical morphology-based shape analysis is used to identify regions in an image that may contain craters; only those regions - crater candidates - are the subject of further processing. Second, image texture features in combination with the boosting ensemble supervised learning algorithm are used to accurately classify previously identified candidates into craters and non-craters. The design of the proposed CDA is described and its performance is evaluated using a high resolution image of Mars for which sub-kilometer craters have been manually identified. The overall detection rate of the proposed CDA is 81%, the branching factor is 0.14, and the overall quality factor is 72%. This performance is a significant improvement over the previous CDA based exclusively on the shape features. The combination of performance level and computational efficiency offered by this CDA makes it attractive for practical application.

Inefficient conjunction search made efficient by concurrent spoken delivery of target identity.

PubMed

Reali, Florencia; Spivey, Michael J; Tyler, Melinda J; Terranova, Joseph

2006-08-01

Visual search based on a conjunction of two features typically elicits reaction times that increase linearly as a function of the number of distractors, whereas search based on a single feature is essentially unaffected by set size. These and related findings have often been interpreted as evidence of a serial search stage that follows a parallel search stage. However, a wide range of studies has been showing a form of blending of these two processes. For example, when a spoken instruction identifies the conjunction target concurrently with the visual display, the effect of set size is significantly reduced, suggesting that incremental linguistic processing of the first feature adjective and then the second feature adjective may facilitate something approximating a parallel extraction of objects during search for the target. Here, we extend these results to a variety of experimental designs. First, we replicate the result with a mixed-trials design (ruling out potential strategies associated with the blocked design of the original study). Second, in a mixed-trials experiment, the order of adjective types in the spoken query varies randomly across conditions. In a third experiment, we extend the effect to a triple-conjunction search task. A fourth (control) experiment demonstrates that these effects are not due to an efficient odd-one-out search that ignores the linguistic input. This series of experiments, along with attractor-network simulations of the phenomena, provide further evidence toward understanding linguistically mediated influences in real-time visual search processing.

Integration of Supportive Design Features and Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lazaros, Edward J.; Ahmadi, Reza

2008-01-01

Integrating supportive design features and technology into the home are excellent ways to plan to make a home "age-friendly." When an immediate need occurs for eliminating barriers in an existing home, supportive design features and technology will most often need to be examined, and some form of implementation will need to take place. While…

76 FR 10482 - Special Conditions: Boeing Model 787-8 Airplane; Overhead Flightcrew-Rest Compartment Occupiable...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-25

... Boeing Model 787-8 airplane. This airplane will have novel or unusual design features associated with an... standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the... airworthiness standards. Additional special conditions will be issued for other novel or unusual design features...

78 FR 41684 - Special Conditions: Embraer S.A. Model EMB-550 Airplanes, Sudden Engine Stoppage

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-11

... airplane has novel or unusual design features as compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport-category airplanes. These design features include engine size and the... contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain...

Design feasibility of an advanced technology supersonic cruise aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rowe, W. T.

1976-01-01

Research and development programs provide confidence that technology is in-hand to design an economically attractive, environmentally sound supersonic cruise aircraft for commercial operations. The principal results of studies and tests are described including those which define the selection of significant design features. These typically include the results of: (1) wind-tunnel tests, both subsonic and supersonic, (2) propulsion performance and acoustic tests on noise suppressors, including forward-flight effects, (3) studies of engine/airframe integration, which lead to the selection of engine cycles/sizes to meet future market, economic, and social requirements; and (4) structural testing.

From Petascale to Exascale: Eight Focus Areas of R&D Challenges for HPC Simulation Environments

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

Springmeyer, R; Still, C; Schulz, M

2011-03-17

Programming models bridge the gap between the underlying hardware architecture and the supporting layers of software available to applications. Programming models are different from both programming languages and application programming interfaces (APIs). Specifically, a programming model is an abstraction of the underlying computer system that allows for the expression of both algorithms and data structures. In comparison, languages and APIs provide implementations of these abstractions and allow the algorithms and data structures to be put into practice - a programming model exists independently of the choice of both the programming language and the supporting APIs. Programming models are typically focusedmore » on achieving increased developer productivity, performance, and portability to other system designs. The rapidly changing nature of processor architectures and the complexity of designing an exascale platform provide significant challenges for these goals. Several other factors are likely to impact the design of future programming models. In particular, the representation and management of increasing levels of parallelism, concurrency and memory hierarchies, combined with the ability to maintain a progressive level of interoperability with today's applications are of significant concern. Overall the design of a programming model is inherently tied not only to the underlying hardware architecture, but also to the requirements of applications and libraries including data analysis, visualization, and uncertainty quantification. Furthermore, the successful implementation of a programming model is dependent on exposed features of the runtime software layers and features of the operating system. Successful use of a programming model also requires effective presentation to the software developer within the context of traditional and new software development tools. Consideration must also be given to the impact of programming models on both languages and the associated compiler infrastructure. Exascale programming models must reflect several, often competing, design goals. These design goals include desirable features such as abstraction and separation of concerns. However, some aspects are unique to large-scale computing. For example, interoperability and composability with existing implementations will prove critical. In particular, performance is the essential underlying goal for large-scale systems. A key evaluation metric for exascale models will be the extent to which they support these goals rather than merely enable them.« less

Discriminative spatial-frequency-temporal feature extraction and classification of motor imagery EEG: An sparse regression and Weighted Naïve Bayesian Classifier-based approach.

PubMed

Miao, Minmin; Zeng, Hong; Wang, Aimin; Zhao, Changsen; Liu, Feixiang

2017-02-15

Common spatial pattern (CSP) is most widely used in motor imagery based brain-computer interface (BCI) systems. In conventional CSP algorithm, pairs of the eigenvectors corresponding to both extreme eigenvalues are selected to construct the optimal spatial filter. In addition, an appropriate selection of subject-specific time segments and frequency bands plays an important role in its successful application. This study proposes to optimize spatial-frequency-temporal patterns for discriminative feature extraction. Spatial optimization is implemented by channel selection and finding discriminative spatial filters adaptively on each time-frequency segment. A novel Discernibility of Feature Sets (DFS) criteria is designed for spatial filter optimization. Besides, discriminative features located in multiple time-frequency segments are selected automatically by the proposed sparse time-frequency segment common spatial pattern (STFSCSP) method which exploits sparse regression for significant features selection. Finally, a weight determined by the sparse coefficient is assigned for each selected CSP feature and we propose a Weighted Naïve Bayesian Classifier (WNBC) for classification. Experimental results on two public EEG datasets demonstrate that optimizing spatial-frequency-temporal patterns in a data-driven manner for discriminative feature extraction greatly improves the classification performance. The proposed method gives significantly better classification accuracies in comparison with several competing methods in the literature. The proposed approach is a promising candidate for future BCI systems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Competency-based education: programme design and challenges to implementation.

PubMed

Gruppen, Larry D; Burkhardt, John C; Fitzgerald, James T; Funnell, Martha; Haftel, Hilary M; Lypson, Monica L; Mullan, Patricia B; Santen, Sally A; Sheets, Kent J; Stalburg, Caren M; Vasquez, John A

2016-05-01

Competency-based education (CBE) has been widely cited as an educational framework for medical students and residents, and provides a framework for designing educational programmes that reflect four critical features: a focus on outcomes, an emphasis on abilities, a reduction of emphasis on time-based training, and promotion of learner centredness. Each of these features has implications and potential challenges for implementing CBE. As an experiment in CBE programme design and implementation, the University of Michigan Master of Health Professions Education (UM-MHPE) degree programme was examined for lessons to be learned when putting CBE into practice. The UM-MHPE identifies 12 educational competencies and 20 educational entrustable professional activities (EPAs) that serve as the vehicle for both learning and assessment. The programme also defines distinct roles of faculty members as assessors, mentors and subject-matter experts focused on highly individualised learning plans adapted to each learner. Early experience with implementing the UM-MHPE indicates that EPAs and competencies can provide a viable alternative to traditional courses and a vehicle for rigorous assessment. A high level of individualisation is feasible but carries with it significant costs and makes intentional community building essential. Most significantly, abandoning a time-based framework is a difficult innovation to implement in a university structure that is predicated on time-based education. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

High-rate lithium/manganese dioxide batteries; the double cell concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drews, Jürgen; Wolf, Rüdiger; Fehrmann, Gerd; Staub, Roland

An implantable defibrillator battery has to provide pulse-power capabilities as well as high energy density. Low self-discharge rates are mandatory and an ability to check the state of charge is required. To accomplish these requirements, a lithium/manganese dioxide battery with a modified active cathode mass has been developed. Usage of a double cell design increases significantly the battery performance within an implantable defibrillator. The design features of a high-rate, pulse-power, manganese dioxide double cell are described.

Literature for Today's Young Adults. Fourth Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nilsen, Alleen Pace; Donelson, Kenneth L.

Designed to help teachers open young minds to literature, this book presents criteria for evaluating books in all genres and their suggested classroom uses, an examination of hotly debated topics, and an overview of the significance of young adult literature. The fourth edition of the book features 30 boxed inserts containing essays by some of the…

Cryogenic fountain development at NIST and INRIM: preliminary characterization.

PubMed

Levi, Filippo; Calosso, Claudio; Calonico, Davide; Lorini, Luca; Bertacco, Elio K; Godone, Aldo; Costanzo, Giovanni A; Mongino, Barbara; Jefferts, Steven R; Heavner, Thomas P; Donley, Elizabeth A

2010-03-01

This paper describes the new twin laser-cooled Cs fountain primary frequency standards NIST-F2 and ITCsF2, and presents some of their design features. Most significant is a cryogenic microwave interrogation region which dramatically reduces the blackbody radiation shift. We also present a preliminary accuracy evaluation of IT-CsF2.

A Meta-Analytic Review of Obesity Prevention Programs for Children and Adolescents: The Skinny on Interventions that Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stice, Eric; Shaw, Heather; Marti, C. Nathan

2006-01-01

This meta-analytic review summarizes obesity prevention programs and their effects and investigates participant, intervention, delivery, and design features associated with larger effects. A literature search identified 64 prevention programs seeking to produce weight gain prevention effects, of which 21% produced significant prevention effects…

Technological Change in Assessing Economics: A Cautionary Welcome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennelly, Brendan; Considine, John; Flannery, Darragh

2009-01-01

The use of computer-based automated assignment systems in economics has expanded significantly in recent years. The most widely used system is Aplia which was developed by Paul Romer in 2000. Aplia is a computer application designed to replace traditional paper-based assignments in economics. The main features of Aplia are: (1) interactive content…

The Effect of Students' Subject Discipline on Their m-Learning Application Preferences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delialioglu, Ömer; Alioon, Yasaman

2016-01-01

The effect of students' subject discipline on their preferences toward m-learning applications was investigated by using a mixed-method research design. A questionnaire on students' preferences of m-learning application features was used to collect data from 181 undergraduate students. One-way analysis of variance found a significant difference…

Rigorous assessment and integration of the sequence and structure based features to predict hot spots

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Systematic mutagenesis studies have shown that only a few interface residues termed hot spots contribute significantly to the binding free energy of protein-protein interactions. Therefore, hot spots prediction becomes increasingly important for well understanding the essence of proteins interactions and helping narrow down the search space for drug design. Currently many computational methods have been developed by proposing different features. However comparative assessment of these features and furthermore effective and accurate methods are still in pressing need. Results In this study, we first comprehensively collect the features to discriminate hot spots and non-hot spots and analyze their distributions. We find that hot spots have lower relASA and larger relative change in ASA, suggesting hot spots tend to be protected from bulk solvent. In addition, hot spots have more contacts including hydrogen bonds, salt bridges, and atomic contacts, which favor complexes formation. Interestingly, we find that conservation score and sequence entropy are not significantly different between hot spots and non-hot spots in Ab+ dataset (all complexes). While in Ab- dataset (antigen-antibody complexes are excluded), there are significant differences in two features between hot pots and non-hot spots. Secondly, we explore the predictive ability for each feature and the combinations of features by support vector machines (SVMs). The results indicate that sequence-based feature outperforms other combinations of features with reasonable accuracy, with a precision of 0.69, a recall of 0.68, an F1 score of 0.68, and an AUC of 0.68 on independent test set. Compared with other machine learning methods and two energy-based approaches, our approach achieves the best performance. Moreover, we demonstrate the applicability of our method to predict hot spots of two protein complexes. Conclusion Experimental results show that support vector machine classifiers are quite effective in predicting hot spots based on sequence features. Hot spots cannot be fully predicted through simple analysis based on physicochemical characteristics, but there is reason to believe that integration of features and machine learning methods can remarkably improve the predictive performance for hot spots. PMID:21798070

Antecedent Longitudinal Changes in Body Mass Index are associated with Diurnal Cortisol Curve Features: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

PubMed Central

Joseph, Joshua J.; Wang, Xu; Roux, Ana V. Diez; Sanchez, Brisa N.; Seeman, Teresa E.; Needham, Belinda L.; Golden, Sherita Hill

2016-01-01

Context Prior studies have shown a cross-sectional association between body mass index (BMI) and salivary diurnal cortisol profile features (cortisol features); however, to our knowledge prior population-based studies have not examined the longitudinal association of body-mass index (BMI) with cortisol features. Objective To examine the association of (1) prior annual BMI percent change over 7 years with cortisol features, (2) baseline cortisol features with subsequent change in BMI over 6 years and (3) the association of change in cortisol features with change in BMI over 6 years. Design Longitudinal study Setting Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) Stress I & II Studies (2004-2006 & 2010-2012) Participants 1,685 ethnically diverse men and women attended either MESA Stress exam (mean age 65 ± 10 years at MESA Stress I; mean age 69 ± 9 years at MESA Stress II). Outcome Measures Log-transformed cortisol features including wake-up cortisol, cortisol awakening response, early decline slope (30 minutes to 2 hours post-awakening), late decline slope (2 hours post-awakening to bedtime), bedtime, and total area under the curve (AUC) cortisol. Results Over 7 years, following multivariable adjustment, (1) a 1% higher prior annual BMI % increase was associated with a 2.9% (95% CI: −5.0%, −0.8%) and 3.0% (95% CI: −4.7%, −1.4%) lower current wake-up and total AUC cortisol, respectively; (2) there was no significant association between baseline cortisol features and subsequent change in BMI and (3) among participants with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2, flattening of the late decline slope was associated with increases in BMI (every 1-unit increase late decline slope were associated with a 12.9% increase (95%CI: −1%, 26.8%) in BMI, respectively). Conclusions We found a significant association between prior annual BMI % change and cortisol features, but no significant association between baseline cortisol features and subsequent change in BMI. In participants with obesity increases in BMI were associated with less pronounced declined. Collectively, our results suggest that greater adiposity may lead to a blunted diurnal cortisol profile. PMID:28183457

Flat Terahertz Reflective Focusing Metasurface with Scanning Ability.

PubMed

Yi, Huan; Qu, Shi-Wei; Chen, Bao-Jie; Bai, Xue; Ng, Kung Bo; Chan, Chi Hou

2017-06-14

The ability to manipulate the propagation properties of electromagnetic waves, e.g., divergence, focusing, holography or deflection, is very significant in terahertz applications. Metasurfaces with flat structures are attractive for achieving such manipulations in terahertz band, as they feature low profile, lightweight, and ease of design and installation. Several types of terahertz reflective or transmitting metasurfaces with focusing function have been implemented recently, but none of them can provide scanning ability with controllable focus. Here, a flat reflective metasurface featuring controllable focal shift is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Furthermore, the principle of designing a focus scanning reflective metasurface is presented and the focusing characteristics are discussed, including focus scanning along a line parallel or orthogonal to the metasurface with a large bandwidth. These interesting properties indicate that this flat reflective metasurface could play a key role in many terahertz imaging and detection systems.

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.

Quantitative Real-Time PCR using the Thermo Scientific Solaris qPCR Assay

PubMed Central

Ogrean, Christy; Jackson, Ben; Covino, James

2010-01-01

The Solaris qPCR Gene Expression Assay is a novel type of primer/probe set, designed to simplify the qPCR process while maintaining the sensitivity and accuracy of the assay. These primer/probe sets are pre-designed to >98% of the human and mouse genomes and feature significant improvements from previously available technologies. These improvements were made possible by virtue of a novel design algorithm, developed by Thermo Scientific bioinformatics experts. Several convenient features have been incorporated into the Solaris qPCR Assay to streamline the process of performing quantitative real-time PCR. First, the protocol is similar to commonly employed alternatives, so the methods used during qPCR are likely to be familiar. Second, the master mix is blue, which makes setting the qPCR reactions easier to track. Third, the thermal cycling conditions are the same for all assays (genes), making it possible to run many samples at a time and reducing the potential for error. Finally, the probe and primer sequence information are provided, simplifying the publication process. Here, we demonstrate how to obtain the appropriate Solaris reagents using the GENEius product search feature found on the ordering web site (www.thermo.com/solaris) and how to use the Solaris reagents for performing qPCR using the standard curve method. PMID:20567213

Empirical OPC rule inference for rapid RET application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kulkarni, Anand P.

2006-10-01

A given technological node (45 nm, 65 nm) can be expected to process thousands of individual designs. Iterative methods applied at the node consume valuable days in determining proper placement of OPC features, and manufacturing and testing mask correspondence to wafer patterns in a trial-and-error fashion for each design. Repeating this fabrication process for each individual design is a time-consuming and expensive process. We present a novel technique which sidesteps the requirement to iterate through the model-based OPC analysis and pattern verification cycle on subsequent designs at the same node. Our approach relies on the inference of rules from a correct pattern at the wafer surface it relates to the OPC and pre-OPC pattern layout files. We begin with an offline phase where we obtain a "gold standard" design file that has been fab-tested at the node with a prepared, post-OPC layout file that corresponds to the intended on-wafer pattern. We then run an offline analysis to infer rules to be used in this method. During the analysis, our method implicitly identifies contextual OPC strategies for optimal placement of RET features on any design at that node. Using these strategies, we can apply OPC to subsequent designs at the same node with accuracy comparable to the original design file but significantly smaller expected runtimes. The technique promises to offer a rapid and accurate complement to existing RET application strategies.

Gradually including potential users: A tool to counter design exclusions.

PubMed

Zitkus, Emilene; Langdon, Patrick; Clarkson, P John

2018-01-01

The paper describes an iterative development process used to understand the suitability of different inclusive design evaluation tools applied into design practices. At the end of this process, a tool named Inclusive Design Advisor was developed, combining data related to design features of small appliances with ergonomic task demands, anthropometric data and exclusion data. When auditing a new design the tool examines the exclusion that each design feature can cause, followed by objective recommendations directly related to its features. Interactively, it allows designers or clients to balance design changes with the exclusion caused. It presents the type of information that enables designers and clients to discuss user needs and make more inclusive design decisions. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

78 FR 36084 - Special Conditions: The Boeing Company, Model 717-200 Series Airplanes; Seats With Inflatable...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-17

... 717- 200 series airplanes. These airplanes will have a novel or unusual design feature [[Page 36085... series airplanes will incorporate the following novel or unusual design features: inflatable lapbelts on... certain novel or unusual design features on one model series of airplanes. It is not a rule of general...

78 FR 68775 - Special Conditions: Airbus, Model A350-900 Series Airplane; Composite Fuselage In-Flight Fire...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-15

... Model A350-900 series airplanes. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design features associated... Model A350-900 series because of a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed... Airbus Model A350-900 series airplane will incorporate the following novel or unusual design features...

78 FR 26280 - Special Conditions: Embraer, S.A., Model EMB-550 Airplane; Side-Facing Seats; Installation of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-06

... be active during all dynamic tests conducted to show compliance with Sec. 25.562. (2) The design and... novel or unusual design feature(s) associated with multiple place and single place side- facing seats... not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These proposed special...

77 FR 69573 - Special Conditions: Embraer S.A., Model EMB-550 Airplane; Electronic Flight Control System...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-20

... airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature(s) associated with an electronic flight control system... empennage and control surfaces. The Model EMB-550 airplane is designed for 8 passengers, with a maximum of... flight control design feature within the normal operational envelope in which sidestick deflection in the...

78 FR 76980 - Special Conditions: Airbus, A350-900 Series Airplane; Interaction of Systems and Structures

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-20

... series airplanes. These airplanes will have novel or unusual design features when compared to the state...-900 series because of a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed under Sec...)(2). Novel or Unusual Design Features The Airbus Model A350-900 series will incorporate the following...

Within- and between-session replicability of cognitive brain processes: An MEG study with an N-back task.

PubMed

Ahonen, L; Huotilainen, M; Brattico, E

2016-05-01

In the vast majority of electrophysiological studies on cognition, participants are only measured once during a single experimental session. The dearth of studies on test-retest reliability in magnetoencephalography (MEG) within and across experimental sessions is a preventing factor for longitudinal designs, imaging genetics studies, and clinical applications. From the recorded signals, it is not straightforward to draw robust and steady indices of brain activity that could directly be used in exploring behavioral effects or genetic associations. To study the variations in markers associated with cognitive functions, we extracted three event-related field (ERF) features from time-locked global field power (GFP) epochs using MEG while participants were performing a numerical N-back task in four consecutive measurements conducted during two different days separated by two weeks. We demonstrate that the latency of the M170, a neural correlate associated with cognitive functions such as working memory, was a stable parameter and did not show significant variations over time. In addition, the M170 peak amplitude and the mean amplitude of late positive component (LPP) also expressed moderate-to-strong reliability across multiple measures over time over many sensor spaces and between participants. The M170 amplitude varied more significantly between the measurements in some conditions but showed consistency over the participants over time. In addition we demonstrated significant correlation with the M170 and LPP parameters and cognitive load. The results are in line with the literature showing less within-subject fluctuation for the latency parameters and more consistency in between-subject comparisons for amplitude based features. The within-subject consistency was apparent also with longer delays between the measurements. We suggest that with a few limitations the ERF features show sufficient reliability and stability for longitudinal research designs and clinical applications for cognitive functions in single as well as cross-subject designs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Mobile Internet Service for Self-Management of Physical Activity in People With Rheumatoid Arthritis: Challenges in Advancing the Co-Design Process During the Requirements Specification Phase

PubMed Central

Martin, Cathrin; H. Opava, Christina; Brusewitz, Maria; Keller, Christina; Åsenlöf, Pernilla

2015-01-01

Background User involvement in the development of health care services is important for the viability, usability, and effectiveness of services. This study reports on the second step of the co-design process. Objective The aim was to explore the significant challenges in advancing the co-design process during the requirements specification phase of a mobile Internet service for the self-management of physical activity (PA) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods A participatory action research design was used to involve lead users and stakeholders as co-designers. Lead users (n=5), a clinical physiotherapist (n=1), researchers (n=2) with knowledge in PA in RA and behavioral learning theories, an eHealth strategist (n=1), and an officer from the patient organization (n=1) collaborated in 4 workshops. Data-collection methods included video recordings and naturalistic observations. Results The inductive qualitative video-based analysis resulted in 1 overarching theme, merging perspectives, and 2 subthemes reflecting different aspects of merging: (1) finding a common starting point and (2) deciding on design solutions. Seven categories illustrated the specific challenges: reaching shared understanding of goals, clarifying and handling the complexity of participants’ roles, clarifying terminology related to system development, establishing the rationale for features, negotiating features, transforming ideas into concrete features, and participants’ alignment with the agreed goal and task. Conclusions Co-designing the system requirements of a mobile Internet service including multiple stakeholders was a complex and extensive collaborative decision-making process. Considering, valuing, counterbalancing, and integrating different perspectives into agreements and solutions (ie, the merging of participants’ perspectives) were crucial for moving the process forward and were considered the core challenges of co-design. Further research is needed to replicate the results and to increase knowledge on key factors for a successful co-design of health care services. PMID:26381221

A Mobile Internet Service for Self-Management of Physical Activity in People With Rheumatoid Arthritis: Challenges in Advancing the Co-Design Process During the Requirements Specification Phase.

PubMed

Revenäs, Åsa; Martin, Cathrin; H Opava, Christina; Brusewitz, Maria; Keller, Christina; Åsenlöf, Pernilla

2015-09-17

User involvement in the development of health care services is important for the viability, usability, and effectiveness of services. This study reports on the second step of the co-design process. The aim was to explore the significant challenges in advancing the co-design process during the requirements specification phase of a mobile Internet service for the self-management of physical activity (PA) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A participatory action research design was used to involve lead users and stakeholders as co-designers. Lead users (n=5), a clinical physiotherapist (n=1), researchers (n=2) with knowledge in PA in RA and behavioral learning theories, an eHealth strategist (n=1), and an officer from the patient organization (n=1) collaborated in 4 workshops. Data-collection methods included video recordings and naturalistic observations. The inductive qualitative video-based analysis resulted in 1 overarching theme, merging perspectives, and 2 subthemes reflecting different aspects of merging: (1) finding a common starting point and (2) deciding on design solutions. Seven categories illustrated the specific challenges: reaching shared understanding of goals, clarifying and handling the complexity of participants' roles, clarifying terminology related to system development, establishing the rationale for features, negotiating features, transforming ideas into concrete features, and participants' alignment with the agreed goal and task. Co-designing the system requirements of a mobile Internet service including multiple stakeholders was a complex and extensive collaborative decision-making process. Considering, valuing, counterbalancing, and integrating different perspectives into agreements and solutions (ie, the merging of participants' perspectives) were crucial for moving the process forward and were considered the core challenges of co-design. Further research is needed to replicate the results and to increase knowledge on key factors for a successful co-design of health care services.

Writer identification on historical Glagolitic documents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiel, Stefan; Hollaus, Fabian; Gau, Melanie; Sablatnig, Robert

2013-12-01

This work aims at automatically identifying scribes of historical Slavonic manuscripts. The quality of the ancient documents is partially degraded by faded-out ink or varying background. The writer identification method used is based on image features, which are described with Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) features. A visual vocabulary is used for the description of handwriting characteristics, whereby the features are clustered using a Gaussian Mixture Model and employing the Fisher kernel. The writer identification approach is originally designed for grayscale images of modern handwritings. But contrary to modern documents, the historical manuscripts are partially corrupted by background clutter and water stains. As a result, SIFT features are also found on the background. Since the method shows also good results on binarized images of modern handwritings, the approach was additionally applied on binarized images of the ancient writings. Experiments show that this preprocessing step leads to a significant performance increase: The identification rate on binarized images is 98.9%, compared to an identification rate of 87.6% gained on grayscale images.

Mental sets in conduct problem youth with psychopathic features: entity versus incremental theories of intelligence.

PubMed

Salekin, Randall T; Lester, Whitney S; Sellers, Mary-Kate

2012-08-01

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of a motivational intervention on conduct problem youth with psychopathic features. Specifically, the current study examined conduct problem youths' mental set (or theory) regarding intelligence (entity vs. incremental) upon task performance. We assessed 36 juvenile offenders with psychopathic features and tested whether providing them with two different messages regarding intelligence would affect their functioning on a task related to academic performance. The study employed a MANOVA design with two motivational conditions and three outcomes including fluency, flexibility, and originality. Results showed that youth with psychopathic features who were given a message that intelligence grows over time, were more fluent and flexible than youth who were informed that intelligence is static. There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of originality. The implications of these findings are discussed including the possible benefits of interventions for adolescent offenders with conduct problems and psychopathic features. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

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

Liu, Richen; Guo, Hanqi; Yuan, Xiaoru

Most of the existing approaches to visualize vector field ensembles are to reveal the uncertainty of individual variables, for example, statistics, variability, etc. However, a user-defined derived feature like vortex or air mass is also quite significant, since they make more sense to domain scientists. In this paper, we present a new framework to extract user-defined derived features from different simulation runs. Specially, we use a detail-to-overview searching scheme to help extract vortex with a user-defined shape. We further compute the geometry information including the size, the geo-spatial location of the extracted vortexes. We also design some linked views tomore » compare them between different runs. At last, the temporal information such as the occurrence time of the feature is further estimated and compared. Results show that our method is capable of extracting the features across different runs and comparing them spatially and temporally.« less

A satellite-based personal communication system for the 21st century

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sue, Miles K.; Dessouky, Khaled; Levitt, Barry; Rafferty, William

1990-01-01

Interest in personal communications (PCOMM) has been stimulated by recent developments in satellite and terrestrial mobile communications. A personal access satellite system (PASS) concept was developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) which has many attractive user features, including service diversity and a handheld terminal. Significant technical challenges addressed in formulating the PASS space and ground segments are discussed. PASS system concept and basic design features, high risk enabling technologies, an optimized multiple access scheme, alternative antenna coverage concepts, the use of non-geostationary orbits, user terminal radiation constraints, and user terminal frequency reference are covered.

Innovation in Aerodynamic Design Features of Soviet Missiles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spearman, M. Leroy

2006-01-01

Wind tunnel investigations of some tactical and strategic missile systems developed by the former Soviet Union have been included in the basic missile research programs of the NACA/NASA. Studies of the Soviet missiles sometimes revealed innovative design features that resulted in unusual or unexpected aerodynamic characteristics. In some cases these characteristics have been such that the measured performance of the missile exceeds what might have been predicted. In other cases some unusual design features have been found that would alleviate what might otherwise have been a serious aerodynamic problem. In some designs, what has appeared to be a lack of refinement has proven to be a matter of expediency. It is a purpose of this paper to describe some examples of unusual design features of some Soviet missiles and to illustrate the effectiveness of the design features on the aerodynamic behavior of the missile. The paper draws on the experience of the author who for over 60 years was involved in the aerodynamic wind tunnel testing of aircraft and missiles with the NACA/NASA.

An experimental pilot study of response to invalidation in young women with features of borderline personality disorder.

PubMed

Woodberry, Kristen A; Gallo, Kaitlin P; Nock, Matthew K

2008-01-15

One of the leading biosocial theories of borderline personality disorder (BPD) suggests that individuals with BPD have biologically based abnormalities in emotion regulation contributing to more intense and rapid responses to emotional stimuli, in particular, invalidation [Linehan, M.M., 1993. Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. Guilford, New York.]. This study used a 2 by 2 experimental design to test whether young women with features of BPD actually show increased physiological arousal in response to invalidation. Twenty-three women ages 18 to 29 who endorsed high levels of BPD symptoms and 18 healthy controls were randomly assigned to hear either a validating or invalidating comment during a frustrating task. Although we found preliminary support for differential response to these stimuli in self-report of valence, we found neither self-report nor physiological evidence of hyperarousal in the BPD features group, either at baseline or in response to invalidation. Interestingly, the BPD features group reported significantly lower comfort with emotion, and comfort was significantly associated with affective valence but not arousal. We discuss implications for understanding and responding to the affective intensity of this population.

Prediction of human disease-associated phosphorylation sites with combined feature selection approach and support vector machine.

PubMed

Xu, Xiaoyi; Li, Ao; Wang, Minghui

2015-08-01

Phosphorylation is a crucial post-translational modification, which regulates almost all cellular processes in life. It has long been recognised that protein phosphorylation has close relationship with diseases, and therefore many researches are undertaken to predict phosphorylation sites for disease treatment and drug design. However, despite the success achieved by these approaches, no method focuses on disease-associated phosphorylation sites prediction. Herein, for the first time the authors propose a novel approach that is specially designed to identify associations between phosphorylation sites and human diseases. To take full advantage of local sequence information, a combined feature selection method-based support vector machine (CFS-SVM) that incorporates minimum-redundancy-maximum-relevance filtering process and forward feature selection process is developed. Performance evaluation shows that CFS-SVM is significantly better than the widely used classifiers including Bayesian decision theory, k nearest neighbour and random forest. With the extremely high specificity of 99%, CFS-SVM can still achieve a high sensitivity. Besides, tests on extra data confirm the effectiveness and general applicability of CFS-SVM approach on a variety of diseases. Finally, the analysis of selected features and corresponding kinases also help the understanding of the potential mechanism of disease-phosphorylation relationships and guide further experimental validations.

The moving-ring field-reversed mirror prototype reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, A. C., Jr.; Carlson, G. A.; Fleischmann, H. H.; Grossman, W., Jr.; Kammash, T.; Schultz, K. R.; Woodall, D. M.

1981-03-01

A prototype fusion reactor was designed based on magnetic field reversed plasma confinement. A set of physics, technology, and mechanical design criteria were developed in order to make this concept attractive. Six major criteria guide the commercial prototype design. The prototype must: (1) produce net electricity decisively P sub net 70% of P sub gross; (2) scale to an economical commercial plant and have small physical size; (3) have all features required of a correcial upgrade plant (H-3 breeding, etc.); (4) minimize exotic technology and maintenance complexity; (5) promise significantly lower safety hazards than fission plants (environmentally and socially acceptable); and (6) be modular in design to permit repetitive production of components.

A Two-Stream Deep Fusion Framework for High-Resolution Aerial Scene Classification

PubMed Central

Liu, Fuxian

2018-01-01

One of the challenging problems in understanding high-resolution remote sensing images is aerial scene classification. A well-designed feature representation method and classifier can improve classification accuracy. In this paper, we construct a new two-stream deep architecture for aerial scene classification. First, we use two pretrained convolutional neural networks (CNNs) as feature extractor to learn deep features from the original aerial image and the processed aerial image through saliency detection, respectively. Second, two feature fusion strategies are adopted to fuse the two different types of deep convolutional features extracted by the original RGB stream and the saliency stream. Finally, we use the extreme learning machine (ELM) classifier for final classification with the fused features. The effectiveness of the proposed architecture is tested on four challenging datasets: UC-Merced dataset with 21 scene categories, WHU-RS dataset with 19 scene categories, AID dataset with 30 scene categories, and NWPU-RESISC45 dataset with 45 challenging scene categories. The experimental results demonstrate that our architecture gets a significant classification accuracy improvement over all state-of-the-art references. PMID:29581722

A Two-Stream Deep Fusion Framework for High-Resolution Aerial Scene Classification.

PubMed

Yu, Yunlong; Liu, Fuxian

2018-01-01

One of the challenging problems in understanding high-resolution remote sensing images is aerial scene classification. A well-designed feature representation method and classifier can improve classification accuracy. In this paper, we construct a new two-stream deep architecture for aerial scene classification. First, we use two pretrained convolutional neural networks (CNNs) as feature extractor to learn deep features from the original aerial image and the processed aerial image through saliency detection, respectively. Second, two feature fusion strategies are adopted to fuse the two different types of deep convolutional features extracted by the original RGB stream and the saliency stream. Finally, we use the extreme learning machine (ELM) classifier for final classification with the fused features. The effectiveness of the proposed architecture is tested on four challenging datasets: UC-Merced dataset with 21 scene categories, WHU-RS dataset with 19 scene categories, AID dataset with 30 scene categories, and NWPU-RESISC45 dataset with 45 challenging scene categories. The experimental results demonstrate that our architecture gets a significant classification accuracy improvement over all state-of-the-art references.

State budget transfers to Health Insurance to expand coverage to people outside formal sector work in Latin America.

PubMed

Mathauer, Inke; Behrendt, Thorsten

2017-02-16

Contributory social health insurance for formal sector employees only has proven challenging for moving towards universal health coverage (UHC). This is because the informally employed and the poor usually remain excluded. One way to expand UHC is to fully or partially subsidize health insurance contributions for excluded population groups through government budget transfers. This paper analyses the institutional design features of such government subsidization arrangements in Latin America and assesses their performance with respect to UHC progress. The aim is to identify UHC conducive institutional design features of such arrangements. A literature search provided the information to analyse institutional design features, with a focus on the following aspects: eligibility/enrolment rules, financing and pooling arrangements, and purchasing and benefit package design. Based on secondary data analysis, UHC progress is assessed in terms of improved population coverage, financial protection and access to needed health care services. Such government subsidization arrangements currently exist in eight countries of Latin America (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay). Institutional design features and UHC related performance vary significantly. Notably, countries with a universalist approach or indirect targeting have higher population coverage rates. Separate pools for the subsidized maintain inequitable access. The relatively large scopes of the benefit packages had a positive impact on financial protection and access to care. In the long term, merging different schemes into one integrated health financing system without opt-out options for the better-off is desirable, while equally expanding eligibility to cover those so far excluded. In the short and medium term, the harmonization of benefit packages could be a priority. UHC progress also depends on substantial supply side investments to ensure the availability of quality services, particularly in rural areas. Future research should generate more evidence on the implementation process and impact of subsidization arrangements on UHC progress.

10 CFR 1045.17 - Classification levels.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... classification include detailed technical descriptions of critical features of a nuclear explosive design that... classification include designs for specific weapon components (not revealing critical features), key features of uranium enrichment technologies, or specifications of weapon materials. (3) Confidential. The Director of...

10 CFR 1045.17 - Classification levels.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... classification include detailed technical descriptions of critical features of a nuclear explosive design that... classification include designs for specific weapon components (not revealing critical features), key features of uranium enrichment technologies, or specifications of weapon materials. (3) Confidential. The Director of...

10 CFR 1045.17 - Classification levels.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... classification include detailed technical descriptions of critical features of a nuclear explosive design that... classification include designs for specific weapon components (not revealing critical features), key features of uranium enrichment technologies, or specifications of weapon materials. (3) Confidential. The Director of...

10 CFR 1045.17 - Classification levels.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... classification include detailed technical descriptions of critical features of a nuclear explosive design that... classification include designs for specific weapon components (not revealing critical features), key features of uranium enrichment technologies, or specifications of weapon materials. (3) Confidential. The Director of...

A Numerical Analysis on the Effects of Self-Excited Tip Flow Unsteadiness and Upstream Blade Row Interactions on the Performance Predictions of a Transonic Compressor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heberling, Brian

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations can offer a detailed view of the complex flow fields within an axial compressor and greatly aid the design process. However, the desire for quick turnaround times raises the question of how exact the model must be. At design conditions, steady CFD simulating an isolated blade row can accurately predict the performance of a rotor. However, as a compressor is throttled and mass flow rate decreased, axial flow becomes weaker making the capturing of unsteadiness, wakes, or other flow features more important. The unsteadiness of the tip clearance flow and upstream blade wake can have a significant impact on a rotor. At off-design conditions, time-accurate simulations or modeling multiple blade rows can become necessary in order to receive accurate performance predictions. Unsteady and multi- bladerow simulations are computationally expensive, especially when used in conjunction. It is important to understand which features are important to model in order to accurately capture a compressor's performance. CFD simulations of a transonic axial compressor throttling from the design point to stall are presented. The importance of capturing the unsteadiness of the rotor tip clearance flow versus capturing upstream blade-row interactions is examined through steady and unsteady, single- and multi-bladerow computations. It is shown that there are significant differences at near stall conditions between the different types of simulations.

Modeling and additive manufacturing of bio-inspired composites with tunable fracture mechanical properties.

PubMed

Dimas, Leon S; Buehler, Markus J

2014-07-07

Flaws, imperfections and cracks are ubiquitous in material systems and are commonly the catalysts of catastrophic material failure. As stresses and strains tend to concentrate around cracks and imperfections, structures tend to fail far before large regions of material have ever been subjected to significant loading. Therefore, a major challenge in material design is to engineer systems that perform on par with pristine structures despite the presence of imperfections. In this work we integrate knowledge of biological systems with computational modeling and state of the art additive manufacturing to synthesize advanced composites with tunable fracture mechanical properties. Supported by extensive mesoscale computer simulations, we demonstrate the design and manufacturing of composites that exhibit deformation mechanisms characteristic of pristine systems, featuring flaw-tolerant properties. We analyze the results by directly comparing strain fields for the synthesized composites, obtained through digital image correlation (DIC), and the computationally tested composites. Moreover, we plot Ashby diagrams for the range of simulated and experimental composites. Our findings show good agreement between simulation and experiment, confirming that the proposed mechanisms have a significant potential for vastly improving the fracture response of composite materials. We elucidate the role of stiffness ratio variations of composite constituents as an important feature in determining the composite properties. Moreover, our work validates the predictive ability of our models, presenting them as useful tools for guiding further material design. This work enables the tailored design and manufacturing of composites assembled from inferior building blocks, that obtain optimal combinations of stiffness and toughness.

Graphical augmentations to the funnel plot assess the impact of additional evidence on a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Langan, Dean; Higgins, Julian P T; Gregory, Walter; Sutton, Alexander J

2012-05-01

We aim to illustrate the potential impact of a new study on a meta-analysis, which gives an indication of the robustness of the meta-analysis. A number of augmentations are proposed to one of the most widely used of graphical displays, the funnel plot. Namely, 1) statistical significance contours, which define regions of the funnel plot in which a new study would have to be located to change the statistical significance of the meta-analysis; and 2) heterogeneity contours, which show how a new study would affect the extent of heterogeneity in a given meta-analysis. Several other features are also described, and the use of multiple features simultaneously is considered. The statistical significance contours suggest that one additional study, no matter how large, may have a very limited impact on the statistical significance of a meta-analysis. The heterogeneity contours illustrate that one outlying study can increase the level of heterogeneity dramatically. The additional features of the funnel plot have applications including 1) informing sample size calculations for the design of future studies eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis; and 2) informing the updating prioritization of a portfolio of meta-analyses such as those prepared by the Cochrane Collaboration. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of Discovery, Iteration, and Collaboration in Laboratory Courses on Undergraduates' Research Career Intentions Fully Mediated by Student Ownership.

PubMed

Corwin, Lisa A; Runyon, Christopher R; Ghanem, Eman; Sandy, Moriah; Clark, Greg; Palmer, Gregory C; Reichler, Stuart; Rodenbusch, Stacia E; Dolan, Erin L

2018-06-01

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) provide a promising avenue to attract a larger and more diverse group of students into research careers. CUREs are thought to be distinctive in offering students opportunities to make discoveries, collaborate, engage in iterative work, and develop a sense of ownership of their lab course work. Yet how these elements affect students' intentions to pursue research-related careers remain unexplored. To address this knowledge gap, we collected data on three design features thought to be distinctive of CUREs (discovery, iteration, collaboration) and on students' levels of ownership and career intentions from ∼800 undergraduates who had completed CURE or inquiry courses, including courses from the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI), which has a demonstrated positive effect on student retention in college and in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We used structural equation modeling to test relationships among the design features and student ownership and career intentions. We found that discovery, iteration, and collaboration had small but significant effects on students' intentions; these effects were fully mediated by student ownership. Students in FRI courses reported significantly higher levels of discovery, iteration, and ownership than students in other CUREs. FRI research courses alone had a significant effect on students' career intentions.

New features and applications of PRESTO, a computer code for the performance of regenerative, superheated steam turbine cycles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choo, Y. K.; Staiger, P. J.

1982-01-01

The code was designed to analyze performance at valves-wide-open design flow. The code can model conventional steam cycles as well as cycles that include such special features as process steam extraction and induction and feedwater heating by external heat sources. Convenience features and extensions to the special features were incorporated into the PRESTO code. The features are described, and detailed examples illustrating the use of both the original and the special features are given.

CONTRIBUTION OF AXIAL MOTOR IMPAIRMENT TO PHYSICAL INACTIVITY IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE

PubMed Central

Bryant, Mon S; Hou, Jyhgong Gabriel; Collins, Robert L; Protas, Elizabeth J

2015-01-01

Objective To investigate the relationships between motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and activity limitations in persons with PD. Design/Methods Cross-sectional study of persons with mild to moderate PD (N=90). Associations among axial motor features, limb motor signs, the Physical Activity Scale for Elders (PASE), the ability to perform Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and level of ADL dependency were studied. A composite score of axial motor features included the following UPDRS items: speech, rigidity of the neck, arising from chair, posture, gait and postural stability. A composite score of limb motor signs included the following UPDRS items: tremor at rest of all extremities, action tremor, rigidity of all extremities, finger taps, hand movement, rapid alternating hand movements and foot tapping. Results Axial motor features of PD were significantly correlated with physical inactivity (p<.001), decreased ADL (p<.001) and increase in ADL dependency (p<.001). Limb motor signs significantly correlated with decreased ADL (p<.001) and level of ADL dependency (p=.035), but was not correlated with physical inactivity. After controlling for age, gender, disease duration and comorbidity, axial motor features contributed significantly to physical inactivity, decreased ADL and increase in ADL dependency, whereas the limb motor signs did not. Conclusions Axial motor impairment contributed to physical inactivity and decreased ability to perform ADLs in persons with PD. PMID:26368837

Designing augmentative and alternative communication applications: the results of focus groups with speech-language pathologists and parents of children with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Boster, Jamie B; McCarthy, John W

2018-05-01

The purpose of this study was to gain insight from speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) regarding appealing features of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) applications. Two separate 1-hour focus groups were conducted with 8 SLPs and 5 parents of children with ASD to identify appealing design features of AAC Apps, their benefits and potential concerns. Participants were shown novel interface designs for communication mode, play mode and incentive systems. Participants responded to poll questions and provided benefits and drawbacks of the features as part of structured discussion. SLPs and parents identified a range of appealing features in communication mode (customization, animation and colour-coding) as well as in play mode (games and videos). SLPs preferred interfaces that supported motor planning and instruction while parents preferred those features such as character assistants that would appeal to their child. Overall SLPs and parents agreed on features for future AAC Apps. SLPs and parents have valuable input in regards to future AAC app design informed by their experiences with children with ASD. Both groups are key stakeholders in the design process and should be included in future design and research endeavors. Implications for Rehabilitation AAC applications for the iPad are often designed based on previous devices without consideration of new features. Ensuring the design of new interfaces are appealing and beneficial for children with ASD can potentially further support their communication. This study demonstrates how key stakeholders in AAC including speech language pathologists and parents can provide information to support the development of future AAC interface designs. Key stakeholders may be an untapped resource in the development of future AAC interfaces for children with ASD.

Student Attitudes toward Impairment and Accessibility: An Evaluation of Awareness Training for Urban Planning Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, John L.

2009-01-01

Within the urban planning profession, designing for the needs of people with impairments has rarely been a significant feature of planning theory and instruction. Given the role of urban planners in affecting the opinions of policy-makers and the public, the prevalence of negative and misinformed attitudes among planning professionals toward…

Implementing Motivational Features in Reactive Blended Learning: Application to an Introductory Control Engineering Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mendez, J. A.; Gonzalez, E. J.

2011-01-01

This paper presents a significant advance in a reactive blended learning methodology applied to an introductory control engineering course. This proposal was based on the inclusion of a reactive element (a fuzzy-logic-based controller) designed to regulate the workload for each student according to his/her activity and performance. The…

Supporting research and technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

The development of definition of the modular space station is discussed. The modular approach was evaluated, the requirements were defined, and program definition and design were accomplished. The features of the program which significantly affect the initial development and early operating costs were identified and their impacts on the program were assessed. Specifications of various systems and components are included.

How Effective Is the Health-Promoting School Approach in Building Social Capital in Primary Schools?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sun, Jing; Stewart, Donald

2007-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe a study which investigated the relationship between the "health-promoting school" (HPS) approach and social capital and tested the proposition that the implementation of an HPS intervention leads to a significant improvement in HPS features and social capital. Design/methodology/approach:…

PAHFIT: Properties of PAH Emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, J. D.; Draine, Bruce

2012-10-01

PAHFIT is an IDL tool for decomposing Spitzer IRS spectra of PAH emission sources, with a special emphasis on the careful recovery of ambiguous silicate absorption, and weak, blended dust emission features. PAHFIT is primarily designed for use with full 5-35 micron Spitzer low-resolution IRS spectra. PAHFIT is a flexible tool for fitting spectra, and you can add or disable features, compute combined flux bands, change fitting limits, etc., without changing the code. PAHFIT uses a simple, physically-motivated model, consisting of starlight, thermal dust continuum in a small number of fixed temperature bins, resolved dust features and feature blends, prominent emission lines (which themselves can be blended with dust features), as well as simple fully-mixed or screen dust extinction, dominated by the silicate absorption bands at 9.7 and 18 microns. Most model components are held fixed or are tightly constrained. PAHFIT uses Drude profiles to recover the full strength of dust emission features and blends, including the significant power in the wings of the broad emission profiles. This means the resulting feature strengths are larger (by factors of 2-4) than are recovered by methods which estimate the underlying continuum using line segments or spline curves fit through fiducial wavelength anchors.

Hypergraph Based Feature Selection Technique for Medical Diagnosis.

PubMed

Somu, Nivethitha; Raman, M R Gauthama; Kirthivasan, Kannan; Sriram, V S Shankar

2016-11-01

The impact of internet and information systems across various domains have resulted in substantial generation of multidimensional datasets. The use of data mining and knowledge discovery techniques to extract the original information contained in the multidimensional datasets play a significant role in the exploitation of complete benefit provided by them. The presence of large number of features in the high dimensional datasets incurs high computational cost in terms of computing power and time. Hence, feature selection technique has been commonly used to build robust machine learning models to select a subset of relevant features which projects the maximal information content of the original dataset. In this paper, a novel Rough Set based K - Helly feature selection technique (RSKHT) which hybridize Rough Set Theory (RST) and K - Helly property of hypergraph representation had been designed to identify the optimal feature subset or reduct for medical diagnostic applications. Experiments carried out using the medical datasets from the UCI repository proves the dominance of the RSKHT over other feature selection techniques with respect to the reduct size, classification accuracy and time complexity. The performance of the RSKHT had been validated using WEKA tool, which shows that RSKHT had been computationally attractive and flexible over massive datasets.

Tucson Diversion Channel. Phase I. Sport Fields & Picnic Area. Feature Design Memorandum Number 3.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-04-01

opportunities for picnicking, a variety of field sports and court games , archery, jogging, and bicycling. d. Rapid urban growth in the Tucson metropolitan area...AD’A136 927 TUCSON DIVERSION CHANNEL PHASE I SPORT FIELDS A PICNI IC J AREA FEATURE DESIGN MEMORANDUM NUMBER 3(U) ARMY ENGINEER DISTRICT LOS ANGELES...TUCSON DIVERSION CHMNEL DESIGN EIORANDUK NO. 3 FEATURE DESIGN MNRORANDIJ PHASE I SPORT FIELDS & PICNIC AREA APRIL 1983 t1 US AM CORPS OF

Towards automatic musical instrument timbre recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Tae Hong

This dissertation is comprised of two parts---focus on issues concerning research and development of an artificial system for automatic musical instrument timbre recognition and musical compositions. The technical part of the essay includes a detailed record of developed and implemented algorithms for feature extraction and pattern recognition. A review of existing literature introducing historical aspects surrounding timbre research, problems associated with a number of timbre definitions, and highlights of selected research activities that have had significant impact in this field are also included. The developed timbre recognition system follows a bottom-up, data-driven model that includes a pre-processing module, feature extraction module, and a RBF/EBF (Radial/Elliptical Basis Function) neural network-based pattern recognition module. 829 monophonic samples from 12 instruments have been chosen from the Peter Siedlaczek library (Best Service) and other samples from the Internet and personal collections. Significant emphasis has been put on feature extraction development and testing to achieve robust and consistent feature vectors that are eventually passed to the neural network module. In order to avoid a garbage-in-garbage-out (GIGO) trap and improve generality, extra care was taken in designing and testing the developed algorithms using various dynamics, different playing techniques, and a variety of pitches for each instrument with inclusion of attack and steady-state portions of a signal. Most of the research and development was conducted in Matlab. The compositional part of the essay includes brief introductions to "A d'Ess Are ," "Aboji," "48 13 N, 16 20 O," and "pH-SQ." A general outline pertaining to the ideas and concepts behind the architectural designs of the pieces including formal structures, time structures, orchestration methods, and pitch structures are also presented.

78 FR 75511 - Special Conditions: Bombardier Inc., Models BD-500-1A10 and BD-500-1A11 Series Airplanes...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-12

... Design Features The C-series airplanes will incorporate the following novel or unusual design features: A.... Conclusion This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features on two model series of airplanes... Inc., Models BD-500-1A10 and BD- 500-1A11 Series Airplanes; Electronic Flight Control System: Control...

Graph wavelet alignment kernels for drug virtual screening.

PubMed

Smalter, Aaron; Huan, Jun; Lushington, Gerald

2009-06-01

In this paper, we introduce a novel statistical modeling technique for target property prediction, with applications to virtual screening and drug design. In our method, we use graphs to model chemical structures and apply a wavelet analysis of graphs to summarize features capturing graph local topology. We design a novel graph kernel function to utilize the topology features to build predictive models for chemicals via Support Vector Machine classifier. We call the new graph kernel a graph wavelet-alignment kernel. We have evaluated the efficacy of the wavelet-alignment kernel using a set of chemical structure-activity prediction benchmarks. Our results indicate that the use of the kernel function yields performance profiles comparable to, and sometimes exceeding that of the existing state-of-the-art chemical classification approaches. In addition, our results also show that the use of wavelet functions significantly decreases the computational costs for graph kernel computation with more than ten fold speedup.

Treatment of sleep-disordered breathing with positive airway pressure devices: technology update.

PubMed

Johnson, Karin Gardner; Johnson, Douglas Clark

2015-01-01

Many types of positive airway pressure (PAP) devices are used to treat sleep-disordered breathing including obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, and sleep-related hypoventilation. These include continuous PAP, autoadjusting CPAP, bilevel PAP, adaptive servoventilation, and volume-assured pressure support. Noninvasive PAP has significant leak by design, which these devices adjust for in different manners. Algorithms to provide pressure, detect events, and respond to events vary greatly between the types of devices, and vary among the same category between companies and different models by the same company. Many devices include features designed to improve effectiveness and patient comfort. Data collection systems can track compliance, pressure, leak, and efficacy. Understanding how each device works allows the clinician to better select the best device and settings for a given patient. This paper reviews PAP devices, including their algorithms, settings, and features.

A study of social information control affordances and gender difference in Facebook self-presentation.

PubMed

Kuo, Feng-Yang; Tseng, Chih-Yi; Tseng, Fan-Chuan; Lin, Cathy S

2013-09-01

Affordances refer to how interface features of an IT artifact, perceived by its users in terms of their potentials for action, may predict the intensity of usage. This study investigates three social information affordances for expressive information control, privacy information control, and image information control in Facebook. The results show that the three affordances can significantly explain how Facebook's interface designs facilitate users' self-presentation activities. In addition, the findings reveal that males are more engaged in expressing information than females, while females are more involved in privacy control than males. A practical application of our study is to compare and contrast the level of affordances offered by various social network sites (SNS) like Facebook and Twitter, as well as differences in online self-presentations across cultures. Our approach can therefore be useful to investigate how SNS design features can be tailored to specific gender and culture needs.

Skylab-4 visual observations project: Geological features of southwestern North America

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Silver, L. T.

1975-01-01

Visual observations conducted by Skylab-4 crewmen on seven designated geological target areas and other targets of opportunity in parts of southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico were described. The experiments were designed to learn how effectively geologic features could be observed from orbit and what research information could be obtained from the observations when supported by ground studies. For the limited preparation they received, the crewmen demonstrated exceptional observational ability and produced outstanding photographic studies. They also formulated cogent opinions on how to improve future observational and photo-documentation techniques. From the photographs and other observations, it was possible to obtain significant research contributions to on-going field investigations. These contributions were integrated into other aspects of the ground investigations to the following topics: major faults, regional stratigraphy, occurrence of Precambrian crystalline rocks, mapping of Mesozoic volcanic rocks, regional geology.

Fast Lithium-Ion Transportation in Crystalline Polymer Electrolytes.

PubMed

Fu, Xiao-Bin; Yang, Guang; Wu, Jin-Ze; Wang, Jia-Chen; Chen, Qun; Yao, Ye-Feng

2018-01-05

Fast lithium-ion transportation is found in the crystalline polymer electrolytes, α-CD-PEO n /Li + (n=12, 40), prepared by self-assembly of α-cyclodextrin (CD), polyethylene oxide (PEO) and Li + salts. A detailed solid-state NMR study combined with the X-ray diffraction technique reveals the unique structural features of the samples, that is, a) the tunnel structure formed by the assembled CDs, providing the ordered long-range pathway for Li + ion transportation; b) the all-trans conformational sequence of the PEO chains in the tunnels, attenuating significantly the coordination between Li + and the EO segments. The origin of the fast lithium-ion transportation has been attributed to these unique structural features. This work demonstrates the first example in solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) for "creating" fast ion transportation through material design and will find potential applications in the design of new ionconducting SPE materials. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A gaze independent hybrid-BCI based on visual spatial attention

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Egan, John M.; Loughnane, Gerard M.; Fletcher, Helen; Meade, Emma; Lalor, Edmund C.

2017-08-01

Objective. Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) use measures of brain activity to convey a user’s intent without the need for muscle movement. Hybrid designs, which use multiple measures of brain activity, have been shown to increase the accuracy of BCIs, including those based on EEG signals reflecting covert attention. Our study examined whether incorporating a measure of the P3 response improved the performance of a previously reported attention-based BCI design that incorporates measures of steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP) and alpha band modulations. Approach. Subjects viewed stimuli consisting of two bi-laterally located flashing white boxes on a black background. Streams of letters were presented sequentially within the boxes, in random order. Subjects were cued to attend to one of the boxes without moving their eyes, and they were tasked with counting the number of target-letters that appeared within. P3 components evoked by target appearance, SSVEPs evoked by the flashing boxes, and power in the alpha band are modulated by covert attention, and the modulations can be used to classify trials as left-attended or right-attended. Main Results. We showed that classification accuracy was improved by including a P3 feature along with the SSVEP and alpha features (the inclusion of a P3 feature lead to a 9% increase in accuracy compared to the use of SSVEP and Alpha features alone). We also showed that the design improves the robustness of BCI performance to individual subject differences. Significance. These results demonstrate that incorporating multiple neurophysiological indices of covert attention can improve performance in a gaze-independent BCI.

Delivering a National Process Design Unit with Industry Support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibana, Don

Supported by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) through the Minerals Tertiary Education Council (MTEC), three Australian universities-Curtin University, Murdoch University and the University of Queensland-have formed the Metallurgical Education Partnership (MEP) to jointly develop and deliver an engineering design capstone unit-Metallurgical Process and Plant Design-in their respective undergraduate programs in extractive metallurgy, in order to enhance the students' educational experience. A unique feature of the program is the close interaction of the students in all three universities and a significant involvement of industry professionals. Now in its sixth year, it is clear that this unit is achieving its objectives.

Feature-based Approach in Product Design with Energy Efficiency Consideration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, D. D.; Zhang, Y. J.

2017-10-01

In this paper, a method to measure the energy efficiency and ecological footprint metrics of features is proposed for product design. First the energy consumption models of various manufacturing features, like cutting feature, welding feature, etc. are studied. Then, the total energy consumption of a product is modeled and estimated according to its features. Finally, feature chains that combined by several sequence features based on the producing operation orders are defined and analyzed to calculate global optimal solution. The corresponding assessment model is also proposed to estimate their energy efficiency and ecological footprint. Finally, an example is given to validate the proposed approach in the improvement of sustainability.

30 CFR 77.1435 - Load end attachments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS, SURFACE COAL MINES AND SURFACE WORK AREAS OF UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Personnel... where use of other materials is a design feature, zinc (spelter) shall be used for socketing wire ropes. Design feature means either the manufacturer's original design or a design approved by a registered...

Patients and their families weigh in on evidence-based hospital design.

PubMed

Trochelman, Kathleen; Albert, Nancy; Spence, Jacqueline; Murray, Terri; Slifcak, Ellen

2012-02-01

In 2 landmark publications, the Institute of Medicine reported on significant deficiencies in our current health care system. In response, an area of research examining the role of the physical environment in influencing outcomes for patients and staff gained momentum. The concept of evidence-based design has evolved, and the development of structural guidelines for new hospital construction was instituted by the American Institute of Architects in 2006. To determine perceptions of patients and their families of evidence-based design features in a new heart center. Hospitalized patients and their families, most of whom were in intensive care and step-down units, were surveyed and data from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems were reviewed to determine perceptions of evidence-based design features incorporated into a new heart center and to assess patients' satisfaction with the environment. Results Responses were reviewed and categorized descriptively. Five general environment topics of focus emerged: privacy, space, noise, light, and overall atmosphere. Characteristics perceived as being dissatisfying and satisfying are discussed. Critical care nurses must be aware of the current need to recognize how much the physical environment influences care delivery and take steps to maximize patients' safety, satisfaction, and quality of care.

Simulating clefts in pumpkin balloons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baginski, Frank; Brakke, Kenneth

2010-02-01

The geometry of a large axisymmetric balloon with positive differential pressure, such as a sphere, leads to very high film stresses. These stresses can be significantly reduced by using a tendon re-enforced lobed pumpkin-like shape. A number of schemes have been proposed to achieve a cyclically symmetric pumpkin shape, including the constant bulge angle (CBA) design, the constant bulge radius (CBR) design, CBA/CBR hybrids, and NASA’s recent constant stress (CS) design. Utilizing a hybrid CBA/CBR pumpkin design, Flight 555-NT in June 2006 formed an S-cleft and was unable to fully deploy. In order to better understand the S-cleft phenomenon, a series of inflation tests involving four 27-m diameter 200-gore pumpkin balloons were conducted in 2007. One of the test vehicles was a 1/3-scale mockup of the Flight 555-NT balloon. Using an inflation procedure intended to mimic ascent, the 1/3-scale mockup developed an S-cleft feature strikingly similar to the one observed in Flight 555-NT. Our analysis of the 1/3-scale mockup found it to be unstable. We compute asymmetric equilibrium configurations of this balloon, including shapes with an S-cleft feature.

Banknotes and unattended cash transactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernardini, Ronald R.

2000-04-01

There is a 64 billion dollar annual unattended cash transaction business in the US with 10 to 20 million daily transactions. Even small problems with the machine readability of banknotes can quickly become a major problem to the machine manufacturer and consumer. Traditional note designs incorporate overt security features for visual validation by the public. Many of these features such as fine line engraving, microprinting and watermarks are unsuitable as machine readable features in low cost note acceptors. Current machine readable features, mostly covert, were designed and implemented with the central banks in mind. These features are only usable by the banks large, high speed currency sorting and validation equipment. New note designs should consider and provide for low cost not acceptors, implementing features developed for inexpensive sensing technologies. Machine readable features are only as good as their consistency. Quality of security features as well as that of the overall printing process must be maintained to ensure reliable and secure operation of note readers. Variations in printing and of the components used to make the note are one of the major causes of poor performance in low cost note acceptors. The involvement of machine manufacturers in new currency designs will aid note producers in the design of a note that is machine friendly, helping to secure the acceptance of the note by the public as well as acting asa deterrent to fraud.

Topology reduction in deep convolutional feature extraction networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiatowski, Thomas; Grohs, Philipp; Bölcskei, Helmut

2017-08-01

Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) used in practice employ potentially hundreds of layers and 10,000s of nodes. Such network sizes entail significant computational complexity due to the large number of convolutions that need to be carried out; in addition, a large number of parameters needs to be learned and stored. Very deep and wide CNNs may therefore not be well suited to applications operating under severe resource constraints as is the case, e.g., in low-power embedded and mobile platforms. This paper aims at understanding the impact of CNN topology, specifically depth and width, on the network's feature extraction capabilities. We address this question for the class of scattering networks that employ either Weyl-Heisenberg filters or wavelets, the modulus non-linearity, and no pooling. The exponential feature map energy decay results in Wiatowski et al., 2017, are generalized to O(a-N), where an arbitrary decay factor a > 1 can be realized through suitable choice of the Weyl-Heisenberg prototype function or the mother wavelet. We then show how networks of fixed (possibly small) depth N can be designed to guarantee that ((1 - ɛ) · 100)% of the input signal's energy are contained in the feature vector. Based on the notion of operationally significant nodes, we characterize, partly rigorously and partly heuristically, the topology-reducing effects of (effectively) band-limited input signals, band-limited filters, and feature map symmetries. Finally, for networks based on Weyl-Heisenberg filters, we determine the prototype function bandwidth that minimizes - for fixed network depth N - the average number of operationally significant nodes per layer.

Heterogeneity Between Ducts of the Same Nuclear Grade Involved by Duct Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) of the Breast

PubMed Central

Miller, Naomi A.; Chapman, Judith-Anne W.; Qian, Jin; Christens-Barry, William A.; Fu, Yuejiao; Yuan, Yan; Lickley, H. Lavina A.; Axelrod, David E.

2010-01-01

Purpose Nuclear grade of breast DCIS is considered during patient management decision-making although it may have only a modest prognostic association with therapeutic outcome. We hypothesized that visual inspection may miss substantive differences in nuclei classified as having the same nuclear grade. To test this hypothesis, we measured subvisual nuclear features by quantitative image cytometry for nuclei with the same grade, and tested for statistical differences in these features. Experimental design and statistical analysis Thirty-nine nuclear digital image features of about 100 nuclei were measured in digital images of H&E stained slides of 81 breast biopsy specimens. One field with at least 5 ducts was evaluated for each patient. We compared features of nuclei with the same grade in multiple ducts of the same patient with ANOVA (or Welch test), and compared features of nuclei with the same grade in two ducts of different patients using 2-sided t-tests (P ≤ 0.05). Also, we compared image features for nuclei in patients with single grade to those with the same grade in patients with multiple grades using t-tests. Results Statistically significant differences were detected in nuclear features between ducts with the same nuclear grade, both in different ducts of the same patient, and between ducts in different patients with DCIS of more than one grade. Conclusion Nuclei in ducts visually described as having the same nuclear grade had significantly different subvisual digital image features. These subvisual differences may be considered additional manifestations of heterogeneity over and above differences that can be observed microscopically. This heterogeneity may explain the inconsistency of nuclear grading as a prognostic factor. PMID:20981137

Online Patient Education for Chronic Disease Management: Consumer Perspectives.

PubMed

Win, Khin Than; Hassan, Naffisah Mohd; Oinas-Kukkonen, Harri; Probst, Yasmine

2016-04-01

Patient education plays an important role in chronic disease management. The aim of this study is to identify patients' preferences in regard to the design features of effective online patient education (OPE) and the benefits. A review of the existing literature was conducted in order to identify the benefits of OPE and its essential design features. These design features were empirically tested by conducting survey with patients and caregivers. Reliability analysis, construct validity and regression analysis were performed for data analysis. The results identified patient-tailored information, interactivity, content credibility, clear presentation of content, use of multimedia and interpretability as the essential design features of online patient education websites for chronic disease management.

Designing a Robust Micromixer Based on Fluid Stretching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mott, David; Gautam, Dipesh; Voth, Greg; Oran, Elaine

2010-11-01

A metric for measuring fluid stretching based on finite-time Lyapunov exponents is described, and the use of this metric for optimizing mixing in microfluidic components is explored. The metric is implemented within an automated design approach called the Computational Toolbox (CTB). The CTB designs components by adding geometric features, such a grooves of various shapes, to a microchannel. The transport produced by each of these features in isolation was pre-computed and stored as an "advection map" for that feature, and the flow through a composite geometry that combines these features is calculated rapidly by applying the corresponding maps in sequence. A genetic algorithm search then chooses the feature combination that optimizes a user-specified metric. Metrics based on the variance of concentration generally require the user to specify the fluid distributions at inflow, which leads to different mixer designs for different inflow arrangements. The stretching metric is independent of the fluid arrangement at inflow. Mixers designed using the stretching metric are compared to those designed using a variance of concentration metric and show excellent performance across a variety of inflow distributions and diffusivities.

Quiet Clean Short-haul Experimental Engine (QCSEE). Double-annular clean combustor technology development report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bahr, D. W.; Burrus, D. L.; Sabla, P. E.

1979-01-01

A sector combustor technology development program was conducted to define an advanced double annular dome combustor sized for use in the quiet clean short haul experimental engine (QCSEE). A design which meets the emission goals, and combustor performance goals of the QCSEE engine program was developed. Key design features were identified which resulted in substantial reduction in carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbon emission levels at ground idle operating conditions, in addition to very low nitric oxide emission levels at high power operating conditions. Their significant results are reported.

Comparative evaluation of support vector machine classification for computer aided detection of breast masses in mammography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lesniak, J. M.; Hupse, R.; Blanc, R.; Karssemeijer, N.; Székely, G.

2012-08-01

False positive (FP) marks represent an obstacle for effective use of computer-aided detection (CADe) of breast masses in mammography. Typically, the problem can be approached either by developing more discriminative features or by employing different classifier designs. In this paper, the usage of support vector machine (SVM) classification for FP reduction in CADe is investigated, presenting a systematic quantitative evaluation against neural networks, k-nearest neighbor classification, linear discriminant analysis and random forests. A large database of 2516 film mammography examinations and 73 input features was used to train the classifiers and evaluate for their performance on correctly diagnosed exams as well as false negatives. Further, classifier robustness was investigated using varying training data and feature sets as input. The evaluation was based on the mean exam sensitivity in 0.05-1 FPs on normals on the free-response receiver operating characteristic curve (FROC), incorporated into a tenfold cross validation framework. It was found that SVM classification using a Gaussian kernel offered significantly increased detection performance (P = 0.0002) compared to the reference methods. Varying training data and input features, SVMs showed improved exploitation of large feature sets. It is concluded that with the SVM-based CADe a significant reduction of FPs is possible outperforming other state-of-the-art approaches for breast mass CADe.

A SCALE-UP Mock-Up: Comparison of Student Learning Gains in High- and Low-Tech Active-Learning Environments

PubMed Central

Soneral, Paula A. G.; Wyse, Sara A.

2017-01-01

Student-centered learning environments with upside-down pedagogies (SCALE-UP) are widely implemented at institutions across the country, and learning gains from these classrooms have been well documented. This study investigates the specific design feature(s) of the SCALE-UP classroom most conducive to teaching and learning. Using pilot survey data from instructors and students to prioritize the most salient SCALE-UP classroom features, we created a low-tech “Mock-up” version of this classroom and tested the impact of these features on student learning, attitudes, and satisfaction using a quasi-­experimental setup. The same instructor taught two sections of an introductory biology course in the SCALE-UP and Mock-up rooms. Although students in both sections were equivalent in terms of gender, grade point average, incoming ACT, and drop/fail/withdraw rate, the Mock-up classroom enrolled significantly more freshmen. Controlling for class standing, multiple regression modeling revealed no significant differences in exam, in-class, preclass, and Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology Concept Inventory scores between the SCALE-UP and Mock-up classrooms. Thematic analysis of student comments highlighted that collaboration and whiteboards enhanced the learning experience, but technology was not important. Student satisfaction and attitudes were comparable. These results suggest that the benefits of a SCALE-UP experience can be achieved at lower cost without technology features. PMID:28213582

Position-dependent effects of locked nucleic acid (LNA) on DNA sequencing and PCR primers

PubMed Central

Levin, Joshua D.; Fiala, Dean; Samala, Meinrado F.; Kahn, Jason D.; Peterson, Raymond J.

2006-01-01

Genomes are becoming heavily annotated with important features. Analysis of these features often employs oligonucleotides that hybridize at defined locations. When the defined location lies in a poor sequence context, traditional design strategies may fail. Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) can enhance oligonucleotide affinity and specificity. Though LNA has been used in many applications, formal design rules are still being defined. To further this effort we have investigated the effect of LNA on the performance of sequencing and PCR primers in AT-rich regions, where short primers yield poor sequencing reads or PCR yields. LNA was used in three positional patterns: near the 5′ end (LNA-5′), near the 3′ end (LNA-3′) and distributed throughout (LNA-Even). Quantitative measures of sequencing read length (Phred Q30 count) and real-time PCR signal (cycle threshold, CT) were characterized using two-way ANOVA. LNA-5′ increased the average Phred Q30 score by 60% and it was never observed to decrease performance. LNA-5′ generated cycle thresholds in quantitative PCR that were comparable to high-yielding conventional primers. In contrast, LNA-3′ and LNA-Even did not improve read lengths or CT. ANOVA demonstrated the statistical significance of these results and identified significant interaction between the positional design rule and primer sequence. PMID:17071964

Advanced energy system program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trester, K.

1987-06-01

The ogjectives are to design, develop, and demonstrate a natural-gas-fueled, highly recuperated, 50 kw Brayton-cycle cogeneration system for commercial, institutional, and multifamily residential applications. Recent marketing studies have shown that the Advanced Energy System (AES), with its many cost-effective features, has the potential to offer significant reductions in annual electrical and thermal energy costs to the consumer. Specific advantates of the system that result in low cost ownership are high electrical efficiency (34 percent, LHV), low maintenance, high reliability and long life (20 years). Significant technical features include: an integral turbogenerator with shaft-speed permanent magnet generator; a rotating assembly supported by compliant foil air bearings; a formed-tubesheet plate/fin recuperator with 91 percent effectiveness; and a bi-directional power conditioner to ultilize the generator for system startup. The planned introduction of catalytic combustion will further enhance the economic and ecological attractiveness.

An ERTS multispectral scanner experiment for mapping iron compounds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vincent, R. K. (Principal Investigator)

1972-01-01

There are no author-identified significant results in this report. An experimental plan for enhancing spectral features related to the chemical composition of geological targets in ERTS multispectral scanner data is described. The experiment is designed to produce visible-reflective infrared ratio images from ERTS-1 data. Iron compounds are promising remote sensing targets because they display prominent spectral features in the visible-reflective infrared wavelength region and are geologically significant. The region selected for this ERTS experiment is the southern end of the Wind River Range in Wyoming. If this method proves successful it should prove useful for regional geologic mapping, mineralogical exploration, and soil mapping. It may also be helpful to ERTS users in scientific disciplines other than geology, especially to those concerned with targets composed of mixtures of live vegetation and soil or rock.

Data Collection for Mental Health Studies Through Digital Platforms: Requirements and Design of a Prototype

PubMed Central

Triana Hoyos, Ana Maria; Alakörkkö, Tuomas; Kaski, Kimmo; Saramäki, Jari; Isometsä, Erkki; Darst, Richard K

2017-01-01

Background Mental and behavioral disorders are the main cause of disability worldwide. However, their diagnosis is challenging due to a lack of reliable biomarkers; current detection is based on structured clinical interviews which can be biased by the patient’s recall ability, affective state, changing in temporal frames, etc. While digital platforms have been introduced as a possible solution to this complex problem, there is little evidence on the extent of usability and usefulness of these platforms. Therefore, more studies where digital data is collected in larger scales are needed to collect scientific evidence on the capacities of these platforms. Most of the existing platforms for digital psychiatry studies are designed as monolithic systems for a certain type of study; publications from these studies focus on their results, rather than the design features of the data collection platform. Inevitably, more tools and platforms will emerge in the near future to fulfill the need for digital data collection for psychiatry. Currently little knowledge is available from existing digital platforms for future data collection platforms to build upon. Objective The objective of this work was to identify the most important features for designing a digital platform for data collection for mental health studies, and to demonstrate a prototype platform that we built based on these design features. Methods We worked closely in a multidisciplinary collaboration with psychiatrists, software developers, and data scientists and identified the key features which could guarantee short-term and long-term stability and usefulness of the platform from the designing stage to data collection and analysis of collected data. Results The key design features that we identified were flexibility of access control, flexibility of data sources, and first-order privacy protection. We also designed the prototype platform Non-Intrusive Individual Monitoring Architecture (Niima), where we implemented these key design features. We described why each of these features are important for digital data collection for psychiatry, gave examples of projects where Niima was used or is going to be used in the future, and demonstrated how incorporating these design principles opens new possibilities for studies. Conclusions The new methods of digital psychiatry are still immature and need further research. The design features we suggested are a first step to design platforms which can adapt to the upcoming requirements of digital psychiatry. PMID:28600276

Reversible Nerve Conduction Block Using Kilohertz Frequency Alternating Current

PubMed Central

Kilgore, Kevin L.; Bhadra, Niloy

2013-01-01

Objectives The features and clinical applications of balanced-charge kilohertz frequency alternating currents (KHFAC) are reviewed. Preclinical studies of KHFAC block have demonstrated that it can produce an extremely rapid and reversible block of nerve conduction. Recent systematic analysis and experimentation utilizing KHFAC block has resulted in a significant increase in interest in KHFAC block, both scientifically and clinically. Materials and Methods We review the history and characteristics of KHFAC block, the methods used to investigate this type of block, the experimental evaluation of block, and the electrical parameters and electrode designs needed to achieve successful block. We then analyze the existing clinical applications of high frequency currents, comparing the early results with the known features of KHFAC block. Results Although many features of KHFAC block have been characterized, there is still much that is unknown regarding the response of neural structures to rapidly fluctuating electrical fields. The clinical reports to date do not provide sufficient information to properly evaluate the mechanisms that result in successful or unsuccessful treatment. Conclusions KHFAC nerve block has significant potential as a means of controlling nerve activity for the purpose of treating disease. However, early clinical studies in the use of high frequency currents for the treatment of pain have not been designed to elucidate mechanisms or allow direct comparisons to preclinical data. We strongly encourage the careful reporting of the parameters utilized in these clinical studies, as well as the development of outcome measures that could illuminate the mechanisms of this modality. PMID:23924075

Deep bottleneck features for spoken language identification.

PubMed

Jiang, Bing; Song, Yan; Wei, Si; Liu, Jun-Hua; McLoughlin, Ian Vince; Dai, Li-Rong

2014-01-01

A key problem in spoken language identification (LID) is to design effective representations which are specific to language information. For example, in recent years, representations based on both phonotactic and acoustic features have proven their effectiveness for LID. Although advances in machine learning have led to significant improvements, LID performance is still lacking, especially for short duration speech utterances. With the hypothesis that language information is weak and represented only latently in speech, and is largely dependent on the statistical properties of the speech content, existing representations may be insufficient. Furthermore they may be susceptible to the variations caused by different speakers, specific content of the speech segments, and background noise. To address this, we propose using Deep Bottleneck Features (DBF) for spoken LID, motivated by the success of Deep Neural Networks (DNN) in speech recognition. We show that DBFs can form a low-dimensional compact representation of the original inputs with a powerful descriptive and discriminative capability. To evaluate the effectiveness of this, we design two acoustic models, termed DBF-TV and parallel DBF-TV (PDBF-TV), using a DBF based i-vector representation for each speech utterance. Results on NIST language recognition evaluation 2009 (LRE09) show significant improvements over state-of-the-art systems. By fusing the output of phonotactic and acoustic approaches, we achieve an EER of 1.08%, 1.89% and 7.01% for 30 s, 10 s and 3 s test utterances respectively. Furthermore, various DBF configurations have been extensively evaluated, and an optimal system proposed.

Search performance is better predicted by tileability than presence of a unique basic feature.

PubMed

Chang, Honghua; Rosenholtz, Ruth

2016-08-01

Traditional models of visual search such as feature integration theory (FIT; Treisman & Gelade, 1980), have suggested that a key factor determining task difficulty consists of whether or not the search target contains a "basic feature" not found in the other display items (distractors). Here we discriminate between such traditional models and our recent texture tiling model (TTM) of search (Rosenholtz, Huang, Raj, Balas, & Ilie, 2012b), by designing new experiments that directly pit these models against each other. Doing so is nontrivial, for two reasons. First, the visual representation in TTM is fully specified, and makes clear testable predictions, but its complexity makes getting intuitions difficult. Here we elucidate a rule of thumb for TTM, which enables us to easily design new and interesting search experiments. FIT, on the other hand, is somewhat ill-defined and hard to pin down. To get around this, rather than designing totally new search experiments, we start with five classic experiments that FIT already claims to explain: T among Ls, 2 among 5s, Q among Os, O among Qs, and an orientation/luminance-contrast conjunction search. We find that fairly subtle changes in these search tasks lead to significant changes in performance, in a direction predicted by TTM, providing definitive evidence in favor of the texture tiling model as opposed to traditional views of search.

Modifiable Neighborhood Features Associated With Adolescent Homicide

PubMed Central

Culyba, Alison J.; Jacoby, Sara F.; Richmond, Therese S.; Fein, Joel A.; Hohl, Bernadette C.; Branas, Charles C.

2016-01-01

IMPORTANCE Homicide is a leading cause of adolescent mortality. To our knowledge, relatively little has been studied in terms of the association between environmental neighborhood features, such as streets, buildings, and natural surroundings, and severe violent injury among youth. OBJECTIVE To assess associations between environmental neighborhood features and adolescent homicide in order to identify targets for future place-based interventions. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Population-based case-control study conducted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from April 15, 2008, to March 31, 2014. We identified adolescents who died by homicide at 13 to 20 years of age from 2010 to 2012 while residing in Philadelphia. We used incidence-density sampling and random-digit dialing to recruit control participants ages 13 to 20 years matched on sex and indoor-outdoor location at the time of each index case participant’s homicide. EXPOSURES To obtain environmental data about modifiable features that were present in the immediate surroundings of our case and control participants, blinded field researchers used standardized techniques to photograph case and control participant outdoor locations. Photographic data were stitched together to create 360° panoramic images that were coded for 60 elements of the visible environment. MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURE Adolescent homicide. RESULTS We enrolled 143 homicide case participants (mean [SD] age, 18.4 [1.5] years) and 155 matched control participants (mean [SD] age, 17.2 [2.1] years) who were both outdoors at the time of the homicide. In adjusted analyses, multiple features of Philadelphia streets, buildings, and natural surroundings were associated with adolescent homicide. The presence of street lighting (odds ratio [OR], 0.24; 95% CI, 0.09-0.70), illuminated walk/don’t walk signs (OR, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.03-0.92), painted marked crosswalks (OR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.04-0.63), public transportation (OR, 0.13; 95% CI, 0.03-0.49), parks (OR, 0.09; 95% CI, 0.01-0.88), and maintained vacant lots (OR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.03-0.81) were significantly associated with decreased odds of homicide. The odds of homicide were significantly higher in locations with stop signs (OR, 4.34; 95% CI, 1.40-13.45), security bars/gratings on houses (OR, 9.23; 95% CI, 2.45-34.80), and private bushes/plantings (OR, 3.44; 95% CI, 1.18-10.01). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Using a population-based case-control design, we identified multiple modifiable environmental features that might be targeted in future randomized intervention trials designed to reduce youth violence by improving neighborhood context. PMID:26954939

Superenhancers: novel opportunities for nanowire optoelectronics.

PubMed

Khudiyev, Tural; Bayindir, Mehmet

2014-12-16

Nanowires play a crucial role in the development of new generation optoelectronic devices ranging from photovoltaics to photodetectors, as these designs capitalize on the low material usage, utilize leaky-mode optical resonances and possess high conversion efficiencies associated with nanowire geometry. However, their current schemes lack sufficient absorption capacity demanded for their practical applicability, and more efficient materials cannot find widespread usage in these designs due to their rarity and cost. Here we suggest a novel and versatile nanoconcentrator scheme utilizing unique optical features of non-resonant Mie (NRM) scattering regime associated with low-index structures. The scattering regime is highly compatible with resonant Mie absorption effect taking place in nanowire absorbers. This technique in its optimized forms can provide up to 1500% total absorption enhancement, 400-fold material save and is suitable for large-area applications with significant area preservation compared to thin-film of same materials. Proposed superenhancer concept with its exceptional features such as broadband absorption enhancement, polarization immunity and material-independent manner paves the way for development of efficient nanowire photosensors or solar thermophotovoltaic devices and presents novel design opportunities for self-powered nanosystems.

Large-area hexagonal silicon detectors for the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pree, E.

2018-02-01

During the so-called Phase-2 Upgrade, the CMS experiment at CERN will undergo significant improvements to cope with the 10-fold luminosity increase of the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) era. Especially the forward calorimetry will suffer from very high radiation levels and intensified pileup in the detectors. For this reason, the CMS collaboration is designing a High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL) to replace the existing endcap calorimeters. It features unprecedented transverse and longitudinal segmentation for both electromagnetic (CE-E) and hadronic (CE-H) compartments. The CE-E and a large fraction of CE-H will consist of a sandwich structure with silicon as active detector material. This paper presents an overview of the ongoing sensor development for the HGCAL and highlights important design features and measurement techniques. The design and layout of an 8-inch silicon sensor prototype is shown. The hexagonal sensors consist of 235 pads, each with an area of about 1 cm2. Furthermore, Synopsys TCAD simulations regarding the high voltage stability of the sensors for different geometric parameters are performed. Finally, two different IV characterisation methods are compared on the same sensor.

Fault-tolerant control of large space structures using the stable factorization approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Razavi, H. C.; Mehra, R. K.; Vidyasagar, M.

1986-01-01

Large space structures are characterized by the following features: they are in general infinite-dimensional systems, and have large numbers of undamped or lightly damped poles. Any attempt to apply linear control theory to large space structures must therefore take into account these features. Phase I consisted of an attempt to apply the recently developed Stable Factorization (SF) design philosophy to problems of large space structures, with particular attention to the aspects of robustness and fault tolerance. The final report on the Phase I effort consists of four sections, each devoted to one task. The first three sections report theoretical results, while the last consists of a design example. Significant results were obtained in all four tasks of the project. More specifically, an innovative approach to order reduction was obtained, stabilizing controller structures for plants with an infinite number of unstable poles were determined under some conditions, conditions for simultaneous stabilizability of an infinite number of plants were explored, and a fault tolerance controller design that stabilizes a flexible structure model was obtained which is robust against one failure condition.

Mo100 to Mo99 Target Cooling Enhancements Report

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

Woloshun, Keith Albert; Dale, Gregory E.; Olivas, Eric Richard

2016-02-16

Target design requirements changed significantly over the past year to a much higher beam current on larger diameter disks, and with a beam impingement on both ends of the target. Scaling from the previous design, that required significantly more mass flow rate of helium coolant, and also thinner disks. A new Aerzen GM12.4 blower was selected that can deliver up to 400 g/s at 400 psi, compared to about 100 g/s possible with the Tuthill blower previously selected.Further, to accommodate the 42 MeV, 2.7 mA beam on each side of the target, the disk thickness and the coolant gaps weremore » halved to create the current baseline design: 0.5 mm disk thickness (at 29 mm diameter) and 0.25 mm coolant gap. Thermal-hydraulic analysis of this target, presented below for reference, gave very good results, suggesting that the target could be improved with fewer, thicker disks and with disk thickness increasing toward the target center. The total thickness of Mo100 in the target remaining the same, that reduces the number of coolant gaps. This allows for the gap width to be increased, increasing the mass flow in each gap and consequently increasing heat transfer. A preliminary geometry was selected and analyzed with variable disk thickness and wider coolant gaps. The result of analysis of this target shows that disk thickness increase near the window was too aggressive and further resizing of the disks is necessary, but it does illustrate the potential improvements that are possible. Experimental and analytical study of diffusers on the target exit has been done. This shows modest improvement in requcing pressure drop, as will be summarized below. However, the benefit is not significant, and implementation becomes problematic when disk thickness is varying. A bull nose at the entrance does offer significant benefit and is relatively easy to incorporate. A bull nose on both ends is now a feature of the baseline design, and will be a feature of any redesign or enhanced designs that follow.« less

The architecture of safety: hospital design.

PubMed

Joseph, Anjali; Rashid, Mahbub

2007-12-01

This paper reviews recent research literature reporting the effects of hospital design on patient safety. Features of hospital design that are linked to patient safety in the literature include noise, air quality, lighting conditions, patient room design, unit layout, and several other interior design features. Some of these features act as latent conditions for adverse events, and impact safety outcomes directly and indirectly by impacting staff working conditions. Others act as barriers to adverse events by providing hospital staff with opportunities for preventing accidents before they occur. Although the evidence linking hospital design to patient safety is growing, much is left to be done in this area of research. Nevertheless, the evidence reported in the literature may already be sufficient to have a positive impact on hospital design.

Apollo experience report: S-band system signal design and analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rosenberg, H. R. (Editor)

1972-01-01

A description is given of the Apollo communications-system engineering-analysis effort that ensured the adequacy, performance, and interface compatibility of the unified S-band system elements for a successful lunar-landing mission. The evolution and conceptual design of the unified S-band system are briefly reviewed from a historical viewpoint. A comprehensive discussion of the unified S-band elements includes the salient design features of the system and serves as a basis for a better understanding of the design decisions and analyses. The significant design decisions concerning the Apollo communications-system signal design are discussed providing an insight into the role of systems analysis in arriving at the current configuration of the Apollo communications system. Analyses are presented concerning performance estimation (mathematical-model development through real-time mission support) and system deficiencies, modifications, and improvements.

Student Attitudes toward Impairment: An Assessment of Passive and Active Learning Methods in Urban Planning Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, John L.

2011-01-01

Designing for the needs of people with impairments has rarely been a significant feature of urban planning theory and education. Given the role of urban planners as shapers of the built environment and public policy, the prevalence of negative and misinformed attitudes among planners toward impaired populations has been highlighted as requiring…

COTS-Based Fault Tolerance in Deep Space: Qualitative and Quantitative Analyses of a Bus Network Architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tai, Ann T.; Chau, Savio N.; Alkalai, Leon

2000-01-01

Using COTS products, standards and intellectual properties (IPs) for all the system and component interfaces is a crucial step toward significant reduction of both system cost and development cost as the COTS interfaces enable other COTS products and IPs to be readily accommodated by the target system architecture. With respect to the long-term survivable systems for deep-space missions, the major challenge for us is, under stringent power and mass constraints, to achieve ultra-high reliability of the system comprising COTS products and standards that are not developed for mission-critical applications. The spirit of our solution is to exploit the pertinent standard features of a COTS product to circumvent its shortcomings, though these standard features may not be originally designed for highly reliable systems. In this paper, we discuss our experiences and findings on the design of an IEEE 1394 compliant fault-tolerant COTS-based bus architecture. We first derive and qualitatively analyze a -'stacktree topology" that not only complies with IEEE 1394 but also enables the implementation of a fault-tolerant bus architecture without node redundancy. We then present a quantitative evaluation that demonstrates significant reliability improvement from the COTS-based fault tolerance.

A Thermal Physiological Comparison of Two HazMat Protective Ensembles With and Without Active Convective Cooling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williamson, Rebecca; Carbo, Jorge; Luna, Bernadette; Webbon, Bruce W.

1998-01-01

Wearing impermeable garments for hazardous materials clean up can often present a health and safety problem for the wearer. Even short duration clean up activities can produce heat stress injuries in hazardous materials workers. It was hypothesized that an internal cooling system might increase worker productivity and decrease likelihood of heat stress injuries in typical HazMat operations. Two HazMat protective ensembles were compared during treadmill exercise. The different ensembles were created using two different suits: a Trelleborg VPS suit representative of current HazMat suits and a prototype suit developed by NASA engineers. The two life support systems used were a current technology Interspiro Spirolite breathing apparatus and a liquid air breathing system that also provided convective cooling. Twelve local members of a HazMat team served as test subjects. They were fully instrumented to allow a complete physiological comparison of their thermal responses to the different ensembles. Results showed that cooling from the liquid air system significantly decreased thermal stress. The results of the subjective evaluations of new design features in the prototype suit were also highly favorable. Incorporation of these new design features could lead to significant operational advantages in the future.

77 FR 3847 - Major Capital Investment Projects

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-25

... designed to achieve a ``medium'' cost effectiveness rating to remain eligible for funding while sacrificing other potentially important considerations (such as station locations and/or design features to... access to surrounding development or aesthetically-oriented design features. This would remove a...

Description and Evaluation of a Four-Channel, Coherent 100-kHz Sidescan Sonar

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-12-01

document contains color images. 14. ABSTRACT This report documents the design and features of a new, four-channel, coherent 100-kHz sidescan sonar...Atlantic Technical Memorandum DRDC Atlantic TM 2004-204 December 2004 Abstract This report documents the design and features of a new...Results This report documents the design and features of this new high-frequency sonar system. These initial field trial results demonstrate some of

77 FR 42949 - Special Conditions: Tamarack Aerospace Group, Cirrus Model SR22; Active Technology Load...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-23

... novel or unusual design feature(s) associated with Tamarack Aerospace Group's modification. The design... not aware of the failure. Warning systems must not activate the control system. (b) The design of the... Active Control Surface (TACS) must be designed and installed to prevent jamming, chafing, and...

76 FR 8319 - Special Conditions: Gulfstream Model GVI Airplane; Design Roll Maneuver Requirement for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-14

... design features include an electronic flight control system that provides roll control of the airplane... Design Features The GVI is equipped with an electronic flight control system that provides roll control... condition at design maneuvering speed (V A ), in which the cockpit roll control is returned to neutral...

Thermal Design, Analysis, and Testing of the Quench Module Insert Bread Board

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Breeding, Shawn; Khodabandeh, Julia

2002-01-01

Contents include the following: Quench Module Insert (QMI) science requirements. QMI interfaces. QMI design layout. QMI thermal analysis and design methodology. QMI bread board testing and instrumentation approach. QMI thermal probe design parameters. Design features for gradient measurement. Design features for heated zone measurements. Thermal gradient analysis results. Heated zone analysis results. Bread board thermal probe layout. QMI bread board correlation and performance. Summary and conclusions.

Technical and Economic Evaluation of Advanced Air Cargo Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitehead, A. H., Jr.

1978-01-01

The current air cargo environment and the relevance of advanced technology aircraft in enhancing the efficiency of the 1990 air cargo system are discussed. NASA preliminary design studies are shown to indicate significant potential gains in aircraft efficiency and operational economics for future freighter concepts. Required research and technology elements are outlined to develop a better base for evaluating advanced design concepts. Current studies of the market operation are reviewed which will develop design criteria for a future dedicated cargo transport. Design features desirable in an all-freighter design are reviewed. NASA-sponsored studies of large, distributed-load freighters are reviewed and these designs are compared to current wide-body aircraft. These concepts vary in gross takeoff weight from 0.5 Gg (one million lbs.) to 1.5 Gg (three million lbs.) and are found to exhibit economic advantages over conventional design concepts.

Deep Constrained Siamese Hash Coding Network and Load-Balanced Locality-Sensitive Hashing for Near Duplicate Image Detection.

PubMed

Hu, Weiming; Fan, Yabo; Xing, Junliang; Sun, Liang; Cai, Zhaoquan; Maybank, Stephen

2018-09-01

We construct a new efficient near duplicate image detection method using a hierarchical hash code learning neural network and load-balanced locality-sensitive hashing (LSH) indexing. We propose a deep constrained siamese hash coding neural network combined with deep feature learning. Our neural network is able to extract effective features for near duplicate image detection. The extracted features are used to construct a LSH-based index. We propose a load-balanced LSH method to produce load-balanced buckets in the hashing process. The load-balanced LSH significantly reduces the query time. Based on the proposed load-balanced LSH, we design an effective and feasible algorithm for near duplicate image detection. Extensive experiments on three benchmark data sets demonstrate the effectiveness of our deep siamese hash encoding network and load-balanced LSH.

10 CFR 830.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

.... Critical assembly means special nuclear devices designed and used to sustain nuclear reactions, which may... reaction becomes self-sustaining. Design features means the design features of a nuclear facility specified... reaction (e.g., uranium-233, uranium-235, plutonium-238, plutonium-239, plutonium-241, neptunium-237...

Factor structure and construct validity of the psychopathic personality inventory in a forensic sample.

PubMed

Gonsalves, Valerie M; McLawsen, Julia E; Huss, Matthew T; Scalora, Mario J

2013-01-01

A wealth of research has underscored the strong relationship between PCL-R scores and recidivism. However, mounting criticism cites the PCL-R's cumbersome administration procedures and failure to adequately measure core features associated with the construct of psychopathy (Skeem, Polaschek, Patrick, & Lilienfeld, 2011). In light of these concerns, this study examined the PPI and the PPI-R, which were designed to measure core personality features associated with psychopathy (Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005). Study one examined the PPI relative to the PCL-R and examined its factor structure. The instruments shared few significant correlations and neither the PCL-R nor the PPI significantly predicted recidivism. Study two examined the PPI-R relative to the PCL-R, the PPI, both history of violence and future criminal activity and measure of related constructs. The PPI-R was significantly correlated with measures of empathy and criminal thinking and the factors were related to a history of violence and predicted future violent criminal behavior. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Feature-based component model for design of embedded systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zha, Xuan Fang; Sriram, Ram D.

2004-11-01

An embedded system is a hybrid of hardware and software, which combines software's flexibility and hardware real-time performance. Embedded systems can be considered as assemblies of hardware and software components. An Open Embedded System Model (OESM) is currently being developed at NIST to provide a standard representation and exchange protocol for embedded systems and system-level design, simulation, and testing information. This paper proposes an approach to representing an embedded system feature-based model in OESM, i.e., Open Embedded System Feature Model (OESFM), addressing models of embedded system artifacts, embedded system components, embedded system features, and embedded system configuration/assembly. The approach provides an object-oriented UML (Unified Modeling Language) representation for the embedded system feature model and defines an extension to the NIST Core Product Model. The model provides a feature-based component framework allowing the designer to develop a virtual embedded system prototype through assembling virtual components. The framework not only provides a formal precise model of the embedded system prototype but also offers the possibility of designing variation of prototypes whose members are derived by changing certain virtual components with different features. A case study example is discussed to illustrate the embedded system model.

Sparsity-aware tight frame learning with adaptive subspace recognition for multiple fault diagnosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Han; Chen, Xuefeng; Du, Zhaohui; Yang, Boyuan

2017-09-01

It is a challenging problem to design excellent dictionaries to sparsely represent diverse fault information and simultaneously discriminate different fault sources. Therefore, this paper describes and analyzes a novel multiple feature recognition framework which incorporates the tight frame learning technique with an adaptive subspace recognition strategy. The proposed framework consists of four stages. Firstly, by introducing the tight frame constraint into the popular dictionary learning model, the proposed tight frame learning model could be formulated as a nonconvex optimization problem which can be solved by alternatively implementing hard thresholding operation and singular value decomposition. Secondly, the noises are effectively eliminated through transform sparse coding techniques. Thirdly, the denoised signal is decoupled into discriminative feature subspaces by each tight frame filter. Finally, in guidance of elaborately designed fault related sensitive indexes, latent fault feature subspaces can be adaptively recognized and multiple faults are diagnosed simultaneously. Extensive numerical experiments are sequently implemented to investigate the sparsifying capability of the learned tight frame as well as its comprehensive denoising performance. Most importantly, the feasibility and superiority of the proposed framework is verified through performing multiple fault diagnosis of motor bearings. Compared with the state-of-the-art fault detection techniques, some important advantages have been observed: firstly, the proposed framework incorporates the physical prior with the data-driven strategy and naturally multiple fault feature with similar oscillation morphology can be adaptively decoupled. Secondly, the tight frame dictionary directly learned from the noisy observation can significantly promote the sparsity of fault features compared to analytical tight frames. Thirdly, a satisfactory complete signal space description property is guaranteed and thus weak feature leakage problem is avoided compared to typical learning methods.

Accurate in silico prediction of species-specific methylation sites based on information gain feature optimization.

PubMed

Wen, Ping-Ping; Shi, Shao-Ping; Xu, Hao-Dong; Wang, Li-Na; Qiu, Jian-Ding

2016-10-15

As one of the most important reversible types of post-translational modification, protein methylation catalyzed by methyltransferases carries many pivotal biological functions as well as many essential biological processes. Identification of methylation sites is prerequisite for decoding methylation regulatory networks in living cells and understanding their physiological roles. Experimental methods are limitations of labor-intensive and time-consuming. While in silicon approaches are cost-effective and high-throughput manner to predict potential methylation sites, but those previous predictors only have a mixed model and their prediction performances are not fully satisfactory now. Recently, with increasing availability of quantitative methylation datasets in diverse species (especially in eukaryotes), there is a growing need to develop a species-specific predictor. Here, we designed a tool named PSSMe based on information gain (IG) feature optimization method for species-specific methylation site prediction. The IG method was adopted to analyze the importance and contribution of each feature, then select the valuable dimension feature vectors to reconstitute a new orderly feature, which was applied to build the finally prediction model. Finally, our method improves prediction performance of accuracy about 15% comparing with single features. Furthermore, our species-specific model significantly improves the predictive performance compare with other general methylation prediction tools. Hence, our prediction results serve as useful resources to elucidate the mechanism of arginine or lysine methylation and facilitate hypothesis-driven experimental design and validation. The tool online service is implemented by C# language and freely available at http://bioinfo.ncu.edu.cn/PSSMe.aspx CONTACT: jdqiu@ncu.edu.cnSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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

Ratcliff, Blair N

Some conceptual design features of the total internally reflecting,imaging Cherenkov counter (DIRC) are described. Limits of the DIRC approach to particle identification, and a few features of alternative DIRC designs, are briefly explored.

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

Ratcliff, Blair N

Some general conceptual design features of total internally reflecting, imaging Cherenkov counters (DIRCs) are described. Limits of the DIRC approach to particle identification and a few features of alternative DIRC designs are briefly explored.

Recent Development of the Two-Stroke Engine. II - Design Features. 2; Design Features

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zeman, J.

1945-01-01

Completing the first paper dealing with charging methods and arrangements, the present paper discusses the design forms of two-stroke engines. Features which largely influence piston running are: (a) The shape and surface condition of the sliding parts. (b) The cylinder and piston materials. (c) Heat conditions in the piston, and lubrication. There is little essential difference between four-stroke and two-stroke engines with ordinary pistons. In large engines, for example, are always found separately cast or welded frames in which the stresses are taken up by tie rods. Twin piston and timing piston engines often differ from this design. Examples can be found in many engines of German or foreign make. Their methods of operation will be dealt with in the third part of the present paper, which also includes the bibliography. The development of two-stroke engine design is, of course, mainly concerned with such features as are inherently difficult to master; that is, the piston barrel and the design of the gudgeon pin bearing. Designers of four-stroke engines now-a-days experience approximately the same difficulties, since heat stresses have increased to the point of influencing conditions in the piston barrel. Features which notably affect this are: (a) The material. (b) Prevailing heat conditions.

A malware detection scheme based on mining format information.

PubMed

Bai, Jinrong; Wang, Junfeng; Zou, Guozhong

2014-01-01

Malware has become one of the most serious threats to computer information system and the current malware detection technology still has very significant limitations. In this paper, we proposed a malware detection approach by mining format information of PE (portable executable) files. Based on in-depth analysis of the static format information of the PE files, we extracted 197 features from format information of PE files and applied feature selection methods to reduce the dimensionality of the features and achieve acceptable high performance. When the selected features were trained using classification algorithms, the results of our experiments indicate that the accuracy of the top classification algorithm is 99.1% and the value of the AUC is 0.998. We designed three experiments to evaluate the performance of our detection scheme and the ability of detecting unknown and new malware. Although the experimental results of identifying new malware are not perfect, our method is still able to identify 97.6% of new malware with 1.3% false positive rates.

A Malware Detection Scheme Based on Mining Format Information

PubMed Central

Bai, Jinrong; Wang, Junfeng; Zou, Guozhong

2014-01-01

Malware has become one of the most serious threats to computer information system and the current malware detection technology still has very significant limitations. In this paper, we proposed a malware detection approach by mining format information of PE (portable executable) files. Based on in-depth analysis of the static format information of the PE files, we extracted 197 features from format information of PE files and applied feature selection methods to reduce the dimensionality of the features and achieve acceptable high performance. When the selected features were trained using classification algorithms, the results of our experiments indicate that the accuracy of the top classification algorithm is 99.1% and the value of the AUC is 0.998. We designed three experiments to evaluate the performance of our detection scheme and the ability of detecting unknown and new malware. Although the experimental results of identifying new malware are not perfect, our method is still able to identify 97.6% of new malware with 1.3% false positive rates. PMID:24991639

Designing ECG-based physical unclonable function for security of wearable devices.

PubMed

Shihui Yin; Chisung Bae; Sang Joon Kim; Jae-Sun Seo

2017-07-01

As a plethora of wearable devices are being introduced, significant concerns exist on the privacy and security of personal data stored on these devices. Expanding on recent works of using electrocardiogram (ECG) as a modality for biometric authentication, in this work, we investigate the possibility of using personal ECG signals as the individually unique source for physical unclonable function (PUF), which eventually can be used as the key for encryption and decryption engines. We present new signal processing and machine learning algorithms that learn and extract maximally different ECG features for different individuals and minimally different ECG features for the same individual over time. Experimental results with a large 741-subject in-house ECG database show that the distributions of the intra-subject (same person) Hamming distance of extracted ECG features and the inter-subject Hamming distance have minimal overlap. 256-b random numbers generated from the ECG features of 648 (out of 741) subjects pass the NIST randomness tests.

NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine impairs feature integration in visual perception.

PubMed

Meuwese, Julia D I; van Loon, Anouk M; Scholte, H Steven; Lirk, Philipp B; Vulink, Nienke C C; Hollmann, Markus W; Lamme, Victor A F

2013-01-01

Recurrent interactions between neurons in the visual cortex are crucial for the integration of image elements into coherent objects, such as in figure-ground segregation of textured images. Blocking N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in monkeys can abolish neural signals related to figure-ground segregation and feature integration. However, it is unknown whether this also affects perceptual integration itself. Therefore, we tested whether ketamine, a non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist, reduces feature integration in humans. We administered a subanesthetic dose of ketamine to healthy subjects who performed a texture discrimination task in a placebo-controlled double blind within-subject design. We found that ketamine significantly impaired performance on the texture discrimination task compared to the placebo condition, while performance on a control fixation task was much less impaired. This effect is not merely due to task difficulty or a difference in sedation levels. We are the first to show a behavioral effect on feature integration by manipulating the NMDA receptor in humans.

Designing Feature and Data Parallel Stochastic Coordinate Descent Method forMatrix and Tensor Factorization

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-11

AFRL-AFOSR-JP-TR-2016-0046 Designing Feature and Data Parallel Stochastic Coordinate Descent Method for Matrix and Tensor Factorization U Kang Korea...maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or   any other aspect...Designing Feature and Data Parallel Stochastic Coordinate Descent Method for Matrix and Tensor Factorization 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b.  GRANT NUMBER FA2386

The building blocks of a 'Liveable Neighbourhood': Identifying the key performance indicators for walking of an operational planning policy in Perth, Western Australia.

PubMed

Hooper, Paula; Knuiman, Matthew; Foster, Sarah; Giles-Corti, Billie

2015-11-01

Planning policy makers are requesting clearer guidance on the key design features required to build neighbourhoods that promote active living. Using a backwards stepwise elimination procedure (logistic regression with generalised estimating equations adjusting for demographic characteristics, self-selection factors, stage of construction and scale of development) this study identified specific design features (n=16) from an operational planning policy ("Liveable Neighbourhoods") that showed the strongest associations with walking behaviours (measured using the Neighbourhood Physical Activity Questionnaire). The interacting effects of design features on walking behaviours were also investigated. The urban design features identified were grouped into the "building blocks of a Liveable Neighbourhood", reflecting the scale, importance and sequencing of the design and implementation phases required to create walkable, pedestrian friendly developments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Paving the way to a full chip gate level double patterning application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haffner, Henning; Meiring, Jason; Baum, Zachary; Halle, Scott

2007-10-01

Double patterning lithography processes can offer significant yield enhancement for challenging circuit designs. Many decomposition (i.e. the process of dividing the layout design into first and second exposures) techniques are possible, but the focus of this paper is on the use of a secondary "cut" mask to trim away extraneous features left from the first exposure. This approach has the advantage that each exposure only needs to support a subset of critical features (e.g. dense lines with the first exposure, isolated spaces with the second one). The extraneous features ("printing assist features" or PrAFs) are designed to support the process window of critical features much like the role of the subresolution assist features (SRAFs) in conventional processes. However, the printing nature of PrAFs leads to many more design options, and hence a greater process and decomposition parameter exploration space, than are available for SRAFs. A decomposition scheme using PRAFs was developed for a gate level process. A critical driver of the work was to deliver improved across-chip linewidth variation (ACLV) performance versus an optimized single exposure process while providing support for a larger range of critical features. A variety of PRAF techniques were investigated by simulation, with a PrAF scheme similar to standard SRAF rules being chosen as the optimal solution [1]. This paper discusses aspects of the code development for an automated PrAF generation and placement scheme and the subsequent decomposition of a layout into two mask levels. While PrAF placement and decomposition is straightforward for layouts with pitch and orientation restrictions, it becomes rather complex for unrestricted layout styles. Because this higher complexity yields more irregularly shaped PrAFs, mask making becomes another critical driver of the optimum placement and clean-up strategies. Examples are given of how those challenges are met or can be successfully circumvented. During subsequent decomposition of the PrAF-enhanced layout into two independent mask levels, various geometric decomposition parameters have to be considered. As an example, the removal of PrAFs has to be guaranteed by a minimum required overlap of the cut mask opening past any PrAF edge. It is discussed that process assumptions such as CD tolerances and overlay as well as inter-level relationship ground rules need to be considered to successfully optimize the final decomposition scheme. Furthermore, simulation and experimental results regarding not only ACLV but also across-device linewidth variation (ADLV) are analyzed.

Nuclear Engine System Simulation (NESS). Version 2.0: Program user's guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pelaccio, Dennis G.; Scheil, Christine M.; Petrosky, Lyman

1993-01-01

This Program User's Guide discusses the Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) engine system design features and capabilities modeled in the Nuclear Engine System Simulation (NESS): Version 2.0 program (referred to as NESS throughout the remainder of this document), as well as its operation. NESS was upgraded to include many new modeling capabilities not available in the original version delivered to NASA LeRC in Dec. 1991, NESS's new features include the following: (1) an improved input format; (2) an advanced solid-core NERVA-type reactor system model (ENABLER 2); (3) a bleed-cycle engine system option; (4) an axial-turbopump design option; (5) an automated pump-out turbopump assembly sizing option; (6) an off-design gas generator engine cycle design option; (7) updated hydrogen properties; (8) an improved output format; and (9) personal computer operation capability. Sample design cases are presented in the user's guide that demonstrate many of the new features associated with this upgraded version of NESS, as well as design modeling features associated with the original version of NESS.

The Use of a Parametric Feature Based CAD System to Teach Introductory Engineering Graphics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howell, Steven K.

1995-01-01

Describes the use of a parametric-feature-based computer-aided design (CAD) System, AutoCAD Designer, in teaching concepts of three dimensional geometrical modeling and design. Allows engineering graphics to go beyond the role of documentation and communication and allows an engineer to actually build a virtual prototype of a design idea and…

Superconducting heavy ion injector linac

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

Shepard, K.W.

1985-01-01

A conceptual design for a very low velocity (.007 < v/c < .07) superconducting heavy-ion linac is reviewed. This type of linac may have significant cost and performance advantages over room-temperature linacs, at least for applications requiring modest beam currents. Some general features of the design of very-low velocity superconducting accelerating structures are discussed and a design for a 48.5 MHz, v/c = .009 structure, together with the status of a niobium prototype, is discussed in detail. Preliminary results of a beam dynamics study indicate that the low velocity linac may be able to produce heavy-ion beams with time-energy spreadsmore » of a few keV-nsec. 11 refs, 4 figs.« less

Joint Feature Extraction and Classifier Design for ECG-Based Biometric Recognition.

PubMed

Gutta, Sandeep; Cheng, Qi

2016-03-01

Traditional biometric recognition systems often utilize physiological traits such as fingerprint, face, iris, etc. Recent years have seen a growing interest in electrocardiogram (ECG)-based biometric recognition techniques, especially in the field of clinical medicine. In existing ECG-based biometric recognition methods, feature extraction and classifier design are usually performed separately. In this paper, a multitask learning approach is proposed, in which feature extraction and classifier design are carried out simultaneously. Weights are assigned to the features within the kernel of each task. We decompose the matrix consisting of all the feature weights into sparse and low-rank components. The sparse component determines the features that are relevant to identify each individual, and the low-rank component determines the common feature subspace that is relevant to identify all the subjects. A fast optimization algorithm is developed, which requires only the first-order information. The performance of the proposed approach is demonstrated through experiments using the MIT-BIH Normal Sinus Rhythm database.

Propulsion Design With Freeform Fabrication (PDFF)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barnes, Daudi; McKinnon, James; Priem, Richard

2010-01-01

The nation is challenged to decrease the cost and schedule to develop new space transportation propulsion systems for commercial, scientific, and military purposes. Better design criteria and manufacturing techniques for small thrusters are needed to meet current applications in missile defense, space, and satellite propulsion. The requirements of these systems present size, performance, and environmental demands on these thrusters that have posed significant challenges to the current designers and manufacturers. Designers are limited by manufacturing processes, which are complex, costly, and time consuming, and ultimately limited in their capabilities. The PDFF innovation vastly extends the design opportunities of rocket engine components and systems by making use of the unique manufacturing freedom of solid freeform rapid prototype manufacturing technology combined with the benefits of ceramic materials. The unique features of PDFF are developing and implementing a design methodology that uses solid freeform fabrication (SFF) techniques to make propulsion components with significantly improved performance, thermal management, power density, and stability, while reducing development and production costs. PDFF extends the design process envelope beyond conventional constraints by leveraging the key feature of the SFF technique with the capability to form objects with nearly any geometric complexity without the need for elaborate machine setup. The marriage of SFF technology to propulsion components allows an evolution of design practice to harmonize material properties with functional design efficiency. Reduced density of materials when coupled with the capability to honeycomb structure used in the injector will have significant impact on overall mass reduction. Typical thrusters in use for attitude control have 60 90 percent of its mass in the valve and injector, which is typically made from titanium. The combination of material and structure envisioned for use in an SFF thruster design could reduce thruster weight by a factor of two or more. The thrust-to-weight ratios for such designs can achieve 1,000:1 or more, depending on chamber pressure. The potential exists for continued development in materials, size, speed, accuracy of SFF techniques, which can lead to speculative developments of PDFF processes such as fabrication of custom human interface devices like masks, chairs, and clothing, and advanced biomedical application to human organ reconstruction. Other potential applications are: higher fidelity lower cost test fixtures for probes and inspection, disposable thrusters, and ISRU (in situ resource utilization) for component production in space or on Lunar and Martian missions, and application for embedding MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) during construction process of form changing aerostructure/dynamic structures.

Integrated Computational System for Aerodynamic Steering and Visualization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hesselink, Lambertus

1999-01-01

In February of 1994, an effort from the Fluid Dynamics and Information Sciences Divisions at NASA Ames Research Center with McDonnel Douglas Aerospace Company and Stanford University was initiated to develop, demonstrate, validate and disseminate automated software for numerical aerodynamic simulation. The goal of the initiative was to develop a tri-discipline approach encompassing CFD, Intelligent Systems, and Automated Flow Feature Recognition to improve the utility of CFD in the design cycle. This approach would then be represented through an intelligent computational system which could accept an engineer's definition of a problem and construct an optimal and reliable CFD solution. Stanford University's role focused on developing technologies that advance visualization capabilities for analysis of CFD data, extract specific flow features useful for the design process, and compare CFD data with experimental data. During the years 1995-1997, Stanford University focused on developing techniques in the area of tensor visualization and flow feature extraction. Software libraries were created enabling feature extraction and exploration of tensor fields. As a proof of concept, a prototype system called the Integrated Computational System (ICS) was developed to demonstrate CFD design cycle. The current research effort focuses on finding a quantitative comparison of general vector fields based on topological features. Since the method relies on topological information, grid matching and vector alignment is not needed in the comparison. This is often a problem with many data comparison techniques. In addition, since only topology based information is stored and compared for each field, there is a significant compression of information that enables large databases to be quickly searched. This report will (1) briefly review the technologies developed during 1995-1997 (2) describe current technologies in the area of comparison techniques, (4) describe the theory of our new method researched during the grant year (5) summarize a few of the results and finally (6) discuss work within the last 6 months that are direct extensions from the grant.

Characterizing spatial structure of sediment E. coli populations to inform sampling design.

PubMed

Piorkowski, Gregory S; Jamieson, Rob C; Hansen, Lisbeth Truelstrup; Bezanson, Greg S; Yost, Chris K

2014-01-01

Escherichia coli can persist in streambed sediments and influence water quality monitoring programs through their resuspension into overlying waters. This study examined the spatial patterns in E. coli concentration and population structure within streambed morphological features during baseflow and following stormflow to inform sampling strategies for representative characterization of E. coli populations within a stream reach. E. coli concentrations in bed sediments were significantly different (p = 0.002) among monitoring sites during baseflow, and significant interactive effects (p = 0.002) occurred among monitoring sites and morphological features following stormflow. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression revealed that water velocity and effective particle size (D 10) explained E. coli concentration during baseflow, whereas sediment organic carbon, water velocity and median particle diameter (D 50) were important explanatory variables following stormflow. Principle Coordinate Analysis illustrated the site-scale differences in sediment E. coli populations between disconnected stream segments. Also, E. coli populations were similar among depositional features within a reach, but differed in relation to high velocity features (e.g., riffles). Canonical correspondence analysis resolved that E. coli population structure was primarily explained by spatial (26.9–31.7 %) over environmental variables (9.2–13.1 %). Spatial autocorrelation existed among monitoring sites and morphological features for both sampling events, and gradients in mean particle diameter and water velocity influenced E. coli population structure for the baseflow and stormflow sampling events, respectively. Representative characterization of streambed E. coli requires sampling of depositional and high velocity environments to accommodate strain selectivity among these features owing to sediment and water velocity heterogeneity.

Modeling OPC complexity for design for manufacturability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Puneet; Kahng, Andrew B.; Muddu, Swamy; Nakagawa, Sam; Park, Chul-Hong

2005-11-01

Increasing design complexity in sub-90nm designs results in increased mask complexity and cost. Resolution enhancement techniques (RET) such as assist feature addition, phase shifting (attenuated PSM) and aggressive optical proximity correction (OPC) help in preserving feature fidelity in silicon but increase mask complexity and cost. Data volume increase with rise in mask complexity is becoming prohibitive for manufacturing. Mask cost is determined by mask write time and mask inspection time, which are directly related to the complexity of features printed on the mask. Aggressive RET increase complexity by adding assist features and by modifying existing features. Passing design intent to OPC has been identified as a solution for reducing mask complexity and cost in several recent works. The goal of design-aware OPC is to relax OPC tolerances of layout features to minimize mask cost, without sacrificing parametric yield. To convey optimal OPC tolerances for manufacturing, design optimization should drive OPC tolerance optimization using models of mask cost for devices and wires. Design optimization should be aware of impact of OPC correction levels on mask cost and performance of the design. This work introduces mask cost characterization (MCC) that quantifies OPC complexity, measured in terms of fracture count of the mask, for different OPC tolerances. MCC with different OPC tolerances is a critical step in linking design and manufacturing. In this paper, we present a MCC methodology that provides models of fracture count of standard cells and wire patterns for use in design optimization. MCC cannot be performed by designers as they do not have access to foundry OPC recipes and RET tools. To build a fracture count model, we perform OPC and fracturing on a limited set of standard cells and wire configurations with all tolerance combinations. Separately, we identify the characteristics of the layout that impact fracture count. Based on the fracture count (FC) data from OPC and mask data preparation runs, we build models of FC as function of OPC tolerances and layout parameters.

An EEG-Based Person Authentication System with Open-Set Capability Combining Eye Blinking Signals

PubMed Central

Wu, Qunjian; Zeng, Ying; Zhang, Chi; Tong, Li; Yan, Bin

2018-01-01

The electroencephalogram (EEG) signal represents a subject’s specific brain activity patterns and is considered as an ideal biometric given its superior forgery prevention. However, the accuracy and stability of the current EEG-based person authentication systems are still unsatisfactory in practical application. In this paper, a multi-task EEG-based person authentication system combining eye blinking is proposed, which can achieve high precision and robustness. Firstly, we design a novel EEG-based biometric evoked paradigm using self- or non-self-face rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). The designed paradigm could obtain a distinct and stable biometric trait from EEG with a lower time cost. Secondly, the event-related potential (ERP) features and morphological features are extracted from EEG signals and eye blinking signals, respectively. Thirdly, convolutional neural network and back propagation neural network are severally designed to gain the score estimation of EEG features and eye blinking features. Finally, a score fusion technology based on least square method is proposed to get the final estimation score. The performance of multi-task authentication system is improved significantly compared to the system using EEG only, with an increasing average accuracy from 92.4% to 97.6%. Moreover, open-set authentication tests for additional imposters and permanence tests for users are conducted to simulate the practical scenarios, which have never been employed in previous EEG-based person authentication systems. A mean false accepted rate (FAR) of 3.90% and a mean false rejected rate (FRR) of 3.87% are accomplished in open-set authentication tests and permanence tests, respectively, which illustrate the open-set authentication and permanence capability of our systems. PMID:29364848

An EEG-Based Person Authentication System with Open-Set Capability Combining Eye Blinking Signals.

PubMed

Wu, Qunjian; Zeng, Ying; Zhang, Chi; Tong, Li; Yan, Bin

2018-01-24

The electroencephalogram (EEG) signal represents a subject's specific brain activity patterns and is considered as an ideal biometric given its superior forgery prevention. However, the accuracy and stability of the current EEG-based person authentication systems are still unsatisfactory in practical application. In this paper, a multi-task EEG-based person authentication system combining eye blinking is proposed, which can achieve high precision and robustness. Firstly, we design a novel EEG-based biometric evoked paradigm using self- or non-self-face rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). The designed paradigm could obtain a distinct and stable biometric trait from EEG with a lower time cost. Secondly, the event-related potential (ERP) features and morphological features are extracted from EEG signals and eye blinking signals, respectively. Thirdly, convolutional neural network and back propagation neural network are severally designed to gain the score estimation of EEG features and eye blinking features. Finally, a score fusion technology based on least square method is proposed to get the final estimation score. The performance of multi-task authentication system is improved significantly compared to the system using EEG only, with an increasing average accuracy from 92.4% to 97.6%. Moreover, open-set authentication tests for additional imposters and permanence tests for users are conducted to simulate the practical scenarios, which have never been employed in previous EEG-based person authentication systems. A mean false accepted rate (FAR) of 3.90% and a mean false rejected rate (FRR) of 3.87% are accomplished in open-set authentication tests and permanence tests, respectively, which illustrate the open-set authentication and permanence capability of our systems.

Health physics aspects of advanced reactor licensing reviews

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

Hinson, C.S.

1995-03-01

The last Construction Permit to be issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a U.S. light water reactor (LWR) was granted in the late 1970s. In 1989 the NRC issued 10 CFR Part 52 which is intended to serve as a framework for the licensing of future reactor designs. The NRC is currently reviewing four different future on {open_quotes}next-generation{close_quotes} reactor designs. Two of these designs are classified as evolutionary designs (modified versions of current generation LWRs) and two are advanced designs (reactors incorporating simplified designs and passive means for accident mitigation). These {open_quotes}next-generation{close_quotes} reactor designs incorporate many innovativemore » design features which are intended to maintain personnel doses ALARA and ensure that the annual average collective dose at these reactors does not exceed 100 person-rems (1 person-sievert) per year. This paper discusses some of the ALARA design features which are incorporated in the four {open_quotes}next-generation{close_quotes} reactor designs incorporate many innovative design features which are intended to maintain personnel doses ALARA and ensure that the annual average collective dose at these reactors does not exceed 100 person-rems (1 person-sievert) per year. This paper discusses some of the ALARA design features which are incorporated in the four {open_quotes}next-generation{close_quotes} reactor designs currently being reviewed by the NRC.« less

Textural characterization of histopathological images for oral sub-mucous fibrosis detection.

PubMed

Krishnan, M Muthu Rama; Shah, Pratik; Choudhary, Anirudh; Chakraborty, Chandan; Paul, Ranjan Rashmi; Ray, Ajoy K

2011-10-01

In the field of quantitative microscopy, textural information plays a significant role very often in tissue characterization and diagnosis, in addition to morphology and intensity. The aim of this work is to improve the classification accuracy based on textural features for the development of a computer assisted screening of oral sub-mucous fibrosis (OSF). In fact, a systematic approach is introduced in order to grade the histopathological tissue sections into normal, OSF without dysplasia and OSF with dysplasia, which would help the oral onco-pathologists to screen the subjects rapidly. In totality, 71 textural features are extracted from epithelial region of the tissue sections using various wavelet families, Gabor-wavelet, local binary pattern, fractal dimension and Brownian motion curve, followed by preprocessing and segmentation. Wavelet families contribute a common set of 9 features, out of which 8 are significant and other 61 out of 62 obtained from the rest of the extractors are also statistically significant (p<0.05) in discriminating the three stages. Based on mean distance criteria, the best wavelet family (i.e., biorthogonal3.1 (bior3.1)) is selected for classifier design. support vector machine (SVM) is trained by 146 samples based on 69 textural features and its classification accuracy is computed for each of the combinations of wavelet family and rest of the extractors. Finally, it has been investigated that bior3.1 wavelet coefficients leads to higher accuracy (88.38%) in combination with LBP and Gabor wavelet features through three-fold cross validation. Results are shown and discussed in detail. It is shown that combining more than one texture measure instead of using just one might improve the overall accuracy. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Data Collection for Mental Health Studies Through Digital Platforms: Requirements and Design of a Prototype.

PubMed

Aledavood, Talayeh; Triana Hoyos, Ana Maria; Alakörkkö, Tuomas; Kaski, Kimmo; Saramäki, Jari; Isometsä, Erkki; Darst, Richard K

2017-06-09

Mental and behavioral disorders are the main cause of disability worldwide. However, their diagnosis is challenging due to a lack of reliable biomarkers; current detection is based on structured clinical interviews which can be biased by the patient's recall ability, affective state, changing in temporal frames, etc. While digital platforms have been introduced as a possible solution to this complex problem, there is little evidence on the extent of usability and usefulness of these platforms. Therefore, more studies where digital data is collected in larger scales are needed to collect scientific evidence on the capacities of these platforms. Most of the existing platforms for digital psychiatry studies are designed as monolithic systems for a certain type of study; publications from these studies focus on their results, rather than the design features of the data collection platform. Inevitably, more tools and platforms will emerge in the near future to fulfill the need for digital data collection for psychiatry. Currently little knowledge is available from existing digital platforms for future data collection platforms to build upon. The objective of this work was to identify the most important features for designing a digital platform for data collection for mental health studies, and to demonstrate a prototype platform that we built based on these design features. We worked closely in a multidisciplinary collaboration with psychiatrists, software developers, and data scientists and identified the key features which could guarantee short-term and long-term stability and usefulness of the platform from the designing stage to data collection and analysis of collected data. The key design features that we identified were flexibility of access control, flexibility of data sources, and first-order privacy protection. We also designed the prototype platform Non-Intrusive Individual Monitoring Architecture (Niima), where we implemented these key design features. We described why each of these features are important for digital data collection for psychiatry, gave examples of projects where Niima was used or is going to be used in the future, and demonstrated how incorporating these design principles opens new possibilities for studies. The new methods of digital psychiatry are still immature and need further research. The design features we suggested are a first step to design platforms which can adapt to the upcoming requirements of digital psychiatry. ©Talayeh Aledavood, Ana Maria Triana Hoyos, Tuomas Alakörkkö, Kimmo Kaski, Jari Saramäki, Erkki Isometsä, Richard K Darst. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 09.06.2017.

Feasibility of feature-based indexing, clustering, and search of clinical trials: A case study of breast cancer trials from ClinicalTrials.gov

PubMed Central

Boland, Mary Regina; Miotto, Riccardo; Gao, Junfeng; Weng, Chunhua

2013-01-01

Summary Background When standard therapies fail, clinical trials provide experimental treatment opportunities for patients with drug-resistant illnesses or terminal diseases. Clinical Trials can also provide free treatment and education for individuals who otherwise may not have access to such care. To find relevant clinical trials, patients often search online; however, they often encounter a significant barrier due to the large number of trials and in-effective indexing methods for reducing the trial search space. Objectives This study explores the feasibility of feature-based indexing, clustering, and search of clinical trials and informs designs to automate these processes. Methods We decomposed 80 randomly selected stage III breast cancer clinical trials into a vector of eligibility features, which were organized into a hierarchy. We clustered trials based on their eligibility feature similarities. In a simulated search process, manually selected features were used to generate specific eligibility questions to filter trials iteratively. Results We extracted 1,437 distinct eligibility features and achieved an inter-rater agreement of 0.73 for feature extraction for 37 frequent features occurring in more than 20 trials. Using all the 1,437 features we stratified the 80 trials into six clusters containing trials recruiting similar patients by patient-characteristic features, five clusters by disease-characteristic features, and two clusters by mixed features. Most of the features were mapped to one or more Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) concepts, demonstrating the utility of named entity recognition prior to mapping with the UMLS for automatic feature extraction. Conclusions It is feasible to develop feature-based indexing and clustering methods for clinical trials to identify trials with similar target populations and to improve trial search efficiency. PMID:23666475

Feasibility of feature-based indexing, clustering, and search of clinical trials. A case study of breast cancer trials from ClinicalTrials.gov.

PubMed

Boland, M R; Miotto, R; Gao, J; Weng, C

2013-01-01

When standard therapies fail, clinical trials provide experimental treatment opportunities for patients with drug-resistant illnesses or terminal diseases. Clinical Trials can also provide free treatment and education for individuals who otherwise may not have access to such care. To find relevant clinical trials, patients often search online; however, they often encounter a significant barrier due to the large number of trials and in-effective indexing methods for reducing the trial search space. This study explores the feasibility of feature-based indexing, clustering, and search of clinical trials and informs designs to automate these processes. We decomposed 80 randomly selected stage III breast cancer clinical trials into a vector of eligibility features, which were organized into a hierarchy. We clustered trials based on their eligibility feature similarities. In a simulated search process, manually selected features were used to generate specific eligibility questions to filter trials iteratively. We extracted 1,437 distinct eligibility features and achieved an inter-rater agreement of 0.73 for feature extraction for 37 frequent features occurring in more than 20 trials. Using all the 1,437 features we stratified the 80 trials into six clusters containing trials recruiting similar patients by patient-characteristic features, five clusters by disease-characteristic features, and two clusters by mixed features. Most of the features were mapped to one or more Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) concepts, demonstrating the utility of named entity recognition prior to mapping with the UMLS for automatic feature extraction. It is feasible to develop feature-based indexing and clustering methods for clinical trials to identify trials with similar target populations and to improve trial search efficiency.

Visual imagery processing and knowledge of famous names in Alzheimer's disease and MCI.

PubMed

Borg, Céline; Thomas-Antérion, Catherine; Bogey, Soline; Davier, Karine; Laurent, Bernard

2010-09-01

The study of memory for famous people and visual imagery retrieval was investigated in patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in the prodromal stage of AD, so-called Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Fifteen patients with AD (MMSE > or = 23), 15 patients with amnestic MCI (a-MCI) and 15 normal controls (NC) performed a famous names test designed to evaluate the semantic and distinctive physical features knowledge of famous persons. Results indicated that patients with AD and a-MCI generated significantly less physical features and semantic biographical knowledge about famous persons than did normal control participants. Additionally, significant differences were observed between a-MCI and AD patients in all tasks. The present findings confirm recent studies reporting semantic memory impairment in MCI. Moreover, the current findings show that mental imagery is lowered in a-MCI and AD and is likely related to the early semantic impairment.

Supramolecular assembly/reassembly processes: molecular motors and dynamers operating at surfaces.

PubMed

Ciesielski, Artur; Samorì, Paolo

2011-04-01

Among the many significant advances within the field of supramolecular chemistry over the past decades, the development of the so-called "dynamers" features a direct relevance to materials science. Defined as "combinatorial dynamic polymers", dynamers are constitutional dynamic systems and materials resulting from the application of the principles of supramolecular chemistry to polymer science. Like supramolecular materials in general, dynamers are reversible dynamic multifunctional architectures, capable of modifying their constitution by exchanging, recombining, incorporating components. They may exhibit a variety of novel properties and behave as adaptive materials. In this review we focus on the design of responsive switchable monolayers, i.e. monolayers capable to undergo significant changes in their physical or chemical properties as a result of external stimuli. Scanning tunneling microscopy studies provide direct evidence with a sub-nanometre resolution, on the formation and dynamic response of these self-assembled systems featuring controlled geometries and properties.

Space shuttle OMS helium regulator design and development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wichmann, H.; Kelly, T. L.; Lynch, R.

1974-01-01

Analysis, design, fabrication and design verification testing was conducted on the technological feasiblity of the helium pressurization regulator for the space shuttle orbital maneuvering system application. A prototype regulator was fabricated which was a single-stage design featuring the most reliable and lowest cost concept. A tradeoff study on regulator concepts indicated that a single-stage regulator with a lever arm between the valve and the actuator section would offer significant weight savings. Damping concepts were tested to determine the amount of damping required to restrict actuator travel during vibration. Component design parameters such as spring rates, effective area, contamination cutting, and damping were determined by test prior to regulator final assembly. The unit was subjected to performance testing at widely ranging flow rates, temperatures, inlet pressures, and random vibration levels. A test plan for propellant compatibility and extended life tests is included.

Guy cable design and damping for vertical axis wind turbines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carne, T. G.

1981-01-01

Guy cables are frequently used to support vertical axis wind turbines since guying the turbine reduces some of the structural requirements on the tower. The guys must be designed to provide both the required strength and the required stiffness at the top of the turbine. The axial load which the guys apply to the tower, bearings, and foundations is an undesirable consequence of using guys to support the turbine. Limiting the axial load so that it does not significantly affect the cost of the turbine is an important objective of the cable design. The lateral vibrations of the cables is another feature of the cable design which needs to be considered. These aspects of the cable design are discussed, and a technique for damping cable vibrations was mathematically analyzed and demonstrated with experimental data.

Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP): The User Interface for the Fabrication Module of the Rapid Design System

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-01

plan. The Fabrication Planning Module automatically creates a plan using information from the Feature Based Design Environment (FBDE) of the RDS. It...llll By using the user Interface, the final process plan can be modified in many different ways. The translation of a design feature to a more...for the review and modification of a process plan. The Fabrication Planning Module automatically creates a plan using information from the Feature Based

Smartphones and Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Godwin-Jones, Robert

2017-01-01

The iPhone turns 10 years old in 2017. For the occasion, Apple is rumored to be adding significant new features for the model to be released this year. Whatever those may be, they are not likely to have the same impact that the release of the original iPhone had 10 years ago. That event led to a radical new vision for the design and capability of…

Why Is Writing so Difficult for Students with Learning Disabilities? A Narrative Review to Inform the Design of Effective Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santangelo, Tanya

2014-01-01

This article features a discussion of what contemporary research tells us are the most significant factors that individually and collectively serve to thwart the writing development and performance of students with LD. Support is drawn from recent research syntheses, as well as individual studies. I begin with an overview of skillful writing and…

Help Design Software Project

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-11-30

discrete guidelines or rules to be used in the design. They pay little if any attention to how the developer can utilize the guidance. At best, they...designer’s attention on the critical design features and present ihe rationale for those features. It also describes alternative designs that were...more leading between lines, and careful attention to the selection of fonts (Rubens and Krull, 1985 ; Brockman, 1986). Bradford (1984) outlines the

Text feature extraction based on deep learning: a review.

PubMed

Liang, Hong; Sun, Xiao; Sun, Yunlei; Gao, Yuan

2017-01-01

Selection of text feature item is a basic and important matter for text mining and information retrieval. Traditional methods of feature extraction require handcrafted features. To hand-design, an effective feature is a lengthy process, but aiming at new applications, deep learning enables to acquire new effective feature representation from training data. As a new feature extraction method, deep learning has made achievements in text mining. The major difference between deep learning and conventional methods is that deep learning automatically learns features from big data, instead of adopting handcrafted features, which mainly depends on priori knowledge of designers and is highly impossible to take the advantage of big data. Deep learning can automatically learn feature representation from big data, including millions of parameters. This thesis outlines the common methods used in text feature extraction first, and then expands frequently used deep learning methods in text feature extraction and its applications, and forecasts the application of deep learning in feature extraction.

Analysis of novel low specific speed pump designs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klas, R.; Pochylý, F.; Rudolf, P.

2014-03-01

Centrifugal pumps with very low specific speed present significant design challenges. Narrow blade channels, large surface area of hub and shroud discs relative to the blade area, and the presence of significant of blade channel vortices are typical features linked with the difficulty to achieve head and efficiency requirements for such designs. This paper presents an investigation of two novel designs of very low specific speed impellers: impeller having blades with very thick trailing edges and impeller with thick trailing edges and recirculating channels, which are bored along the impeller circumference. Numerical simulations and experimental measurements were used to study the flow dynamics of those new designs. It was shown that thick trailing edges suppress local eddies in the blade channels and decrease energy dissipation due to excessive swirling. Furthermore the recirculating channels will increase the circumferential velocity component on impeller outlet thus increasing the specific energy, albeit adversely affecting the hydraulic efficiency. Analysis of the energy dissipation in the volute showed that the number of the recirculating channels, their geometry and location, all have significant impact on the magnitude of dissipated energy and its distribution which in turn influences the shape of the head curve and the stability of the pump operation. Energy dissipation within whole pump interior (blade channels, volute, rotor- stator gaps) was also studied.

Design improvement of a pump wear ring labyrinth seal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rhode, David L.; Morrison, G. L.; Ko, S. H.; Waughtal, S. P.

1987-01-01

The investigation was successful in obtaining two improved designs for the impeller wear ring seal of the liquid hydrogen turbopump of interest. A finite difference computer code was extensively used in a parametric computational study in determining a cavity configuration with high flow resistance due to turbulence dissipation. These two designs, along with that currently used, were fabricated and tested. The improved designs were denoted Type O and Type S. The measurements showed that Type O and Type S given 67 and 30 percent reduction in leakage over the current design, respectively. It was found that the number of cavities, the step height and the presence of a small stator groove are quite important design features. Also, the tooth thickness is of some significance. Finally, the tooth height and an additional large cavity cut out from the stator (upstream of the step) are of negligible importance.

Freezing of Gait Detection in Parkinson's Disease: A Subject-Independent Detector Using Anomaly Scores.

PubMed

Pham, Thuy T; Moore, Steven T; Lewis, Simon John Geoffrey; Nguyen, Diep N; Dutkiewicz, Eryk; Fuglevand, Andrew J; McEwan, Alistair L; Leong, Philip H W

2017-11-01

Freezing of gait (FoG) is common in Parkinsonian gait and strongly relates to falls. Current clinical FoG assessments are patients' self-report diaries and experts' manual video analysis. Both are subjective and yield moderate reliability. Existing detection algorithms have been predominantly designed in subject-dependent settings. In this paper, we aim to develop an automated FoG detector for subject independent. After extracting highly relevant features, we apply anomaly detection techniques to detect FoG events. Specifically, feature selection is performed using correlation and clusterability metrics. From a list of 244 feature candidates, 36 candidates were selected using saliency and robustness criteria. We develop an anomaly score detector with adaptive thresholding to identify FoG events. Then, using accuracy metrics, we reduce the feature list to seven candidates. Our novel multichannel freezing index was the most selective across all window sizes, achieving sensitivity (specificity) of (). On the other hand, freezing index from the vertical axis was the best choice for a single input, achieving sensitivity (specificity) of () for ankle and () for back sensors. Our subject-independent method is not only significantly more accurate than those previously reported, but also uses a much smaller window (e.g., versus ) and/or lower tolerance (e.g., versus ).Freezing of gait (FoG) is common in Parkinsonian gait and strongly relates to falls. Current clinical FoG assessments are patients' self-report diaries and experts' manual video analysis. Both are subjective and yield moderate reliability. Existing detection algorithms have been predominantly designed in subject-dependent settings. In this paper, we aim to develop an automated FoG detector for subject independent. After extracting highly relevant features, we apply anomaly detection techniques to detect FoG events. Specifically, feature selection is performed using correlation and clusterability metrics. From a list of 244 feature candidates, 36 candidates were selected using saliency and robustness criteria. We develop an anomaly score detector with adaptive thresholding to identify FoG events. Then, using accuracy metrics, we reduce the feature list to seven candidates. Our novel multichannel freezing index was the most selective across all window sizes, achieving sensitivity (specificity) of (). On the other hand, freezing index from the vertical axis was the best choice for a single input, achieving sensitivity (specificity) of () for ankle and () for back sensors. Our subject-independent method is not only significantly more accurate than those previously reported, but also uses a much smaller window (e.g., versus ) and/or lower tolerance (e.g., versus ).

Interface, information, interaction: a narrative review of design and functional requirements for clinical decision support.

PubMed

Miller, Kristen; Mosby, Danielle; Capan, Muge; Kowalski, Rebecca; Ratwani, Raj; Noaiseh, Yaman; Kraft, Rachel; Schwartz, Sanford; Weintraub, William S; Arnold, Ryan

2018-05-01

Provider acceptance and associated patient outcomes are widely discussed in the evaluation of clinical decision support systems (CDSSs), but critical design criteria for tools have generally been overlooked. The objective of this work is to inform electronic health record alert optimization and clinical practice workflow by identifying, compiling, and reporting design recommendations for CDSS to support the efficient, effective, and timely delivery of high-quality care. A narrative review was conducted from 2000 to 2016 in PubMed and The Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society to identify papers that discussed/recommended design features of CDSSs that are associated with the success of these systems. Fourteen papers were included as meeting the criteria and were found to have a total of 42 unique recommendations; 11 were classified as interface features, 10 as information features, and 21 as interaction features. Features are defined and described, providing actionable guidance that can be applied to CDSS development and policy. To our knowledge, no reviews have been completed that discuss/recommend design features of CDSS at this scale, and thus we found that this was important for the body of literature. The recommendations identified in this narrative review will help to optimize design, organization, management, presentation, and utilization of information through presentation, content, and function. The designation of 3 categories (interface, information, and interaction) should be further evaluated to determine the critical importance of the categories. Future work will determine how to prioritize them with limited resources for designers and developers in order to maximize the clinical utility of CDSS. This review will expand the field of knowledge and provide a novel organization structure to identify key recommendations for CDSS.

Comparing Curriculum Types: 'Powerful Knowledge' and '21st Century Learning'

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McPhail, Graham; Rata, Elizabeth

2016-01-01

This paper theorises a curriculum model containing four features. We use these features as criteria to analyse and evaluate two distinctive curriculum design types: '21st Century Learning' and 'Powerful Knowledge'. The four features are: (i) the underpinning theory of knowledge in each curriculum design type; (ii) the knowledge structures used to…

The Identification, Implementation, and Evaluation of Critical User Interface Design Features of Computer-Assisted Instruction Programs in Mathematics for Students with Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seo, You-Jin; Woo, Honguk

2010-01-01

Critical user interface design features of computer-assisted instruction programs in mathematics for students with learning disabilities and corresponding implementation guidelines were identified in this study. Based on the identified features and guidelines, a multimedia computer-assisted instruction program, "Math Explorer", which delivers…

The Distance from Isolation: Why Communities Are the Logical Conclusion in e-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weller, Martin

2007-01-01

This paper argues that the internet is built around key technology design features of openness, robustness and decentralisation. These design features have transformed into social features, which are embodied within the cultural values of the internet. By examining applications that have become popular on the net, the importance of these values is…

78 FR 75287 - Special Conditions: Bombardier Inc., Models BD-500-1A10 and BD-500-1A11 Series Airplanes; Flight...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-11

... appropriate safety standards for the C-series airplanes because of a novel or unusual design feature, special... Features The C-series airplanes will incorporate the following novel or unusual design features: new... Series Airplanes; Flight Envelope Protection: General Limiting Requirements AGENCY: Federal Aviation...

Concept Design Report for a Low draft Stabilized - High Speed Connector (LDS-HSC) Vessel for the ONR High Speed Sea Lift (HSSL) Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-04-30

control of cushion air flow and, hence, control of cushion pressure fore and aft of the divider that provides significant dynamic control of ship pitch...fore and aft of the divider that provides significant dynamic control of ship pitch and heave in a seaway. All these modes of operation were tested by...Installed Power, SHP 402,306 Integrated Power System (IPS) featuring: * (6) 50 MW Rolls-Royce MT50 based Gensets Power Plant * Associated Conversion and

Identification and evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of highway design features to reduce nonrecurrent congestion. [supporting datasets

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-01-01

This project focused specifically on design treatments that can be used to improve travel time reliability. The objectives of this research were to (1) identify the full range of possible roadway design features used by transportation agencies to imp...

Better Educational Website Interface Design: The Implications from Gender-Specific Preferences in Graduate Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Yu-chang

2006-01-01

This study investigated graduate students gender-specific preferences for certain website interface design features, intending to generate useful information for instructors in choosing and for website designers in creating educational websites. The features investigated in this study included colour value, major navigation buttons placement, and…

76 FR 10476 - Special Conditions: Boeing Model 787-8 Airplane; Overhead Crew-Rest Compartment

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-25

...\\ in interior volume, the design must ensure the ability to contain a fire likely to occur within the... or unusual design features associated with installation of an overhead crew-rest (OCR) compartment... this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the...

76 FR 65103 - Special Conditions: Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, Model GIV-X Airplane; Aircraft Electronic...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-20

... interior design configuration in the Gulfstream Model GIV-X passenger airplane. The Gulfstream Model GIV-X.... This airplane will have novel or unusual design features associated with the architecture and... appropriate safety standards for these design features. These special conditions contain the additional safety...

76 FR 39763 - Special Conditions: Boeing Model 787-8 Airplane; Interaction of Systems and Structures...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-07

...) Protection, Limit Engine Torque Loads for Sudden Engine Stoppage, and Design Roll Maneuver Requirement AGENCY... design features when compared to the state of technology envisioned in the airworthiness standards for transport category airplanes. These design features include limit engine torque loads for sudden engine...

Assistive Technology Design in Special Education. Issue Brief 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burnette, Jane

The issue brief discusses technological principles, issues, and design features discovered or used by projects funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Information was obtained from interviews with project directors who were asked about their project experiences, the features and design principles essential to the success of…

The OA System of College - - Design of the Teaching Quality Monitoring Subsystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Hongjuan; Ying, Hong; Jiang, Youyi; Yan, Pei

According to the drawbacks of traditional teaching quality monitoring subsystems and based on the achievements of practical research in the teaching quality monitoring administration in College, this paper provides a design of overall structure of teaching quality monitoring subsystem, that is more suitable for colleges' management. This new system is endowed with the same features as .NET application programes: easy to extend, easy to maintain, flexible, convenient, and it let enterprises, students' parents and excellent graduates participate in teaching quality monitoring administration, have significant effect to ensure the quality of talent training in colleges.

The EOS Aqua/Aura Experience: Lessons Learned on Design, Integration, and Test of Earth-Observing Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nosek, Thomas P.

2004-01-01

NASA and NOAA earth observing satellite programs are flying a number of sophisticated scientific instruments which collect data on many phenomena and parameters of the earth's environment. The NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) Program originated the EOS Common Bus approach, which featured two spacecraft (Aqua and Aura) of virtually identical design but with completely different instruments. Significant savings were obtained by the Common Bus approach and these lessons learned are presented as information for future program requiring multiple busses for new diversified instruments with increased capabilities for acquiring earth environmental data volume, accuracy, and type.

Design and Performance Assessment of a Stable Astigmatic Herriott Cell for Trace Gas Measurements on Airborne Platforms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dyroff, Christoph; Fried, Alan; Richter, Dirk; Walega, James G.; Zahniser, Mark S.; McManus, J. Barry

2005-01-01

The present paper discusses a new, more stable, astigmatic Herriott cell employing carbon fiber stabilizing rods. Laboratory tests using a near-IR absorption feature of CO at 1564.168-nm revealed a factor of two improvement in measurement stability compared with the present commercial design when the sampling pressure was changed by +/-2 Torr around 50 Torr. This new cell should significantly enhance our efforts to measure trace gases employing pathlengths of 100 to 200-meters on airborne platforms with minimum detectable line center absorbances of less than 10(exp -6).

Protein Simulation Data in the Relational Model.

PubMed

Simms, Andrew M; Daggett, Valerie

2012-10-01

High performance computing is leading to unprecedented volumes of data. Relational databases offer a robust and scalable model for storing and analyzing scientific data. However, these features do not come without a cost-significant design effort is required to build a functional and efficient repository. Modeling protein simulation data in a relational database presents several challenges: the data captured from individual simulations are large, multi-dimensional, and must integrate with both simulation software and external data sites. Here we present the dimensional design and relational implementation of a comprehensive data warehouse for storing and analyzing molecular dynamics simulations using SQL Server.

Protein Simulation Data in the Relational Model

PubMed Central

Simms, Andrew M.; Daggett, Valerie

2011-01-01

High performance computing is leading to unprecedented volumes of data. Relational databases offer a robust and scalable model for storing and analyzing scientific data. However, these features do not come without a cost—significant design effort is required to build a functional and efficient repository. Modeling protein simulation data in a relational database presents several challenges: the data captured from individual simulations are large, multi-dimensional, and must integrate with both simulation software and external data sites. Here we present the dimensional design and relational implementation of a comprehensive data warehouse for storing and analyzing molecular dynamics simulations using SQL Server. PMID:23204646

Coordination and organization of security software process for power information application environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Qiang

2017-09-01

As an important part of software engineering, the software process decides the success or failure of software product. The design and development feature of security software process is discussed, so is the necessity and the present significance of using such process. Coordinating the function software, the process for security software and its testing are deeply discussed. The process includes requirement analysis, design, coding, debug and testing, submission and maintenance. In each process, the paper proposed the subprocesses to support software security. As an example, the paper introduces the above process into the power information platform.

Large area silicon sheet by EFG

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

Some hypotheses to explain both of these features are advanced and the possible implications for solar cell performance are touched upon. The multiple ribbon growth system has shown a number of flaws with respect to the reliability of the basic furnace design. These definitely need to be rectified before any significant demonstration of multiple ribbon growth can proceed. The cartridges, however, have performed quite well. The work on 3" cartridge design and automatic controls has proceeded nearly on schedule and the report contains a detailed description of the approach and the equipment to be used for automatic control of ribbon growth.

Fish-robot interactions in a free-swimming environment: Effects of speed and configuration of robots on live fish

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butail, Sachit; Polverino, Giovanni; Phamduy, Paul; Del Sette, Fausto; Porfiri, Maurizio

2014-03-01

We explore fish-robot interactions in a comprehensive set of experiments designed to highlight the effects of speed and configuration of bioinspired robots on live zebrafish. The robot design and movement is inspired by salient features of attraction in zebrafish and includes enhanced coloration, aspect ratio of a fertile female, and carangiform/subcarangiformlocomotion. The robots are autonomously controlled to swim in circular trajectories in the presence of live fish. Our results indicate that robot configuration significantly affects both the fish distance to the robots and the time spent near them.

Low-floor bus design preferences of walking aid users during simulated boarding and alighting.

PubMed

D'souza, Clive; Paquet, Victor; Lenker, James; Steinfeld, Edward; Bareria, Piyush

2012-01-01

Low-floor buses represent a significant improvement in accessible public transit for passengers with limited mobility. However, there is still a need for research on the inclusive design of transit buses to identify specific low-floor bus design conditions that are either particularly accommodating or challenging for passengers with functional and mobility impairments. These include doorway locations, seating configuration and the large front wheel-well covers that collectively impact boarding, alighting and interior movement of passengers. Findings from a laboratory study using a static full-scale simulation of a lowfloor bus to evaluate the impact of seating configuration and crowding on interior movement and accessibility for individuals with and without walking aids are presented (n=41). Simulated bus journeys that included boarding, fare payment, seating, and alighting were performed. Results from video observations and subjective assessments showed differences in boarding and alighting performance and users' perceptions of task difficulty. The need for assistive design features (e.g. handholds, stanchions), legroom and stowage space for walking aids was evident. These results demonstrate that specific design conditions in low-floor buses can significantly impact design preference among those who use walking aids. Consideration of ergonomics and inclusive design can therefore be used to improve the design of low-floor buses.

Broadband non-reciprocal transmission of sound with invariant frequency

PubMed Central

Gu, Zhong-ming; Hu, Jie; Liang, Bin; Zou, Xin-ye; Cheng, Jian-chun

2016-01-01

We design and experimentally demonstrate a broadband yet compact acoustic diode (AD) by using an acoustic nonlinear material and a pair of gain and lossy materials. Due to the capabilities of maintaining the original frequency and high forward transmission while blocking backscattered wave, our design is closer to the desired features of a perfect AD and is promising to play the essential diode-like role in realistic acoustic systems, such as ultrasound imaging, noise control and nondestructive testing. Furthermore, our design enables improving the sensitivity and the robustness of device simultaneously by tailoring an individual structural parameter. We envision our design will take a significant step towards the realization of applicable acoustic one-way devices, and inspire the research of non-reciprocal wave manipulation in other fields. PMID:26805712

Design of fluidic self-assembly bonds for precise component positioning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramadoss, Vivek; Crane, Nathan B.

2008-02-01

Self Assembly is a promising alternative to conventional pick and place robotic assembly of micro components. Its benefits include parallel integration of parts with low equipment costs. Various approaches to self assembly have been demonstrated, yet demanding applications like assembly of micro-optical devices require increased positioning accuracy. This paper proposes a new method for design of self assembly bonds that addresses this need. Current methods have zero force at the desired assembly position and low stiffness. This allows small disturbance forces to create significant positioning errors. The proposed method uses a substrate assembly feature to provide a high accuracy alignment guide to the part. The capillary bond region of the part and substrate are then modified to create a non-zero positioning force to maintain the part in the desired assembly position. Capillary force models show that this force aligns the part to the substrate assembly feature and reduces sensitivity of part position to process variation. Thus, the new configuration can substantially improve positioning accuracy of capillary self-assembly. This will result in a dramatic decrease in positioning errors in the micro parts. Various binding site designs are analyzed and guidelines are proposed for the design of an effective assembly bond using this new approach.

The Designed Environment and How it Affects Brain Morphology and Mental Health.

PubMed

Golembiewski, Jan A

2016-01-01

The environment is inextricably related to mental health. Recent research replicates findings of a significant, linear correlation between a childhood exposure to the urban environment and psychosis. Related studies also correlate the urban environment and aberrant brain morphologies. These findings challenge common beliefs that the mind and brain remain neutral in the face of worldly experience. There is a signature within these neurological findings that suggests that specific features of design cause and trigger mental illness. The objective in this article is to work backward from the molecular dynamics to identify features of the designed environment that may either trigger mental illness or protect against it. This review analyzes the discrete functions putatively assigned to the affected brain areas and a neurotransmitter called dopamine, which is the primary target of most antipsychotic medications. The intention is to establish what the correlations mean in functional terms, and more specifically, how this relates to the phenomenology of urban experience. In doing so, environmental mental illness risk factors are identified. Having established these relationships, the review makes practical recommendations for those in public health who wish to use the environment itself as a tool to improve the mental health of a community through design. © The Author(s) 2015.

Brain Responses to Musical Feature Changes in Adolescent Cochlear Implant Users

PubMed Central

Petersen, Bjørn; Weed, Ethan; Sandmann, Pascale; Brattico, Elvira; Hansen, Mads; Sørensen, Stine Derdau; Vuust, Peter

2015-01-01

Cochlear implants (CIs) are primarily designed to assist deaf individuals in perception of speech, although possibilities for music fruition have also been documented. Previous studies have indicated the existence of neural correlates of residual music skills in postlingually deaf adults and children. However, little is known about the behavioral and neural correlates of music perception in the new generation of prelingually deaf adolescents who grew up with CIs. With electroencephalography (EEG), we recorded the mismatch negativity (MMN) of the auditory event-related potential to changes in musical features in adolescent CI users and in normal-hearing (NH) age mates. EEG recordings and behavioral testing were carried out before (T1) and after (T2) a 2-week music training program for the CI users and in two sessions equally separated in time for NH controls. We found significant MMNs in adolescent CI users for deviations in timbre, intensity, and rhythm, indicating residual neural prerequisites for musical feature processing. By contrast, only one of the two pitch deviants elicited an MMN in CI users. This pitch discrimination deficit was supported by behavioral measures, in which CI users scored significantly below the NH level. Overall, MMN amplitudes were significantly smaller in CI users than in NH controls, suggesting poorer music discrimination ability. Despite compliance from the CI participants, we found no effect of the music training, likely resulting from the brevity of the program. This is the first study showing significant brain responses to musical feature changes in prelingually deaf adolescent CI users and their associations with behavioral measures, implying neural predispositions for at least some aspects of music processing. Future studies should test any beneficial effects of a longer lasting music intervention in adolescent CI users. PMID:25705185

Brain responses to musical feature changes in adolescent cochlear implant users.

PubMed

Petersen, Bjørn; Weed, Ethan; Sandmann, Pascale; Brattico, Elvira; Hansen, Mads; Sørensen, Stine Derdau; Vuust, Peter

2015-01-01

Cochlear implants (CIs) are primarily designed to assist deaf individuals in perception of speech, although possibilities for music fruition have also been documented. Previous studies have indicated the existence of neural correlates of residual music skills in postlingually deaf adults and children. However, little is known about the behavioral and neural correlates of music perception in the new generation of prelingually deaf adolescents who grew up with CIs. With electroencephalography (EEG), we recorded the mismatch negativity (MMN) of the auditory event-related potential to changes in musical features in adolescent CI users and in normal-hearing (NH) age mates. EEG recordings and behavioral testing were carried out before (T1) and after (T2) a 2-week music training program for the CI users and in two sessions equally separated in time for NH controls. We found significant MMNs in adolescent CI users for deviations in timbre, intensity, and rhythm, indicating residual neural prerequisites for musical feature processing. By contrast, only one of the two pitch deviants elicited an MMN in CI users. This pitch discrimination deficit was supported by behavioral measures, in which CI users scored significantly below the NH level. Overall, MMN amplitudes were significantly smaller in CI users than in NH controls, suggesting poorer music discrimination ability. Despite compliance from the CI participants, we found no effect of the music training, likely resulting from the brevity of the program. This is the first study showing significant brain responses to musical feature changes in prelingually deaf adolescent CI users and their associations with behavioral measures, implying neural predispositions for at least some aspects of music processing. Future studies should test any beneficial effects of a longer lasting music intervention in adolescent CI users.

Voyager to the giant planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, B. A.

The exploration of Jupiter and Saturn by the Pioneer and Voyager probes is reviewed chronologically. Consideration is given to the launching techniques and probe designs; the complex convection patterns in the Jovian atmosphere; the lightning and auroras seen on Jupiter's dark side; the faint Jovian ring; the surfaces of Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa; and the discovery of volcanic activity on Io. The features of Saturn discussed include the earth-like atmospheric jets, the surface and atmosphere of Titan, the orbits of the other satellites, the surface characteristics of Iapetus and Enceladus, the 10,000 ringlets comprising the ring system, the apparent 'spokes' in the rings, and the narrow, knotted F ring. Voyager images of the most significant features are provided.

Two-Photon Absorption in Pentacene Dimers: The Importance of the Spacer Using Upconversion as an Indirect Route to Singlet Fission.

PubMed

Garoni, Eleonora; Zirzlmeier, Johannes; Basel, Bettina S; Hetzer, Constantin; Kamada, Kenji; Guldi, Dirk M; Tykwinski, Rik R

2017-10-11

In this proof of concept study, we show that intramolecular singlet fission (iSF) can be initiated from a singlet excited state accessed by two-photon absorption, rather than through a traditional route of direct one-photon excitation (OPE). Thus, iSF in pentacene dimers 2 and 3 is enabled through NIR irradiation at 775 nm, a wavelength where neither dimer exhibits linear absorption of light. The adamantyl and meta-phenylene spacers 2 and 3, respectively, are designed to feature superimposable geometries, which establishes that the electronic coupling between the two pentacenes is the significant structural feature that dictates iSF efficiency.

Processing of Building Binder Materials to Increase their Activation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fediuk, R. S.; Garmashov, I. S.; Kuzmin, D. E.; Stoyushko, N. Yu; Gladkova, N. A.

2018-01-01

The paper deals modern physical methods of activation of building powder materials. During mechanical activation a composite binder active molecules cement minerals occur in the destruction of the molecular defects in the areas of packaging and breaking metastable phase decompensation intermolecular forces. The process is accompanied by a change in the kinetics of hardening of Portland cement. Activated concrete has a number of features that are used as design characteristics of structures and are due to the structure of the activated binder and its contacts with concrete aggregates. These features also have a significant impact on the nature of the destruction of concrete under load, changing the boundaries of its microcracks and durability.

Engineered feature used to enhance gardening at a 3800-year-old site on the Pacific Northwest Coast

PubMed Central

Hoffmann, Tanja; Lyons, Natasha; Miller, Debbie; Diaz, Alejandra; Homan, Amy; Huddlestan, Stephanie; Leon, Roma

2016-01-01

Humans use a variety of deliberate means to modify biologically rich environs in pursuit of resource stability and predictability. Empirical evidence suggests that ancient hunter-gatherer populations engineered ecological niches to enhance the productivity and availability of economically significant resources. An archaeological excavation of a 3800-year-old wetland garden in British Columbia, Canada, provides the first direct evidence of an engineered feature designed to facilitate wild plant food production among mid-to-late Holocene era complex fisher-hunter-gatherers of the Northwest Coast. This finding provides an example of environmental, economic, and sociopolitical coevolutionary relationships that are triggered when humans manipulate niche environs. PMID:28028536

Broad autism phenotype features of Chinese parents with autistic children and their associations with severity of social impairment in probands.

PubMed

Shi, Li-Juan; Ou, Jian-Jun; Gong, Jing-Bo; Wang, Su-Hong; Zhou, Yuan-Yue; Zhu, Fu-Rong; Liu, Xu-Dong; Zhao, Jing-Ping; Luo, Xue-Rong

2015-07-23

Parents of children with autism have higher rates of broad autism phenotype (BAP) features than parents of typically developing children (TDC) in Western countries. This study was designed to examine the rate of BAP features in parents of children with autism and the relationship between parental BAP and the social impairment of their children in a Chinese sample. A total of 299 families with autistic children and 274 families with TDC participated in this study. Parents were assessed using the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ), which includes self-report, informant-report, and best-estimate versions. Children were assessed using the Chinese version of the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Parents of children with autism were significantly more likely to have BAP features than were parents of TDC; mothers and fathers in families with autistic children had various BAP features. The total scores of the informant and best-estimate BAPQ versions for fathers were significantly associated with their children's SRS total scores in the autism group, whereas the total scores of the three BAPQ versions for mothers were significantly associated with their children's SRS total scores in the TDC group. In the autism group, the total SRS scores of children with "BAP present" parents (informant and best-estimate) were higher than the total SRS scores of children with"BAP absent" parents. In the TDC group, the total SRS scores of children with "BAP present" parents were higher than the total SRS scores of children with"BAP absent" parents (best-estimate). Parents of autistic children were found to have higher rates of BAP than parents of TDC in a sample of Chinese parents. The BAP features of parents are associated with their children's social functioning in both autism families and TDC families, but the patterns of the associations are different.

Valuable Features in Mobile Health Apps for Patients and Consumers: Content Analysis of Apps and User Ratings

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background The explosion of mobile phones with app capabilities coupled with increased expectations of the patient-consumers’ role in managing their care presents a unique opportunity to use mobile health (mHealth) apps. Objectives The aim of this paper is to identify the features and characteristics most-valued by patient-consumers (“users”) that contribute positively to the rating of an app. Methods A collection of 234 apps associated with reputable health organizations found in the medical, health, and fitness categories of the Apple iTunes store and Google Play marketplace was assessed manually for the presence of 12 app features and characteristics. Regression analysis was used to determine which, if any, contributed positively to a user’s rating of the app. Results Analysis of these 12 features explained 9.3% (R 2=.093 n=234, P<.001) of the variation in an app’s rating, with only 5 reaching statistical significance. Of the 5 reaching statistical significance, plan or orders, export of data, usability, and cost contributed positively to a user’s rating, while the tracker feature detracted from it. Conclusions These findings suggest that users appreciate features that save time over current methods and identify an app as valuable when it is simple and intuitive to use, provides specific instructions to better manage a condition, and shares data with designated individuals. Although tracking is a core function of most health apps, this feature may detract from a user’s experience when not executed properly. Further investigation into mHealth app features is worthwhile given the inability of the most common features to explain a large portion of an app’s rating. In the future, studies should focus on one category in the app store, specific diseases, or desired behavior change, and methods should include measuring the quality of each feature, both through manual assessment and evaluation of user reviews. Additional investigations into understanding the impact of synergistic features, incentives, social media, and gamification are also warranted to identify possible future trends. PMID:25972309

Impact of Hearing Aid Technology on Outcomes in Daily Life I: the Patients’ Perspective

PubMed Central

Cox, Robyn M; Johnson, Jani A; Xu, Jingjing

2016-01-01

Objectives One of the challenges facing hearing care providers when recommending hearing aids is the choice of device technology level. Major manufacturers market families of hearing aids that are described as spanning the range from basic technology to premium technology. Premium technology hearing aids include acoustical processing capabilities (features) that are not found in basic technology instruments. These premium features are intended to yield improved hearing in daily life compared to basic-feature devices. However, independent research that establishes the incremental effectiveness of premium-feature devices compared to basic-feature devices is lacking. This research was designed to explore reported differences in hearing abilities for adults using premium-feature and basic-feature hearing aids in their daily lives. Design This was a single-blinded, repeated, crossover trial in which the participants were blinded. All procedures were carefully controlled to limit researcher bias. Forty-five participants used carefully fitted bilateral hearing aids for one month and then provided data to describe the hearing improvements or deficiencies noted in daily life. Typical participants were 70 years old with mild to moderate adult-onset hearing loss bilaterally. Each participant used 4 pairs of hearing aids: premium- and basic-feature devices from brands marketed by each of two major manufacturers. Participants were blinded about the devices they used and about the research questions. Results All of the outcomes were designed to capture the participant’s point of view about the benefits of the hearing aids. Three types of data were collected: change in hearing-related quality of life, extent of agreement with six positively worded statements about everyday hearing with the hearing aids, and reported preferences between the premium- and basic-feature devices from each brand as well as across all four research hearing aids combined. None of these measures yielded a statistically significant difference in outcomes between premium- and basic-feature devices. Participants did not report better outcomes with premium processing with any measure. Conclusions It could reasonably be asserted that the patient’s perspective is the gold standard for hearing aid effectiveness. While the acoustical processing provided by premium features can potentially improve scores on tests conducted in contrived conditions in a laboratory, or on specific items in a questionnaire, this does not ensure that the processing will be of noteworthy benefit when the hearing aid is used in the real world challenges faced by the patient. If evidence suggests the patient cannot detect that premium features yield improvements over basic features in daily life, what is the responsibility of the provider in recommending hearing aid technology level? In the current research, there was no evidence to suggest that premium-feature devices yielded better outcomes than basic-feature devices from the patient’s point of view. All of the research hearing aids were substantially, but equally, helpful. Further research is needed on this topic with other hearing aids and other manufacturers. In the meantime, providers should insist on scientifically credible independent evidence to support effectiveness claims for any hearing help devices. PMID:26881981

Multiple-Objective Optimal Designs for Studying the Dose Response Function and Interesting Dose Levels

PubMed Central

Hyun, Seung Won; Wong, Weng Kee

2016-01-01

We construct an optimal design to simultaneously estimate three common interesting features in a dose-finding trial with possibly different emphasis on each feature. These features are (1) the shape of the dose-response curve, (2) the median effective dose and (3) the minimum effective dose level. A main difficulty of this task is that an optimal design for a single objective may not perform well for other objectives. There are optimal designs for dual objectives in the literature but we were unable to find optimal designs for 3 or more objectives to date with a concrete application. A reason for this is that the approach for finding a dual-objective optimal design does not work well for a 3 or more multiple-objective design problem. We propose a method for finding multiple-objective optimal designs that estimate the three features with user-specified higher efficiencies for the more important objectives. We use the flexible 4-parameter logistic model to illustrate the methodology but our approach is applicable to find multiple-objective optimal designs for other types of objectives and models. We also investigate robustness properties of multiple-objective optimal designs to mis-specification in the nominal parameter values and to a variation in the optimality criterion. We also provide computer code for generating tailor made multiple-objective optimal designs. PMID:26565557

Multiple-Objective Optimal Designs for Studying the Dose Response Function and Interesting Dose Levels.

PubMed

Hyun, Seung Won; Wong, Weng Kee

2015-11-01

We construct an optimal design to simultaneously estimate three common interesting features in a dose-finding trial with possibly different emphasis on each feature. These features are (1) the shape of the dose-response curve, (2) the median effective dose and (3) the minimum effective dose level. A main difficulty of this task is that an optimal design for a single objective may not perform well for other objectives. There are optimal designs for dual objectives in the literature but we were unable to find optimal designs for 3 or more objectives to date with a concrete application. A reason for this is that the approach for finding a dual-objective optimal design does not work well for a 3 or more multiple-objective design problem. We propose a method for finding multiple-objective optimal designs that estimate the three features with user-specified higher efficiencies for the more important objectives. We use the flexible 4-parameter logistic model to illustrate the methodology but our approach is applicable to find multiple-objective optimal designs for other types of objectives and models. We also investigate robustness properties of multiple-objective optimal designs to mis-specification in the nominal parameter values and to a variation in the optimality criterion. We also provide computer code for generating tailor made multiple-objective optimal designs.

Discrete structural features among interface residue-level classes.

PubMed

Sowmya, Gopichandran; Ranganathan, Shoba

2015-01-01

Protein-protein interaction (PPI) is essential for molecular functions in biological cells. Investigation on protein interfaces of known complexes is an important step towards deciphering the driving forces of PPIs. Each PPI complex is specific, sensitive and selective to binding. Therefore, we have estimated the relative difference in percentage of polar residues between surface and the interface for each complex in a non-redundant heterodimer dataset of 278 complexes to understand the predominant forces driving binding. Our analysis showed ~60% of protein complexes with surface polarity greater than interface polarity (designated as class A). However, a considerable number of complexes (~40%) have interface polarity greater than surface polarity, (designated as class B), with a significantly different p-value of 1.66E-45 from class A. Comprehensive analyses of protein complexes show that interface features such as interface area, interface polarity abundance, solvation free energy gain upon interface formation, binding energy and the percentage of interface charged residue abundance distinguish among class A and class B complexes, while electrostatic visualization maps also help differentiate interface classes among complexes. Class A complexes are classical with abundant non-polar interactions at the interface; however class B complexes have abundant polar interactions at the interface, similar to protein surface characteristics. Five physicochemical interface features analyzed from the protein heterodimer dataset are discriminatory among the interface residue-level classes. These novel observations find application in developing residue-level models for protein-protein binding prediction, protein-protein docking studies and interface inhibitor design as drugs.

Discrete structural features among interface residue-level classes

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background Protein-protein interaction (PPI) is essential for molecular functions in biological cells. Investigation on protein interfaces of known complexes is an important step towards deciphering the driving forces of PPIs. Each PPI complex is specific, sensitive and selective to binding. Therefore, we have estimated the relative difference in percentage of polar residues between surface and the interface for each complex in a non-redundant heterodimer dataset of 278 complexes to understand the predominant forces driving binding. Results Our analysis showed ~60% of protein complexes with surface polarity greater than interface polarity (designated as class A). However, a considerable number of complexes (~40%) have interface polarity greater than surface polarity, (designated as class B), with a significantly different p-value of 1.66E-45 from class A. Comprehensive analyses of protein complexes show that interface features such as interface area, interface polarity abundance, solvation free energy gain upon interface formation, binding energy and the percentage of interface charged residue abundance distinguish among class A and class B complexes, while electrostatic visualization maps also help differentiate interface classes among complexes. Conclusions Class A complexes are classical with abundant non-polar interactions at the interface; however class B complexes have abundant polar interactions at the interface, similar to protein surface characteristics. Five physicochemical interface features analyzed from the protein heterodimer dataset are discriminatory among the interface residue-level classes. These novel observations find application in developing residue-level models for protein-protein binding prediction, protein-protein docking studies and interface inhibitor design as drugs. PMID:26679043

Qualities of Inpatient Hospital Rooms: Patients' Perspectives.

PubMed

Devlin, Ann Sloan; Andrade, Cláudia Campos; Carvalho, Diana

2016-04-01

The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate what design features of hospital rooms are valued by inpatients. Little research has explored how patients evaluate the physical environment of their hospital rooms. Most responses are captured by the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, which includes only two questions about the physical environment. Two hundred thirty-six orthopedic patients (78 in the United States and 158 in Portugal) listed three features of their hospital room that influenced their level of satisfaction with their hospital stay, indicating whether the feature was positive or negative. The comments were more positive (71.4%) than negative (28.6%). Using the framework of supportive design from Ulrich, over half the comments (64.31%) could be categorized in one of the three dimensions: 33.2% (positive distraction), 22.4% (perceived control), and 6.0% (social support). This total includes Internet (2.7%), which could be categorized as either social support or positive distraction. Comments called "other aspects" focused on overall environmental appraisals, cleanliness, and functionality and maintenance. The majority of comments could be accommodated by Ulrich's theory, but it is noteworthy that other aspects emerge from patients' comments and affect their experience. Cross-cultural differences pointed to the greater role of light and sun for Portuguese patients and health status whiteboard for U.S. Qualitative research can add significantly to our understanding of the healthcare experience and may inform design decisions. © The Author(s) 2015.

The Effects of Varying Electronic Cigarette Warning Label Design Features On Attention, Recall, and Product Perceptions Among Young Adults.

PubMed

Mays, Darren; Villanti, Andrea; Niaura, Raymond S; Lindblom, Eric N; Strasser, Andrew A

2017-12-13

This study was a 3 (Brand: Blu, MarkTen, Vuse) by 3 (Warning Size: 20%, 30%, or 50% of advertisement surface) by 2 (Warning Background: White, Red) experimental investigation of the effects of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) warning label design features. Young adults aged 18-30 years (n = 544) were recruited online, completed demographic and tobacco use history measures, and randomized to view e-cigarette advertisements with warning labels that varied by the experimental conditions. Participants completed a task assessing self-reported visual attention to advertisements with a-priori regions of interest defined around warning labels. Warning message recall and perceived addictiveness of e-cigarettes were assessed post-exposure. Approximately half of participants reported attending to warning labels and reported attention was greater for warnings on red versus white backgrounds. Recall of the warning message content was also greater among those reporting attention to the warning label. Overall, those who viewed warnings on red backgrounds reported lower perceived addictiveness than those who viewed warnings on white backgrounds, and e-cigarette users reported lower perceived addictiveness than non-users. Among e-cigarette users, viewing warnings on white backgrounds produced perceptions more similar to non-users. Greater recall was significantly correlated with greater perceived addictiveness. This study provides some of the first evidence that e-cigarette warning label design features including size and coloring affect self-reported attention and content recall.

Prediction of hot regions in protein-protein interaction by combining density-based incremental clustering with feature-based classification.

PubMed

Hu, Jing; Zhang, Xiaolong; Liu, Xiaoming; Tang, Jinshan

2015-06-01

Discovering hot regions in protein-protein interaction is important for drug and protein design, while experimental identification of hot regions is a time-consuming and labor-intensive effort; thus, the development of predictive models can be very helpful. In hot region prediction research, some models are based on structure information, and others are based on a protein interaction network. However, the prediction accuracy of these methods can still be improved. In this paper, a new method is proposed for hot region prediction, which combines density-based incremental clustering with feature-based classification. The method uses density-based incremental clustering to obtain rough hot regions, and uses feature-based classification to remove the non-hot spot residues from the rough hot regions. Experimental results show that the proposed method significantly improves the prediction performance of hot regions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Motorcyclists safety system to avoid rear end collisions based on acoustic signatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muzammel, M.; Yusoff, M. Zuki; Malik, A. Saeed; Mohamad Saad, M. Naufal; Meriaudeau, F.

2017-03-01

In many Asian countries, motorcyclists have a higher fatality rate as compared to other vehicles. Among many other factors, rear end collisions are also contributing for these fatalities. Collision detection systems can be useful to minimize these accidents. However, the designing of efficient and cost effective collision detection system for motorcyclist is still a major challenge. In this paper, an acoustic information based, cost effective and efficient collision detection system is proposed for motorcycle applications. The proposed technique uses the Short time Fourier Transform (STFT) to extract the features from the audio signal and Principal component analysis (PCA) has been used to reduce the feature vector length. The reduction of feature length, further increases the performance of this technique. The proposed technique has been tested on self recorded dataset and gives accuracy of 97.87%. We believe that this method can help to reduce a significant number of motorcycle accidents.

CNN based approach for activity recognition using a wrist-worn accelerometer.

PubMed

Panwar, Madhuri; Dyuthi, S Ram; Chandra Prakash, K; Biswas, Dwaipayan; Acharyya, Amit; Maharatna, Koushik; Gautam, Arvind; Naik, Ganesh R

2017-07-01

In recent years, significant advancements have taken place in human activity recognition using various machine learning approaches. However, feature engineering have dominated conventional methods involving the difficult process of optimal feature selection. This problem has been mitigated by using a novel methodology based on deep learning framework which automatically extracts the useful features and reduces the computational cost. As a proof of concept, we have attempted to design a generalized model for recognition of three fundamental movements of the human forearm performed in daily life where data is collected from four different subjects using a single wrist worn accelerometer sensor. The validation of the proposed model is done with different pre-processing and noisy data condition which is evaluated using three possible methods. The results show that our proposed methodology achieves an average recognition rate of 99.8% as opposed to conventional methods based on K-means clustering, linear discriminant analysis and support vector machine.

Design of combinatorial libraries for the exploration of virtual hits from fragment space searches with LoFT.

PubMed

Lessel, Uta; Wellenzohn, Bernd; Fischer, J Robert; Rarey, Matthias

2012-02-27

A case study is presented illustrating the design of a focused CDK2 library. The scaffold of the library was detected by a feature trees search in a fragment space based on reactions from combinatorial chemistry. For the design the software LoFT (Library optimizer using Feature Trees) was used. The special feature called FTMatch was applied to restrict the parts of the queries where the reagents are permitted to match. This way a 3D scoring function could be simulated. Results were compared with alternative designs by GOLD docking and ROCS 3D alignments.

Ambient response of a unique performance-based design building with dynamic response modification features

USGS Publications Warehouse

Çelebi, Mehmet; Huang, Moh; Shakal, Antony; Hooper, John; Klemencic, Ron

2012-01-01

A 64-story, performance-based design building with reinforced concrete core shear-walls and unique dynamic response modification features (tuned liquid sloshing dampers and buckling-restrained braces) has been instrumented with a monitoring array of 72 channels of accelerometers. Ambient vibration data recorded are analyzed to identify modes and associated frequencies and damping. The low-amplitude dynamic characteristics are considerably different than those computed from design analyses, but serve as a baseline against which to compare with future strong shaking responses. Such studies help to improve our understanding of the effectiveness of the added features to the building and help improve designs in the future.

Fuel-Conservation Guidance System for Powered-Lift Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erzberger, Heinz; McLean, John D.

1981-01-01

A technique is described for the design of fuel-conservative guidance systems and is applied to a system that was flight tested on board NASA's sugmentor wing jet STOL research aircraft. An important operational feature of the system is its ability to rapidly synthesize fuel-efficient trajectories for a large set of initial aircraft positions, altitudes, and headings. This feature allows the aircraft to be flown efficiently under conditions of changing winds and air traffic control vectors. Rapid synthesis of fuel-efficient trajectories is accomplished in the airborne computer by fast-time trajectory integration using a simplified dynamic performance model of the aircraft. This technique also ensures optimum flap deployment and, for powered-lift STOL aircraft, optimum transition to low-speed flight. Also included in the design is accurate prediction of touchdown time for use in four-dimensional guidance applications. Flight test results have demonstrated that the automatically synthesized trajectories produce significant fuel savings relative to manually flown conventional approaches.

Exposing the Backstage: Critical Reflections on a Longitudinal Qualitative Study of Residents’ Care Networks in Assisted Living

PubMed Central

Kemp, Candace L.; Ball, Mary M.; Morgan, Jennifer Craft; Doyle, Patrick J.; Burgess, Elisabeth O.; Dillard, Joy A.; Barmon, Christina E.; Fitzroy, Andrea F.; Helmly, Victoria E.; Avent, Elizabeth S.; Perkins, Molly M.

2018-01-01

In this article, we analyze the research experiences associated with a longitudinal qualitative study of residents’ care networks in assisted living. Using data from researcher meetings, field notes, and memos, we critically examine our design and decision making and accompanying methodological implications. We focus on one complete wave of data collection involving 28 residents and 114 care network members in four diverse settings followed for 2 years. We identify study features that make our research innovative, but that also represent significant challenges. They include the focus and topic; settings and participants; scope and design complexity; nature, modes, frequency, and duration of data collection; and analytic approach. Each feature has methodological implications, including benefits and challenges pertaining to recruitment, retention, data collection, quality, and management, research team work, researcher roles, ethics, and dissemination. Our analysis demonstrates the value of our approach and of reflecting on and sharing methodological processes for cumulative knowledge building. PMID:27651072

Urban Mind: Using Smartphone Technologies to Investigate the Impact of Nature on Mental Well-Being in Real Time

PubMed Central

Bakolis, Ioannis; Hammoud, Ryan; Smythe, Michael; Gibbons, Johanna; Davidson, Neil; Tognin, Stefania

2018-01-01

Abstract Existing evidence on the beneficial effects of nature on mental health comes from studies using cross-sectional designs. We developed a smartphone-based tool (Urban Mind; www.urbanmind.info) to examine how exposure to natural features within the built environment affects mental well-being in real time. The tool was used to monitor 108 individuals who completed 3013 assessments over a 1-week period. Significant immediate and lagged associations with mental well-being were found for several natural features. These associations were stronger in people with higher trait impulsivity, a psychological measure of one's tendency to behave with little forethought or consideration of the consequences, which is indicative of a higher risk of developing mental-health issues. Our investigation suggests that the benefits of nature on mental well-being are time-lasting and interact with an individual's vulnerability to mental illness. These findings have potential implications from the perspectives of global mental health as well as urban planning and design. PMID:29599549

Integrating Query of Relational and Textual Data in Clinical Databases: A Case Study

PubMed Central

Fisk, John M.; Mutalik, Pradeep; Levin, Forrest W.; Erdos, Joseph; Taylor, Caroline; Nadkarni, Prakash

2003-01-01

Objectives: The authors designed and implemented a clinical data mart composed of an integrated information retrieval (IR) and relational database management system (RDBMS). Design: Using commodity software, which supports interactive, attribute-centric text and relational searches, the mart houses 2.8 million documents that span a five-year period and supports basic IR features such as Boolean searches, stemming, and proximity and fuzzy searching. Measurements: Results are relevance-ranked using either “total documents per patient” or “report type weighting.” Results: Non-curated medical text has a significant degree of malformation with respect to spelling and punctuation, which creates difficulties for text indexing and searching. Presently, the IR facilities of RDBMS packages lack the features necessary to handle such malformed text adequately. Conclusion: A robust IR+RDBMS system can be developed, but it requires integrating RDBMSs with third-party IR software. RDBMS vendors need to make their IR offerings more accessible to non-programmers. PMID:12509355

Exposing the Backstage: Critical Reflections on a Longitudinal Qualitative Study of Residents' Care Networks in Assisted Living.

PubMed

Kemp, Candace L; Ball, Mary M; Morgan, Jennifer Craft; Doyle, Patrick J; Burgess, Elisabeth O; Dillard, Joy A; Barmon, Christina E; Fitzroy, Andrea F; Helmly, Victoria E; Avent, Elizabeth S; Perkins, Molly M

2017-07-01

In this article, we analyze the research experiences associated with a longitudinal qualitative study of residents' care networks in assisted living. Using data from researcher meetings, field notes, and memos, we critically examine our design and decision making and accompanying methodological implications. We focus on one complete wave of data collection involving 28 residents and 114 care network members in four diverse settings followed for 2 years. We identify study features that make our research innovative, but that also represent significant challenges. They include the focus and topic; settings and participants; scope and design complexity; nature, modes, frequency, and duration of data collection; and analytic approach. Each feature has methodological implications, including benefits and challenges pertaining to recruitment, retention, data collection, quality, and management, research team work, researcher roles, ethics, and dissemination. Our analysis demonstrates the value of our approach and of reflecting on and sharing methodological processes for cumulative knowledge building.

77 FR 64029 - Special Conditions: Airbus Model A318, A319, A320, and A321 Series Airplanes; Design Dive Speed

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-18

... Series Airplanes; Design Dive Speed AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final... Model A318, A319, A320, and A321 series airplanes because of a novel or unusual design feature, special... Unusual Design Features The Airbus Model A318, A319, and A320 series airplanes with modification 160500...

School Buildings for the 21st Century -- Some Features of New School Buildings in Iceland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sigurðardóttir, Anna Kristín; Hjartarson, Torfi

2011-01-01

The aim of this study is to identify features of change in the recent design of school buildings in Iceland, and how they might affect teaching practices. Environmental and architectonic features characterising school buildings designed and built at the beginning of the 21st century are examined in light of challenges involving architecture,…

77 FR 1973 - Petition for Exemption From the Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard; Fuji Heavy Industries U.S.A...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-12

... description and diagram of the identity, design and location of the components of the antitheft device for the... the antitheft device and the immobilization features are constructed and designed within the vehicle's... test. Additionally, FUSA stated that since the immobilization features are designed and constructed...

76 FR 65105 - Special Conditions: Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, Model GIV-X Airplane; Isolation or Aircraft...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-20

... supplemental type certificate to install a new interior design configuration in the Gulfstream Model GIV-X... airplane. This airplane will have novel or unusual design features associated with connectivity of the... airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for these design features...

77 FR 28530 - Special Conditions: Tamarack Aerospace Group, Cirrus Model SR22; Active Technology Load...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-15

... have a novel or unusual design feature(s) associated with Tamarack Aerospace Group's modification. The... the control system. (b) The design of the load alleviation system or of any other automatic system...) Each detail of the Tamarack Active Control Surface (TACS) must be designed and installed to prevent...

The Halogen Bond in the Design of Functional Supramolecular Materials: Recent Advances

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Halogen bonding is an emerging noncovalent interaction for constructing supramolecular assemblies. Though similar to the more familiar hydrogen bonding, four primary differences between these two interactions make halogen bonding a unique tool for molecular recognition and the design of functional materials. First, halogen bonds tend to be much more directional than (single) hydrogen bonds. Second, the interaction strength scales with the polarizability of the bond-donor atom, a feature that researchers can tune through single-atom mutation. In addition, halogen bonds are hydrophobic whereas hydrogen bonds are hydrophilic. Lastly, the size of the bond-donor atom (halogen) is significantly larger than hydrogen. As a result, halogen bonding provides supramolecular chemists with design tools that cannot be easily met with other types of noncovalent interactions and opens up unprecedented possibilities in the design of smart functional materials. This Account highlights the recent advances in the design of halogen-bond-based functional materials. Each of the unique features of halogen bonding, directionality, tunable interaction strength, hydrophobicity, and large donor atom size, makes a difference. Taking advantage of the hydrophobicity, researchers have designed small-size ion transporters. The large halogen atom size provided a platform for constructing all-organic light-emitting crystals that efficiently generate triplet electrons and have a high phosphorescence quantum yield. The tunable interaction strengths provide tools for understanding light-induced macroscopic motions in photoresponsive azobenzene-containing polymers, and the directionality renders halogen bonding useful in the design on functional supramolecular liquid crystals and gel-phase materials. Although halogen bond based functional materials design is still in its infancy, we foresee a bright future for this field. We expect that materials designed based on halogen bonding could lead to applications in biomimetics, optics/photonics, functional surfaces, and photoswitchable supramolecules. PMID:23805801

Reusable Solid Rocket Motor - Accomplishments, Lessons, and a Culture of Success

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Dennis R.; Phelps, Willie J.

2011-01-01

The Reusable Solid Rocket Motor represents the largest solid rocket motor ever flown and the only human rated solid motor. Each Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM) provides approximately 3-million lb of thrust to lift the integrated Space Shuttle vehicle from the launch pad. The motors burn out approximately 2 minutes later, separate from the vehicle and are recovered and refurbished. The size of the motor and the need for high reliability were challenges. Thrust shaping, via shaping of the propellant grain, was needed to limit structural loads during ascent. The motor design evolved through several block upgrades to increase performance and to increase safety and reliability. A major redesign occurred after STS-51L with the Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor. Significant improvements in the joint sealing systems were added. Design improvements continued throughout the Program via block changes with a number of innovations including development of low temperature o-ring materials and incorporation of a unique carbon fiber rope thermal barrier material. Recovery of the motors and post flight inspection improved understanding of hardware performance, and led to key design improvements. Because of the multidecade program duration material obsolescence was addressed, and requalification of materials and vendors was sometimes needed. Thermal protection systems and ablatives were used to protect the motor cases and nozzle structures. Significant understanding of design and manufacturing features of the ablatives was developed during the program resulting in optimization of design features and processing parameters. The project advanced technology in eliminating ozone-depleting materials in manufacturing processes and the development of an asbestos-free case insulation. Manufacturing processes for the large motor components were unique and safety in the manufacturing environment was a special concern. Transportation and handling approaches were also needed for the large hardware segments. The reusable solid rocket motor achieved significant reliability via process control, ground test programs, and postflight assessment. Process control is mandatory for a solid rocket motor as an acceptance test of the delivered product is not feasible. Process control included process failure modes and effects analysis, statistical process control, witness panels, and process product integrity audits. Material controls and inspections were maintained throughout the sub tier vendors. Material fingerprinting was employed to assess any drift in delivered material properties. The RSRM maintained both full scale and sub-scale test articles. These enabled continuous improvement of design and evaluation of process control and material behavior. Additionally RSRM reliability was achieved through attention to detail in post flight assessment to observe any shift in performance. The postflight analysis and inspections provided invaluable reliability data as it enables observation of actual flight performance, most of which would not be available if the motors were not recovered. These unique challenges, features of the reusable solid rocket motor, materials and manufacturing issues, and design improvements will be discussed in the paper.

Design of fire detection equipment based on ultraviolet detection technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Zhenji; Liu, Jin; Chu, Sheng; Ping, Chao; Yuan, Xiaobing

2015-03-01

Utilized the feature of wide bandgap semiconductor of MgZnO, researched and developed a kind of Mid-Ultraviolet-Band(MUV) ultraviolet detector which has passed the simulation experiment in the sun circumstance. Based on the ultraviolet detector, it gives out a design scheme of gun-shot detection device, which is composed of twelve ultraviolet detectors, signal amplifier, processor, annunciator , azimuth indicator and the bracket. Through Analysing the feature of solar blind, ultraviolet responsivity, fire feature of gunshots and detection distance, the feasibility of this design scheme is proved.

Development of a Dehalogenase-Based Protein Fusion Tag Capable of Rapid, Selective and Covalent Attachment to Customizable Ligands

PubMed Central

Encell, Lance P; Friedman Ohana, Rachel; Zimmerman, Kris; Otto, Paul; Vidugiris, Gediminas; Wood, Monika G; Los, Georgyi V; McDougall, Mark G; Zimprich, Chad; Karassina, Natasha; Learish, Randall D; Hurst, Robin; Hartnett, James; Wheeler, Sarah; Stecha, Pete; English, Jami; Zhao, Kate; Mendez, Jacqui; Benink, Hélène A; Murphy, Nancy; Daniels, Danette L; Slater, Michael R; Urh, Marjeta; Darzins, Aldis; Klaubert, Dieter H; Bulleit, Robert F; Wood, Keith V

2012-01-01

Our fundamental understanding of proteins and their biological significance has been enhanced by genetic fusion tags, as they provide a convenient method for introducing unique properties to proteins so that they can be examinedin isolation. Commonly used tags satisfy many of the requirements for applications relating to the detection and isolation of proteins from complex samples. However, their utility at low concentration becomes compromised if the binding affinity for a detection or capture reagent is not adequate to produce a stable interaction. Here, we describe HaloTag® (HT7), a genetic fusion tag based on a modified haloalkane dehalogenase designed and engineered to overcome the limitation of affinity tags by forming a high affinity, covalent attachment to a binding ligand. HT7 and its ligand have additional desirable features. The tag is relatively small, monomeric, and structurally compatible with fusion partners, while the ligand is specific, chemically simple, and amenable to modular synthetic design. Taken together, the design features and molecular evolution of HT7 have resulted in a superior alternative to common tags for the overexpression, detection, and isolation of target proteins. PMID:23248739

Conceptions of Height and Verticality in the History of Skyscrapers and Skylines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maslovskaya, Oksana; Ignatov, Grigoriy

2018-03-01

The main goal of this article is to reveal the significance of height and verticality history of skyscrapers and skylines. The objectives are as follows: 1. trace the origin of design concepts related to skyscraper; 2. discuss the perceived experience of the cultural aspects of skyscrapers and skylines; 3. describe the differences and similarities of the profiles of with comparable skylines. The methodology of study is designed to explore the perceived theory and principals of skyscraper and skyline development phenomenon and its key features. The skyscraper reveals an assertive creative form of vertical design. Skyscraper construction also relates to the origin of ancient cultural symbolism as the dominant vertical element as the main features of an ordered space. The historical idea of height reaches back to the earliest civilization such as the Tower of Babel. Philosophical approaches of elements of such post-structuralism have been included in studying of skyscraper phenomenon. The analysis of skyscraper and their resulting skyline are examined to show the connection to their origins with their concepts of height and verticality. From the historical perspective, cities with skyscrapers and a skyline turn out to be an assertive manifestation of common ideas of height and verticality.

An assessment of schoolyard features and behavior patterns in children's utilization and physical activity.

PubMed

Anthamatten, Peter; Brink, Lois; Kingston, Beverly; Kutchman, Eve; Lampe, Sarah; Nigg, Claudio

2014-03-01

Careful research that elucidates how behavior relates to design in the context of elementary school grounds can serve to guide cost-efficient design with the goal of encouraging physical activity (PA). This work explores patterns in children's PA behavior within playground spaces with the specific goal of guiding healthy playground design. Data on children's utilization and PA behavior in 6 playgrounds divided into 106 observation zones were collected in 2005 and 2006 at Denver elementary school playgrounds using the System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity in Youth. Analyses of variance and t tests determined whether there were differences in utilization and behavior patterns across observations zones and between genders. This study provides evidence that children prefer to use certain types of playground zones and that they are more likely to practice moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in some zones. The authors observed statistically significant differences between genders. Boys were more likely to engage in MVPA in zones without equipment, girls were more likely to use zones with equipment. This work suggests that the inclusion or omission of specific playground features may have an impact on the way that children use the spaces.

Static design of steel-concrete lining for traffic tunnels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vojtasik, Karel; Mohyla, Marek; Hrubesova, Eva

2017-09-01

Article summarizes the results of research focused on the structural design of traffic tunnel linings that have been achieved in the framework of a research project TE01020168 that supports The Technology Agency of Czech Republic. This research aim is to find and develop a process for design structure parameters of tunnel linings. These are now mostly build up by a shotcrete technology. The shotcrete is commonly endorsed either with steel girders or steel fibres. Since the installation a lining structure is loaded while strength and deformational parameters of shotcrete start to rise till the setting time elapses. That’s reason why conventional approaches of reinforced concrete are not suitable. As well as there are other circumstances to step in shown in this article. Problem is solved by 3D analysis using numerical model that takes into account all the significant features of a tunnel lining construction process inclusive the interaction between lining structure with rock massive. Analysis output is a view into development of stress-strain state in respective construction parts of tunnel lining the whole structure around, including impact on stability of rock massive. The proposed method comprises all features involved in tunnel fabrication including geotechnics and construction technologies.

AP1000{sup R} severe accident features and post-Fukushima considerations

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

Scobel, J. H.; Schulz, T. L.; Williams, M. G.

2012-07-01

The AP1000{sup R} passive nuclear power plant is uniquely equipped to withstand an extended station blackout scenario such as the events following the earthquake and tsunami at Fukushima without compromising core and containment integrity. The AP1000 plant shuts down the reactor, cools the core, containment and spent fuel pool for more than 3 days using passive systems that do not require AC or DC power or operator actions. Following this passive coping period, minimal operator actions are needed to extend the operation of the passive features to 7 days using installed equipment. To provide defense-in-depth for design extension conditions, themore » AP1000 plant has engineered features that mitigate the effects of core damage. Engineered features retain damaged core debris within the reactor vessel as a key feature. Other aspects of the design protect containment integrity during severe accidents, including unique features of the AP1000 design relative to passive containment cooling with water and air, and hydrogen management. (authors)« less

Memristor-integrated voltage-stabilizing supercapacitor system.

PubMed

Liu, Bin; Liu, Boyang; Wang, Xianfu; Wu, Xinghui; Zhao, Wenning; Xu, Zhimou; Chen, Di; Shen, Guozhen

2014-08-06

Voltage-stabilized supercapacitors: A single supercapacitor formed with PCBM/Pt/IPS nanorod-array electrodes is designed and delivers enhanced areal capacitance, capacitance retention, and excellent electrical stability under bending, while a significant voltage-decrease is observed during the discharging process. Once integrated with the memristor, the memristor-integrated supercapacitor systems deliver an extremely low voltage-drop, indicating greatly enhanced voltage-stabilizing features. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Active and Passive Remote Sensing of Ice

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-11-15

To demonstrate the use of polarimetry in passive remote sensing of azimuthally asymmetric features on a terrain surface, an experiment was designed...azimuthal asymmetry on the remotely sensed soil surface. It is also observed from the experiment that the brightness temperatures for all three Stokes...significant implication of this experiment is that the surface asymmetry can be detected with a measurement of U at a single azimuthal angle. -8

Understanding the usage of content in a mental health intervention for depression: an analysis of log data.

PubMed

Van Gemert-Pijnen, Julia Ewc; Kelders, Saskia M; Bohlmeijer, Ernst T

2014-01-31

Web-based interventions for the early treatment of depressive symptoms can be considered effective in reducing mental complaints. However, there is a limited understanding of which elements in an intervention contribute to effectiveness. For efficiency and effectiveness of interventions, insight is needed into the use of content and persuasive features. The aims of this study were (1) to illustrate how log data can be used to understand the uptake of the content of a Web-based intervention that is based on the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and (2) to discover how log data can be of value for improving the incorporation of content in Web-based interventions. Data from 206 participants (out of the 239) who started the first nine lessons of the Web-based intervention, Living to the Full, were used for a secondary analysis of a subset of the log data of the parent study about adherence to the intervention. The log files used in this study were per lesson: login, start mindfulness, download mindfulness, view success story, view feedback message, start multimedia, turn on text-message coach, turn off text-message coach, and view text message. Differences in usage between lessons were explored with repeated measures ANOVAs (analysis of variance). Differences between groups were explored with one-way ANOVAs. To explore the possible predictive value of the login per lesson quartiles on the outcome measures, four linear regressions were used with login quartiles as predictor and with the outcome measures (Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression [CES-D] and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety [HADS-A] on post-intervention and follow-up) as dependent variables. A significant decrease in logins and in the use of content and persuasive features over time was observed. The usage of features varied significantly during the treatment process. The usage of persuasive features increased during the third part of the ACT (commitment to value-based living), which might indicate that at that stage motivational support was relevant. Higher logins over time (9 weeks) corresponded with a higher usage of features (in most cases significant); when predicting depressive symptoms at post-intervention, the linear regression yielded a significant model with login quartile as a significant predictor (explained variance is 2.7%). A better integration of content and persuasive features in the design of the intervention and a better intra-usability of features within the system are needed to identify which combination of features works best for whom. Pattern recognition can be used to tailor the intervention based on usage patterns from the earlier lessons and to support the uptake of content essential for therapy. An adaptable interface for a modular composition of therapy features supposes a dynamic approach for Web-based treatment; not a predefined path for all, but a flexible way to go through all features that have to be used.

Understanding the Usage of Content in a Mental Health Intervention for Depression: An Analysis of Log Data

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Web-based interventions for the early treatment of depressive symptoms can be considered effective in reducing mental complaints. However, there is a limited understanding of which elements in an intervention contribute to effectiveness. For efficiency and effectiveness of interventions, insight is needed into the use of content and persuasive features. Objective The aims of this study were (1) to illustrate how log data can be used to understand the uptake of the content of a Web-based intervention that is based on the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and (2) to discover how log data can be of value for improving the incorporation of content in Web-based interventions. Methods Data from 206 participants (out of the 239) who started the first nine lessons of the Web-based intervention, Living to the Full, were used for a secondary analysis of a subset of the log data of the parent study about adherence to the intervention. The log files used in this study were per lesson: login, start mindfulness, download mindfulness, view success story, view feedback message, start multimedia, turn on text-message coach, turn off text-message coach, and view text message. Differences in usage between lessons were explored with repeated measures ANOVAs (analysis of variance). Differences between groups were explored with one-way ANOVAs. To explore the possible predictive value of the login per lesson quartiles on the outcome measures, four linear regressions were used with login quartiles as predictor and with the outcome measures (Center for Epidemiologic Studies—Depression [CES-D] and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale—Anxiety [HADS-A] on post-intervention and follow-up) as dependent variables. Results A significant decrease in logins and in the use of content and persuasive features over time was observed. The usage of features varied significantly during the treatment process. The usage of persuasive features increased during the third part of the ACT (commitment to value-based living), which might indicate that at that stage motivational support was relevant. Higher logins over time (9 weeks) corresponded with a higher usage of features (in most cases significant); when predicting depressive symptoms at post-intervention, the linear regression yielded a significant model with login quartile as a significant predictor (explained variance is 2.7%). Conclusions A better integration of content and persuasive features in the design of the intervention and a better intra-usability of features within the system are needed to identify which combination of features works best for whom. Pattern recognition can be used to tailor the intervention based on usage patterns from the earlier lessons and to support the uptake of content essential for therapy. An adaptable interface for a modular composition of therapy features supposes a dynamic approach for Web-based treatment; not a predefined path for all, but a flexible way to go through all features that have to be used. PMID:24486914

Characterization, design, and function of the mitochondrial proteome: from organs to organisms.

PubMed

Lotz, Christopher; Lin, Amanda J; Black, Caitlin M; Zhang, Jun; Lau, Edward; Deng, Ning; Wang, Yueju; Zong, Nobel C; Choi, Jeong H; Xu, Tao; Liem, David A; Korge, Paavo; Weiss, James N; Hermjakob, Henning; Yates, John R; Apweiler, Rolf; Ping, Peipei

2014-02-07

Mitochondria are a common energy source for organs and organisms; their diverse functions are specialized according to the unique phenotypes of their hosting environment. Perturbation of mitochondrial homeostasis accompanies significant pathological phenotypes. However, the connections between mitochondrial proteome properties and function remain to be experimentally established on a systematic level. This uncertainty impedes the contextualization and translation of proteomic data to the molecular derivations of mitochondrial diseases. We present a collection of mitochondrial features and functions from four model systems, including two cardiac mitochondrial proteomes from distinct genomes (human and mouse), two unique organ mitochondrial proteomes from identical genetic codons (mouse heart and mouse liver), as well as a relevant metazoan out-group (drosophila). The data, composed of mitochondrial protein abundance and their biochemical activities, capture the core functionalities of these mitochondria. This investigation allowed us to redefine the core mitochondrial proteome from organs and organisms, as well as the relevant contributions from genetic information and hosting milieu. Our study has identified significant enrichment of disease-associated genes and their products. Furthermore, correlational analyses suggest that mitochondrial proteome design is primarily driven by cellular environment. Taken together, these results connect proteome feature with mitochondrial function, providing a prospective resource for mitochondrial pathophysiology and developing novel therapeutic targets in medicine.

Identifying the needs of elderly, hearing-impaired persons: the importance and utility of hearing aid attributes.

PubMed

Meister, Hartmut; Lausberg, Isabel; Kiessling, Juergen; von Wedel, Hasso; Walger, Martin

2002-11-01

Older patients represent the majority of hearing-aid users. The needs of elderly, hearing-impaired subjects are not entirely identified. The present study aims to determine the importance of fundamental hearing-aid attributes and to elicit the utility of associated hypothetical hearing aids for older patients. This was achieved using a questionnaire-based conjoint analysis--a decompositional approach to preference measurement offering a realistic study design. A random sample of 200 experienced hearing-aid users participated in the study. Though three out of the six examined attributes revealed age-related dependencies, the only significant effect was found for the attribute "handling", which was considerably more important for older than younger hearing-aid users. A trend of decreasing importance of speech intelligibility in noise and increasing significance of speech in quiet was observed for subjects older than 70 years. In general, the utility of various hypothetical hearing aids was similar for older and younger subjects. Apart from the attribute "handling", older and younger subjects have comparable needs regarding hearing-aid features. On the basis of the examined attributes, there is no requirement for hearing aids designed specifically for elderly hearing-aid users, provided that ergonomic features are considered and the benefits of modern technology are made fully available for older patients.

Design and implementation of a remote UAV-based mobile health monitoring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Songwei; Wan, Yan; Fu, Shengli; Liu, Mushuang; Wu, H. Felix

2017-04-01

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) play increasing roles in structure health monitoring. With growing mobility in modern Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications, the health monitoring of mobile structures becomes an emerging application. In this paper, we develop a UAV-carried vision-based monitoring system that allows a UAV to continuously track and monitor a mobile infrastructure and transmit back the monitoring information in real- time from a remote location. The monitoring system uses a simple UAV-mounted camera and requires only a single feature located on the mobile infrastructure for target detection and tracking. The computation-effective vision-based tracking solution based on a single feature is an improvement over existing vision-based lead-follower tracking systems that either have poor tracking performance due to the use of a single feature, or have improved tracking performance at a cost of the usage of multiple features. In addition, a UAV-carried aerial networking infrastructure using directional antennas is used to enable robust real-time transmission of monitoring video streams over a long distance. Automatic heading control is used to self-align headings of directional antennas to enable robust communication in mobility. Compared to existing omni-communication systems, the directional communication solution significantly increases the operation range of remote monitoring systems. In this paper, we develop the integrated modeling framework of camera and mobile platforms, design the tracking algorithm, develop a testbed of UAVs and mobile platforms, and evaluate system performance through both simulation studies and field tests.

Mentoring Programs to Affect Delinquency and Associated Outcomes of Youth At-Risk: A Comprehensive Meta-Analytic Reviewi

PubMed Central

Tolan, Patrick H.; Henry, David B.; Schoeny, Michael S.; Lovegrove, Peter; Nichols, Emily

2013-01-01

Objectives To conduct a meta-analytic review of selective and indicated mentoring interventions for effects for youth at risk on delinquency and key associated outcomes (aggression, drug use, academic functioning). We also undertook the first systematic evaluation of intervention implementation features and organization and tested for effects of theorized key processes of mentor program effects. Methods Campbell Collaboration review inclusion criteria and procedures were used to search and evaluate the literature. Criteria included a sample defined as at-risk for delinquency due to individual behavior such as aggression or conduct problems or environmental characteristics such as residence in high-crime community. Studies were required to be random assignment or strong quasi-experimental design. Of 163 identified studies published 1970 - 2011, 46 met criteria for inclusion. Results Mean effects sizes were significant and positive for each outcome category (ranging form d =.11 for Academic Achievement to d = .29 for Aggression). Heterogeneity in effect sizes was noted for all four outcomes. Stronger effects resulted when mentor motivation was professional development but not by other implementation features. Significant improvements in effects were found when advocacy and emotional support mentoring processes were emphasized. Conclusions This popular approach has significant impact on delinquency and associated outcomes for youth at-risk for delinquency. While evidencing some features may relate to effects, the body of literature is remarkably lacking in details about specific program features and procedures. This persistent state of limited reporting seriously impedes understanding about how mentoring is beneficial and ability to maximize its utility. PMID:25386111

Accelerating object detection via a visual-feature-directed search cascade: algorithm and field programmable gate array implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kyrkou, Christos; Theocharides, Theocharis

2016-07-01

Object detection is a major step in several computer vision applications and a requirement for most smart camera systems. Recent advances in hardware acceleration for real-time object detection feature extensive use of reconfigurable hardware [field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)], and relevant research has produced quite fascinating results, in both the accuracy of the detection algorithms as well as the performance in terms of frames per second (fps) for use in embedded smart camera systems. Detecting objects in images, however, is a daunting task and often involves hardware-inefficient steps, both in terms of the datapath design and in terms of input/output and memory access patterns. We present how a visual-feature-directed search cascade composed of motion detection, depth computation, and edge detection, can have a significant impact in reducing the data that needs to be examined by the classification engine for the presence of an object of interest. Experimental results on a Spartan 6 FPGA platform for face detection indicate data search reduction of up to 95%, which results in the system being able to process up to 50 1024×768 pixels images per second with a significantly reduced number of false positives.

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

Yuan, Ke; De Andrade, Vincent; Feng, Zhange

The presence of impurity ions is known to significantly influence mineral surface morphology during crystal growth from aqueous solution, but knowledge on impurity ion-mineral interactions during dissolution under far-from equilibrium conditions remains limited. Here we show that calcite (CaCO 3) exhibits a rich array of dissolution features in the presence of Pb. During the initial stage, calcite exhibits non-classical surface features characterized as micro pyramids developed spontaneously in acidic Pb-bearing solutions. Subsequent pseudomorphic growth of cerussite (PbCO 3) was observed, where nucleation occurred entirely within a pore space created by dissolution at the calcite/substrate interface. Uneven growth rates yielded amore » cerussite shell made of lath- or dendritic-shaped crystals. The cerussite phase was separated from the calcite by pores of less than 200 nm under transmission X-ray microscopy, consistent with the interface-coupled dissolution-precipitation mechanism. These results show that impurity metal ions exert significant control over the microscale dissolution features found on mineral surfaces and provide new insights into interpreting and designing micro structures observed in naturally-occurring and synthetic carbonate minerals by dissolution. In addition, heterogeneous micro-environments created in transport limited reactions under pore spaces may lead to unusual growth forms during crystal nucleation and precipitation.« less

WISE Design for Knowledge Integration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linn, Marcia C.; Clark, Douglas; Slotta, James D.

2003-01-01

Examines the implementation of Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE), which can incorporate modeling tools and hand-held devices. Describes WISE design team practices, features of the WISE learning environment, and patterns of feature use in WISE library projects. (SOE)

Evaluation of advanced high rate Li-SOCl2 cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deligiannis, F.; Ang, V.; Dawson, S.; Frank, H.; Subbarao, S.

1986-01-01

Under NASA sponsorship, JPL is developing advanced, high rate Li-SOCl2 cells for future space missions. As part of this effort, Li-SOCl2 cells of various designs were examined for performance and safety. The cells differed from one another in several aspects, such as: nature of carbon cathode, catalysts, cell configuration, case polarity, and safety devices. Performance evaluation included constant-current discharge over a range of currents and temperatures. Abuse-testing consisted of shortcircuiting, charging, and over-discharge. Energy densities greater than 300 Wh/Kg at the C/2 rate were found for some designs. A cell design featuring a high-surface-area carbon cathode was found to deliver nearly 500 Wh/Kg at moderate discharge rates. Temperature influenced the performance significantly.

Stressed photoconductive detector for far-infrared space applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, J.-Q.; Richards, P. L.; Beeman, J. W.; Haller, E. E.

1987-01-01

An optimized leaf-spring apparatus for applying uniaxial stress to a Ge:Ga far-IR photoconductor has been designed and tested. This design has significant advantages for space applications which require high quantum efficiency and stable operation over long periods of time. The important features include adequate spring deflection with relatively small overall size, torque-free stress, easy measurement of applied stress, and a detector configuration with high responsivity. One-dimensional arrays of stressed photoconductors can be constructed using this design. A peak responsivity of 38 A/W is achieved in a detector with a cutoff wavelength of 200 microns, which was operated at a temperature of 2.0 K and a bias voltage equal to one-half of the breakdown voltage.

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

Spong, D.A.

The design techniques and physics analysis of modern stellarator configurations for magnetic fusion research rely heavily on high performance computing and simulation. Stellarators, which are fundamentally 3-dimensional in nature, offer significantly more design flexibility than more symmetric devices such as the tokamak. By varying the outer boundary shape of the plasma, a variety of physics features, such as transport, stability, and heating efficiency can be optimized. Scientific visualization techniques are an important adjunct to this effort as they provide a necessary ergonomic link between the numerical results and the intuition of the human researcher. The authors have developed a varietymore » of visualization techniques for stellarators which both facilitate the design optimization process and allow the physics simulations to be more readily understood.« less

Robust extrema features for time-series data analysis.

PubMed

Vemulapalli, Pramod K; Monga, Vishal; Brennan, Sean N

2013-06-01

The extraction of robust features for comparing and analyzing time series is a fundamentally important problem. Research efforts in this area encompass dimensionality reduction using popular signal analysis tools such as the discrete Fourier and wavelet transforms, various distance metrics, and the extraction of interest points from time series. Recently, extrema features for analysis of time-series data have assumed increasing significance because of their natural robustness under a variety of practical distortions, their economy of representation, and their computational benefits. Invariably, the process of encoding extrema features is preceded by filtering of the time series with an intuitively motivated filter (e.g., for smoothing), and subsequent thresholding to identify robust extrema. We define the properties of robustness, uniqueness, and cardinality as a means to identify the design choices available in each step of the feature generation process. Unlike existing methods, which utilize filters "inspired" from either domain knowledge or intuition, we explicitly optimize the filter based on training time series to optimize robustness of the extracted extrema features. We demonstrate further that the underlying filter optimization problem reduces to an eigenvalue problem and has a tractable solution. An encoding technique that enhances control over cardinality and uniqueness is also presented. Experimental results obtained for the problem of time series subsequence matching establish the merits of the proposed algorithm.

node2vec: Scalable Feature Learning for Networks

PubMed Central

Grover, Aditya; Leskovec, Jure

2016-01-01

Prediction tasks over nodes and edges in networks require careful effort in engineering features used by learning algorithms. Recent research in the broader field of representation learning has led to significant progress in automating prediction by learning the features themselves. However, present feature learning approaches are not expressive enough to capture the diversity of connectivity patterns observed in networks. Here we propose node2vec, an algorithmic framework for learning continuous feature representations for nodes in networks. In node2vec, we learn a mapping of nodes to a low-dimensional space of features that maximizes the likelihood of preserving network neighborhoods of nodes. We define a flexible notion of a node’s network neighborhood and design a biased random walk procedure, which efficiently explores diverse neighborhoods. Our algorithm generalizes prior work which is based on rigid notions of network neighborhoods, and we argue that the added flexibility in exploring neighborhoods is the key to learning richer representations. We demonstrate the efficacy of node2vec over existing state-of-the-art techniques on multi-label classification and link prediction in several real-world networks from diverse domains. Taken together, our work represents a new way for efficiently learning state-of-the-art task-independent representations in complex networks. PMID:27853626

A continuous scale-space method for the automated placement of spot heights on maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rocca, Luigi; Jenny, Bernhard; Puppo, Enrico

2017-12-01

Spot heights and soundings explicitly indicate terrain elevation on cartographic maps. Cartographers have developed design principles for the manual selection, placement, labeling, and generalization of spot height locations, but these processes are work-intensive and expensive. Finding an algorithmic criterion that matches the cartographers' judgment in ranking the significance of features on a terrain is a difficult endeavor. This article proposes a method for the automated selection of spot heights locations representing natural features such as peaks, saddles and depressions. A lifespan of critical points in a continuous scale-space model is employed as the main measure of the importance of features, and an algorithm and a data structure for its computation are described. We also introduce a method for the comparison of algorithmically computed spot height locations with manually produced reference compilations. The new method is compared with two known techniques from the literature. Results show spot height locations that are closer to reference spot heights produced manually by swisstopo cartographers, compared to previous techniques. The introduced method can be applied to elevation models for the creation of topographic and bathymetric maps. It also ranks the importance of extracted spot height locations, which allows for a variation in the size of symbols and labels according to the significance of represented features. The importance ranking could also be useful for adjusting spot height density of zoomable maps in real time.

Bilinear modeling of EMG signals to extract user-independent features for multiuser myoelectric interface.

PubMed

Matsubara, Takamitsu; Morimoto, Jun

2013-08-01

In this study, we propose a multiuser myoelectric interface that can easily adapt to novel users. When a user performs different motions (e.g., grasping and pinching), different electromyography (EMG) signals are measured. When different users perform the same motion (e.g., grasping), different EMG signals are also measured. Therefore, designing a myoelectric interface that can be used by multiple users to perform multiple motions is difficult. To cope with this problem, we propose for EMG signals a bilinear model that is composed of two linear factors: 1) user dependent and 2) motion dependent. By decomposing the EMG signals into these two factors, the extracted motion-dependent factors can be used as user-independent features. We can construct a motion classifier on the extracted feature space to develop the multiuser interface. For novel users, the proposed adaptation method estimates the user-dependent factor through only a few interactions. The bilinear EMG model with the estimated user-dependent factor can extract the user-independent features from the novel user data. We applied our proposed method to a recognition task of five hand gestures for robotic hand control using four-channel EMG signals measured from subject forearms. Our method resulted in 73% accuracy, which was statistically significantly different from the accuracy of standard nonmultiuser interfaces, as the result of a two-sample t -test at a significance level of 1%.

Struggling readers learning with graphic-rich digital science text: Effects of a Highlight & Animate Feature and Manipulable Graphics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Defrance, Nancy L.

Technology offers promise of 'leveling the playing field' for struggling readers. That is, instructional support features within digital texts may enable all readers to learn. This quasi-experimental study examined the effects on learning of two support features, which offered unique opportunities to interact with text. The Highlight & Animate Feature highlighted an important idea in prose, while simultaneously animating its representation in an adjacent graphic. It invited readers to integrate ideas depicted in graphics and prose, using each one to interpret the other. The Manipulable Graphics had parts that the reader could operate to discover relationships among phenomena. It invited readers to test or refine the ideas that they brought to, or gleaned from, the text. Use of these support features was compulsory. Twenty fifth grade struggling readers read a graphic-rich digital science text in a clinical interview setting, under one of two conditions: using either the Highlight & Animate Feature or the Manipulable Graphics. Participants in both conditions made statistically significant gains on a multiple choice measure of knowledge of the topic of the text. While there were no significant differences by condition in the amount of knowledge gained; there were significant differences in the quality of knowledge expressed. Transcripts revealed that understandings about light and vision, expressed by those who used the Highlight & Animate Feature, were more often conceptually and linguistically 'complete.' That is, their understandings included both a description of phenomena as well as an explanation of underlying scientific principles, which participants articulated using the vocabulary of the text. This finding may be attributed to the multiple opportunities to integrate graphics (depicting the behavior of phenomena) and prose (providing the scientific explanation of that phenomena), which characterized the Highlight & Animate Condition. Those who used the Manipulable Graphics were more likely to express complete understandings when they were able to structure a systematic investigation of the graphic and when the graphic was designed to confront their own naive conceptions about light and vision. The Manipulable Graphics also provided a foothold for those who entered the study with very little prior knowledge of the topic.

The NASA Langley Laminar-Flow-Control (LFC) experiment on a swept, supercritical airfoil: Design overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harris, Charles D.; Harvey, William D.; Brooks, Cuyler W., Jr.

1988-01-01

A large-chord, swept, supercritical, laminar-flow-control (LFC) airfoil was designed and constructed and is currently undergoing tests in the Langley 8 ft Transonic Pressure Tunnel. The experiment was directed toward evaluating the compatibility of LFC and supercritical airfoils, validating prediction techniques, and generating a data base for future transport airfoil design as part of NASA's ongoing research program to significantly reduce drag and increase aircraft efficiency. Unique features of the airfoil included a high design Mach number with shock free flow and boundary layer control by suction. Special requirements for the experiment included modifications to the wind tunnel to achieve the necessary flow quality and contouring of the test section walls to simulate free air flow about a swept model at transonic speeds. Design of the airfoil with a slotted suction surface, the suction system, and modifications to the tunnel to meet test requirements are discussed.

Seven Key Principles of Program and Project Success: A Best Practices Survey

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bilardo, Vincent J.; Korte, John J.; Dankhoff, Walter; Langan, Kevin; Branscome, Darrell R.; Fragola, Joseph R.; Dugal, Dale J.; Gormley, Thomas J.; Hammond, Walter E.; Hollopeter, James J.;

Fine tuning of transmission features in nanoporous anodic alumina distributed Bragg reflectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Siew Yee; Law, Cheryl Suwen; Santos, Abel

2018-01-01

This study introduces an innovative apodisation strategy to tune the filtering features of distributed Bragg reflectors based on nanoporous anodic alumina (NAA-DBRs). The effective medium of NAA-DBRs, which is modulated in a stepwise fashion by a pulse-like anodisation approach, is apodised following a logarithmic negative function to engineer the transmission features of NAA-DBRs. We investigate the effect of various apodisation parameters such as apodisation amplitude difference, anodisation period, current density offset and pore widening time, to tune and optimise the optical properties of NAA-DBRs in terms of central wavelength position, full width at half maximum and quality of photonic stop band. The transmission features of NAA-DBRs are shown to be fully controllable with precision across the spectral regions by means of the apodisation parameters. Our study demonstrates that an apodisation strategy can significantly narrow the width and enhance the quality of the characteristic photonic stop band of NAA-DBRs. This rationally designed anodisation approach based on the combination of apodisation and stepwise pulse anodisation enables the development of optical filters with tuneable filtering features to be integrated into optical technologies acting as essential photonic elements in devices such as optical sensors and biosensors.

The Impact of a Racing Feature on Middle School Science Students' Performance in an Educational Game: The Effect of Content-Free Game-Actions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ault, Marilyn; Craig-Hare, Jana; Frey, Bruce

2016-01-01

Reason Racer is an online, rate-based, multiplayer game designed to engage middle school students in the knowledge and skills related to scientific argumentation. Several game features are included as design considerations unrelated to science content or argumentation. One specific feature, a competitive racing component that occurs in between…

Supporting Scientific Modeling Practices in Atmospheric Sciences: Intended and Actual Affordances of a Computer-Based Modeling Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Pai-Hsing; Wu, Hsin-Kai; Kuo, Che-Yu; Hsu, Ying-Shao

2015-01-01

Computer-based learning tools include design features to enhance learning but learners may not always perceive the existence of these features and use them in desirable ways. There might be a gap between what the tool features are designed to offer (intended affordance) and what they are actually used (actual affordance). This study thus aims at…

Improving the design of maintenance studies for bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Gitlin, Michael J; Abulseoud, Osama; Frye, Mark A

2010-08-01

In contrast to the trial design of acute mania studies, there is no standard design for bipolar maintenance studies. Over the past 15 years, the design of monotherapy maintenance studies in bipolar disorder has evolved significantly, but recent study designs continue to differ in important ways. We reviewed the design of recent controlled bipolar maintenance studies, using PubMed, from August 2006 to August 2009, examining the strengths and weaknesses of different study design features. Design differences are sufficiently important that the disparate results across maintenance studies may reflect either true differences in medication efficacy or the effects of these design differences on outcome. Design elements such as recent episode polarity, stabilization criteria, using enriched versus nonenriched samples, length of stabilization before randomization, length of experimental phase, and recurrence outcome criteria are critical factors that differ widely across studies and likely play a role in study outcome. As consensus for trial designs for bipolar maintenance therapy is developed, it will be easier to develop algorithms for maintenance treatment based on results from studies as opposed to clinical opinions.

SHINE Tritium Nozzle Design: Activity 6, Task 1 Report

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

Okhuysen, Brett S.; Pulliam, Elias Noel

In FY14, we studied the qualitative and quantitative behavior of a SHINE/PNL tritium nozzle under varying operating conditions. The result is an understanding of the nozzle’s performance in terms of important flow features that manifest themselves under different parametric profiles. In FY15, we will consider nozzle design with a focus on nozzle geometry and integration. From FY14 work, we will understand how the SHINE/PNL nozzle behaves under different operating scenarios. The first task for FY15 is to evaluate the FY14 model as a predictor of the actual flow. Considering different geometries is more time-intensive than parameter studies, therefore we recommendmore » considering any relevant flow features that were not included in the FY14 model. In the absence of experimental data, it is particularly important to consider any sources of heat in the domain or boundary conditions that may affect the flow and incorporate these into the simulation if they are significant. Additionally, any geometric features of the beamline segment should be added to the model such as the orifice plate. The FY14 model works with hydrogen. An improvement that can be made for FY15 is to develop CFD properties for tritium and incorporate those properties into the new models.« less

Computer-Aided Diagnosis with Deep Learning Architecture: Applications to Breast Lesions in US Images and Pulmonary Nodules in CT Scans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Jie-Zhi; Ni, Dong; Chou, Yi-Hong; Qin, Jing; Tiu, Chui-Mei; Chang, Yeun-Chung; Huang, Chiun-Sheng; Shen, Dinggang; Chen, Chung-Ming

2016-04-01

This paper performs a comprehensive study on the deep-learning-based computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant nodules/lesions by avoiding the potential errors caused by inaccurate image processing results (e.g., boundary segmentation), as well as the classification bias resulting from a less robust feature set, as involved in most conventional CADx algorithms. Specifically, the stacked denoising auto-encoder (SDAE) is exploited on the two CADx applications for the differentiation of breast ultrasound lesions and lung CT nodules. The SDAE architecture is well equipped with the automatic feature exploration mechanism and noise tolerance advantage, and hence may be suitable to deal with the intrinsically noisy property of medical image data from various imaging modalities. To show the outperformance of SDAE-based CADx over the conventional scheme, two latest conventional CADx algorithms are implemented for comparison. 10 times of 10-fold cross-validations are conducted to illustrate the efficacy of the SDAE-based CADx algorithm. The experimental results show the significant performance boost by the SDAE-based CADx algorithm over the two conventional methods, suggesting that deep learning techniques can potentially change the design paradigm of the CADx systems without the need of explicit design and selection of problem-oriented features.

Computer-Aided Diagnosis with Deep Learning Architecture: Applications to Breast Lesions in US Images and Pulmonary Nodules in CT Scans.

PubMed

Cheng, Jie-Zhi; Ni, Dong; Chou, Yi-Hong; Qin, Jing; Tiu, Chui-Mei; Chang, Yeun-Chung; Huang, Chiun-Sheng; Shen, Dinggang; Chen, Chung-Ming

2016-04-15

This paper performs a comprehensive study on the deep-learning-based computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant nodules/lesions by avoiding the potential errors caused by inaccurate image processing results (e.g., boundary segmentation), as well as the classification bias resulting from a less robust feature set, as involved in most conventional CADx algorithms. Specifically, the stacked denoising auto-encoder (SDAE) is exploited on the two CADx applications for the differentiation of breast ultrasound lesions and lung CT nodules. The SDAE architecture is well equipped with the automatic feature exploration mechanism and noise tolerance advantage, and hence may be suitable to deal with the intrinsically noisy property of medical image data from various imaging modalities. To show the outperformance of SDAE-based CADx over the conventional scheme, two latest conventional CADx algorithms are implemented for comparison. 10 times of 10-fold cross-validations are conducted to illustrate the efficacy of the SDAE-based CADx algorithm. The experimental results show the significant performance boost by the SDAE-based CADx algorithm over the two conventional methods, suggesting that deep learning techniques can potentially change the design paradigm of the CADx systems without the need of explicit design and selection of problem-oriented features.

Computer-Aided Diagnosis with Deep Learning Architecture: Applications to Breast Lesions in US Images and Pulmonary Nodules in CT Scans

PubMed Central

Cheng, Jie-Zhi; Ni, Dong; Chou, Yi-Hong; Qin, Jing; Tiu, Chui-Mei; Chang, Yeun-Chung; Huang, Chiun-Sheng; Shen, Dinggang; Chen, Chung-Ming

2016-01-01

This paper performs a comprehensive study on the deep-learning-based computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant nodules/lesions by avoiding the potential errors caused by inaccurate image processing results (e.g., boundary segmentation), as well as the classification bias resulting from a less robust feature set, as involved in most conventional CADx algorithms. Specifically, the stacked denoising auto-encoder (SDAE) is exploited on the two CADx applications for the differentiation of breast ultrasound lesions and lung CT nodules. The SDAE architecture is well equipped with the automatic feature exploration mechanism and noise tolerance advantage, and hence may be suitable to deal with the intrinsically noisy property of medical image data from various imaging modalities. To show the outperformance of SDAE-based CADx over the conventional scheme, two latest conventional CADx algorithms are implemented for comparison. 10 times of 10-fold cross-validations are conducted to illustrate the efficacy of the SDAE-based CADx algorithm. The experimental results show the significant performance boost by the SDAE-based CADx algorithm over the two conventional methods, suggesting that deep learning techniques can potentially change the design paradigm of the CADx systems without the need of explicit design and selection of problem-oriented features. PMID:27079888

A method for real-time implementation of HOG feature extraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Hai-bo; Yu, Xin-rong; Liu, Hong-mei; Ding, Qing-hai

2011-08-01

Histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) is an efficient feature extraction scheme, and HOG descriptors are feature descriptors which is widely used in computer vision and image processing for the purpose of biometrics, target tracking, automatic target detection(ATD) and automatic target recognition(ATR) etc. However, computation of HOG feature extraction is unsuitable for hardware implementation since it includes complicated operations. In this paper, the optimal design method and theory frame for real-time HOG feature extraction based on FPGA were proposed. The main principle is as follows: firstly, the parallel gradient computing unit circuit based on parallel pipeline structure was designed. Secondly, the calculation of arctangent and square root operation was simplified. Finally, a histogram generator based on parallel pipeline structure was designed to calculate the histogram of each sub-region. Experimental results showed that the HOG extraction can be implemented in a pixel period by these computing units.

SKL algorithm based fabric image matching and retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Yichen; Zhang, Xueqin; Ma, Guojian; Sun, Rongqing; Dong, Deping

2017-07-01

Intelligent computer image processing technology provides convenience and possibility for designers to carry out designs. Shape analysis can be achieved by extracting SURF feature. However, high dimension of SURF feature causes to lower matching speed. To solve this problem, this paper proposed a fast fabric image matching algorithm based on SURF K-means and LSH algorithm. By constructing the bag of visual words on K-Means algorithm, and forming feature histogram of each image, the dimension of SURF feature is reduced at the first step. Then with the help of LSH algorithm, the features are encoded and the dimension is further reduced. In addition, the indexes of each image and each class of image are created, and the number of matching images is decreased by LSH hash bucket. Experiments on fabric image database show that this algorithm can speed up the matching and retrieval process, the result can satisfy the requirement of dress designers with accuracy and speed.

78 FR 11560 - Special Conditions: Embraer S.A., Model EMB-550 Airplane; Electronic Flight Control System...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-19

... or unusual design feature(s) associated with an electronic flight control system with respect to... control surfaces. The Model EMB-550 airplane is designed for 8 passengers, with a maximum of 12 passengers... the pilot or copilot sidestick. The Embraer S.A. Model EMB-550 airplane has a flight control design...

Design of prototype charged particle fog dispersal unit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collins, F. G.; Frost, W.; Kessel, P.

1981-01-01

The unit was designed to be easily modified so that certain features that influence the output current and particle size distribution could be examined. An experimental program was designed to measure the performance of the unit. The program described includes measurements in a fog chamber and in the field. Features of the nozzle and estimated nozzle characteristics are presented.

Investigating Relationships between Features of Learning Designs and Student Learning Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNaught, Carmel; Lam, Paul; Cheng, Kin Fai

2012-01-01

This article reports a study of eLearning in 21 courses in Hong Kong universities that had a blended design of face-to-face classes combined with online learning. The main focus of the study was to examine possible relationships between features of online learning designs and student learning outcomes. Data-collection strategies included expert…

Another Look at the Relative Impact of Workplace Design on Training Transfer for Supervisory Communication Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hillsman, Terron L.; Kupritz, Virginia W.

2010-01-01

This ethnographic study extends the findings of earlier research that authenticated the impact of workplace design features on newly acquired communication skills back on the job. The qualitative nature of the earlier study, however, limited quantitative measurement of workplace design features that may have an impact on learned skills. This study…

Learning Spatio-Temporal Representations for Action Recognition: A Genetic Programming Approach.

PubMed

Liu, Li; Shao, Ling; Li, Xuelong; Lu, Ke

2016-01-01

Extracting discriminative and robust features from video sequences is the first and most critical step in human action recognition. In this paper, instead of using handcrafted features, we automatically learn spatio-temporal motion features for action recognition. This is achieved via an evolutionary method, i.e., genetic programming (GP), which evolves the motion feature descriptor on a population of primitive 3D operators (e.g., 3D-Gabor and wavelet). In this way, the scale and shift invariant features can be effectively extracted from both color and optical flow sequences. We intend to learn data adaptive descriptors for different datasets with multiple layers, which makes fully use of the knowledge to mimic the physical structure of the human visual cortex for action recognition and simultaneously reduce the GP searching space to effectively accelerate the convergence of optimal solutions. In our evolutionary architecture, the average cross-validation classification error, which is calculated by an support-vector-machine classifier on the training set, is adopted as the evaluation criterion for the GP fitness function. After the entire evolution procedure finishes, the best-so-far solution selected by GP is regarded as the (near-)optimal action descriptor obtained. The GP-evolving feature extraction method is evaluated on four popular action datasets, namely KTH, HMDB51, UCF YouTube, and Hollywood2. Experimental results show that our method significantly outperforms other types of features, either hand-designed or machine-learned.

Benefit design innovations: implications for consumer-directed health care.

PubMed

Tu, Ha T; Ginsburg, Paul B

2007-02-01

Current health insurance benefit designs that simply rely on higher, one-size-fits-all patient cost sharing have limited potential to curb rapidly rising costs, but innovations in benefit design can potentially make cost sharing a more effective tool, according to a new study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). Innovative benefit designs include incentives to encourage healthy behaviors; incentives that vary by service type, patient condition or enrollee income; and incentives to use efficient providers. But most applications of these innovative designs are not widespread, suggesting that any significant cost impact is many years off. Moreover, regulations governing high-deductible, consumer-directed health plans eligible for health savings accounts (HSAs) preclude some promising benefit design innovations and dilute the incentives in others. A movement away from a one-size-fits-all HSA benefit structure toward a more flexible design might broaden the appeal of HSA plans and enable them to incorporate features that promote cost-effective care.

DIRC Dreams: Research Directions for the Next Generation of Internally Reflected Imaging Counters

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

Ratcliff, Blair N.

1999-08-17

Some conceptual design features of the total internally reflecting,imaging Cherenkov counter (DIRC) are described. Limits of the DIRC approach to particle identification, and a few features of alternative DIRC designs, are briefly explored.

Design and Fabrication of the Lithium Tokamak Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kozub, Thomas; Majeski, Richard; Kaita, Robert; Priniski, Craig; Zakharov, Leonid

2006-10-01

The design objective of the lithium tokamak experiment (LTX) is to investigate the equilibrium and stability of tokamak discharges with near-zero recycling. The construction of LTX incorporates the conversion of the existing current drive experiment (CDX) vessel into one with a nearly complete plasma facing surface of liquid lithium This paper will describe the design, fabrication, and installation activities required to convert CDX into LTX. The most significant new feature is the addition of a plasma facing liner on a shell that will be operated at 300 C to 400 C and covered with an evaporated layer of liquid lithium. The shell has been fabricated in-house from explosively bonded stainless steel on copper to a rather unique geometry to match the outer flux surface. Other significant device modifications include the construction of a new ohmic heating power system, rebuilding of the vacuum vessel, new lithium evaporators, additional diagnostics, modifications to the poloidal field coil geometry and their associated power supplies. Details on the progress of this conversion will be reported.

Good Features to Correlate for Visual Tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gundogdu, Erhan; Alatan, A. Aydin

2018-05-01

During the recent years, correlation filters have shown dominant and spectacular results for visual object tracking. The types of the features that are employed in these family of trackers significantly affect the performance of visual tracking. The ultimate goal is to utilize robust features invariant to any kind of appearance change of the object, while predicting the object location as properly as in the case of no appearance change. As the deep learning based methods have emerged, the study of learning features for specific tasks has accelerated. For instance, discriminative visual tracking methods based on deep architectures have been studied with promising performance. Nevertheless, correlation filter based (CFB) trackers confine themselves to use the pre-trained networks which are trained for object classification problem. To this end, in this manuscript the problem of learning deep fully convolutional features for the CFB visual tracking is formulated. In order to learn the proposed model, a novel and efficient backpropagation algorithm is presented based on the loss function of the network. The proposed learning framework enables the network model to be flexible for a custom design. Moreover, it alleviates the dependency on the network trained for classification. Extensive performance analysis shows the efficacy of the proposed custom design in the CFB tracking framework. By fine-tuning the convolutional parts of a state-of-the-art network and integrating this model to a CFB tracker, which is the top performing one of VOT2016, 18% increase is achieved in terms of expected average overlap, and tracking failures are decreased by 25%, while maintaining the superiority over the state-of-the-art methods in OTB-2013 and OTB-2015 tracking datasets.

Patient Stratification Using Electronic Health Records from a Chronic Disease Management Program.

PubMed

Chen, Robert; Sun, Jimeng; Dittus, Robert S; Fabbri, Daniel; Kirby, Jacqueline; Laffer, Cheryl L; McNaughton, Candace D; Malin, Bradley

2016-01-04

The goal of this study is to devise a machine learning framework to assist care coordination programs in prognostic stratification to design and deliver personalized care plans and to allocate financial and medical resources effectively. This study is based on a de-identified cohort of 2,521 hypertension patients from a chronic care coordination program at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Patients were modeled as vectors of features derived from electronic health records (EHRs) over a six-year period. We applied a stepwise regression to identify risk factors associated with a decrease in mean arterial pressure of at least 2 mmHg after program enrollment. The resulting features were subsequently validated via a logistic regression classifier. Finally, risk factors were applied to group the patients through model-based clustering. We identified a set of predictive features that consisted of a mix of demographic, medication, and diagnostic concepts. Logistic regression over these features yielded an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.71 (95% CI: [0.67, 0.76]). Based on these features, four clinically meaningful groups are identified through clustering - two of which represented patients with more severe disease profiles, while the remaining represented patients with mild disease profiles. Patients with hypertension can exhibit significant variation in their blood pressure control status and responsiveness to therapy. Yet this work shows that a clustering analysis can generate more homogeneous patient groups, which may aid clinicians in designing and implementing customized care programs. The study shows that predictive modeling and clustering using EHR data can be beneficial for providing a systematic, generalized approach for care providers to tailor their management approach based upon patient-level factors.

Circular blurred shape model for multiclass symbol recognition.

PubMed

Escalera, Sergio; Fornés, Alicia; Pujol, Oriol; Lladós, Josep; Radeva, Petia

2011-04-01

In this paper, we propose a circular blurred shape model descriptor to deal with the problem of symbol detection and classification as a particular case of object recognition. The feature extraction is performed by capturing the spatial arrangement of significant object characteristics in a correlogram structure. The shape information from objects is shared among correlogram regions, where a prior blurring degree defines the level of distortion allowed in the symbol, making the descriptor tolerant to irregular deformations. Moreover, the descriptor is rotation invariant by definition. We validate the effectiveness of the proposed descriptor in both the multiclass symbol recognition and symbol detection domains. In order to perform the symbol detection, the descriptors are learned using a cascade of classifiers. In the case of multiclass categorization, the new feature space is learned using a set of binary classifiers which are embedded in an error-correcting output code design. The results over four symbol data sets show the significant improvements of the proposed descriptor compared to the state-of-the-art descriptors. In particular, the results are even more significant in those cases where the symbols suffer from elastic deformations.

The effect of recording site on extracted features of motor unit action potential.

PubMed

Artuğ, N Tuğrul; Goker, Imran; Bolat, Bülent; Osman, Onur; Kocasoy Orhan, Elif; Baslo, M Baris

2016-06-01

Motor unit action potential (MUAP), which consists of individual muscle fiber action potentials (MFAPs), represents the electrical activity of the motor unit. The values of the MUAP features are changed by denervation and reinnervation in neurogenic involvement as well as muscle fiber loss with increased diameter variability in myopathic diseases. The present study is designed to investigate how increased muscle fiber diameter variability affects MUAP parameters in simulated motor units. In order to detect this variation, simulated MUAPs were calculated both at the innervation zone where the MFAPs are more synchronized, and near the tendon, where they show increased temporal dispersion. Reinnervation in neurogenic state increases MUAP amplitude for the recordings at both the innervation zone and near the tendon. However, MUAP duration and the number of peaks significantly increased in a case of myopathy for recordings near the tendon. Furthermore, of the new features, "number of peaks×spike duration" was found as the strongest indicator of MFAP dispersion in myopathy. MUAPs were also recorded from healthy participants in order to investigate the biological counterpart of the simulation data. MUAPs which were recorded near to tendon revealed significantly prolonged duration and decreased amplitude. Although the number of peaks was increased by moving the needle near to tendon, this was not significant. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

Lee, Seyong; Vetter, Jeffrey S

Computer architecture experts expect that non-volatile memory (NVM) hierarchies will play a more significant role in future systems including mobile, enterprise, and HPC architectures. With this expectation in mind, we present NVL-C: a novel programming system that facilitates the efficient and correct programming of NVM main memory systems. The NVL-C programming abstraction extends C with a small set of intuitive language features that target NVM main memory, and can be combined directly with traditional C memory model features for DRAM. We have designed these new features to enable compiler analyses and run-time checks that can improve performance and guard againstmore » a number of subtle programming errors, which, when left uncorrected, can corrupt NVM-stored data. Moreover, to enable recovery of data across application or system failures, these NVL-C features include a flexible directive for specifying NVM transactions. So that our implementation might be extended to other compiler front ends and languages, the majority of our compiler analyses are implemented in an extended version of LLVM's intermediate representation (LLVM IR). We evaluate NVL-C on a number of applications to show its flexibility, performance, and correctness.« less

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

Simkin, T.; Tilling, R.I.; Taggart, J.N.

The Earth's physiographic features overlain by its volcanoes, earthquake epicenters, and the movement of its major tectonic plates are shown in this map. This computer-generated map of the world provides a base that shows the topography of the land surface and the sea floor; the additions of color and shaded relief help to distinguish significant features. From the Volcano Reference file of the Smithsonian Institution, nearly 1,450 volcanoes active during the past 10,000 yr are plotted on the map in four categories. From the files of the National Earthquake Information Center (US Geological Survey), epicenters selected from 1,300 large eventsmore » (magnitude {>=} 7.0) from 1987 onward and from 140,000 instrumentally recorded earthquakes (magnitude {>=} 4.0) from 1960 to the present are plotted on this map according to two magnitude categories and two depth categories. This special map is intended as a teaching aid for classroom use and as a general reference for research. It is designed to show prominent global features when viewed from a distance; more detailed features are visible on closer inspection.« less

Machine learning vortices at the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beach, Matthew J. S.; Golubeva, Anna; Melko, Roger G.

2018-01-01

Efficient and automated classification of phases from minimally processed data is one goal of machine learning in condensed-matter and statistical physics. Supervised algorithms trained on raw samples of microstates can successfully detect conventional phase transitions via learning a bulk feature such as an order parameter. In this paper, we investigate whether neural networks can learn to classify phases based on topological defects. We address this question on the two-dimensional classical XY model which exhibits a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. We find significant feature engineering of the raw spin states is required to convincingly claim that features of the vortex configurations are responsible for learning the transition temperature. We further show a single-layer network does not correctly classify the phases of the XY model, while a convolutional network easily performs classification by learning the global magnetization. Finally, we design a deep network capable of learning vortices without feature engineering. We demonstrate the detection of vortices does not necessarily result in the best classification accuracy, especially for lattices of less than approximately 1000 spins. For larger systems, it remains a difficult task to learn vortices.

NASA Space Engineering Research Center Symposium on VLSI Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maki, Gary K.

1990-01-01

The NASA Space Engineering Research Center (SERC) is proud to offer, at its second symposium on VLSI design, presentations by an outstanding set of individuals from national laboratories and the electronics industry. These featured speakers share insights into next generation advances that will serve as a basis for future VLSI design. Questions of reliability in the space environment along with new directions in CAD and design are addressed by the featured speakers.

Evaluation of graphic cardiovascular display in a high-fidelity simulator.

PubMed

Agutter, James; Drews, Frank; Syroid, Noah; Westneskow, Dwayne; Albert, Rob; Strayer, David; Bermudez, Julio; Weinger, Matthew B

2003-11-01

"Human error" in anesthesia can be attributed to misleading information from patient monitors or to the physician's failure to recognize a pattern. A graphic representation of monitored data may provide better support for detection, diagnosis, and treatment. We designed a graphic display to show hemodynamic variables. Twenty anesthesiologists were asked to assume care of a simulated patient. Half the participants used the graphic cardiovascular display; the other half used a Datex As/3 monitor. One scenario was a total hip replacement with a transfusion reaction to mismatched blood. The second scenario was a radical prostatectomy with 1.5 L of blood loss and myocardial ischemia. Subjects who used the graphic display detected myocardial ischemia 2 min sooner than those who did not use the display. Treatment was initiated sooner (2.5 versus 4.9 min). There were no significant differences between groups in the hip replacement scenario. Systolic blood pressure deviated less from baseline, central venous pressure was closer to its baseline, and arterial oxygen saturation was higher at the end of the case when the graphic display was used. The study lends some support for the hypothesis that providing clinical information graphically in a display designed with emergent features and functional relationships can improve clinicians' ability to detect, diagnose, manage, and treat critical cardiovascular events in a simulated environment. A graphic representation of monitored data may provide better support for detection, diagnosis, and treatment. A user-centered design process led to a novel object-oriented graphic display of hemodynamic variables containing emergent features and functional relationships. In a simulated environment, this display appeared to support clinicians' ability to diagnose, manage, and treat a critical cardiovascular event in a simulated environment. We designed a graphic display to show hemodynamic variables. The study provides some support for the hypothesis that providing clinical information graphically in a display designed with emergent features and functional relationships can improve clinicians' ability to detect, diagnosis, mange, and treat critical cardiovascular events in a simulated environment.

Spun-wrapped aligned nanofiber (SWAN) lithography for fabrication of micro/nano-structures on 3D objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Zhou; Nain, Amrinder S.; Behkam, Bahareh

2016-06-01

Fabrication of micro/nano-structures on irregularly shaped substrates and three-dimensional (3D) objects is of significant interest in diverse technological fields. However, it remains a formidable challenge thwarted by limited adaptability of the state-of-the-art nanolithography techniques for nanofabrication on non-planar surfaces. In this work, we introduce Spun-Wrapped Aligned Nanofiber (SWAN) lithography, a versatile, scalable, and cost-effective technique for fabrication of multiscale (nano to microscale) structures on 3D objects without restriction on substrate material and geometry. SWAN lithography combines precise deposition of polymeric nanofiber masks, in aligned single or multilayer configurations, with well-controlled solvent vapor treatment and etching processes to enable high throughput (>10-7 m2 s-1) and large-area fabrication of sub-50 nm to several micron features with high pattern fidelity. Using this technique, we demonstrate whole-surface nanopatterning of bulk and thin film surfaces of cubes, cylinders, and hyperbola-shaped objects that would be difficult, if not impossible to achieve with existing methods. We demonstrate that the fabricated feature size (b) scales with the fiber mask diameter (D) as b1.5 ~ D. This scaling law is in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions using the Johnson, Kendall, and Roberts (JKR) contact theory, thus providing a rational design framework for fabrication of systems and devices that require precisely designed multiscale features.Fabrication of micro/nano-structures on irregularly shaped substrates and three-dimensional (3D) objects is of significant interest in diverse technological fields. However, it remains a formidable challenge thwarted by limited adaptability of the state-of-the-art nanolithography techniques for nanofabrication on non-planar surfaces. In this work, we introduce Spun-Wrapped Aligned Nanofiber (SWAN) lithography, a versatile, scalable, and cost-effective technique for fabrication of multiscale (nano to microscale) structures on 3D objects without restriction on substrate material and geometry. SWAN lithography combines precise deposition of polymeric nanofiber masks, in aligned single or multilayer configurations, with well-controlled solvent vapor treatment and etching processes to enable high throughput (>10-7 m2 s-1) and large-area fabrication of sub-50 nm to several micron features with high pattern fidelity. Using this technique, we demonstrate whole-surface nanopatterning of bulk and thin film surfaces of cubes, cylinders, and hyperbola-shaped objects that would be difficult, if not impossible to achieve with existing methods. We demonstrate that the fabricated feature size (b) scales with the fiber mask diameter (D) as b1.5 ~ D. This scaling law is in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions using the Johnson, Kendall, and Roberts (JKR) contact theory, thus providing a rational design framework for fabrication of systems and devices that require precisely designed multiscale features. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: SWAN lithography on silicon; comparison of SWAN lithography and state-of-the-art nanopatterning methods; replica molding using SWAN lithography fabricated template; PDMS nanofluidic device, gold nanopattern characterization. See DOI: 10.1039/c6nr03323g

IAU nomenclature for albedo features on the planet Mercury

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dollfus, A.; Chapman, C. R.; Davies, M. E.; Gingerich, O.; Goldstein, R.; Guest, J.; Morrison, D.; Smith, B. A.

1978-01-01

The International Astronomical Union has endorsed a nomenclature for the albedo features on Mercury. Designations are based upon the mythological names related to the god Hermes; they are expressed in Latin form. The dark-hued albedo features are associated with the generic term Solitudo. The light-hued areas are designated by a single name without generic term. The 32 names adopted are allocated on the Mercury map.

Content and Design Features of Academic Health Sciences Libraries' Home Pages.

PubMed

McConnaughy, Rozalynd P; Wilson, Steven P

2018-01-01

The goal of this content analysis was to identify commonly used content and design features of academic health sciences library home pages. After developing a checklist, data were collected from 135 academic health sciences library home pages. The core components of these library home pages included a contact phone number, a contact email address, an Ask-a-Librarian feature, the physical address listed, a feedback/suggestions link, subject guides, a discovery tool or database-specific search box, multimedia, social media, a site search option, a responsive web design, and a copyright year or update date.

Learning from patients: Identifying design features of medicines that cause medication use problems.

PubMed

Notenboom, Kim; Leufkens, Hubert Gm; Vromans, Herman; Bouvy, Marcel L

2017-01-30

Usability is a key factor in ensuring safe and efficacious use of medicines. However, several studies showed that people experience a variety of problems using their medicines. The purpose of this study was to identify design features of oral medicines that cause use problems among older patients in daily practice. A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews on the experiences of older people with the use of their medicines was performed (n=59). Information on practical problems, strategies to overcome these problems and the medicines' design features that caused these problems were collected. The practical problems and management strategies were categorised into 'use difficulties' and 'use errors'. A total of 158 use problems were identified, of which 45 were categorized as use difficulties and 113 as use error. Design features that contributed the most to the occurrence of use difficulties were the dimensions and surface texture of the dosage form (29.6% and 18.5%, respectively). Design features that contributed the most to the occurrence of use errors were the push-through force of blisters (22.1%) and tamper evident packaging (12.1%). These findings will help developers of medicinal products to proactively address potential usability issues with their medicines. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nanofabricated Collagen-Inspired Synthetic Elastomers for Primary Rat Hepatocyte Culture

PubMed Central

Bettinger, Christopher J.; Kulig, Katherine M.; Vacanti, Joseph P.

2009-01-01

Synthetic substrates that mimic the properties of extracellular matrix proteins hold significant promise for use in systems designed for tissue engineering applications. In this report, we designed a synthetic polymeric substrate that is intended to mimic chemical, mechanical, and topological characteristics of collagen. We found that elastomeric poly(ester amide) substrates modified with replica-molded nanotopographic features enhanced initial attachment, spreading, and adhesion of primary rat hepatocytes. Further, hepatocytes cultured on nanotopographic substrates also demonstrated reduced albumin secretion and urea synthesis, which is indicative of strongly adherent hepatocytes. These results suggest that these engineered substrates can function as synthetic collagen analogs for in vitro cell culture. PMID:18847357

Impact of PON deployment on metro networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poirrier, Julien; Herviou, Fabrice; Barboule, Hélène; Moignard, Maryse

2009-01-01

FTTH or FTTC, depending on countries and areas, will be the key technology for operators to differentiate themselves from competitors and win market share. Such a disruptive evolution of the access network should be supported by a significant re-design of the higher network layers. In the present paper, the required features of these new WDM networks are presented. Capacity and cost are the two obvious drivers. But versatility will be crucial to cope with an uncertain context (tedious prediction of traffic, regulation and services) and with very diverse population densities. Finally we also address how PON could benefit from mature WDM technologies to ease the global network design.

Optimized hardware framework of MLP with random hidden layers for classification applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zyarah, Abdullah M.; Ramesh, Abhishek; Merkel, Cory; Kudithipudi, Dhireesha

2016-05-01

Multilayer Perceptron Networks with random hidden layers are very efficient at automatic feature extraction and offer significant performance improvements in the training process. They essentially employ large collection of fixed, random features, and are expedient for form-factor constrained embedded platforms. In this work, a reconfigurable and scalable architecture is proposed for the MLPs with random hidden layers with a customized building block based on CORDIC algorithm. The proposed architecture also exploits fixed point operations for area efficiency. The design is validated for classification on two different datasets. An accuracy of ~ 90% for MNIST dataset and 75% for gender classification on LFW dataset was observed. The hardware has 299 speed-up over the corresponding software realization.

New development of the image matching algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiaoqiang; Feng, Zhao

2018-04-01

To study the image matching algorithm, algorithm four elements are described, i.e., similarity measurement, feature space, search space and search strategy. Four common indexes for evaluating the image matching algorithm are described, i.e., matching accuracy, matching efficiency, robustness and universality. Meanwhile, this paper describes the principle of image matching algorithm based on the gray value, image matching algorithm based on the feature, image matching algorithm based on the frequency domain analysis, image matching algorithm based on the neural network and image matching algorithm based on the semantic recognition, and analyzes their characteristics and latest research achievements. Finally, the development trend of image matching algorithm is discussed. This study is significant for the algorithm improvement, new algorithm design and algorithm selection in practice.

Determination of Secondary Students' Preferences Regarding Design Features Used in Digital Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Öngöz, Sakine; Mollamehmetoglu, Mehmet Zülküf

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine secondary school students' choice of design features for digital textbooks. As a part of the research--which was conducted using a mixed technique--a literature review was carried out to source points to consider in the designing of digital textbooks and experts' opinions were obtained. Based on the results,…

78 FR 21037 - Special Conditions: Airbus Model A330-200 Airplanes; Bulk Cargo Lower Deck Crew Rest Compartments

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-09

... A330- 200 airplane. This airplane as modified by TTF Aerospace LLC will have a novel or unusual design... airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These... novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed under the provisions of Sec. 21.16...

National Combustion Code: Parallel Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Babrauckas, Theresa

2001-01-01

This report discusses the National Combustion Code (NCC). The NCC is an integrated system of codes for the design and analysis of combustion systems. The advanced features of the NCC meet designers' requirements for model accuracy and turn-around time. The fundamental features at the inception of the NCC were parallel processing and unstructured mesh. The design and performance of the NCC are discussed.

Electronic cigarettes: product characterisation and design considerations.

PubMed

Brown, Christopher J; Cheng, James M

2014-05-01

To review the available evidence regarding electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) product characterisation and design features in order to understand their potential impact on individual users and on public health. Systematic literature searches in 10 reference databases were conducted through October 2013. A total of 14 articles and documents and 16 patents were included in this analysis. Numerous disposable and reusable e-cigarette product options exist, representing wide variation in product configuration and component functionality. Common e-cigarette components include an aerosol generator, a flow sensor, a battery and a nicotine-containing solution storage area. e-cigarettes currently include many interchangeable parts, enabling users to modify the character of the delivered aerosol and, therefore, the product's 'effectiveness' as a nicotine delivery product. Materials in e-cigarettes may include metals, rubber and ceramics. Some materials may be aerosolised and have adverse health effects. Several studies have described significant performance variability across and within e-cigarette brands. Patent applications include novel product features designed to influence aerosol properties and e-cigarette efficiency at delivering nicotine. Although e-cigarettes share a basic design, engineering variations and user modifications result in differences in nicotine delivery and potential product risks. e-cigarette aerosols may include harmful and potentially harmful constituents. Battery explosions and the risks of exposure to the e-liquid (especially for children) are also concerns. Additional research will enhance the current understanding of basic e-cigarette design and operation, aerosol production and processing, and functionality. A standardised e-cigarette testing regime should be developed to allow product comparisons.

The Advanced Technology Solar Telescope: design and early construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McMullin, Joseph P.; Rimmele, Thomas R.; Keil, Stephen L.; Warner, Mark; Barden, Samuel; Bulau, Scott; Craig, Simon; Goodrich, Bret; Hansen, Eric; Hegwer, Steve; Hubbard, Robert; McBride, William; Shimko, Steve; Wöger, Friedrich; Ditsler, Jennifer

2012-09-01

The National Solar Observatory’s (NSO) Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) is the first large U.S. solar telescope accessible to the worldwide solar physics community to be constructed in more than 30 years. The 4-meter diameter facility will operate over a broad wavelength range (0.35 to 28 μm ), employing adaptive optics systems to achieve diffraction limited imaging and resolve features approximately 20 km on the Sun; the key observational parameters (collecting area, spatial resolution, spectral coverage, polarization accuracy, low scattered light) enable resolution of the theoretically-predicted, fine-scale magnetic features and their dynamics which modulate the radiative output of the sun and drive the release of magnetic energy from the Sun’s atmosphere in the form of flares and coronal mass ejections. In 2010, the ATST received a significant fraction of its funding for construction. In the subsequent two years, the project has hired staff and opened an office on Maui. A number of large industrial contracts have been placed throughout the world to complete the detailed designs and begin constructing the major telescope subsystems. These contracts have included the site development, AandE designs, mirrors, polishing, optic support assemblies, telescope mount and coudé rotator structures, enclosure, thermal and mechanical systems, and high-level software and controls. In addition, design development work on the instrument suite has undergone significant progress; this has included the completion of preliminary design reviews (PDR) for all five facility instruments. Permitting required for physically starting construction on the mountaintop of Haleakalā, Maui has also progressed. This paper will review the ATST goals and specifications, describe each of the major subsystems under construction, and review the contracts and lessons learned during the contracting and early construction phases. Schedules for site construction, key factory testing of major subsystems, and integration, test and commissioning activities will also be discussed.

Miniscrews for orthodontic anchorage: a review of available systems.

PubMed

Alkadhimi, Aslam; Al-Awadhi, Ebrahim A

2018-03-15

In recent years, extensive research has introduced novel ways of reinforcing orthodontic anchorage using a variety of devices temporarily anchored in bone (miniscrews). Currently, there are numerous manufacturers with different miniscrew designs on the market. The aim of this paper is to discuss the key design features of different miniscrew systems on the market. Furthermore, to present clinical selection criteria of miniscrews in different settings taking into account the determinant factors. Review of the literature was carried out using the following search methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). The search was focused on studies published until January 2018. We studied each individual miniscrew from all the identified manufacturers in details. All the features were then summarised and presented as a clinical guideline for the selection of miniscrews. In this article, we reviewed the development of miniscrews and outlined the general design features of miniscrews as well as specific design features of the current miniscrews in the market. Extensive research of the current products was carried out to help clinicians better understand the difference between the various designs of miniscrews that can be used.

Integrated mission management operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

Operations required to launch a modular space station and to provides sustaining ground operations for support of that orbiting station throughout its 10 year mission are studied. A baseline, incrementally manned program and attendent experiment program options are derived. In addition, features of the program that significantly effect initial development and early operating costs are identified, and their impact on the program is assessed. A preliminary design of the approved modular space station configuration is formulated.

Interactions among Behavioral Responses of Baleen Whales to Acoustic Stimuli, Oceanographic Features, and Prey Availability

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

differentiate krill from larger fish targets, as krill have greater backscatter at 120kHz than 38kHz. Figure 3. Clover leaf sampling design...response in dive axis 1 (dive time, surface time, breaths , dive depth, etc.) showed a significant before-after effect including potential changes in...acoustic instruments for fish density estimation: a practical guide. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Cooperative

Effect of different children's menu labeling designs on family purchases.

PubMed

Holmes, Ashley S; Serrano, Elena L; Machin, Jane E; Duetsch, Thomas; Davis, George C

2013-03-01

The majority of labeling studies at restaurants have focused on adults, not children, and utilized cross-sectional data with one menu labeling design, typically calorie information. The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine the effect of three different menu labeling designs for children's meals on total calories and fat selected by families. Each menu was implemented for 2months. Patrons' purchases were tracked from a control menu (with no nutrition information) through all three theoretically-based designs: calorie and fat information; followed by symbols denoting healthier choices; then nutrition bargain price. All menus were created specifically for the study. They featured six combination meals (pre-determined entrees and side items) and a la carte items (entrees and side items that could be ordered separately). Only combination meals contained labeling. Fixed effects models were estimated to detect changes in sales for each menu labeling design compared to the control. Overall, menu labeling did not result in a positive net effect on total calories or fat purchased by families, but resulted in significant shifts in purchases of combination and a la carte meals and healthy and unhealthy options. The most significant impact was seen for nutrition bargain price labeling, the last design. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Content and Functionality of Alcohol and Other Drug Websites: Results of an Online Survey

PubMed Central

White, Angela; Kavanagh, David; Shandley, Kerrie; Kay-Lambkin, Frances; Proudfoot, Judith; Drennan, Judy; Connor, Jason; Baker, Amanda; Young, Ross

2010-01-01

Background There is a growing trend for individuals to seek health information from online sources. Alcohol and other drug (AOD) use is a significant health problem worldwide, but access and use of AOD websites is poorly understood. Objective To investigate content and functionality preferences for AOD and other health websites. Methods An anonymous online survey examined general Internet and AOD-specific usage and search behaviors, valued features of AOD and health-related websites (general and interactive website features), indicators of website trustworthiness, valued AOD website tools or functions, and treatment modality preferences. Results Surveys were obtained from 1214 drug (n = 766) and alcohol website users (n = 448) (mean age 26.2 years, range 16-70). There were no significant differences between alcohol and drug groups on demographic variables, Internet usage, indicators of website trustworthiness, or on preferences for AOD website functionality. A robust website design/navigation, open access, and validated content provision were highly valued by both groups. While attractiveness and pictures or graphics were also valued, high-cost features (videos, animations, games) were minority preferences. Almost half of respondents in both groups were unable to readily access the information they sought. Alcohol website users placed greater importance on several AOD website tools and functions than did those accessing other drug websites: online screening tools (χ²2 = 15.8, P < .001, n = 985); prevention programs (χ²2 = 27.5, P < .001, n = 981); tracking functions (χ²2 = 11.5, P = .003, n = 983); self help treatment programs (χ²2 = 8.3, P = .02, n = 984); downloadable fact sheets for friends (χ²2 = 11.6, P = .003, n = 981); or family (χ²2 = 12.7, P = .002, n = 983). The most preferred online treatment option for both the user groups was an Internet site with email therapist support. Explorations of demographic differences were also performed. While gender did not affect survey responses, younger respondents were more likely to value interactive and social networking features, whereas downloading of credible information was most highly valued by older respondents. Conclusions Significant deficiencies in the provision of accessible information on AOD websites were identified, an important problem since information seeking was the most common reason for accessing these websites, and, therefore, may be a key avenue for engaging website users in behaviour change. The few differences between AOD website users suggested that both types of websites may have similar features, although alcohol website users may more readily be engaged in screening, prevention and self-help programs, tracking change, and may value fact sheets more highly. While the sociodemographic differences require replication and clarification, these differences support the notion that the design and features of AOD websites should target specific audiences to have maximal impact. PMID:21169168

Incremental Costs and Performance Benefits of Various Features of Concrete Pavements

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-04-01

Various design features (such as dowel bars, tied shoulders, or drainable bases) may be added to a portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement design to improve its overall performance by maintaining a higher level of serviceability or by extending its s...

CFB repowering options

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

Gittinger, J.

1996-12-31

Circulating fluidized bed CFB repowering options are summarized. The following topics are discussed: why repower with CFB technology; advantages of repowering; two forms of of repowering; B and N`s internal recirculation CFB; space-saving design features; cost-saving design features; Ukrainian repowering project; and candidates for repowering.

A phantom design for assessment of detectability in PET imaging

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

Wollenweber, Scott D., E-mail: scott.wollenweber@g

2016-09-15

Purpose: The primary clinical role of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is the detection of anomalous regions of {sup 18}F-FDG uptake, which are often indicative of malignant lesions. The goal of this work was to create a task-configurable fillable phantom for realistic measurements of detectability in PET imaging. Design goals included simplicity, adjustable feature size, realistic size and contrast levels, and inclusion of a lumpy (i.e., heterogeneous) background. Methods: The detection targets were hollow 3D-printed dodecahedral nylon features. The exostructure sphere-like features created voids in a background of small, solid non-porous plastic (acrylic) spheres inside a fillable tank. The featuresmore » filled at full concentration while the background concentration was reduced due to filling only between the solid spheres. Results: Multiple iterations of feature size and phantom construction were used to determine a configuration at the limit of detectability for a PET/CT system. A full-scale design used a 20 cm uniform cylinder (head-size) filled with a fixed pattern of features at a contrast of approximately 3:1. Known signal-present and signal-absent PET sub-images were extracted from multiple scans of the same phantom and with detectability in a challenging (i.e., useful) range. These images enabled calculation and comparison of the quantitative observer detectability metrics between scanner designs and image reconstruction methods. The phantom design has several advantages including filling simplicity, wall-less contrast features, the control of the detectability range via feature size, and a clinically realistic lumpy background. Conclusions: This phantom provides a practical method for testing and comparison of lesion detectability as a function of imaging system, acquisition parameters, and image reconstruction methods and parameters.« less

Dynamic Compression of the Signal in a Charge Sensitive Amplifier: From Concept to Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manghisoni, Massimo; Comotti, Daniele; Gaioni, Luigi; Ratti, Lodovico; Re, Valerio

2015-10-01

This work is concerned with the design of a low-noise Charge Sensitive Amplifier featuring a dynamic signal compression based on the non-linear features of an inversion-mode MOS capacitor. These features make the device suitable for applications where a non-linear characteristic of the front-end is required, such as in imaging instrumentation for free electron laser experiments. The aim of the paper is to discuss a methodology for the proper design of the feedback network enabling the dynamic signal compression. Starting from this compression solution, the design of a low-noise Charge Sensitive Amplifier is also discussed. The study has been carried out by referring to a 65 nm CMOS technology.

Applications of CPL mask technology for sub-65nm gate imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Litt, Lloyd C.; Conley, Will; Wu, Wei; Peters, Richie; Parker, Colita; Cobb, Jonathan; Kasprowicz, Bryan S.; van den Broeke, Doug; Park, J. C.; Karur-Shanmugam, Ramkumar

2005-05-01

The requirements for critical dimension control on gate layer for high performance products are increasingly demanding. Phase shift techniques provide aerial image enhancement, which can translate into improved process window performance and greater critical dimension (CD) control if properly applied. Unfortunately, the application of hard shifter technology to production requires significant effort in layout and optical proximity correction (OPC) application. Chromeless Phase Lithography (CPL) has several advantages over complementary phase mask (c:PSM) such as use of a single mask, and lack of phase placement 'coloring' conflicts and phase imbalance issues. CPL does have implementation issues that must be resolved before it can be used in full-scale production. CPL mask designs can be approached by separating features into three zones based on several parameters, including size relative to the lithographic resolution of the stepper lens, wavelength, and illumination conditions defined. Features are placed into buckets for different treatment zones. Zone 1 features are constructed with 100% transmission phase shifted structures and Zone 3 features are chrome (binary) structures. Features that fall into Zone 2, which are too wide to be defined using the 100% transmission of pure CPL (i.e. have negative mask error factor, MEEF) are the most troublesome and can be approached in several ways. The authors have investigated the application of zebra structures of various sizes to product type layouts. Previous work to investigate CPL using test structures set the groundwork for the more difficult task of applying CPL rules to actual random logic design layouts, which include many zone transitions. Mask making limitations have been identified that play a role in the zebra sizing that can be applied to Zone 2 features. The elimination of Zone 2 regions was also investigated in an effort to simplify the application of CPL and improve manufacturability of reticle through data enhancements.

Prediction of Cognitive States During Flight Simulation Using Multimodal Psychophysiological Sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harrivel, Angela R.; Stephens, Chad L.; Milletich, Robert J.; Heinich, Christina M.; Last, Mary Carolyn; Napoli, Nicholas J.; Abraham, Nijo A.; Prinzel, Lawrence J.; Motter, Mark A.; Pope, Alan T.

2017-01-01

The Commercial Aviation Safety Team found the majority of recent international commercial aviation accidents attributable to loss of control inflight involved flight crew loss of airplane state awareness (ASA), and distraction was involved in all of them. Research on attention-related human performance limiting states (AHPLS) such as channelized attention, diverted attention, startle/surprise, and confirmation bias, has been recommended in a Safety Enhancement (SE) entitled "Training for Attention Management." To accomplish the detection of such cognitive and psychophysiological states, a broad suite of sensors was implemented to simultaneously measure their physiological markers during a high fidelity flight simulation human subject study. Twenty-four pilot participants were asked to wear the sensors while they performed benchmark tasks and motion-based flight scenarios designed to induce AHPLS. Pattern classification was employed to predict the occurrence of AHPLS during flight simulation also designed to induce those states. Classifier training data were collected during performance of the benchmark tasks. Multimodal classification was performed, using pre-processed electroencephalography, galvanic skin response, electrocardiogram, and respiration signals as input features. A combination of one, some or all modalities were used. Extreme gradient boosting, random forest and two support vector machine classifiers were implemented. The best accuracy for each modality-classifier combination is reported. Results using a select set of features and using the full set of available features are presented. Further, results are presented for training one classifier with the combined features and for training multiple classifiers with features from each modality separately. Using the select set of features and combined training, multistate prediction accuracy averaged 0.64 +/- 0.14 across thirteen participants and was significantly higher than that for the separate training case. These results support the goal of demonstrating simultaneous real-time classification of multiple states using multiple sensing modalities in high fidelity flight simulators. This detection is intended to support and inform training methods under development to mitigate the loss of ASA and thus reduce accidents and incidents.

Comparative effectiveness of instructional design features in simulation-based education: systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Cook, David A; Hamstra, Stanley J; Brydges, Ryan; Zendejas, Benjamin; Szostek, Jason H; Wang, Amy T; Erwin, Patricia J; Hatala, Rose

2013-01-01

Although technology-enhanced simulation is increasingly used in health professions education, features of effective simulation-based instructional design remain uncertain. Evaluate the effectiveness of instructional design features through a systematic review of studies comparing different simulation-based interventions. We systematically searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, ERIC, PsycINFO, Scopus, key journals, and previous review bibliographies through May 2011. We included original research studies that compared one simulation intervention with another and involved health professions learners. Working in duplicate, we evaluated study quality and abstracted information on learners, outcomes, and instructional design features. We pooled results using random effects meta-analysis. From a pool of 10,903 articles we identified 289 eligible studies enrolling 18,971 trainees, including 208 randomized trials. Inconsistency was usually large (I2 > 50%). For skills outcomes, pooled effect sizes (positive numbers favoring the instructional design feature) were 0.68 for range of difficulty (20 studies; p < 0.001), 0.68 for repetitive practice (7 studies; p = 0.06), 0.66 for distributed practice (6 studies; p = 0.03), 0.65 for interactivity (89 studies; p < 0.001), 0.62 for multiple learning strategies (70 studies; p < 0.001), 0.52 for individualized learning (59 studies; p < 0.001), 0.45 for mastery learning (3 studies; p = 0.57), 0.44 for feedback (80 studies; p < 0.001), 0.34 for longer time (23 studies; p = 0.005), 0.20 for clinical variation (16 studies; p = 0.24), and -0.22 for group training (8 studies; p = 0.09). These results confirm quantitatively the effectiveness of several instructional design features in simulation-based education.

Evidence-Based Design Features Improve Sleep Quality Among Psychiatric Inpatients.

PubMed

Pyrke, Ryan J L; McKinnon, Margaret C; McNeely, Heather E; Ahern, Catherine; Langstaff, Karen L; Bieling, Peter J

2017-10-01

The primary aim of the present study was to compare sleep characteristics pre- and post-move into a state-of-the-art mental health facility, which offered private sleeping quarters. Significant evidence points toward sleep disruption among psychiatric inpatients. It is unclear, however, how environmental factors (e.g., dorm-style rooms) impact sleep quality in this population. To assess sleep quality, a novel objective technology, actigraphy, was used before and after a facility move. Subjective daily interviews were also administered, along with the Horne-Ostberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Actigraphy revealed significant improvements in objective sleep quality following the facility move. Interestingly, subjective report of sleep quality did not correlate with the objective measures. Circadian sleep type appeared to play a role in influencing subjective attitudes toward sleep quality. Built environment has a significant effect on the sleep quality of psychiatric inpatients. Given well-documented disruptions in sleep quality present among psychiatric patients undergoing hospitalization, design elements like single patient bedrooms are highly desirable.

Safeguards and Security by Design (SSBD) for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) through a Common Global Approach

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

Badwan, Faris M.; Demuth, Scott Francis; Miller, Michael Conrad

Small Modular Reactors (SMR) with power levels significantly less than the currently standard 1000 to 1600-MWe reactors have been proposed as a potential game changer for future nuclear power. SMRs may offer a simpler, more standardized, and safer modular design by using factory built and easily transportable components. Additionally, SMRs may be more easily built and operated in isolated locations, and may require smaller initial capital investment and shorter construction times. Because many SMRs designs are still conceptual and consequently not yet fixed, designers have a unique opportunity to incorporate updated design basis threats, emergency preparedness requirements, and then fullymore » integrate safety, physical security, and safeguards/material control and accounting (MC&A) designs. Integrating safety, physical security, and safeguards is often referred to as integrating the 3Ss, and early consideration of safeguards and security in the design is often referred to as safeguards and security by design (SSBD). This paper describes U.S./Russian collaborative efforts toward developing an internationally accepted common approach for implementing SSBD/3Ss for SMRs based upon domestic requirements, and international guidance and requirements. These collaborative efforts originated with the Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Security working group established under the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission during the 2009 Presidential Summit. Initial efforts have focused on review of U.S. and Russian domestic requirements for Security and MC&A, IAEA guidance for security and MC&A, and IAEA requirements for international safeguards. Additionally, example SMR design features that can enhance proliferation resistance and physical security have been collected from past work and reported here. The development of a U.S./Russian common approach for SSBD/3Ss should aid the designer of SMRs located anywhere in the world. More specifically, the application of this approach may lead to more proliferation resistant and physically secure design features for SMRs.« less

Passively aligned multichannel fiber-pigtailing of planar integrated optical waveguides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kremmel, Johannes; Lamprecht, Tobias; Crameri, Nino; Michler, Markus

2017-02-01

A silicon device to simplify the coupling of multiple single-mode fibers to embedded single-mode waveguides has been developed. The silicon device features alignment structures that enable a passive alignment of fibers to integrated waveguides. For passive alignment, precisely machined V-grooves on a silicon device are used and the planar lightwave circuit board features high-precision structures acting as a mechanical stop. The approach has been tested for up to eight fiber-to-waveguide connections. The alignment approach, the design, and the fabrication of the silicon device as well as the assembly process are presented. The characterization of the fiber-to-waveguide link reveals total coupling losses of (0.45±0.20 dB) per coupling interface, which is significantly lower than the values reported in earlier works. Subsequent climate tests reveal that the coupling losses remain stable during thermal cycling but increases significantly during an 85°C/85 Rh-test. All applied fabrication and bonding steps have been performed using standard MOEMS fabrication and packaging processes.

Identification and evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of highway design features to reduce nonrecurrent congestion.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-01-01

This research report presents the findings on the identification and evaluation of the use of highway geometric design features on freeways to reduce nonrecurrent congestion and improve travel time reliability. General guidance is provided on the ran...

24 CFR 570.201 - Basic eligible activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... provided for in § 570.207(a)(1).) In undertaking such activities, design features and improvements which... design features, and similar treatments intended to enhance the aesthetic quality of facilities and improvements receiving CDBG assistance, such as decorative pavements, railings, sculptures, pools of water and...

24 CFR 570.201 - Basic eligible activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... provided for in § 570.207(a)(1).) In undertaking such activities, design features and improvements which... design features, and similar treatments intended to enhance the aesthetic quality of facilities and improvements receiving CDBG assistance, such as decorative pavements, railings, sculptures, pools of water and...

24 CFR 570.201 - Basic eligible activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... provided for in § 570.207(a)(1).) In undertaking such activities, design features and improvements which... design features, and similar treatments intended to enhance the aesthetic quality of facilities and improvements receiving CDBG assistance, such as decorative pavements, railings, sculptures, pools of water and...

24 CFR 570.201 - Basic eligible activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... provided for in § 570.207(a)(1).) In undertaking such activities, design features and improvements which... design features, and similar treatments intended to enhance the aesthetic quality of facilities and improvements receiving CDBG assistance, such as decorative pavements, railings, sculptures, pools of water and...

24 CFR 570.201 - Basic eligible activities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... provided for in § 570.207(a)(1).) In undertaking such activities, design features and improvements which... design features, and similar treatments intended to enhance the aesthetic quality of facilities and improvements receiving CDBG assistance, such as decorative pavements, railings, sculptures, pools of water and...

Semantics and technologies in modern design of interior stairs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kukhta, M.; Sokolov, A.; Pelevin, E.

2015-10-01

Use of metal in the design of interior stairs presents new features for shaping, and can be implemented using different technologies. The article discusses the features of design and production technologies of forged metal spiral staircase considering the image semantics based on the historical and cultural heritage. To achieve the objective was applied structural- semantic method (to identify the organization of structure and semantic features of the artistic image), engineering methods (to justify the construction of the object), anthropometry method and ergonomics (to provide usability), methods of comparative analysis (to reveale the features of the way the ladder in different periods of culture). According to the research results are as follows. Was revealed the semantics influence on the design of interior staircase that is based on the World Tree image. Also was suggested rational calculation of steps to ensure the required strength. And finally was presented technology, providing the realization of the artistic image. In the practical part of the work is presented version of forged staircase.

Flight control system design factors for applying automated testing techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sitz, Joel R.; Vernon, Todd H.

1990-01-01

The principal design features and operational experiences of the X-29 forward-swept-wing aircraft and F-18 high alpha research vehicle (HARV) automated test systems are discussed. It is noted that operational experiences in developing and using these automated testing techniques have highlighted the need for incorporating target system features to improve testability. Improved target system testability can be accomplished with the addition of nonreal-time and real-time features. Online access to target system implementation details, unobtrusive real-time access to internal user-selectable variables, and proper software instrumentation are all desirable features of the target system. Also, test system and target system design issues must be addressed during the early stages of the target system development. Processing speeds of up to 20 million instructions/s and the development of high-bandwidth reflective memory systems have improved the ability to integrate the target system and test system for the application of automated testing techniques. It is concluded that new methods of designing testability into the target systems are required.

Clean access platform for orbiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrison, H.; Harris, J.

1990-01-01

The design of the Clean Access Platform at the Kennedy Space Center, beginning with the design requirements and tracing the effort throughout development and manufacturing is described. Also examined are: (1) A system description; (2) Testing requirements and conclusions; (3) Safety and reliability features; (4) Major problems experienced during the project; and (5) Lessons learned, including features necessary for the effective design of mechanisms used in clean systems.

Effects of two hospital bed design features on physical demands and usability during brake engagement and patient transportation: a repeated measures experimental study.

PubMed

Kim, Sunwook; Barker, Linsey M; Jia, Bochen; Agnew, Michael J; Nussbaum, Maury A

2009-03-01

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are prevalent among healthcare workers worldwide. While existing research has focused on patient-handling techniques during activities which require direct patient contact (e.g., patient transfer), nursing tasks also involve other patient-handling activities, such as engaging bed brakes and transporting patients in beds, which could render healthcare workers at risk of developing WMSDs. Effectiveness of hospital bed design features (brake pedal location and steering-assistance) was evaluated in terms of physical demands and usability during brake engagement and patient transportation tasks. Two laboratory-based studies were conducted. In simulated brake engagement tasks, three brake pedal locations (head-end vs. foot-end vs. side of a bed) and two hands conditions (hands-free vs. hands-occupied) were manipulated. Additionally, both in-room and corridor patient transportation tasks were simulated, in which activation of steering-assistance features (5th wheel and/or front wheel caster lock) and two patient masses were manipulated. Nine novice participants were recruited from the local student population and community for each study. During brake engagement, trunk flexion angle, task completion time, and questionnaires were used to quantify postural comfort and usability. For patient transportation, dependent measures were hand forces and questionnaire responses. Brake pedal locations and steering-assistance features in hospital beds had significant effects on physical demands and usability during brake engagement and patient transportation tasks. Specifically, a brake pedal at the head-end of a bed increased trunk flexion by 74-224% and completion time by 53-74%, compared to other pedal locations. Participants reported greater overall perceived difficulty and less postural comfort with the brake pedal at the head-end. During in-room transportation, participants generally reported "Neither Low nor High" physical demands with the 5th wheel activated, compared to "Moderately High" physical demands when the 5th wheel was deactivated. Corridor transportation was similarly reported to be easier when a steering-assistance feature (the 5th wheel or front caster lock) was activated. Braking and steering-assistance features of hospital beds can have important effects on task efficiency and physical demands placed on healthcare workers. Selection of specific designs may thus be able to improve productivity and contribute to a reduction in WMSDs risk among healthcare workers.

Designing a placebo device: involving service users in clinical trial design.

PubMed

Gooberman-Hill, Rachael; Jinks, Clare; Bouças, Sofia Barbosa; Hislop, Kelly; Dziedzic, Krysia S; Rhodes, Carol; Burston, Amanda; Adams, Jo

2013-12-01

Service users are increasingly involved in the design of clinical trials and in product and device development. Service user involvement in placebo development is crucial to a credible and acceptable placebo for clinical trials, but such involvement has not yet been reported. To enhance the design of a future clinical trial of hand splints for thumb-base osteoarthritis (OA), service users were involved in splint selection and design of a placebo splint. This article describes and reflects on this process. Two fora of service users were convened in 2011. Service users who had been prescribed a thumb splint for thumb-base OA were approached about involvement by Occupational Therapy (OT) practitioners. A total of eight service users took part in the fora. Service users discussed their experience of OA and their own splints and then tried a variety of alternative splints. Through this they identified the active features of splints alongside acceptable and unacceptable design features. Service users focused on wearability and support with or without immobilization. Fora discussed whether a placebo group ('arm') was an acceptable feature of a future trial, and service users developed a potential design for a placebo splint. This is the first project that to involve service users in placebo design. Service users are increasingly involved in product and device design and are ideally placed to identify features to make a placebo credible yet lacking key active ingredients. The future trial will include research into its acceptability. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A System-Level Pathway-Phenotype Association Analysis Using Synthetic Feature Random Forest

PubMed Central

Pan, Qinxin; Hu, Ting; Malley, James D.; Andrew, Angeline S.; Karagas, Margaret R.; Moore, Jason H.

2015-01-01

As the cost of genome-wide genotyping decreases, the number of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) has increased considerably. However, the transition from GWAS findings to the underlying biology of various phenotypes remains challenging. As a result, due to its system-level interpretability, pathway analysis has become a popular tool for gaining insights on the underlying biology from high-throughput genetic association data. In pathway analyses, gene sets representing particular biological processes are tested for significant associations with a given phenotype. Most existing pathway analysis approaches rely on single-marker statistics and assume that pathways are independent of each other. As biological systems are driven by complex biomolecular interactions, embracing the complex relationships between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and pathways needs to be addressed. To incorporate the complexity of gene-gene interactions and pathway-pathway relationships, we propose a system-level pathway analysis approach, synthetic feature random forest (SF-RF), which is designed to detect pathway-phenotype associations without making assumptions about the relationships among SNPs or pathways. In our approach, the genotypes of SNPs in a particular pathway are aggregated into a synthetic feature representing that pathway via Random Forest (RF). Multiple synthetic features are analyzed using RF simultaneously and the significance of a synthetic feature indicates the significance of the corresponding pathway. We further complement SF-RF with pathway-based Statistical Epistasis Network (SEN) analysis that evaluates interactions among pathways. By investigating the pathway SEN, we hope to gain additional insights into the genetic mechanisms contributing to the pathway-phenotype association. We apply SF-RF to a population-based genetic study of bladder cancer and further investigate the mechanisms that help explain the pathway-phenotype associations using SEN. The bladder cancer associated pathways we found are both consistent with existing biological knowledge and reveal novel and plausible hypotheses for future biological validations. PMID:24535726

Salient region detection by fusing bottom-up and top-down features extracted from a single image.

PubMed

Tian, Huawei; Fang, Yuming; Zhao, Yao; Lin, Weisi; Ni, Rongrong; Zhu, Zhenfeng

2014-10-01

Recently, some global contrast-based salient region detection models have been proposed based on only the low-level feature of color. It is necessary to consider both color and orientation features to overcome their limitations, and thus improve the performance of salient region detection for images with low-contrast in color and high-contrast in orientation. In addition, the existing fusion methods for different feature maps, like the simple averaging method and the selective method, are not effective sufficiently. To overcome these limitations of existing salient region detection models, we propose a novel salient region model based on the bottom-up and top-down mechanisms: the color contrast and orientation contrast are adopted to calculate the bottom-up feature maps, while the top-down cue of depth-from-focus from the same single image is used to guide the generation of final salient regions, since depth-from-focus reflects the photographer's preference and knowledge of the task. A more general and effective fusion method is designed to combine the bottom-up feature maps. According to the degree-of-scattering and eccentricities of feature maps, the proposed fusion method can assign adaptive weights to different feature maps to reflect the confidence level of each feature map. The depth-from-focus of the image as a significant top-down feature for visual attention in the image is used to guide the salient regions during the fusion process; with its aid, the proposed fusion method can filter out the background and highlight salient regions for the image. Experimental results show that the proposed model outperforms the state-of-the-art models on three public available data sets.

Cascade detection for the extraction of localized sequence features; specificity results for HIV-1 protease and structure-function results for the Schellman loop.

PubMed

Newell, Nicholas E

2011-12-15

The extraction of the set of features most relevant to function from classified biological sequence sets is still a challenging problem. A central issue is the determination of expected counts for higher order features so that artifact features may be screened. Cascade detection (CD), a new algorithm for the extraction of localized features from sequence sets, is introduced. CD is a natural extension of the proportional modeling techniques used in contingency table analysis into the domain of feature detection. The algorithm is successfully tested on synthetic data and then applied to feature detection problems from two different domains to demonstrate its broad utility. An analysis of HIV-1 protease specificity reveals patterns of strong first-order features that group hydrophobic residues by side chain geometry and exhibit substantial symmetry about the cleavage site. Higher order results suggest that favorable cooperativity is weak by comparison and broadly distributed, but indicate possible synergies between negative charge and hydrophobicity in the substrate. Structure-function results for the Schellman loop, a helix-capping motif in proteins, contain strong first-order features and also show statistically significant cooperativities that provide new insights into the design of the motif. These include a new 'hydrophobic staple' and multiple amphipathic and electrostatic pair features. CD should prove useful not only for sequence analysis, but also for the detection of multifactor synergies in cross-classified data from clinical studies or other sources. Windows XP/7 application and data files available at: https://sites.google.com/site/cascadedetect/home. nacnewell@comcast.net Supplementary information is available at Bioinformatics online.

Escalator design features evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zimmerman, W. F.; Deshpande, G. K.

1982-01-01

Escalators are available with design features such as dual speed (90 and 120 fpm), mat operation and flat steps. These design features were evaluated based on the impact of each on capital and operating costs, traffic flow, and safety. A human factors engineering model was developed to analyze the need for flat steps at various speeds. Mat operation of escalators was found to be cost effective in terms of energy savings. Dual speed operation of escalators with the higher speed used during peak hours allows for efficient operation. A minimum number of flat steps required as a function of escalator speed was developed to ensure safety for the elderly.

[Design and Preparation of Plant Bionic Materials Based on Optical and Infrared Features Simulation].

PubMed

Jiang, Xiao-jun; Lu, Xu-liang; Pan, Jia-liang; Zhang, Shuan-qin

2015-07-01

Due to the life characteristics such as physiological structure and transpiration, plants have unique optical and infrared features. In the optical band, because of the common effects of chlorophyll and water, plant leafs show spectral reflectance characteristics change in 550, 680, 1400 and 1900 nm significantly. In the infrared wave band, driven by transpiration, plants could regulate temperature on their own initiative, which make the infrared characteristics of plants different from artificial materials. So palnt bionic materials were proposed to simulate optical and infrared characteristics of plants. By analyzing formation mechanism of optical and infrared features about green plants, the component design and heat-transfer process of plants bionic materials were studied, above these the heat-transfer control formulation was established. Based on water adsorption/release compound, optical pigments and other man-made materials, plant bionic materials preparation methods were designed which could simulate the optical and infrared features of green plants. By chemical casting methods plant bionic material films were prepared, which use polyvinyl alcohol as film forming and water adsorption/release compound, and use optical pigments like chrome green and macromolecule yellow as colouring materials. The research conclusions achieved by testings figured out: water adsorption/release testing showed that the plant bionic materials with a certain thickness could absorb 1.3 kg water per square meter, which could satisfy the water usage of transpiration simulation one day; the optical and infrared simulated effect tests indicated that the plant bionic materials could preferably simulate the spectral reflective performance of green plants in optical wave band (380-2500 nm, expecially in 1400 and 1900 nm which were water absorption wave band of plants), and also it had similar daily infrared radiation variations with green plants, daily average radiation temperature difference was 0.37 degrees C, maximum radiation temperature difference was 0.9 degrees C; so according to the testing results, the materials behave well plant bionic performance.

Training complexity is not decisive factor for improving adaptation to visual sensory conflict.

PubMed

Yang, Yang; Pu, Fang; Li, Shuyu; Li, Yan; Li, Deyu; Fan, Yubo

2012-01-01

Ground-based preflight training utilizing unusual visual stimuli is useful for decreasing the susceptibility to space motion sickness (SMS). The effectiveness of the sensorimotor adaptation training is affected by the training tasks, but what kind of task is more effective remains unknown. Whether the complexity is the decisive factor to consider for designing the training and if other factors are more important need to be analyzed. The results from the analysis can help to optimize the preflight training tasks for astronauts. Twenty right-handed subjects were asked to draw the right path of 45° rotated maze before and after 30 min training. Subjects wore an up-down reversing prism spectacle in test and training sessions. Two training tasks were performed: drawing the right path of the horizontal maze (complex task but with different orientation feature) and drawing the L-shape lines (easy task with same orientation feature). The error rate and the executing time were measured during the test. Paired samples t test was used to compare the effects of the two training tasks. After each training, the error rate and the executing time were significantly decreased. However, the training effectiveness of the easy task was better as the test was finished more quickly and accurately. The complexity is not always the decisive factor for designing the adaptation training task, e.g. the orientation feature is more important in this study. In order to accelerate the adaptation and to counter SMS, the task for astronauts preflight adaptation training could be simple activities with the key features.

Can we measure beauty? Computational evaluation of coral reef aesthetics

PubMed Central

Guibert, Marine; Foerschner, Anja; Co, Tim; Calhoun, Sandi; George, Emma; Hatay, Mark; Dinsdale, Elizabeth; Sandin, Stuart A.; Smith, Jennifer E.; Vermeij, Mark J.A.; Felts, Ben; Dustan, Phillip; Salamon, Peter; Rohwer, Forest

2015-01-01

The natural beauty of coral reefs attracts millions of tourists worldwide resulting in substantial revenues for the adjoining economies. Although their visual appearance is a pivotal factor attracting humans to coral reefs current monitoring protocols exclusively target biogeochemical parameters, neglecting changes in their aesthetic appearance. Here we introduce a standardized computational approach to assess coral reef environments based on 109 visual features designed to evaluate the aesthetic appearance of art. The main feature groups include color intensity and diversity of the image, relative size, color, and distribution of discernable objects within the image, and texture. Specific coral reef aesthetic values combining all 109 features were calibrated against an established biogeochemical assessment (NCEAS) using machine learning algorithms. These values were generated for ∼2,100 random photographic images collected from 9 coral reef locations exposed to varying levels of anthropogenic influence across 2 ocean systems. Aesthetic values proved accurate predictors of the NCEAS scores (root mean square error < 5 for N ≥ 3) and significantly correlated to microbial abundance at each site. This shows that mathematical approaches designed to assess the aesthetic appearance of photographic images can be used as an inexpensive monitoring tool for coral reef ecosystems. It further suggests that human perception of aesthetics is not purely subjective but influenced by inherent reactions towards measurable visual cues. By quantifying aesthetic features of coral reef systems this method provides a cost efficient monitoring tool that targets one of the most important socioeconomic values of coral reefs directly tied to revenue for its local population. PMID:26587350

Light-Regulated Electrochemical Sensor Array for Efficiently Discriminating Hazardous Gases.

PubMed

Liang, Hongqiu; Zhang, Xin; Sun, Huihui; Jin, Han; Zhang, Xiaowei; Jin, Qinghui; Zou, Jie; Haick, Hossam; Jian, Jiawen

2017-10-27

Inadequate detection limit and unsatisfactory discrimination features remain the challenging issues for the widely applied electrochemical gas sensors. Quite recently, we confirmed that light-regulated electrochemical reaction significantly enhanced the electrocatalytic activity, and thereby can potentially extend the detection limit to the parts per billion (ppb) level. Nevertheless, impact of the light-regulated electrochemical reaction on response selectivity has been discussed less. Herein, we systematically report on the effect of illumination on discrimination features via design and fabrication of a light-regulated electrochemical sensor array. Upon illumination (light on), response signal to the examined gases (C 3 H 6 , NO, and CO) is selectively enhanced, resulting in the sensor array demonstrating disparate response patterns when compared with that of the sensor array operated at light off. Through processing all the response patterns derived from both light on and light off with a pattern recognition algorithm, a satisfactory discrimination feature is observed. In contrast, apparent mutual interference between NO and CO is found when the sensor array is solely operated without illumination. The impact mechanism of the illumination is studied and it is deduced that the effect of the illumination on the discriminating features can be mainly attributed to the competition of electrocatalytic activity and gas-phase reactivity. If the enhanced electrocatalytic activity (to specific gas) dominates the whole sensing progress, enhancements in the corresponding response signal would be observed upon illumination. Otherwise, illumination gives a negligible impact. Hence, the response signal to part of the examined gases is selectively enhanced by illumination. Conclusively, light-regulated electrochemical reaction would provide an efficient approach to designing future smart sensing devices.

A retrospective study of 77 cats with severe hepatic lipidosis: 1975-1990.

PubMed

Center, S A; Crawford, M A; Guida, L; Erb, H N; King, J

1993-01-01

The physical, clinicopathologic, and survival rates of 77 cats with severe spontaneous hepatic lipidosis are detailed in this report. Cats were subdivided into groups designated as idiopathic lipidosis if no other disease process was recognized, or secondary lipidosis if another disease process was diagnosed. Cats were also subdivided into groups designated as survivors or nonsurvivors on the basis of successful recuperation at 4 months after initial diagnosis. Differences between disease and survival groups were evaluated for significance. Overall, more female cats and middle-aged cats were affected. Presenting complaints of vomiting, anorexia, weakness, and weight loss were common. Physical assessment of most cats showed obvious hepatomegaly, jaundice, dehydration, and a weight loss > or = 25% of usual body weight. Neurobehavioral signs indicative of hepatic encephalopathy, other than ptyalism and depression, were rare. Clinicopathologic features are characterized by hyperbilirubinemia and increased activities of serum ALT, AST, and ALP, with only small if any increase in gamma GT activity. Clinical features distinguishing cats with hepatic lipidosis from those with other serious cholestatic disorders include absence of hyperglobulinemia and low gamma GT activity relative to ALP activity. Although coagulation tests were abnormal in 45% of cats tested (n = 44), few cats showed clinical bleeding tendencies. Most cats received prophylactic vitamin K1 therapy. Forty two cats received aggressive nutritional and supportive care and of these 55% survived. Cats with idiopathic disease were significantly younger, had significantly higher ALP activity and bilirubin concentration, and had a slightly better survival rate than cats with secondary lipidosis. Low PCV, hypokalemia, and an older age were significantly related to nonsurvival. Because of the variety of diets and food supplements used in case management, the influence of nutritional factors on survival could not be evaluated.

Exploration of a Capability-Focused Aerospace System of Systems Architecture Alternative with Bilayer Design Space, Based on RST-SOM Algorithmic Methods

PubMed Central

Li, Zhifei; Qin, Dongliang

2014-01-01

In defense related programs, the use of capability-based analysis, design, and acquisition has been significant. In order to confront one of the most challenging features of a huge design space in capability based analysis (CBA), a literature review of design space exploration was first examined. Then, in the process of an aerospace system of systems design space exploration, a bilayer mapping method was put forward, based on the existing experimental and operating data. Finally, the feasibility of the foregoing approach was demonstrated with an illustrative example. With the data mining RST (rough sets theory) and SOM (self-organized mapping) techniques, the alternative to the aerospace system of systems architecture was mapping from P-space (performance space) to C-space (configuration space), and then from C-space to D-space (design space), respectively. Ultimately, the performance space was mapped to the design space, which completed the exploration and preliminary reduction of the entire design space. This method provides a computational analysis and implementation scheme for large-scale simulation. PMID:24790572

Exploration of a capability-focused aerospace system of systems architecture alternative with bilayer design space, based on RST-SOM algorithmic methods.

PubMed

Li, Zhifei; Qin, Dongliang; Yang, Feng

2014-01-01

In defense related programs, the use of capability-based analysis, design, and acquisition has been significant. In order to confront one of the most challenging features of a huge design space in capability based analysis (CBA), a literature review of design space exploration was first examined. Then, in the process of an aerospace system of systems design space exploration, a bilayer mapping method was put forward, based on the existing experimental and operating data. Finally, the feasibility of the foregoing approach was demonstrated with an illustrative example. With the data mining RST (rough sets theory) and SOM (self-organized mapping) techniques, the alternative to the aerospace system of systems architecture was mapping from P-space (performance space) to C-space (configuration space), and then from C-space to D-space (design space), respectively. Ultimately, the performance space was mapped to the design space, which completed the exploration and preliminary reduction of the entire design space. This method provides a computational analysis and implementation scheme for large-scale simulation.

Impact of design features on pavement response and performance in rehabilitated flexible and rigid pavements.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-10-01

The primary focus of this research was to determine the effects of design and construction features, such as overlay : thickness and mix type, presence of milling, and type of restoration, on pavement response and performance and to : establish their...

Design Reference Missions (DRM): Integrated ODM 'Air-Taxi' Mission Features

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kloesel, Kurt; Starr, Ginn; Saltzman, John A.

2017-01-01

Design Reference Missions (DRM): Integrated ODM Air-Taxi Mission Features, Hybrid Electric Integrated System Testbed (HEIST) flight control. Structural Health, Energy Storage, Electric Components, Loss of Control, Degraded Systems, System Health, Real-Time IO Operator Geo-Fencing, Regional Noise Abatement and Trusted Autonomy Inter-operability.

21 CFR 211.42 - Design and construction features.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Design and construction features. 211.42 Section 211.42 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) DRUGS: GENERAL CURRENT GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICE FOR FINISHED PHARMACEUTICALS Buildings and Facilities...