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...

Report of the COSPAR mars special regions colloquium

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kminek, G.; Rummel, J.D.; Cockell, C.S.; Atlas, R.; Barlow, N.; Beaty, D.; Boynton, W.; Carr, M.; Clifford, S.; Conley, C.A.; Davila, A.F.; Debus, A.; Doran, P.; Hecht, M.; Heldmann, J.; Helbert, J.; Hipkin, V.; Horneck, G.; Kieft, Thomas L.; Klingelhoefer, G.; Meyer, M.; Newsom, H.; Ori, G.G.; Parnell, J.; Prieur, D.; Raulin, F.; Schulze-Makuch, D.; Spry, J.A.; Stabekis, P.E.; Stackebrandt, E.; Vago, J.; Viso, M.; Voytek, M.; Wells, L.; Westall, F.

2010-01-01

In this paper we present the findings of a COSPAR Mars Special Regions Colloquium held in Rome in 2007. We review and discuss the definition of Mars Special Regions, the physical parameters used to define Mars Special Regions, and physical features on Mars that can be interpreted as Mars Special Regions. We conclude that any region experiencing temperatures > -25 ??C for a few hours a year and a water activity > 0.5 can potentially allow the replication of terrestrial microorganisms. Physical features on Mars that can be interpreted as meeting these conditions constitute a Mars Special Region. Based on current knowledge of the martian environment and the conservative nature of planetary protection, the following features constitute Mars Special regions: Gullies and bright streaks associated with them, pasted-on terrain, deep subsurface, dark streaks only on a case-by-case basis, others to be determined. The parameter definition and the associated list of physical features should be re-evaluated on a regular basis. ?? 2010 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Is There a Place for Casual Games in Teaching and Learning? The Snakes and Ladders Case

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dalouskas, Vasilis; Rigou, Maria; Sirmakessis, Spiros

2012-01-01

Currently casual games feature as the most dynamically developing section of the videogames industry and compared to the more complicated and technologically advanced hardcore games, are characterized by simple rules and game play, do not require long time commitment or special skills on the part of the player. They also have comparatively low…

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

Carmona, J. M.; Cortes, J. L.; Mazon, D.

Locality of interactions is an essential ingredient of Special Relativity. Recently, a new framework under the name of relative locality [G. Amelino-Camelia, L. Freidel, J. Kowalski-Glikman, and L. Smolin, arXiv:1101.0931.] has been proposed as a way to consider Planckian modifications of the relativistic dynamics of particles. We note in this paper that the loss of absolute locality is a general feature of theories beyond Special Relativity with an implementation of a relativity principle. We give an explicit construction of such an implementation and compare it both with the previously mentioned framework of relative locality and the so-called Doubly Special Relativitymore » theories.« less

What's New on MedlinePlus: Announcements and Special Features

MedlinePlus

... this page: https://medlineplus.gov/whatsnew.html What's New on MedlinePlus: Announcements and Special Features To use ... features on this page, please enable JavaScript. "What's New" Page Retirement Thank you for your interest in ...

Invariant object recognition based on the generalized discrete radon transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Easley, Glenn R.; Colonna, Flavia

2004-04-01

We introduce a method for classifying objects based on special cases of the generalized discrete Radon transform. We adjust the transform and the corresponding ridgelet transform by means of circular shifting and a singular value decomposition (SVD) to obtain a translation, rotation and scaling invariant set of feature vectors. We then use a back-propagation neural network to classify the input feature vectors. We conclude with experimental results and compare these with other invariant recognition methods.

Talking to Students: Metadiscourse in Introductory Coursebooks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hyland, Ken

1999-01-01

Explores role of college textbooks in students' acquisition of special disciplinary literacy, focusing on use of metadiscourse as manifestation of writer's linguistic and rhetorical presence in a text. Features are compared from 21 textbook extracts in microbiology, marketing, and applied linguistics with similar corpus of research articles,…

Low-Tech High-Tech.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hart, Tom

1997-01-01

Outlines how Compact Disc-interactive (CD-i)--software that looks like a CD-ROM but operates independently using a television set--can be used in elementary, secondary, and vocational education. Discusses the cost effectiveness of CD-i and compares costs and operational issues with CD-ROM. Describes special features of one CD-i program,…

Using Web-Based Practice to Enhance Mathematics Learning and Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nguyen, Diem M.; Kulm, Gerald

2005-01-01

This article describes 1) the special features and accessibility of an innovative web-based practice instrument (WebMA) designed with randomized short-answer, matching and multiple choice items incorporated with automatically adapted feedback for middle school students; and 2) an exploratory study that compares the effects and contributions of…

Globes: A Librarian's Guide to Selection and Purchase.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coombs, James

1981-01-01

Provides a guide for librarians to use in selecting globes by discussing how globes are made, types of globes, special and extraterrestrial globes, selecting criteria, and comparing such features as aesthetic appeal, readability, and currency of political information. A list of globe manufacturers and a selected bibliography are provided. (CHC)

Planetary size comparisons: A photographic study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meszaros, S. P.

1983-01-01

Over the past two decades NASA spacecraft missions obtained photographs permitting accurate size measurements of the planets and moons, and their surface features. Planetary global views are displayed at the same scale, in each picture to allow visual size comparisons. Additionally, special geographical features on some of the planets are compared with selected Earth areas, again at the same scale. Artist renderings and estimated sizes are used for worlds not yet reached by spacecraft. Included with each picture is number designation for use in ordering copies of the photos.

Timing characterization and analysis of the Linux-based, closed loop control computer for the Subaru Telescope laser guide star adaptive optics system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dinkins, Matthew; Colley, Stephen

2008-07-01

Hardware and software specialized for real time control reduce the timing jitter of executables when compared to off-the-shelf hardware and software. However, these specialized environments are costly in both money and development time. While conventional systems have a cost advantage, the jitter in these systems is much larger and potentially problematic. This study analyzes the timing characterstics of a standard Dell server running a fully featured Linux operating system to determine if such a system would be capable of meeting the timing requirements for closed loop operations. Investigations are preformed on the effectiveness of tools designed to make off-the-shelf system performance closer to specialized real time systems. The Gnu Compiler Collection (gcc) is compared to the Intel C Compiler (icc), compiler optimizations are investigated, and real-time extensions to Linux are evaluated.

75 FR 38391 - Special Conditions: Boeing 757-200 With Enhanced Flight Vision System

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-02

.... SUMMARY: These special conditions are issued for the Boeing Model 757- 200 series airplanes. These... system (EFVS). The EFVS is a novel or unusual design feature which consists of a head-up display (HUD... regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special...

76 FR 71865 - Special Conditions: Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, Model GVI Airplane; Windshield Coating in...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-21

...; Special Conditions No. 25-452-SC] Special Conditions: Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, Model GVI Airplane... Aerospace Corporation Model GVI airplane. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature(s..., Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (GAC) applied for an FAA type certificate for its new Model GVI passenger...

The Role of Attention in the Binding of Surface Features to Locations

PubMed Central

Hyun, Joo-seok; Woodman, Geoffrey F.; Luck, Steven J.

2013-01-01

Previous studies have proposed that attention is not necessary for detecting simple features but is necessary for binding them to spatial locations. The present study tested this hypothesis, using the N2pc component of the event-related potential waveform as a measure of the allocation of attention. A simple feature detection condition, in which observers reported whether a target color was present or not, was compared with feature-location binding conditions, in which observers reported the location of the target color. A larger N2pc component was observed in the binding conditions than in the detection condition, indicating that additional attentional resources are needed to bind a feature to a location than to detect the feature independently of its location. This finding supports theories of attention in which attention plays a special role in binding features. PMID:24235876

Large quasi-circular features beneath frost on Triton

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Helfenstein, Paul; Veverka, Joseph; Mccarthy, Derek; Lee, Pascal; Hillier, John

1992-01-01

Specially processed Voyager 2 images of Neptune's largest moon, Triton, reveal three large quasi-circular features ranging in diameter from 280 to 935 km within Triton's equatorial region. The largest of these features contains a central irregularly shaped area of comparatively low albedo about 380 km in diameter, surrounded by crudely concentric annuli of higher albedo materials. None of the features exhibit significant topographic expression, and all appear to be primarily albedo markings. The features are located within a broad equatorial band of anomalously transparent frost that renders them nearly invisible at the large phase angles (alpha greater than 90 deg) at which Voyager obtained its highest resolution coverage of Triton. The features can be discerned at smaller phase angles (alpha = 66 deg) at which the frost only partially masks underlying albedo contrasts. The origin of the features is uncertain but may have involved regional cryovolcanic activity.

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.

NIF Rugby High Foot Campaign from the design side

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leidinger, J.-P.; Callahan, D. A.; Berzak-Hopkins, L. F.; Ralph, J. E.; Amendt, P.; Hinkel, D. E.; Michel, P.; Moody, J. D.; Ross, J. S.; Rygg, J. R.; Celliers, P.; Clouët, J.-F.; Dewald, E. L.; Kaiser, P.; Khan, S.; Kritcher, A. L.; Liberatore, S.; Marion, D.; Masson-Laborde, P.-E.; Milovich, J. L.; Morice, O.; Pak, A. E.; Poujade, O.; Strozzi, D.; Hurricane, O. A.

2016-05-01

The NIF Rugby High Foot campaign results, with 8 shots to date, are compared with the 2D FCI2 design simulations. A special emphasis is placed on the predictive features and on those areas where some work is still required to achieve the best possible modelling of these MJ-class experiments.

Planning Non-Formal Education Curricula: The Case of Israel.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keller, Diana; Dror, Ilana

This paper compares the formal and non-formal education systems currently operating in Israel, describing the special features of curriculum planning in non-formal education. The central argument is that the non-formal education system fulfills functions that constitute a critique of the formal education system. The non-formal system offers the…

[Species-specific features of tocopherol content in carnivorous mammals during autumn period].

PubMed

il'ina, T N; Baishnikova, I V

2015-01-01

A comparative study of the major liposoluble antioxidant, vitamin E (α-tocopherol), content was conducted in carnivorous mammals (polar fox, silver fox, raccoon dog, mink, sable) during late autumn under natural lowering of temperature. The highest vitamin E content in liver and kidney was found in polar fox and raccoon dog, obviously due to seasonal metabolic changes and ecological specialization determining the accumulation of considerable amounts of tocopherol both in polar and hibernating species. To investigate the features of vitamin E accumulation, the tocopherol loading experiment was implemented on three species (polar fox, silver fox, mink). It was shown that polar fox, as compared to silverfox and mink, exhibits a higher ability to reserve vitamin E. The established differences in tocopherol content and distribution in different species should be considered as a genetically fixed reaction to the effect of environment underlain by metabolic differences in animals with different ecological specialization. The ability of tocopherol to accumulate in tissues and organs allows considering its essential role in stabilization of the antioxidant system and ensuring thereby a seasonal cold resistance.

78 FR 64415 - Special Conditions: Airbus, Model A350-900 Series Airplane; Ground Pivoting Loads

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-29

... series because of a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed under Sec. 21.16... A350-900 series airplane will incorporate the following novel or unusual design features: a braking...-0890; Notice No. 25-13-10-SC] Special Conditions: Airbus, Model A350-900 Series Airplane; Ground...

[Identification of special quality eggs with NIR spectroscopy technology based on symbol entropy feature extraction method].

PubMed

Zhao, Yong; Hong, Wen-Xue

2011-11-01

Fast, nondestructive and accurate identification of special quality eggs is an urgent problem. The present paper proposed a new feature extraction method based on symbol entropy to identify near infrared spectroscopy of special quality eggs. The authors selected normal eggs, free range eggs, selenium-enriched eggs and zinc-enriched eggs as research objects and measured the near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectra in the range of 12 000-4 000 cm(-1). Raw spectra were symbolically represented with aggregation approximation algorithm and symbolic entropy was extracted as feature vector. An error-correcting output codes multiclass support vector machine classifier was designed to identify the spectrum. Symbolic entropy feature is robust when parameter changed and the highest recognition rate reaches up to 100%. The results show that the identification method of special quality eggs using near-infrared is feasible and the symbol entropy can be used as a new feature extraction method of near-infrared spectra.

Face-iris multimodal biometric scheme based on feature level fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huo, Guang; Liu, Yuanning; Zhu, Xiaodong; Dong, Hongxing; He, Fei

2015-11-01

Unlike score level fusion, feature level fusion demands all the features extracted from unimodal traits with high distinguishability, as well as homogeneity and compatibility, which is difficult to achieve. Therefore, most multimodal biometric research focuses on score level fusion, whereas few investigate feature level fusion. We propose a face-iris recognition method based on feature level fusion. We build a special two-dimensional-Gabor filter bank to extract local texture features from face and iris images, and then transform them by histogram statistics into an energy-orientation variance histogram feature with lower dimensions and higher distinguishability. Finally, through a fusion-recognition strategy based on principal components analysis and support vector machine (FRSPS), feature level fusion and one-to-n identification are accomplished. The experimental results demonstrate that this method can not only effectively extract face and iris features but also provide higher recognition accuracy. Compared with some state-of-the-art fusion methods, the proposed method has a significant performance advantage.

Parity violation in electron scattering

DOE PAGES

Souder, P.; Paschke, K. D.

2015-12-22

By comparing the cross sections for left- and right-handed electrons scattered from various unpolarized nuclear targets, the small parity-violating asymmetry can be measured. These asymmetry data probe a wide variety of important topics, including searches for new fundamental interactions and important features of nuclear structure that cannot be studied with other probes. A special feature of these experiments is that the results are interpreted with remarkably few theoretical uncertainties, which justifies pushing the experiments to the highest possible precision. To measure the small asymmetries accurately, a number of novel experimental techniques have been developed.

First observations of stimulated electromagnetic emission in the ionosphere modified by the spear heating facility on Spitsbergen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tereshchenko, E. D.; Yurik, R. Yu.; Yeoman, T. K.; Robinson, T. R.

2008-11-01

We present the first results of observations of the stimulated electromagnetic emission (SEE) in the ionosphere modified by the Space Plasma Exploration by Active Radar (SPEAR) heating facility. Observation of the SEE is the key method of ground-based diagnostics of the ionospheric plasma disturbances due to high-power HF radiation. The presented results were obtained during the heating campaign performed at the SPEAR facility in February-March 2007. Prominent SEE special features were observed in periods in which the critical frequency of the F 2 layer was higher than the pump-wave frequency (4.45 MHz). As an example, such special features as the downshifted maximum and the broad continuum in the region of negative detunings from the pump-wave frequency are presented. Observations clearly demonstrate that the ionosphere was efficiently excited by the SPEAR heating facility despite the comparatively low pump-wave power.

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...

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...

Joint recognition and discrimination in nonlinear feature space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Talukder, Ashit; Casasent, David P.

1997-09-01

A new general method for linear and nonlinear feature extraction is presented. It is novel since it provides both representation and discrimination while most other methods are concerned with only one of these issues. We call this approach the maximum representation and discrimination feature (MRDF) method and show that the Bayes classifier and the Karhunen- Loeve transform are special cases of it. We refer to our nonlinear feature extraction technique as nonlinear eigen- feature extraction. It is new since it has a closed-form solution and produces nonlinear decision surfaces with higher rank than do iterative methods. Results on synthetic databases are shown and compared with results from standard Fukunaga- Koontz transform and Fisher discriminant function methods. The method is also applied to an automated product inspection problem (discrimination) and to the classification and pose estimation of two similar objects (representation and discrimination).

Features of the Information and Communication Technology Application by the Subjects of Special Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arhipova, Svetlana Vladimirovna; Sergeeva, Olesya Sergeevna

2015-01-01

The main purpose of this study is to reveal the features of information and communication technologies application by the subjects of education in the conditions of special (correctional) school type VIII, and to identify the level of computer literacy of special education. The study was conducted on the basis of the State Budgetary Special…

Formation of Territorial Collective Identities: Turning History into Emotion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ehala, Martin

2014-01-01

This paper provides a broad comparative summary of all the cases addressed in the Special Issue "Hot and cold ethnicities in post-Soviet space." The aim of the summary is to pinpoint the major features that have an impact on the ethnic temperatures in the social settings studied. This paper argues that ethnic, national, civic and…

Neonatal Klebsiella Septicaemia in Ibadan: Implications for Neonatal Care in Developing Countries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Omokhodion, S. I.; And Others

1993-01-01

The antecedent events, clinical features, prevalence, and complications of neonatal Klebsiella septicaemia in 73 infants admitted to a special care baby unit in Nigeria are retrospectively reviewed and compared with those of 72 infants who had no risk factors for sepsis admitted to the same unit during the same period. A nosocomial acquisition of…

The Variety of Vertebrate Mechanisms of Sex Determination

PubMed Central

Trukhina, Antonina V.; Lukina, Natalia A.; Wackerow-Kouzova, Natalia D.; Smirnov, Alexander F.

2013-01-01

The review deals with features of sex determination in vertebrates. The mechanisms of sex determination are compared between fishes, amphibians, reptilians, birds, and mammals. We focus on structural and functional differences in the role of sex-determining genes in different vertebrates. Special attention is paid to the role of estrogens in sex determination in nonmammalian vertebrates. PMID:24369014

The variety of vertebrate mechanisms of sex determination.

PubMed

Trukhina, Antonina V; Lukina, Natalia A; Wackerow-Kouzova, Natalia D; Smirnov, Alexander F

2013-01-01

The review deals with features of sex determination in vertebrates. The mechanisms of sex determination are compared between fishes, amphibians, reptilians, birds, and mammals. We focus on structural and functional differences in the role of sex-determining genes in different vertebrates. Special attention is paid to the role of estrogens in sex determination in nonmammalian vertebrates.

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...

Structural Health Monitoring for a Z-Type Special Vehicle

PubMed Central

Yuan, Chaolin; Ren, Liang; Li, Hongnan

2017-01-01

Nowadays there exist various kinds of special vehicles designed for some purposes, which are different from regular vehicles in overall dimension and design. In that case, accidents such as overturning will lead to large economical loss and casualties. There are still no technical specifications to follow to ensure the safe operation and driving of these special vehicles. Owing to the poor efficiency of regular maintenance, it is more feasible and effective to apply real-time monitoring during the operation and driving process. In this paper, the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are used to monitor the safety of a z-type special vehicle. Based on the structural features and force distribution, a reasonable structural health monitoring (SHM) scheme is presented. Comparing the monitoring results with the finite element simulation results guarantees the accuracy and reliability of the monitoring results. Large amounts of data are collected during the operation and driving progress to evaluate the structural safety condition and provide reference for SHM systems developed for other special vehicles. PMID:28587161

EDITORIAL: Measurement techniques for multiphase flows Measurement techniques for multiphase flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okamoto, Koji; Murai, Yuichi

2009-11-01

Research on multiphase flows is very important for industrial applications, including power stations, vehicles, engines, food processing and so on. Multiphase flows originally have nonlinear features because of multiphase systems. The interaction between the phases plays a very interesting role in the flows. The nonlinear interaction causes the multiphase flows to be very complicated. Therefore techniques for measuring multiphase flows are very useful in helping to understand the nonlinear phenomena. The state-of-the-art measurement techniques were presented and discussed at the sixth International Symposium on Measurement Techniques for Multiphase Flows (ISMTMF2008) held in Okinawa, Japan, on 15-17 December 2008. This special feature of Measurement Science and Technology includes selected papers from ISMTMF2008. Okinawa has a long history as the Ryukyus Kingdom. China, Japan and many western Pacific countries have had cultural and economic exchanges through Okinawa for over 1000 years. Much technical and scientific information was exchanged at the symposium in Okinawa. The proceedings of ISMTMF2008 apart from these special featured papers were published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series vol. 147 (2009). We would like to express special thanks to all the contributors to the symposium and this special feature. This special feature will be a milestone in measurement techniques for multiphase flows.

Nonlinear features for classification and pose estimation of machined parts from single views

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Talukder, Ashit; Casasent, David P.

1998-10-01

A new nonlinear feature extraction method is presented for classification and pose estimation of objects from single views. The feature extraction method is called the maximum representation and discrimination feature (MRDF) method. The nonlinear MRDF transformations to use are obtained in closed form, and offer significant advantages compared to nonlinear neural network implementations. The features extracted are useful for both object discrimination (classification) and object representation (pose estimation). We consider MRDFs on image data, provide a new 2-stage nonlinear MRDF solution, and show it specializes to well-known linear and nonlinear image processing transforms under certain conditions. We show the use of MRDF in estimating the class and pose of images of rendered solid CAD models of machine parts from single views using a feature-space trajectory neural network classifier. We show new results with better classification and pose estimation accuracy than are achieved by standard principal component analysis and Fukunaga-Koontz feature extraction methods.

[Psychiatric, Cognitive and Emotional Profile in Ex-combatants of Illegal Armed Groups in Colombia].

PubMed

Tobón, Carlos; Aguirre-Acevedo, Daniel Camilo; Velilla, Lina; Duque, Jon; Ramos, Claudia Patricia; Pineda, David

2016-01-01

Exposure to armed conflict produces biological adaptations oriented to handle the highly stressful conditions in war environments. The special features of The Colombian armed create a special scenario to evaluate the human behavior. In this study, psychiatric, cognitive and emotional processing characteristics of a group of Colombian armed illegal forces of ex-combatants are described. Sixty-three ex combatants and 22 controls were assessed with WAIS (IQ), INECO frontal screening (executive functions), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (empathy), emotional features recognition and MINI (psychiatric profile). When compared to the control group, ex-combatants showed higher frequency of antisocial personality disorder (P=.031) and behavioral dissocial disorder (P=.017). In cognitive profile, the ex-combatants showed a lower score in the executive function test (Me=18.50; RQ=4.00), control (Me=23.00; RQ=5.25), with a poor personal distress in emphatic profile (Me=10.00; RQ=5.00) compared to control group (Me=37.00; RQ=7.25). We found differences in cognitive and psychiatric profile in ex-combatants in comparison with controls. Copyright © 2015 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Special feature on imaging systems and techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Wuqiang; Giakos, George

2013-07-01

The IEEE International Conference on Imaging Systems and Techniques (IST'2012) was held in Manchester, UK, on 16-17 July 2012. The participants came from 26 countries or regions: Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Malaysia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, UAE, UK and USA. The technical program of the conference consisted of a series of scientific and technical sessions, exploring physical principles, engineering and applications of new imaging systems and techniques, as reflected by the diversity of the submitted papers. Following a rigorous review process, a total of 123 papers were accepted, and they were organized into 30 oral presentation sessions and a poster session. In addition, six invited keynotes were arranged. The conference not only provided the participants with a unique opportunity to exchange ideas and disseminate research outcomes but also paved a way to establish global collaboration. Following the IST'2012, a total of 55 papers, which were technically extended substantially from their versions in the conference proceeding, were submitted as regular papers to this special feature of Measurement Science and Technology . Following a rigorous reviewing process, 25 papers have been finally accepted for publication in this special feature and they are organized into three categories: (1) industrial tomography, (2) imaging systems and techniques and (3) image processing. These papers not only present the latest developments in the field of imaging systems and techniques but also offer potential solutions to existing problems. We hope that this special feature provides a good reference for researchers who are active in the field and will serve as a catalyst to trigger further research. It has been our great pleasure to be the guest editors of this special feature. We would like to thank the authors for their contributions, without which it would not be possible to have this special feature published. We are grateful to all reviewers, who devoted their time and effort, on a voluntary basis, to ensure that all submissions were reviewed rigorously and fairly. The publishing staff of Measurement Science and Technology are particularly acknowledged for giving us timely advice on guest-editing this special feature.

Automated Discovery of Machine-Specific Code Improvements

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-12-01

operation of the source language. Additional analysis may reveal special features of the target architecture that may be exploited to generate efficient...Additional analysis may reveal special features of the target architecture that may be exploited to generate efficient code. Such analysis is optional...incorporate knowledge of the source language, but do not refer to features of the target machine. These early phases are sometimes referred to as the

Special Features of Structure Formation in Pipes from Medium-Carbon Low-Alloy Steel 32G2F Under Heat Treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stepanov, A. I.; Belikov, S. V.; Musikhin, S. A.; Burmasov, S. P.; Popov, A. A.

2017-03-01

Special features of formation of structure and properties of seamless pipes from medium-carbon low-alloy steel for oil and gas applications are considered and associated with chemical inhomogeneity of the metal of the pipes.

Ultrasound features in trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome) and trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome) in a consecutive series of 47 cases.

PubMed

Kroes, I; Janssens, S; Defoort, P

2014-01-01

To determine and list the variety of the predominant appeal signs leading to referral and their accompanying features found during specialized ultrasound evaluation in foetuses with trisomy 13 and trisomy 18. In a period of thirty years, 1110 cases of foetal malformations were detected during specialized echographic evaluation. 47 Of these cases were foetuses with trisomy 13 or trisomy 18. We evaluated the predominant signs leading to referral, the difference and overlap in presenting signs between both syndromes and when the data were available, we also compared the echographic signs with the foetal pathology. In foetuses with trisomy 13 the most common malformations were craniofacial defects, cerebral malformations and genitourinary tract anomalies. The most common malformations associated with trisomy 18 were limb abnormalities and intrauterine growth restriction. Most malformations were predominant in trisomy 18, except for genitourinary tract anomalies. In most cases the sonographic signs correlated with the pathology findings. Trisomy 13 as well as trisomy 18 are characterized by a number of various malformations in the foetus. Most of the ultrasound features were predominant in foetuses with trisomy 18. Mostly the foetal pathology correlated with the sonographic evaluation.

Robust recognition of degraded machine-printed characters using complementary similarity measure and error-correction learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hagita, Norihiro; Sawaki, Minako

1995-03-01

Most conventional methods in character recognition extract geometrical features such as stroke direction, connectivity of strokes, etc., and compare them with reference patterns in a stored dictionary. Unfortunately, geometrical features are easily degraded by blurs, stains and the graphical background designs used in Japanese newspaper headlines. This noise must be removed before recognition commences, but no preprocessing method is completely accurate. This paper proposes a method for recognizing degraded characters and characters printed on graphical background designs. This method is based on the binary image feature method and uses binary images as features. A new similarity measure, called the complementary similarity measure, is used as a discriminant function. It compares the similarity and dissimilarity of binary patterns with reference dictionary patterns. Experiments are conducted using the standard character database ETL-2 which consists of machine-printed Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana, alphanumeric, an special characters. The results show that this method is much more robust against noise than the conventional geometrical feature method. It also achieves high recognition rates of over 92% for characters with textured foregrounds, over 98% for characters with textured backgrounds, over 98% for outline fonts, and over 99% for reverse contrast characters.

76 FR 10528 - Special Conditions: Gulfstream Model GVI Airplane; Electronic Systems Security Isolation or...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-25

... conditions for the Gulfstream GVI airplane. This airplane may have novel or unusual design features... standards for these design features. These proposed special conditions contain the additional safety... transport airplane with an executive cabin interior. The maximum takeoff weight will be 99,600 pounds, with...

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

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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...

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…

Comparsion analysis of data mining models applied to clinical research in traditional Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Zhao, Yufeng; Xie, Qi; He, Liyun; Liu, Baoyan; Li, Kun; Zhang, Xiang; Bai, Wenjing; Luo, Lin; Jing, Xianghong; Huo, Ruili

2014-10-01

To help researchers selecting appropriate data mining models to provide better evidence for the clinical practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis and therapy. Clinical issues based on data mining models were comprehensively summarized from four significant elements of the clinical studies: symptoms, symptom patterns, herbs, and efficacy. Existing problems were further generalized to determine the relevant factors of the performance of data mining models, e.g. data type, samples, parameters, variable labels. Combining these relevant factors, the TCM clinical data features were compared with regards to statistical characters and informatics properties. Data models were compared simultaneously from the view of applied conditions and suitable scopes. The main application problems were the inconsistent data type and the small samples for the used data mining models, which caused the inappropriate results, even the mistake results. These features, i.e. advantages, disadvantages, satisfied data types, tasks of data mining, and the TCM issues, were summarized and compared. By aiming at the special features of different data mining models, the clinical doctors could select the suitable data mining models to resolve the TCM problem.

Two Different Faces of Cavafy in English: A Corpus-Assisted Approach to Translational Stylistics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pantopoulos, Iraklis

2012-01-01

A translator is seen to leave a personal mark on the text through their stylistic choices and the patterns formed by these choices. This article comprises a case study that uses a specialized comparative corpus containing translations of C.P. Cavafy's canon in order to explore the distinctive stylistic features of Rae Dalven and of Edmund…

The microscopic anatomy of the esophagus including the individual layers, specialized tissues, and unique components and their responses to injury.

PubMed

Zhang, Xuchen; Patil, Deepa; Odze, Robert D; Zhao, Lei; Lisovsky, Mikhail; Guindi, Maha; Riddell, Robert; Bellizzi, Andrew; Yantiss, Rhonda K; Nalbantoglu, Ilke; Appelman, Henry D

2018-05-15

The esophagus, a straight tube that connects the pharynx to the stomach, has the complex architecture common to the rest of the gastrointestinal tract with special differences that relate to its function as a conduit of ingested substances. For instance, it has submucosal glands that are unique and have a specific protective function. It has a squamous lining that exists nowhere else in the gut except the anus and it has a different submucosal nerve plexus when compared to the stomach and intestines. All of the layers of the esophageal wall and the specialized structures including blood and lymphatic vessels and nerves have specific responses to injury. The esophagus also has unique features such as patches of gastric mucosa called inlet patches at the very proximal part and it has a special sphincter mechanism at the most distal aspect. This review covers the normal microscopic anatomy of the esophagus and the patterns of reaction to stress and injury of each layer and each special structure. © 2018 New York Academy of Sciences.

Feature ranking and rank aggregation for automatic sleep stage classification: a comparative study.

PubMed

Najdi, Shirin; Gharbali, Ali Abdollahi; Fonseca, José Manuel

2017-08-18

Nowadays, sleep quality is one of the most important measures of healthy life, especially considering the huge number of sleep-related disorders. Identifying sleep stages using polysomnographic (PSG) signals is the traditional way of assessing sleep quality. However, the manual process of sleep stage classification is time-consuming, subjective and costly. Therefore, in order to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the sleep stage classification, researchers have been trying to develop automatic classification algorithms. Automatic sleep stage classification mainly consists of three steps: pre-processing, feature extraction and classification. Since classification accuracy is deeply affected by the extracted features, a poor feature vector will adversely affect the classifier and eventually lead to low classification accuracy. Therefore, special attention should be given to the feature extraction and selection process. In this paper the performance of seven feature selection methods, as well as two feature rank aggregation methods, were compared. Pz-Oz EEG, horizontal EOG and submental chin EMG recordings of 22 healthy males and females were used. A comprehensive feature set including 49 features was extracted from these recordings. The extracted features are among the most common and effective features used in sleep stage classification from temporal, spectral, entropy-based and nonlinear categories. The feature selection methods were evaluated and compared using three criteria: classification accuracy, stability, and similarity. Simulation results show that MRMR-MID achieves the highest classification performance while Fisher method provides the most stable ranking. In our simulations, the performance of the aggregation methods was in the average level, although they are known to generate more stable results and better accuracy. The Borda and RRA rank aggregation methods could not outperform significantly the conventional feature ranking methods. Among conventional methods, some of them slightly performed better than others, although the choice of a suitable technique is dependent on the computational complexity and accuracy requirements of the user.

78 FR 19982 - Special Conditions: Turbomeca Ardiden 3K Turboshaft Engine

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-03

... novel or unusual design feature that is a 30-minute all engines operating (AEO) power rating for... appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety... Ardiden 3K engine is the first variant in the new Ardiden 3 series. This engine incorporates a two-stage...

77 FR 19148 - Special Conditions: Airbus, A350-900 Series Airplane; Crew Rest Compartments

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-30

...-900 series airplanes. These airplanes will have novel or unusual design features associated with two... standards for this design feature. These proposed special conditions contain the additional safety standards... for FAA type certification to June 28, 2009. The A350-900 series has a conventional layout with twin...

Health Needs of Transition-Aged Youth: Feature Issue of IMPACT.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tommet, Pat, Ed.; And Others

1994-01-01

This feature issue explores health needs of youth with disabilities as they make the transition from child to adult roles. "School Health Services: Supporting Students with Special Health Needs" (Dee K. Bauer) describes the role of the special needs nurse on multidisciplinary teams in Multnomah County (Oregon) schools. Two articles deal with…

76 FR 10529 - Special Conditions: Gulfstream Model GVI Airplane; Electronic Systems Security Protection From...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-25

... Gulfstream GVI airplane. This airplane will have novel or unusual design features associated with the... not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for these design features. These proposed special... will be an all-new, two- engine jet transport airplane with an executive cabin interior. The maximum...

76 FR 18130 - Special Conditions: Turbomeca Arriel 2D Turboshaft Engine

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-01

... unusual design feature which is a 30-minute power rating. This rating is generally intended to be used for... contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These proposed special... your comments on this proposal, send us a pre-addressed, stamped postcard on which the docket number...

Dementia in the Oldest Old

PubMed Central

Bullain, Szófia S.; Corrada, María M.

2013-01-01

Purpose of Review: This article discusses some of the unique features of dementia in the oldest old, including some of the most common diagnostic challenges, and potential strategies to overcome them. Recent Findings: Advances include new insight into the role of common risk factors and the effects of multiple underlying neuropathologic features for dementia in the oldest old. In addition, this article contains the latest age-specific normative data for commonly used neuropsychological tests for the oldest old. Summary: The oldest old—people aged 90 years and older—are the fastest-growing segment of society and have the highest rates of dementia in the population. The risk factors, diagnostic challenges, and underlying neuropathologic features of dementia are strikingly different in the 90-years-and-older population compared to younger elderly. Special consideration of these unique features of dementia is necessary when evaluating oldest-old subjects with cognitive impairment. PMID:23558489

Application of IRS-1D data in water erosion features detection (case study: Nour roud catchment, Iran).

PubMed

Solaimani, K; Amri, M A Hadian

2008-08-01

The aim of this study was capability of Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) data of 1D to detecting erosion features which were created from run-off. In this study, ability of PAN digital data of IRS-1D satellite was evaluated for extraction of erosion features in Nour-roud catchment located in Mazandaran province, Iran, using GIS techniques. Research method has based on supervised digital classification, using MLC algorithm and also visual interpretation, using PMU analysis and then these were evaluated and compared. Results indicated that opposite of digital classification, with overall accuracy 40.02% and kappa coefficient 31.35%, due to low spectral resolution; visual interpretation and classification, due to high spatial resolution (5.8 m), prepared classifying erosion features from this data, so that these features corresponded with the lithology, slope and hydrograph lines using GIS, so closely that one can consider their boundaries overlapped. Also field control showed that this data is relatively fit for using this method in investigation of erosion features and specially, can be applied to identify large erosion features.

[Regional features of food standards and health risks associated with chemical contamination of food].

PubMed

Klepikov, O V; Khatuaev, R O; Istomin, A V; Rumyantseva, L A

In the article there are presented results of a study of the balance of food consumption by the population of the Voronezh region, the assessment of the level of contamination of food products and both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic and public health risk caused by this contamination. There was evaluated the level of nutrition-dependent diseases. A special feature of this study is a comparative analysis of data obtained during the two five-year periods of 1995-1999 and 2010-2014, that permitted to reveal changes in food consumption, the dynamics of morbidity rate associated with the nutritional factor.

Music in Special Education [with DVD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adamek, Mary; Darrow, Alice-Ann

2005-01-01

This book explains essential features of special education that are important for interdisciplinary communication and effective teaching. Part I introduces the reader to historical and instructional foundations of music in special education. Major topics and developments in the field of special education, important terminology, and curricular…

The Bottom-up Move within Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development: A Pedagogical Application for Teaching Agreement in Spanish as a Foreign Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Escandon, Arturo; Sanz, Montserrat

2011-01-01

This paper presents the findings of a longitudinal study in which two instructional methods to teach agreement features to first-year university students specializing in Spanish in Japan are compared. On the one hand, the control group was exposed to the traditional top-down teaching of agreement paradigms and were instructed to practice them…

Empirical Evaluation of Different Feature Representations for Social Circles Detection

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-16

study and compare the performance on the available labelled Facebook data from the Kaggle competition on learning social circles in networks . We...Kaggle competition on learning social circles in networks [5]. The data consist of hand- labelled friendship egonets from Facebook and a set of 57...16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: Social circles detection is a special case of community detection in social network that is currently attracting a

77 FR 1618 - Special Conditions: The Boeing Company, Model 767-300; Seats With Inflatable Lapbelts

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-11

... series airplanes. These airplanes will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with seats with... standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the....regulations.gov/ at any time. Follow the online instructions for accessing the docket or go to the Docket...

Toward a New Creative Scholarship of Educational Development: The Teaching and Learning Project and an Opening to Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Springborg, Martin; Horii, Cassandra V.

2016-01-01

This invited essay of "To Improve the Academy's" special feature on Creative Scholarship presents one example of creative scholarship in educational development as a forward to other forms and approaches in the special feature. This example, the Teaching and Learning Project, merges documentary and art photography traditions with faculty…

Combining heterogenous features for 3D hand-held object recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lv, Xiong; Wang, Shuang; Li, Xiangyang; Jiang, Shuqiang

2014-10-01

Object recognition has wide applications in the area of human-machine interaction and multimedia retrieval. However, due to the problem of visual polysemous and concept polymorphism, it is still a great challenge to obtain reliable recognition result for the 2D images. Recently, with the emergence and easy availability of RGB-D equipment such as Kinect, this challenge could be relieved because the depth channel could bring more information. A very special and important case of object recognition is hand-held object recognition, as hand is a straight and natural way for both human-human interaction and human-machine interaction. In this paper, we study the problem of 3D object recognition by combining heterogenous features with different modalities and extraction techniques. For hand-craft feature, although it reserves the low-level information such as shape and color, it has shown weakness in representing hiconvolutionalgh-level semantic information compared with the automatic learned feature, especially deep feature. Deep feature has shown its great advantages in large scale dataset recognition but is not always robust to rotation or scale variance compared with hand-craft feature. In this paper, we propose a method to combine hand-craft point cloud features and deep learned features in RGB and depth channle. First, hand-held object segmentation is implemented by using depth cues and human skeleton information. Second, we combine the extracted hetegerogenous 3D features in different stages using linear concatenation and multiple kernel learning (MKL). Then a training model is used to recognize 3D handheld objects. Experimental results validate the effectiveness and gerneralization ability of the proposed method.

Image Reconstruction is a New Frontier of Machine Learning.

PubMed

Wang, Ge; Ye, Jong Chu; Mueller, Klaus; Fessler, Jeffrey A

2018-06-01

Over past several years, machine learning, or more generally artificial intelligence, has generated overwhelming research interest and attracted unprecedented public attention. As tomographic imaging researchers, we share the excitement from our imaging perspective [item 1) in the Appendix], and organized this special issue dedicated to the theme of "Machine learning for image reconstruction." This special issue is a sister issue of the special issue published in May 2016 of this journal with the theme "Deep learning in medical imaging" [item 2) in the Appendix]. While the previous special issue targeted medical image processing/analysis, this special issue focuses on data-driven tomographic reconstruction. These two special issues are highly complementary, since image reconstruction and image analysis are two of the main pillars for medical imaging. Together we cover the whole workflow of medical imaging: from tomographic raw data/features to reconstructed images and then extracted diagnostic features/readings.

Ultrasound features in trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome) and trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome) in a consecutive series of 47 cases

PubMed Central

Kroes, I.; Janssens, S.; Defoort, P.

2014-01-01

Objective: To determine and list the variety of the predominant appeal signs leading to referral and their accompanying features found during specialized ultrasound evaluation in foetuses with trisomy 13 and trisomy 18. Materials and Methods: In a period of thirty years, 1110 cases of foetal malformations were detected during specialized echographic evaluation. 47 Of these cases were foetuses with trisomy 13 or trisomy 18. We evaluated the predominant signs leading to referral, the difference and overlap in presenting signs between both syndromes and when the data were available, we also compared the echographic signs with the foetal pathology. Results: In foetuses with trisomy 13 the most common malformations were craniofacial defects, cerebral malformations and genitourinary tract anomalies. The most common malformations associated with trisomy 18 were limb abnormalities and intrauterine growth restriction. Most malformations were predominant in trisomy 18, except for genitourinary tract anomalies. In most cases the sonographic signs correlated with the pathology findings. Conclusion: Trisomy 13 as well as trisomy 18 are characterized by a number of various malformations in the foetus. Most of the ultrasound features were predominant in foetuses with trisomy 18. Mostly the foetal pathology correlated with the sonographic evaluation. PMID:25593701

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...

Research on facial expression simulation based on depth image

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Sha-sha; Duan, Jin; Zhao, Yi-wu; Xiao, Bo; Wang, Hao

2017-11-01

Nowadays, face expression simulation is widely used in film and television special effects, human-computer interaction and many other fields. Facial expression is captured by the device of Kinect camera .The method of AAM algorithm based on statistical information is employed to detect and track faces. The 2D regression algorithm is applied to align the feature points. Among them, facial feature points are detected automatically and 3D cartoon model feature points are signed artificially. The aligned feature points are mapped by keyframe techniques. In order to improve the animation effect, Non-feature points are interpolated based on empirical models. Under the constraint of Bézier curves we finish the mapping and interpolation. Thus the feature points on the cartoon face model can be driven if the facial expression varies. In this way the purpose of cartoon face expression simulation in real-time is came ture. The experiment result shows that the method proposed in this text can accurately simulate the facial expression. Finally, our method is compared with the previous method. Actual data prove that the implementation efficiency is greatly improved by our method.

The topography of primate retina: a study of the human, bushbaby, and new- and old-world monkeys.

PubMed

Stone, J; Johnston, E

1981-02-20

The distribution of ganglion cells has been studied in the retinas of four primates: the prosimian bushbaby, the New-World squirrel monkey, the Old-World crab-eating cynamolgous monkey, and the human. The sizes of ganglion cell somas were also measured at a number of retinal locations and compared with similar measurements in the cat retina to test for the presence in primates of retinal specializations such as the visual streak, and for gradients in retinal structure, such as that between temporal and nasal retina. In all four primates, ganglion cell somas in peripheral retina ranged considerably in diameter (6-16 micrometer in the bushbaby, 8-22 micrometer in the squirrel monkey, 8-23 micrometer in the cynamolgous monkey, 8-26 micrometer in the human). It seems likely that the strong physiological correlates of soma size which have been described among cat retinal ganglion cells and among the relay cells of the macaque lateral geniculate nucleus are generally present in primates. In all four primates, evidence was also obtained of a visual streak specialization; the isodensity lines in ganglion cell density maps were horizontally elongated, and small-bodied ganglion cells were relatively more common in the region of the proposed streak than in other areas of peripheral retina. However, the visual streak seems less well developed than in the cat; among the four primate species examined it was best developed in the bushbaby, at least as assessed by the shape of the isodensity lines. All four primates showed a clear foveal specialization, but this feature seemed least developed in the bushbaby. At the fovea, ganglion cells are smaller in soma size than in peripheral retina; they also seemed more uniform in size, although some distinctly larger cells persist in the human and bushbaby. Soma size measurements also provided evidence of a difference between nasal and temporal areas of peripheral retina comparable to that reported for the cat and other species. Thus the primate retinas examined show features, such as the foveal specialization, which seem unique to them among mammals. They also show features, such as nasal-temporal differences in ganglion cell size, and (though weakly developed) a visual streak, which they have in common with other mammals with widely different phylogenetic histories.

A genomic view of food-related and probiotic Enterococcus strains

PubMed Central

Suárez, Nadia; Hormigo, Ricardo; Fadda, Silvina; Saavedra, Lucila

2017-01-01

Abstract The study of enterococcal genomes has grown considerably in recent years. While special attention is paid to comparative genomic analysis among clinical relevant isolates, in this study we performed an exhaustive comparative analysis of enterococcal genomes of food origin and/or with potential to be used as probiotics. Beyond common genetic features, we especially aimed to identify those that are specific to enterococcal strains isolated from a certain food-related source as well as features present in a species-specific manner. Thus, the genome sequences of 25 Enterococcus strains, from 7 different species, were examined and compared. Their phylogenetic relationship was reconstructed based on orthologous proteins and whole genomes. Likewise, markers associated with a successful colonization (bacteriocin genes and genomic islands) and genome plasticity (phages and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) were investigated for lifestyle specific genetic features. At the same time, a search for antibiotic resistance genes was carried out, since they are of big concern in the food industry. Finally, it was possible to locate 1617 FIGfam families as a core proteome universally present among the genera and to determine that most of the accessory genes code for hypothetical proteins, providing reasonable hints to support their functional characterization. PMID:27773878

Neural Architecture for Feature Binding in Visual Working Memory.

PubMed

Schneegans, Sebastian; Bays, Paul M

2017-04-05

Binding refers to the operation that groups different features together into objects. We propose a neural architecture for feature binding in visual working memory that employs populations of neurons with conjunction responses. We tested this model using cued recall tasks, in which subjects had to memorize object arrays composed of simple visual features (color, orientation, and location). After a brief delay, one feature of one item was given as a cue, and the observer had to report, on a continuous scale, one or two other features of the cued item. Binding failure in this task is associated with swap errors, in which observers report an item other than the one indicated by the cue. We observed that the probability of swapping two items strongly correlated with the items' similarity in the cue feature dimension, and found a strong correlation between swap errors occurring in spatial and nonspatial report. The neural model explains both swap errors and response variability as results of decoding noisy neural activity, and can account for the behavioral results in quantitative detail. We then used the model to compare alternative mechanisms for binding nonspatial features. We found the behavioral results fully consistent with a model in which nonspatial features are bound exclusively via their shared location, with no indication of direct binding between color and orientation. These results provide evidence for a special role of location in feature binding, and the model explains how this special role could be realized in the neural system. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The problem of feature binding is of central importance in understanding the mechanisms of working memory. How do we remember not only that we saw a red and a round object, but that these features belong together to a single object rather than to different objects in our environment? Here we present evidence for a neural mechanism for feature binding in working memory, based on encoding of visual information by neurons that respond to the conjunction of features. We find clear evidence that nonspatial features are bound via space: we memorize directly where a color or an orientation appeared, but we memorize which color belonged with which orientation only indirectly by virtue of their shared location. Copyright © 2017 Schneegans and Bays.

Research and Analysis on Energy Consumption Features of Civil Airports

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Bo; Zhang, Wen; Wang, Jianping; Xu, Junku; Su, Jixiang

2017-11-01

Civil aviation is an important part of China’s transportation system, and also the fastest-growing field of comprehensive transportation. Airports, as a key infrastructure of the air transportation system, are the junctions of air and ground transportation. Large airports are generally comprehensive transportation hubs that integrate various modes of transportation, serving as important functional zones of cities. Compared with other transportation hubs, airports cover a wide area, with plenty of functional sections, complex systems and strong specialization, while airport buildings represented by terminals have exhibited characteristics of large space, massive energy consumption, high requirement for safety and comfort, as well as concentrated and rapidly changing passenger flows. Through research and analysis on energy consumption features of civil airports, and analysis on energy consumption features of airports with different sizes or in different climate regions, this article has drawn conclusions therefrom.

Hybrid Feature Extraction-based Approach for Facial Parts Representation and Recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rouabhia, C.; Tebbikh, H.

2008-06-01

Face recognition is a specialized image processing which has attracted a considerable attention in computer vision. In this article, we develop a new facial recognition system from video sequences images dedicated to person identification whose face is partly occulted. This system is based on a hybrid image feature extraction technique called ACPDL2D (Rouabhia et al. 2007), it combines two-dimensional principal component analysis and two-dimensional linear discriminant analysis with neural network. We performed the feature extraction task on the eyes and the nose images separately then a Multi-Layers Perceptron classifier is used. Compared to the whole face, the results of simulation are in favor of the facial parts in terms of memory capacity and recognition (99.41% for the eyes part, 98.16% for the nose part and 97.25 % for the whole face).

Pediatric schwannomatosis, a rare but distinct form of neurofibromatosis.

PubMed

Thomas, Anna K; Egelhoff, John C; Curran, John G; Thomas, Bobby

2016-03-01

Schwannomatosis is the third major form of neurofibromatosis, distinct from neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) and type 1 (NF1). This condition is rare with a variable phenotypic presentation and complex molecular and genetic findings. In this case, a previously healthy teenager was found to have multiple spinal lesions and an enhancing right parotid mass on MRI. On extensive further work-up, this patient met the existing clinical criteria for schwannomatosis. This case report aims to review the clinical features and current diagnostic criteria for schwannomatosis and compare it to NF1 and NF2. Special emphasis will be placed on imaging features that should prompt the radiologist to suggest this rare diagnosis.

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...

Fast Solution in Sparse LDA for Binary Classification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moghaddam, Baback

2010-01-01

An algorithm that performs sparse linear discriminant analysis (Sparse-LDA) finds near-optimal solutions in far less time than the prior art when specialized to binary classification (of 2 classes). Sparse-LDA is a type of feature- or variable- selection problem with numerous applications in statistics, machine learning, computer vision, computational finance, operations research, and bio-informatics. Because of its combinatorial nature, feature- or variable-selection problems are NP-hard or computationally intractable in cases involving more than 30 variables or features. Therefore, one typically seeks approximate solutions by means of greedy search algorithms. The prior Sparse-LDA algorithm was a greedy algorithm that considered the best variable or feature to add/ delete to/ from its subsets in order to maximally discriminate between multiple classes of data. The present algorithm is designed for the special but prevalent case of 2-class or binary classification (e.g. 1 vs. 0, functioning vs. malfunctioning, or change versus no change). The present algorithm provides near-optimal solutions on large real-world datasets having hundreds or even thousands of variables or features (e.g. selecting the fewest wavelength bands in a hyperspectral sensor to do terrain classification) and does so in typical computation times of minutes as compared to days or weeks as taken by the prior art. Sparse LDA requires solving generalized eigenvalue problems for a large number of variable subsets (represented by the submatrices of the input within-class and between-class covariance matrices). In the general (fullrank) case, the amount of computation scales at least cubically with the number of variables and thus the size of the problems that can be solved is limited accordingly. However, in binary classification, the principal eigenvalues can be found using a special analytic formula, without resorting to costly iterative techniques. The present algorithm exploits this analytic form along with the inherent sequential nature of greedy search itself. Together this enables the use of highly-efficient partitioned-matrix-inverse techniques that result in large speedups of computation in both the forward-selection and backward-elimination stages of greedy algorithms in general.

Retrieving cloudy atmosphere parameters from RPG-HATPRO radiometer data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kostsov, V. S.

2015-03-01

An algorithm for simultaneously determining both tropospheric temperature and humidity profiles and cloud liquid water content from ground-based measurements of microwave radiation is presented. A special feature of this algorithm is that it combines different types of measurements and different a priori information on the sought parameters. The features of its use in processing RPG-HATPRO radiometer data obtained in the course of atmospheric remote sensing experiments carried out by specialists from the Faculty of Physics of St. Petersburg State University are discussed. The results of a comparison of both temperature and humidity profiles obtained using a ground-based microwave remote sensing method with those obtained from radiosonde data are analyzed. It is shown that this combined algorithm is comparable (in accuracy) to the classical method of statistical regularization in determining temperature profiles; however, this algorithm demonstrates better accuracy (when compared to the method of statistical regularization) in determining humidity profiles.

A hierarchical model of the evolution of human brain specializations

PubMed Central

Barrett, H. Clark

2012-01-01

The study of information-processing adaptations in the brain is controversial, in part because of disputes about the form such adaptations might take. Many psychologists assume that adaptations come in two kinds, specialized and general-purpose. Specialized mechanisms are typically thought of as innate, domain-specific, and isolated from other brain systems, whereas generalized mechanisms are developmentally plastic, domain-general, and interactive. However, if brain mechanisms evolve through processes of descent with modification, they are likely to be heterogeneous, rather than coming in just two kinds. They are likely to be hierarchically organized, with some design features widely shared across brain systems and others specific to particular processes. Also, they are likely to be largely developmentally plastic and interactive with other brain systems, rather than canalized and isolated. This article presents a hierarchical model of brain specialization, reviewing evidence for the model from evolutionary developmental biology, genetics, brain mapping, and comparative studies. Implications for the search for uniquely human traits are discussed, along with ways in which conventional views of modularity in psychology may need to be revised. PMID:22723350

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...

Guide to Special Information in Scientific and Engineering Journals.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Mary Elizabeth

This annotated bibliography lists 203 special features or special issues of science and technology periodicals with emphasis on compilations of information that appear in periodicals on a regular basis. Subjects covered in the guide include aeronautics, air-conditioning and refrigeration engineering, astronomy, automobiles, biology, botany,…

Special requirements for electronic health record systems in ophthalmology.

PubMed

Chiang, Michael F; Boland, Michael V; Brewer, Allen; Epley, K David; Horton, Mark B; Lim, Michele C; McCannel, Colin A; Patel, Sayjal J; Silverstone, David E; Wedemeyer, Linda; Lum, Flora

2011-08-01

The field of ophthalmology has a number of unique features compared with other medical and surgical specialties regarding clinical workflow and data management. This has important implications for the design of electronic health record (EHR) systems that can be used intuitively and efficiently by ophthalmologists and that can promote improved quality of care. Ophthalmologists often lament the absence of these specialty-specific features in EHRs, particularly in systems that were developed originally for primary care physicians or other medical specialists. The purpose of this article is to summarize the special requirements of EHRs that are important for ophthalmology. The hope is that this will help ophthalmologists to identify important features when searching for EHR systems, to stimulate vendors to recognize and incorporate these functions into systems, and to assist federal agencies to develop future guidelines regarding meaningful use of EHRs. More broadly, the American Academy of Ophthalmology believes that these functions are elements of good system design that will improve access to relevant information at the point of care between the ophthalmologist and the patient, will enhance timely communications between primary care providers and ophthalmologists, will mitigate risk, and ultimately will improve the ability of physicians to deliver the highest-quality medical care. Proprietary or commercial interest disclosure may be found after the references. Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Educational Criticism as a New Specialization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leonardo, Zeus

2016-01-01

This article argues that a new specialization in education has been developing: educational criticism. It takes as its model the existing fields of criticism found in other disciplines, mainly in literature, or literary criticism. The article outlines the central features of educational criticism as a new specialization, guided by a program of…

Special Features of Induction Annealing of Friction Stir Welded Joints of Medium-Alloy Steels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Priymak, E. Yu.; Stepanchukova, A. V.; Bashirova, E. V.; Fot, A. P.; Firsova, N. V.

2018-01-01

Welded joints of medium-alloy steels XJY750 and 40KhN2MA are studied in the initial condition and after different variants of annealing. Special features of the phase transformations occurring in the welded steels are determined. Optimum modes of annealing are recommended for the studied welded joints of drill pipes, which provide a high level of mechanical properties including the case of impact loading.

Evidence for expansion of the precuneus in human evolution.

PubMed

Bruner, Emiliano; Preuss, Todd M; Chen, Xu; Rilling, James K

2017-03-01

The evolution of neurocranial morphology in Homo sapiens is characterized by bulging of the parietal region, a feature unique to our species. In modern humans, expansion of the parietal surface occurs during the first year of life, in a morphogenetic stage which is absent in chimpanzees and Neandertals. A similar variation in brain shape among living adult humans is associated with expansion of the precuneus. Using MRI-derived structural brain templates, we compare medial brain morphology between humans and chimpanzees through shape analysis and geometrical modeling. We find that the main spatial difference is a prominent expansion of the precuneus in our species, providing further evidence of evolutionary changes associated with this area. The precuneus is a major hub of brain organization, a central node of the default-mode network, and plays an essential role in visuospatial integration. Together, the comparative neuroanatomical and paleontological evidence suggest that precuneus expansion is a neurological specialization of H. sapiens that evolved in the last 150,000 years that may be associated with recent human cognitive specializations.

Method for star identification using neural networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindsey, Clark S.; Lindblad, Thomas; Eide, Age J.

1997-04-01

Identification of star constellations with an onboard star tracker provides the highest precision of all attitude determination techniques for spacecraft. A method for identification of star constellations inspired by neural network (NNW) techniques is presented. It compares feature vectors derived from histograms of distances to multiple stars around the unknown star. The NNW method appears most robust with respect to position noise and would require a smaller database than conventional methods, especially for small fields of view. The neural network method is quite slow when performed on a sequential (serial) processor, but would provide very high speed if implemented in special hardware. Such hardware solutions could also yield lower low weight and low power consumption, both important features for small satellites.

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...

A genomic view of food-related and probiotic Enterococcus strains.

PubMed

Bonacina, Julieta; Suárez, Nadia; Hormigo, Ricardo; Fadda, Silvina; Lechner, Marcus; Saavedra, Lucila

2017-02-01

The study of enterococcal genomes has grown considerably in recent years. While special attention is paid to comparative genomic analysis among clinical relevant isolates, in this study we performed an exhaustive comparative analysis of enterococcal genomes of food origin and/or with potential to be used as probiotics. Beyond common genetic features, we especially aimed to identify those that are specific to enterococcal strains isolated from a certain food-related source as well as features present in a species-specific manner. Thus, the genome sequences of 25 Enterococcus strains, from 7 different species, were examined and compared. Their phylogenetic relationship was reconstructed based on orthologous proteins and whole genomes. Likewise, markers associated with a successful colonization (bacteriocin genes and genomic islands) and genome plasticity (phages and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) were investigated for lifestyle specific genetic features. At the same time, a search for antibiotic resistance genes was carried out, since they are of big concern in the food industry. Finally, it was possible to locate 1617 FIGfam families as a core proteome universally present among the genera and to determine that most of the accessory genes code for hypothetical proteins, providing reasonable hints to support their functional characterization. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Kazusa DNA Research Institute.

[Special features of the duties of a gynecologist in Islamic countries (author's transl)].

PubMed

Föllmer, W

1975-02-28

A European gynecologist who takes up his duties in a developing Mohammedan country encounters very different problems compared to those in Europe: Early marriage is customary, the intact hymen has great significance. The "child" primipara is the "normal" primipara. Obstetric actions are not determined by the high value placed on the infant's life, as in Europe. The social position of the woman is still determined by tradition and religion. The emancipation of women advances only slowly.

Computer modelling of grain microstructure in three dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Narayan, K. Lakshmi

We present a program that generates the two-dimensional micrographs of a three dimensional grain microstructure. The code utilizes a novel scanning, pixel mapping technique to secure statistical distributions of surface areas, grain sizes, aspect ratios, perimeters, number of nearest neighbors and volumes of the randomly nucleated particles. The program can be used for comparing the existing theories of grain growth, and interpretation of two-dimensional microstructure of three-dimensional samples. Special features have been included to minimize the computation time and resource requirements.

Catatonia in Psychotic Patients: Clinical Features and Treatment Response

PubMed Central

England, Mary L.; Öngür, Dost; Konopaske, Glenn T.; Karmacharya, Rakesh

2012-01-01

We report clinical features and treatment response in 25 patients with catatonia admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit specializing in psychotic disorders. ECT, benzodiazepines, and clozapine had beneficial effects on catatonic features, while typical antipsychotics resulted in clinical worsening. PMID:21677256

Laboratory arc furnace features interchangeable hearths

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Armstrong, J. L.; Kruger, O. L.

1967-01-01

Laboratory arc furnace using rapidly interchangeable hearths gains considerable versatility in casting so that buttons or special shaped castings can be produced. It features a sight glass for observation.

78 FR 55629 - Special Conditions: Cirrus Design Corporation, Model SF50; Inflatable Three-Point Restraint...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-11

...-0781; Special Conditions No. 23-261-SC] Special Conditions: Cirrus Design Corporation, Model SF50... conditions are issued for the Cirrus Design Corporation (Cirrus), model SF50. This airplane will have novel and unusual design features associated with installation of an inflatable three-point restraint safety...

76 FR 62603 - Special Conditions: The Boeing Company, Model 747-8; Upper Deck Occupancy

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-11

... Conditions No. 25-446-SC] Special Conditions: The Boeing Company, Model 747-8; Upper Deck Occupancy AGENCY.... SUMMARY: These special conditions are issued for the Boeing Model 747-8 airplane. These airplanes will... airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These...

75 FR 20518 - Special Conditions: Cirrus Design Corporation Model SF50 Airplane; Full Authority Digital Engine...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-20

...; Special Conditions No. 23-246-SC] Special Conditions: Cirrus Design Corporation Model SF50 Airplane; Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) System AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION... Cirrus Design Corporation model SF50 airplane. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature...

75 FR 46838 - Special Conditions: Embraer ERJ 190-100 Series Airplane Seats With Non-Traditional, Large, Non...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-04

...; Special Conditions No. 25-408-SC] Special Conditions: Embraer ERJ 190-100 Series Airplane Seats With Non-Traditional, Large, Non-Metallic Panels AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final... 190- 100 series airplane. This airplane will have novel or unusual design features that include non...

Teacher Preparation for Early Childhood: Special Education in Taiwan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ho, Hua-Kuo

2014-01-01

The purpose of this paper is intended to present the current model of teacher preparation for early childhood special education in Taiwan. Documentary analysis was conducted in the study to collect and analyze the obtained data. The main features of teacher preparation policies for early childhood special education in Taiwan could be summarized…

77 FR 16910 - Special Conditions: Boeing Model 787 Series Airplanes; Single-place Side-facing Seats With...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-23

...-0311; Special Conditions No. 25-458-SC] Special Conditions: Boeing Model 787 Series Airplanes; Single... associated with single-place side-facing seats with inflatable lapbelts. The applicable airworthiness... have a novel or unusual design feature associated with single-place side-facing seats with inflatable...

Comparing Subscription-Based Anatomy E-Resources for Collections Development.

PubMed

McClurg, Caitlin; Stieda, Vivian; Talsma, Nicole

2015-01-01

This article describes a chart-based approach for health sciences libraries to compare anatomy e-resources. The features, functionalities, and user experiences of seven leading subscription-based e-resources were assessed using a chart that was iteratively developed by the investigators. Acland's Video Atlas of Human Anatomy, Thieme Winking Skull, and Visible Body were the preferred products as they respectively excel in cadaver-based videos, self-assessment, and 3D graphical manipulation. Moreover, each product affords a pleasant user experience. The investigative team found that resources specializing in one aspect of anatomy teaching are superior to those that contain a wealth of content for diverse audiences.

Understanding the direction of evolution in Burkholderia glumae through comparative genomics.

PubMed

Lee, Hyun-Hee; Park, Jungwook; Kim, Jinnyun; Park, Inmyoung; Seo, Young-Su

2016-02-01

Members of the genus Burkholderia occupy remarkably diverse niches, with genome sizes ranging from ~3.75 to 11.29 Mbp. The genome of Burkholderia glumae ranges in size from ~5.81 to 7.89 Mbp. Unlike other plant pathogenic bacteria, B. glumae can infect a wide range of monocot and dicot plants. Comparative genome analysis of B. glumae strains can provide insight into genome variation as well as differential features of whole metabolism or pathways between multiple strains of B. glumae infecting the same host. Comparative analysis of complete genomes among B. glumae BGR1, B. glumae LMG 2196, and B. glumae PG1 revealed the largest departmentalization of genes onto separate replicons in B. glumae BGR1 and considerable downsizing of the genome in B. glumae LMG 2196. In addition, the presence of large-scale evolutionary events such as rearrangement and inversion and the development of highly specialized systems were found to be related to virulence-associated features in the three B. glumae strains. This connection may explain why this bacterium broadens its host range and reinforces its interaction with hosts.

Possible application of laser isotope separation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Delionback, L. M.

1975-01-01

The laser isotope separation process is described and its special economic features discussed. These features are its low cost electric power operation, capital investment costs, and the costs of process materials.

Lithotripsy Performance of Specially Designed Laser Fiber Tips.

PubMed

Kronenberg, Peter; Traxer, Olivier

2016-05-01

We evaluated and compared a standard laser lithotripsy fiber to laser fibers claimed to have lithotripsy performance enhancing features. A special AccuMax™ 200 polished tip fiber and an AccuTrac™ ball-shaped tip fiber, each with an approximately 240 μm core, were compared to a standard 272 μm core fiber (Rocamed™). The polished and ball-shaped tip fibers were used and reused without preparation. The standard fiber was stripped and cleaved according to manufacturer instructions after each experiment. An automated laser fragmentation testing system was used to perform multiple 30-second laser lithotripsy experiments. To mimic most typical lithotripsy conditions soft and hard stone materials were used with high frequency, low pulse energy (20 Hz and 0.5 J) or with low frequency, high pulse energy (5 Hz and 2.0 J) lithotripter settings. Ablation volumes and laser fiber tip photographs before and after lithotripsy were compared. The standard and ball-shaped tip fibers did not differ in ablation volume (p = 0.72) but they ablated 174% and 188% more stone, respectively, than the polished tip fiber (p <0.0001). The ball-shaped tip showed remarkable fiber tip degradation after short-term use at low frequency, high pulse energy settings. When high pulse energy settings were applied first even for short-term use, the ablation volume achieved by the polished and ball-shaped tip fibers at high frequency, low pulse energy settings decreased more than 20%. The standard laser fiber was as good as and sometimes better than the specially designed fibers. Rapid degradation of the specially designed laser fiber tips strongly limits their general usefulness but ball-shaped tip fibers may be useful in specific situations. Copyright © 2016 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparative analysis of specialization in palliative medicine processes within the World Health Organization European region.

PubMed

Centeno, Carlos; Bolognesi, Deborah; Biasco, Guido

2015-05-01

Palliative medicine (PM), still in the development phase, is a new, growing specialty aimed at caring for both oncology and non-oncology patients. There is still confusion about the training offered in the various European PM certification programs. To provide a detailed, comparative update and analysis of the PM certification process in Europe, including the different training approaches and their main features. Experts from each country completed an online survey addressing historical background, program name, training requirements, length of time in training, characteristic and content, official certifying institution, effectiveness of accreditation, and 2013 workforce capacity. We prepared a comparative analysis of the data provided. In 2014, 18 of 53 European countries had official programs on specialization in PM (POSPM): Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and the U.K. Ten of these programs were begun in the last five years. The PM is recognized as a "specialty," "subspecialty," or "special area of competence," with no substantial differences between the last two designations. The certification contains the term "palliative medicine" in most countries. Clinical training varies, with one to two years being the most frequent duration. There is a clear trend toward establishing the POSPM as a mandatory condition for obtaining a clinical PM position in countries' respective health systems. PM is growing as a specialization field in Europe. Processes leading to certification are generally long and require substantial clinical training. The POSPM education plans are heterogeneous. The European Association for Palliative Care should commit to establishing common learning standards, leading to additional European-based recognition of expertise in PM. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Visual feature-tolerance in the reading network.

PubMed

Rauschecker, Andreas M; Bowen, Reno F; Perry, Lee M; Kevan, Alison M; Dougherty, Robert F; Wandell, Brian A

2011-09-08

A century of neurology and neuroscience shows that seeing words depends on ventral occipital-temporal (VOT) circuitry. Typically, reading is learned using high-contrast line-contour words. We explored whether a specific VOT region, the visual word form area (VWFA), learns to see only these words or recognizes words independent of the specific shape-defining visual features. Word forms were created using atypical features (motion-dots, luminance-dots) whose statistical properties control word-visibility. We measured fMRI responses as word form visibility varied, and we used TMS to interfere with neural processing in specific cortical circuits, while subjects performed a lexical decision task. For all features, VWFA responses increased with word-visibility and correlated with performance. TMS applied to motion-specialized area hMT+ disrupted reading performance for motion-dots, but not line-contours or luminance-dots. A quantitative model describes feature-convergence in the VWFA and relates VWFA responses to behavioral performance. These findings suggest how visual feature-tolerance in the reading network arises through signal convergence from feature-specialized cortical areas. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

76 FR 63818 - Special Conditions: Boeing Model 767-400ER Series Airplanes; Seats With Inflatable Lapbelts

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-14

... appropriate safety standards for the 767-400ER series airplanes because of a novel or unusual design feature...-1106; Special Conditions No. 25-448-SC] Special Conditions: Boeing Model 767-400ER Series Airplanes...- 400ER series airplane. These airplanes, as modified by Continental Airlines, will have a novel or...

Guide to Special Information in Scientific and Engineering Journals.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Mary Elizabeth

This update of a 1983 annotated bibliography lists 298 special features or special issues of science and technology periodicals with emphasis on compilations of information that appear in periodicals on a regular basis. In addition to the 203 entries listed in the original edition, 95 new entries are included. Subjects covered in the guide include…

Special Feature on Some Popular Pastimes: Wilderness Skills, Handcrafts, Mini and Trail Biking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meiklejohn-Moz, Jane; And Others

1976-01-01

In an effort to stimulate teacher-readers to find out what specialized activities their own students may be absorbed in, the authors describe some less commonly known student recreational activities. (MB)

Comparison between PRP, PRGF and PRF: lights and shadows in three similar but different protocols.

PubMed

Giannini, S; Cielo, A; Bonanome, L; Rastelli, C; Derla, C; Corpaci, F; Falisi, G

2015-01-01

The main goal of the modern surgery is to get a low invasiveness and a high rate of clinical healing: in the last years, it has been introduced the concept of a "regenerative surgery", and many techniques has been widely described in the literature. The most used are PRP, PRGF and PRF techniques. Aim of this research is to compare the three protocol of PRP, PRF and PRGF in their essential features, so to suggest to the practitioners the best blood product to use in the regenerative surgery. Among the advantages that shows the PRF, compared to PRP and PRGF, we can cite a greater simplicity of production for the absence of manipulation that leads to a reduced possibility of alteration of the protocol due to an error of the operator. The special texture of the PRF and its biological features shows clearly an interesting surgical versatility and all the characteristics that can support a faster tissues regeneration and high-quality clinical outcomes.

A ℓ2, 1 norm regularized multi-kernel learning for false positive reduction in Lung nodule CAD.

PubMed

Cao, Peng; Liu, Xiaoli; Zhang, Jian; Li, Wei; Zhao, Dazhe; Huang, Min; Zaiane, Osmar

2017-03-01

The aim of this paper is to describe a novel algorithm for False Positive Reduction in lung nodule Computer Aided Detection(CAD). In this paper, we describes a new CT lung CAD method which aims to detect solid nodules. Specially, we proposed a multi-kernel classifier with a ℓ 2, 1 norm regularizer for heterogeneous feature fusion and selection from the feature subset level, and designed two efficient strategies to optimize the parameters of kernel weights in non-smooth ℓ 2, 1 regularized multiple kernel learning algorithm. The first optimization algorithm adapts a proximal gradient method for solving the ℓ 2, 1 norm of kernel weights, and use an accelerated method based on FISTA; the second one employs an iterative scheme based on an approximate gradient descent method. The results demonstrates that the FISTA-style accelerated proximal descent method is efficient for the ℓ 2, 1 norm formulation of multiple kernel learning with the theoretical guarantee of the convergence rate. Moreover, the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods in terms of Geometric mean (G-mean) and Area under the ROC curve (AUC), and significantly outperforms the competing methods. The proposed approach exhibits some remarkable advantages both in heterogeneous feature subsets fusion and classification phases. Compared with the fusion strategies of feature-level and decision level, the proposed ℓ 2, 1 norm multi-kernel learning algorithm is able to accurately fuse the complementary and heterogeneous feature sets, and automatically prune the irrelevant and redundant feature subsets to form a more discriminative feature set, leading a promising classification performance. Moreover, the proposed algorithm consistently outperforms the comparable classification approaches in the literature. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rainfall variability over the tropical Pacific from July 1987 through December 1991 as inferred via monthly estimates from SSM/I

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berg, Wesley; Avery, Susan K.

1994-01-01

Estimates of monthly rainfall have been computed over the tropical Pacific using passive microwave satellite observations from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) for the preiod from July 1987 through December 1991. The monthly estimates were calibrated using measurements from a network of Pacific atoll rain gauges and compared to other satellite-based rainfall estimation techniques. Based on these monthly estimates, an analysis of the variability of large-scale features over intraseasonal to interannual timescales has been performed. While the major precipitation features as well as the seasonal variability distributions show good agreement with expected values, the presence of a moderately intense El Nino during 1986-87 and an intense La Nina during 1988-89 highlights this time period.

Friendship and Emotion Control in Pre-Adolescents With or Without Hearing Loss.

PubMed

Rieffe, Carolien; Broekhof, Evelien; Eichengreen, Adva; Kouwenberg, Maartje; Veiga, Guida; da Silva, Brenda M S; van der Laan, Anneke; Frijns, Johan H M

2018-05-04

Emotional functioning plays a crucial role in the social development of children and adolescents. We examined the extent to which emotion control was related to the quality of friendships in pre-adolescents with and without hearing loss. We tested 350 pre-adolescents (75 deaf/hard of hearing in mainstream education (DHHm), 48 deaf/hard of hearing in special education (DHHs), and 227 hearing) through self-report. Outcomes confirmed a positive association between emotion control and positive friendships for all groups, with one notable exception: more approach strategies for emotion regulation were associated with more negative friendship features in the DHHs group. In addition, the DHHm group demonstrated high levels of emotion control, while their levels of positive friendship features were still lower compared to the hearing group.

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...

Will learning to solve one-step equations pose a challenge to 8th grade students?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ngu, Bing Hiong; Phan, Huy P.

2017-08-01

Assimilating multiple interactive elements simultaneously in working memory to allow understanding to occur, while solving an equation, would impose a high cognitive load. Element interactivity arises from the interaction between elements within and across operational and relational lines. Moreover, operating with special features (e.g. negative pronumeral) poses additional challenge to master equation solving skills. In an experiment, 41 8th grade students (girls = 16, boys = 25) sat for a pre-test, attended a session about equation solving, completed an acquisition phase which constituted the main intervention and were tested again in a post-test. The results showed that at post-test, students performed better on one-step equations tapping low rather than high element interactivity knowledge. In addition, students performed better on those one-step equations that contained no special features. Thus, both the degree of element interactivity and the operation with special features affect the challenge posed to 8th grade students on learning how to solve one-step equations.

Manikin Human-Patient Simulator Training.

PubMed

Horn, Gregory T; Bowling, F Y; Lowe, David E; Parimore, James G; Stagliano, David R; Studer, Nicholas M

Human-patient simulators (HPSs) may help enhance medical education. Manikin HPS devices respond to common field medical interventions, such as cricothyroidotomy, and have realistic feedback features, such as respirations and pulses. This study surveys Special Operations Medics for evaluations of HPS features. Of 518 subjects, 376 completed testing and surveys with valid responses. A total of 102 variables were divided into three categories-general characteristics, procedures, and injuries-and assessed on a fivepoint Likert scale. The Student t test was used to analyze data together and as separate groups against each other and against an aggregated mean. Features that received high scores (i.e., higher than 4.5/5) corresponded closely with pillars of the Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) curriculum, basic life support, and realism. US Army Special Operations Command and US Special Operations Command Medics have overall high confidence in manikin HPS devices and specifically in those that align with TCCC training and lifesaving procedures. The skills most valued coincide with difficult-to-practice measures, such as cricothyroidotomy and wound packing. Features such as prerecorded sounds, sex, automated movements, skin color, defibrillation, bowel sounds, and electrocardiogram are rated lower. These evaluations may guide future development or procurement of manikin HPS devices. 2017.

Robust image features: concentric contrasting circles and their image extraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gatrell, Lance B.; Hoff, William A.; Sklair, Cheryl W.

1992-03-01

Many computer vision tasks can be simplified if special image features are placed on the objects to be recognized. A review of special image features that have been used in the past is given and then a new image feature, the concentric contrasting circle, is presented. The concentric contrasting circle image feature has the advantages of being easily manufactured, easily extracted from the image, robust extraction (true targets are found, while few false targets are found), it is a passive feature, and its centroid is completely invariant to the three translational and one rotational degrees of freedom and nearly invariant to the remaining two rotational degrees of freedom. There are several examples of existing parallel implementations which perform most of the extraction work. Extraction robustness was measured by recording the probability of correct detection and the false alarm rate in a set of images of scenes containing mockups of satellites, fluid couplings, and electrical components. A typical application of concentric contrasting circle features is to place them on modeled objects for monocular pose estimation or object identification. This feature is demonstrated on a visually challenging background of a specular but wrinkled surface similar to a multilayered insulation spacecraft thermal blanket.

Creativity: Incubation as a Special Case of Reminiscence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dorsel, Thomas N.

1979-01-01

Similarities between features of incubation in creative problem solving and reminiscence are pointed out and the author suggests that incubation may merely be a special type of reminiscence. Note: For related information, see EC 120 232-238. (CL)

Special places in the Lake Calumet area.

Treesearch

Herbert W. Schroeder

2004-01-01

An open-ended, qualitative survey was conducted to identify special places in the Lake Calumet area of northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana, and to learn what kinds of experiences and environmental features make these places memorable and important to people.

Special report: FAA's third annual commercial space transportation forecast conference (February 8-9 2000)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-02-01

The Third Annual Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Commercial Space : Transportation Forecast Conference took place in Arlington, Virginia at the Sheraton National Hotel. The year 2000 conference featured seven panels and several special presenta...

78 FR 14005 - Special Conditions: Embraer S.A., Model EMB-550 Airplanes; Flight Envelope Protection: Pitch and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-04

...-1211; Special Conditions No. 25-486-SC] Special Conditions: Embraer S.A., Model EMB-550 Airplanes... Embraer S.A. Model EMB-550 airplane. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature associated...: Background On May 14, 2009, Embraer S.A. applied for a type certificate for their new Model EMB-550 airplane...

77 FR 43158 - Special Local Regulation; Battle on the Bay Powerboat Race Atlantic Ocean, Fire Island, NY

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-24

... 1625-AA08 Special Local Regulation; Battle on the Bay Powerboat Race Atlantic Ocean, Fire Island, NY... temporary special local regulation on the navigable waters of the Atlantic Ocean off Smith Point Park, Fire... on the Atlantic Ocean off Smith Point Park, Fire Island, NY and will feature six classes of offshore...

Evaluation of Features of Development of Sports Way of Swimming of Students of Various Sports Specialization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yermahanova, Amina; Nurmakhambetova, Dinara; Bozhig, Zhanbolat; Imanbetov, Amanbek

2016-01-01

Bachelor educational program "Physical culture and sport" must master special, substantive and core competencies, not only in the chosen specialization, but also in the basic sports, including "Swimming." It is a necessity due to the fact that the graduate program in order to protect their health and life should own at least…

No Special Equipment Required: The Accessibility Features Built into the Windows and Macintosh Operating Systems make Computers Accessible for Students with Special Needs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimball,Walter H.; Cohen,Libby G.; Dimmick,Deb; Mills,Rick

2003-01-01

The proliferation of computers and other electronic learning devices has made knowledge and communication accessible to people with a wide range of abilities. Both Windows and Macintosh computers have accessibility options to help with many different special needs. This documents discusses solutions for: (1) visual impairments; (2) hearing…

Passive microwave structure of severe tornadic storms on 16 November 1987

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heymsfield, Gerald M.; Fulton, Richard

1994-01-01

Passive microwave observations using the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) are presented for severe tornadic storms in the lower midwestern United States on 16 November 1987. These measurements are compared with Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite infrared (IR) measurements for the same case. The IR observations had a classic 'V' cold feature commonly associated with severe Midwest thunderstorms. The minimum microwave brightness temperatures at 86 GHz, which primarily respond to ice scattering by larger ice particles, were located in the convective region and the warm interior of the anvil top, between the arms of the IR V feature. The interior warm region was the only portion of the entire anvil region that had high 86-GHz polarization difference temperatures. Microphysical implications of these multispectral observations are discussed. The observations suggest that there are large variations of ice microphysical characteristics spatially and vertically in the anvil region. These observations are discussed in the context of previous dynamical and microphysical hypotheses on the IR V feature.

Designing the School Plant as a Community Center.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York State Education Dept., Albany. Div. of School Buildings and Grounds.

In the planning of school plants to serve the educational, social, civic, recreational, and cultural needs of the entire community, factors which receive special consideration are location of facilities, heat distribution, zoning, storage space, and special appointments and service features. (RH)

Osteosclerotic myeloma with polyneuropathy and hypocalcemia.

PubMed

Ludescher, C; Grünewald, K; Fend, F; Dietze, O; Thaler, J; Schmid, K W

1989-04-01

A case is presented of a 46-year-old man with multifocal osteosclerotic bone lesions, peripheral polyneuropathy and hypocalcemia. Histologic examination of a bone marrow biopsy disclosed a multiple myeloma. Immunoelectrophoresis revealed a small M-component identified as IgG-lambda. Osteosclerotic myeloma lacking any osteolytic lesions seems to be very rare and shows several different features as compared with classical myeloma. A review of the current literature suggests that multiple myeloma is not a uniform disease but rather a group of clinical syndromes characterized by the special properties of their proliferating plasma cell clones.

Special features of changes in the structure and mechanical properties of oxygen-free pure and yttrium-alloyed copper after vacuum induction remelting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamyshanchenko, N. V.; Galtsev, A. V.; Durykhin, M. I.; Neklyudov, I. M.; Borts, B. V.; Shevchenko, S. V.

2011-03-01

Properties of oxygen-free copper with a microadditive of yttrium and without it are studied after vacuum induction remelting. The ingots are subjected to intense hot pressing and subsequent rolling to various degrees of reduction. The effects of the annealing temperature on the structure and of the anisotropy of the structure on the strength properties of the copper are determined. The properties of copper with an additive of yttrium and without it are compared.

A Bayesian model for visual space perception

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curry, R. E.

1972-01-01

A model for visual space perception is proposed that contains desirable features in the theories of Gibson and Brunswik. This model is a Bayesian processor of proximal stimuli which contains three important elements: an internal model of the Markov process describing the knowledge of the distal world, the a priori distribution of the state of the Markov process, and an internal model relating state to proximal stimuli. The universality of the model is discussed and it is compared with signal detection theory models. Experimental results of Kinchla are used as a special case.

Finite-Element Analysis of Residual Stresses Generated Under Nitriding Process: a Three-Dimensional Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sawicki, J.; Siedlaczek, P.; Staszczyk, A.

2018-03-01

A numerical three-dimensional model for computing residual stresses generated in cross section of steel 42CrMo4 after nitriding is presented. The diffusion process is analyzed by the finite-element method. The internal stresses are computed using the obtained profile of the distribution of the nitrogen concentration. The special features of the intricate geometry of the treated articles including edges and angles are considered. Comparative analysis of the results of the simulation and of the experimental measurement of residual stresses is performed by the Waisman-Philips method.

Identification of Chinese medicine syndromes in persistent insomnia associated with major depressive disorder: a latent tree analysis.

PubMed

Yeung, Wing-Fai; Chung, Ka-Fai; Zhang, Nevin Lian-Wen; Zhang, Shi Ping; Yung, Kam-Ping; Chen, Pei-Xian; Ho, Yan-Yee

2016-01-01

Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome (zheng) differentiation is based on the co-occurrence of CM manifestation profiles, such as signs and symptoms, and pulse and tongue features. Insomnia is a symptom that frequently occurs in major depressive disorder despite adequate antidepressant treatment. This study aims to identify co-occurrence patterns in participants with persistent insomnia and major depressive disorder from clinical feature data using latent tree analysis, and to compare the latent variables with relevant CM syndromes. One hundred and forty-two participants with persistent insomnia and a history of major depressive disorder completed a standardized checklist (the Chinese Medicine Insomnia Symptom Checklist) specially developed for CM syndrome classification of insomnia. The checklist covers symptoms and signs, including tongue and pulse features. The clinical features assessed by the checklist were analyzed using Lantern software. CM practitioners with relevant experience compared the clinical feature variables under each latent variable with reference to relevant CM syndromes, based on a previous review of CM syndromes. The symptom data were analyzed to build the latent tree model and the model with the highest Bayes information criterion score was regarded as the best model. This model contained 18 latent variables, each of which divided participants into two clusters. Six clusters represented more than 50 % of the sample. The clinical feature co-occurrence patterns of these six clusters were interpreted as the CM syndromes Liver qi stagnation transforming into fire, Liver fire flaming upward, Stomach disharmony, Hyperactivity of fire due to yin deficiency, Heart-kidney noninteraction, and Qi deficiency of the heart and gallbladder. The clinical feature variables that contributed significant cumulative information coverage (at least 95 %) were identified. Latent tree model analysis on a sample of depressed participants with insomnia revealed 13 clinical feature co-occurrence patterns, four mutual-exclusion patterns, and one pattern with a single clinical feature variable.

78 FR 16828 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Status Review of the West Coast Distinct...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-19

...; biology and ecology; and habitat selection. (2) Information on the effects of potential threat factors... particular physical or biological features that are essential to the conservation of the species and where such physical or biological features are found; (c) Whether any of these features may require special...

What makes specialized food-caching mountain chickadees successful city slickers?

PubMed

Kozlovsky, Dovid Y; Weissgerber, Emily A; Pravosudov, Vladimir V

2017-05-31

Anthropogenic environments are a dominant feature of the modern world; therefore, understanding which traits allow animals to succeed in these urban environments is especially important. Overall, generalist species are thought to be most successful in urban environments, with better general cognition and less neophobia as suggested critical traits. It is less clear, however, which traits would be favoured in urban environments in highly specialized species. Here, we compared highly specialized food-caching mountain chickadees living in an urban environment (Reno, NV, USA) with those living in their natural environment to investigate what makes this species successful in the city. Using a 'common garden' paradigm, we found that urban mountain chickadees tended to explore a novel environment faster and moved more frequently, were better at novel problem-solving, had better long-term spatial memory retention and had a larger telencephalon volume compared with forest chickadees. There were no significant differences between urban and forest chickadees in neophobia, food-caching rates, spatial memory acquisition, hippocampus volume, or the total number of hippocampal neurons. Our results partially support the idea that some traits associated with behavioural flexibility and innovation are associated with successful establishment in urban environments, but differences in long-term spatial memory retention suggest that even this trait specialized for food-caching may be advantageous. Our results highlight the importance of environmental context, species biology, and temporal aspects of invasion in understanding how urban environments are associated with behavioural and cognitive phenotypes and suggest that there is likely no one suite of traits that makes urban animals successful. © 2017 The Author(s).

Using CNN Features to Better Understand What Makes Visual Artworks Special.

PubMed

Brachmann, Anselm; Barth, Erhardt; Redies, Christoph

2017-01-01

One of the goal of computational aesthetics is to understand what is special about visual artworks. By analyzing image statistics, contemporary methods in computer vision enable researchers to identify properties that distinguish artworks from other (non-art) types of images. Such knowledge will eventually allow inferences with regard to the possible neural mechanisms that underlie aesthetic perception in the human visual system. In the present study, we define measures that capture variances of features of a well-established Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), which was trained on millions of images to recognize objects. Using an image dataset that represents traditional Western, Islamic and Chinese art, as well as various types of non-art images, we show that we need only two variance measures to distinguish between the artworks and non-art images with a high classification accuracy of 93.0%. Results for the first variance measure imply that, in the artworks, the subregions of an image tend to be filled with pictorial elements, to which many diverse CNN features respond ( richness of feature responses). Results for the second measure imply that this diversity is tied to a relatively large variability of the responses of individual CNN feature across the subregions of an image. We hypothesize that this combination of richness and variability of CNN feature responses is one of properties that makes traditional visual artworks special. We discuss the possible neural underpinnings of this perceptual quality of artworks and propose to study the same quality also in other types of aesthetic stimuli, such as music and literature.

Using CNN Features to Better Understand What Makes Visual Artworks Special

PubMed Central

Brachmann, Anselm; Barth, Erhardt; Redies, Christoph

2017-01-01

One of the goal of computational aesthetics is to understand what is special about visual artworks. By analyzing image statistics, contemporary methods in computer vision enable researchers to identify properties that distinguish artworks from other (non-art) types of images. Such knowledge will eventually allow inferences with regard to the possible neural mechanisms that underlie aesthetic perception in the human visual system. In the present study, we define measures that capture variances of features of a well-established Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), which was trained on millions of images to recognize objects. Using an image dataset that represents traditional Western, Islamic and Chinese art, as well as various types of non-art images, we show that we need only two variance measures to distinguish between the artworks and non-art images with a high classification accuracy of 93.0%. Results for the first variance measure imply that, in the artworks, the subregions of an image tend to be filled with pictorial elements, to which many diverse CNN features respond (richness of feature responses). Results for the second measure imply that this diversity is tied to a relatively large variability of the responses of individual CNN feature across the subregions of an image. We hypothesize that this combination of richness and variability of CNN feature responses is one of properties that makes traditional visual artworks special. We discuss the possible neural underpinnings of this perceptual quality of artworks and propose to study the same quality also in other types of aesthetic stimuli, such as music and literature. PMID:28588537

Robust estimation of thermodynamic parameters (ΔH, ΔS and ΔCp) for prediction of retention time in gas chromatography - Part II (Application).

PubMed

Claumann, Carlos Alberto; Wüst Zibetti, André; Bolzan, Ariovaldo; Machado, Ricardo A F; Pinto, Leonel Teixeira

2015-12-18

For this work, an analysis of parameter estimation for the retention factor in GC model was performed, considering two different criteria: sum of square error, and maximum error in absolute value; relevant statistics are described for each case. The main contribution of this work is the implementation of an initialization scheme (specialized) for the estimated parameters, which features fast convergence (low computational time) and is based on knowledge of the surface of the error criterion. In an application to a series of alkanes, specialized initialization resulted in significant reduction to the number of evaluations of the objective function (reducing computational time) in the parameter estimation. The obtained reduction happened between one and two orders of magnitude, compared with the simple random initialization. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Lateralized semantic priming: modulation by levodopa, semantic distance, and participants’ magical beliefs

PubMed Central

Mohr, Christine; Landis, Theodor; Brugger, Peter

2006-01-01

We tested levodopa effects on lateralized direct and indirect semantic priming in 40 healthy right-handed men in a placebo-controlled, double-blind procedure. Crucially, priming was also analyzed as a function of participants’ positive schizotypal features (magical ideation, MI), previously found to be associated with an enhanced semantic spreading activation (SSA) within the right hemisphere. Across both priming conditions, we observed increased semantic priming in the levodopa group 1) specifically after right visual field stimulations and 2) in high MI scorers. In both instances, increased semantic priming emerged from exceedingly long reaction times to unrelated targets reflecting 1) the left hemisphere’s specialization for closely related concepts and 2) an opposite association between MI and SSA in the levodopa as compared with the placebo group. As a final finding, low MI scorers under levodopa performed like high MI scorers under placebo. Our findings speak against a general dopaminergic focusing of SSA, but one that respects each hemisphere’s specialization. They also suggest that individuals’ schizotypal features are important determinants of dopamine-induced changes in hemispheric functioning. We note that, in psychiatric patients, dopamine antagonists reportedly restore unusual lateralization. We discuss this dissociation between schizotypy and schizophrenia as supporting previous notions of protective brain mechanisms operating in the healthy “psychosis-prone” brain. PMID:19412448

Dynamic properties of ionospheric plasma turbulence driven by high-power high-frequency radiowaves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grach, S. M.; Sergeev, E. N.; Mishin, E. V.; Shindin, A. V.

2016-11-01

A review is given of the current state-of-the-art of experimental studies and the theoretical understanding of nonlinear phenomena that occur in the ionospheric F-layer irradiated by high-power high-frequency ground-based transmitters. The main focus is on the dynamic features of high-frequency turbulence (plasma waves) and low-frequency turbulence (density irregularities of various scales) that have been studied in experiments at the Sura and HAARP heating facilities operated in temporal and frequency regimes specially designed with consideration of the characteristic properties of nonlinear processes in the perturbed ionosphere using modern radio receivers and optical instruments. Experimental results are compared with theoretical turbulence models for a magnetized collisional plasma in a high-frequency electromagnetic field, allowing the identification of the processes responsible for the observed features of artificial ionospheric turbulence.

Polar Expansion Dynamics in the Plant Kingdom: A Diverse and Multifunctional Journey on the Path to Pollen Tubes

PubMed Central

Domozych, David S.; Fujimoto, Chelsea; LaRue, Therese

2013-01-01

Polar expansion is a widespread phenomenon in plants spanning all taxonomic groups from the Charophycean Green Algae to pollen tubes in Angiosperms and Gymnosperms. Current data strongly suggests that many common features are shared amongst cells displaying polar growth mechanics including changes to the structural features of localized regions of the cell wall, mobilization of targeted secretion mechanisms, employment of the actin cytoskeleton for directing secretion and in many cases, endocytosis and coordinated interaction of multiple signal transduction mechanisms prompted by external biotic and abiotic cues. The products of polar expansion perform diverse functions including delivery of male gametes to the egg, absorption, anchorage, adhesion and photo-absorption efficacy. A comparative analysis of polar expansion dynamics is provided with special emphasis on those found in early divergent plants. PMID:27137370

Hemipteran Mitochondrial Genomes: Features, Structures and Implications for Phylogeny

PubMed Central

Wang, Yuan; Chen, Jing; Jiang, Li-Yun; Qiao, Ge-Xia

2015-01-01

The study of Hemipteran mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) began with the Chagas disease vector, Triatoma dimidiata, in 2001. At present, 90 complete Hemipteran mitogenomes have been sequenced and annotated. This review examines the history of Hemipteran mitogenomes research and summarizes the main features of them including genome organization, nucleotide composition, protein-coding genes, tRNAs and rRNAs, and non-coding regions. Special attention is given to the comparative analysis of repeat regions. Gene rearrangements are an additional data type for a few families, and most mitogenomes are arranged in the same order to the proposed ancestral insect. We also discuss and provide insights on the phylogenetic analyses of a variety of taxonomic levels. This review is expected to further expand our understanding of research in this field and serve as a valuable reference resource. PMID:26039239

Eta Carinae’s 2014.6 Spectroscopic Event: The Extraordinary He II and N II Features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davidson, Kris; Mehner, Andrea; Humphreys, Roberta M.; Martin, John C.; Ishibashi, Kazunori

2015-03-01

Eta Carinae’s spectroscopic events (periastron passages) in 2003, 2009, and 2014 differed progressively. He ii λ4687 and nearby N ii multiplet 5 have special significance because they respond to very soft X-rays and the ionizing UV radiation field (EUV). Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/STIS observations in 2014 show dramatic increases in both features compared to the previous 2009.1 event. These results appear very consistent with a progressive decline in the primary wind density, proposed years ago on other grounds. If material falls onto the companion star near periastron, the accretion rate may now have become too low to suppress the EUV. Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which is opera ted by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

Environmental correlates to behavioral health outcomes in Alzheimer's special care units.

PubMed

Zeisel, John; Silverstein, Nina M; Hyde, Joan; Levkoff, Sue; Lawton, M Powell; Holmes, William

2003-10-01

We systematically measured the associations between environmental design features of nursing home special care units and the incidence of aggression, agitation, social withdrawal, depression, and psychotic problems among persons living there who have Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder. We developed and tested a model of critical health-related environmental design features in settings for people with Alzheimer's disease. We used hierarchical linear modeling statistical techniques to assess associations between seven environmental design features and behavioral health measures for 427 residents in 15 special care units. Behavioral health measures included the Cohen-Mansfield physical agitation, verbal agitation, and aggressive behavior scales, the Multidimensional Observation Scale for Elderly Subjects depression and social withdrawal scales, and BEHAVE-AD (psychotic symptom list) misidentification and paranoid delusions scales. Statistical controls were included for the influence of, among others, cognitive status, need for assistance with activities of daily living, prescription drug use, amount of Alzheimer's staff training, and staff-to-resident ratio. Although hierarchical linear modeling minimizes the risk of Type II-false positive-error, this exploratory study also pays special attention to avoiding Type I error-the failure to recognize possible relationships between behavioral health characteristics and independent variables. We found associations between each behavioral health measure and particular environmental design features, as well as between behavioral health measures and both resident and nonenvironmental facility variables. This research demonstrates the potential that environment has for contributing to the improvement of Alzheimer's symptoms. A balanced combination of pharmacologic, behavioral, and environmental approaches is likely to be most effective in improving the health, behavior, and quality of life of people with Alzheimer's disease.

14 CFR 21.16 - Special conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... standards for an aircraft, aircraft engine, or propeller because of a novel or unusual design feature of the aircraft, aircraft engine or propeller, he prescribes special conditions and amendments thereto for the... safety standards for the aircraft, aircraft engine or propeller as the Administrator finds necessary to...

14 CFR 21.16 - Special conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... standards for an aircraft, aircraft engine, or propeller because of a novel or unusual design feature of the aircraft, aircraft engine or propeller, he prescribes special conditions and amendments thereto for the... safety standards for the aircraft, aircraft engine or propeller as the Administrator finds necessary to...

Open Up Your Newspaper with Advertising.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spielberger, Ronald E.

1980-01-01

Suggests ways the business office of a student newspaper can ease the conflicts between news and advertising space, including: raising advertising rates, selling ads only in uniform sizes, charging extra for premium space, selling special features, and selling space around a monthly calendar of special events. (TJ)

Wildlife habitats in managed rangelands—the Great Basin of southeastern Oregon: manmade habitats.

Treesearch

Chris Maser; Jack Ward Thomas; Ira David Luman; Ralph. Anderson

1979-01-01

Manmade structures on rangelands provide specialized habitats for some species. These habitats and how they function as specialized habitat features are examined in this publication. The relationships of the wildlife of the Great Basin to such structures are detailed.

OIL SPILL RESPONSE SCENARIOS FOR REMOTE ARCTIC ENVIRONMENTS

EPA Science Inventory

Special problems occur during oil spill cleanup in remote inland areas in cold climates. In Alaska these problems result from the harsh climate, the unusual terrain features, and the special problems of spills along swift rivers. The analysis begins with a description of the envi...

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...

Interpersonal and Affective Features of Psychopathy in Children and Adolescents: Advancing a Developmental Perspective--Introduction to Special Section

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pardini, Dustin A.; Loeber, Rolf

2007-01-01

The interpersonal (e.g., manipulative, deceitful) and affective (e.g., callous, unemotional) features associated with adult psychopathy have been identified in children and adolescents. Although early research suggests that these features have clinical utility in identifying a particularly severe and recalcitrant form of antisocial behavior with…

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...

Specialized family care for children with developmental disabilities: the Finnish experience.

PubMed

Szymanski, L S; Seppala, H T

1995-01-01

This article describes features of Finland's specialized family care for children with disabilities, including professionalization and training of foster parents and the establishment of municipal employee-like status for them, long-term placements, and the preservation of relationships with biological families whenever possible. A case example of a 12-year-old child with mental retardation and autistic disorder who is in specialized care is included.

Work plan for special design features and crack sealing maintenance.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-09-01

The Alaska DOT&PF wants to construct and maintain asphalt concrete (AC) paved highways in a way that minimizes roadway lifecycle costs while preserving acceptable : performance. Thermal cracking is a natural feature of most paved Alaska roadways that...

Voices from Michigan's Black River: obtaining information on "special places" for natural resource planning.

Treesearch

Herbert W. Schroeder

1996-01-01

An open-ended, qualitative survey was conducted to identify "special places" within the Black River area of Michigan`s Upper Peninsula, and to learn what kinds of experiences and environmental features led people to have strong feelings for these places.

A Best Practices Model for Preparation of Rural Special Education Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cegelka, Patricia A.; Alvarado, Jose Luis

2000-01-01

A district-university partnership program provides an alternative route to teacher certification for noncredentialed special education teachers working in a rural California desert region. The program features locally available courses, on-campus summer courses, an alternative internship credential, collaborative structure, a coach-of-coaches…

14 CFR 21.16 - Special conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... aircraft, aircraft engine, or propeller because of a novel or unusual design feature of the aircraft, aircraft engine or propeller, he prescribes special conditions and amendments thereto for the product. The... for the aircraft, aircraft engine or propeller as the FAA finds necessary to establish a level of...

14 CFR 21.16 - Special conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... aircraft, aircraft engine, or propeller because of a novel or unusual design feature of the aircraft, aircraft engine or propeller, he prescribes special conditions and amendments thereto for the product. The... for the aircraft, aircraft engine or propeller as the FAA finds necessary to establish a level of...

14 CFR 21.16 - Special conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... aircraft, aircraft engine, or propeller because of a novel or unusual design feature of the aircraft, aircraft engine or propeller, he prescribes special conditions and amendments thereto for the product. The... for the aircraft, aircraft engine or propeller as the FAA finds necessary to establish a level of...

Some Common and Unique Features of Special Education in the Nordic Countries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juul, Kristen D.

1989-01-01

Similarities in special education services in the five Scandinavian countries include their normalization philosophy and cooperative policy development. Among unique Scandinavian innovations are camp schools, folk high schools, toy libraries (lekoteks), therapeutic communities or collectives for young substance abuses, and measures to combat…

Information for Parents. Communique Special Edition, Fall 1996.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Association of School Psychologists, Washington, DC.

This compilation features articles on topics of special interest to parents that have been previously printed in "Communique," the official newspaper of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). Articles include: (1) "Children and Their Attitudes Toward Reading: A Handout for Parents" (J. Mullein); (2)…

Atypical Hemispheric Specialization for Faces in Infants At-Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder

PubMed Central

Keehn, Brandon; Vogel-Farley, Vanessa; Tager-Flusberg, Helen; Nelson, Charles A.

2014-01-01

Behavioral and neuroimaging findings from typically developing infants and children have demonstrated that the right hemisphere becomes specialized for processing faces. Face processing impairments and atypical hemispheric specialization have previously been reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The goal of this study was to examine the emergence of the right-lateralized face processing network in infants at high-risk for autism (HRA; defined as having an older sibling with ASD) and low-risk comparison (LRC) infants, defined as having no family history of ASD. To investigate the earliest appearance of these features, we examined lateralization of event-related gamma-band coherence (a measure of intra-hemispheric connectivity) to faces during the first year of life. Forty-nine HRA and 46 LRC infants contributed a total of 127 data sets at 6- and/or 12-months. EEG was recorded while infants viewed pictures of either their mother or a stranger. Event-related gamma-band (30-50Hz) phase coherence between anterior-posterior regions for left and right hemispheres was computed. HRA infants showed an aberrant pattern of leftward lateralization of intra-hemispheric coherence by the end of the first year of life, suggesting that the network specialized for face processing may develop atypically in these infants. Further, infants with the greatest leftward asymmetry at 12-months were those that later met diagnostic criteria for ASD, providing support to the growing body of evidence that atypical hemispheric specialization may be an early neurobiological marker for ASD. Among the many experimental findings that tend to distinguish those with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are face processing deficits, reduced hemispheric specialization, and atypical neurostructural and functional connectivity. To investigate the earliest manifestations of these features, we examined lateralization of event-related gamma-band coherence to faces during the first year of life in infants at high-risk for autism (HRA; defined as having an older sibling with ASD) who were compared low-risk comparison (LRC) infants, defined as having no family history of ASD. Participants included 49 HRA and 46 LRC infants who contributed a total of 127 data sets at 6- and 12-months. EEG was recorded while infants viewed images of familiar/unfamiliar faces. Event-related gamma-band (30-50Hz) phase coherence between anterior-posterior electrode pairs for left and right hemispheres was computed. Developmental trajectories for lateralization of intra-hemispheric coherence were significantly different in HRA and LRC infants: by 12-months HRA infants showed significantly greater leftward lateralization compared to LRC infants who showed rightward lateralization. Preliminary results indicate that infants who later met criteria for ASD were those that showed the greatest leftward lateralization. HRA infants demonstrate an aberrant pattern of leftward lateralization of intra-hemispheric coherence by the end of the first year of life, suggesting that the network specialized for face processing may develop atypically. Further, infants with the greatest leftward asymmetry at 12-months where those that later met criteria for ASD, providing support to the growing body of evidence that atypical hemispheric specialization may be an early neurobiological marker for ASD. PMID:25808162

a Fully Automated Pipeline for Classification Tasks with AN Application to Remote Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suzuki, K.; Claesen, M.; Takeda, H.; De Moor, B.

2016-06-01

Nowadays deep learning has been intensively in spotlight owing to its great victories at major competitions, which undeservedly pushed `shallow' machine learning methods, relatively naive/handy algorithms commonly used by industrial engineers, to the background in spite of their facilities such as small requisite amount of time/dataset for training. We, with a practical point of view, utilized shallow learning algorithms to construct a learning pipeline such that operators can utilize machine learning without any special knowledge, expensive computation environment, and a large amount of labelled data. The proposed pipeline automates a whole classification process, namely feature-selection, weighting features and the selection of the most suitable classifier with optimized hyperparameters. The configuration facilitates particle swarm optimization, one of well-known metaheuristic algorithms for the sake of generally fast and fine optimization, which enables us not only to optimize (hyper)parameters but also to determine appropriate features/classifier to the problem, which has conventionally been a priori based on domain knowledge and remained untouched or dealt with naïve algorithms such as grid search. Through experiments with the MNIST and CIFAR-10 datasets, common datasets in computer vision field for character recognition and object recognition problems respectively, our automated learning approach provides high performance considering its simple setting (i.e. non-specialized setting depending on dataset), small amount of training data, and practical learning time. Moreover, compared to deep learning the performance stays robust without almost any modification even with a remote sensing object recognition problem, which in turn indicates that there is a high possibility that our approach contributes to general classification problems.

Comorbidity of intellectual disability confounds ascertainment of autism: implications for genetic diagnosis.

PubMed

Polyak, Andrew; Kubina, Richard M; Girirajan, Santhosh

2015-10-01

While recent studies suggest a converging role for genetic factors towards risk for nosologically distinct disorders including autism, intellectual disability (ID), and epilepsy, current estimates of autism prevalence fail to take into account the impact of comorbidity of these disorders on autism diagnosis. We aimed to assess the effect of comorbidity on the diagnosis and prevalence of autism by analyzing 11 years (2000-2010) of special education enrollment data on approximately 6.2 million children per year. We found a 331% increase in the prevalence of autism from 2000 to 2010 within special education, potentially due to a diagnostic recategorization from frequently comorbid features such as ID. The decrease in ID prevalence equaled an average of 64.2% of the increase of autism prevalence for children aged 3-18 years. The proportion of ID cases potentially undergoing recategorization to autism was higher (P = 0.007) among older children (75%) than younger children (48%). Some US states showed significant negative correlations between the prevalence of autism compared to that of ID while others did not, suggesting state-specific health policy to be a major factor in categorizing autism. Further, a high frequency of autistic features was observed when individuals with classically defined genetic syndromes were evaluated for autism using standardized instruments. Our results suggest that current ascertainment practices are based on a single facet of autism-specific clinical features and do not consider associated comorbidities that may confound diagnosis. Longitudinal studies with detailed phenotyping and deep molecular genetic analyses are necessary to completely understand the cause of this complex disorder. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Aquarius Radiometer Status

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Le Vine, D. M.; Piepmeier, J. R.; Dinnat, E. P.; de Matthaeis, P.; Utku, C.; Abraham, S.; Lagerloef, G.S.E.; Meissner, T.; Wentz, F.

2014-01-01

Aquarius was launched on June 10, 2011 as part of the Aquarius/SAC-D observatory and the instrument has been operating continuously since being turned on in August of the same year. The initial map of sea surface salinity was released one month later (September) and the quality of the retrieval has continuously improved since then. The Aquarius radiometers include several special features such as measurement of the third Stokes parameter, fast sampling, and careful thermal control, and a combined passive/active instrument. Aquarius is working well and in addition to helping measure salinity, the radiometer special features are generating new results.

Using an image-extended relational database to support content-based image retrieval in a PACS.

PubMed

Traina, Caetano; Traina, Agma J M; Araújo, Myrian R B; Bueno, Josiane M; Chino, Fabio J T; Razente, Humberto; Azevedo-Marques, Paulo M

2005-12-01

This paper presents a new Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS), called cbPACS, which has content-based image retrieval capabilities. The cbPACS answers range and k-nearest- neighbor similarity queries, employing a relational database manager extended to support images. The images are compared through their features, which are extracted by an image-processing module and stored in the extended relational database. The database extensions were developed aiming at efficiently answering similarity queries by taking advantage of specialized indexing methods. The main concept supporting the extensions is the definition, inside the relational manager, of distance functions based on features extracted from the images. An extension to the SQL language enables the construction of an interpreter that intercepts the extended commands and translates them to standard SQL, allowing any relational database server to be used. By now, the system implemented works on features based on color distribution of the images through normalized histograms as well as metric histograms. Metric histograms are invariant regarding scale, translation and rotation of images and also to brightness transformations. The cbPACS is prepared to integrate new image features, based on texture and shape of the main objects in the image.

Statistical analysis of textural features for improved classification of oral histopathological images.

PubMed

Muthu Rama Krishnan, M; Shah, Pratik; Chakraborty, Chandan; Ray, Ajoy K

2012-04-01

The objective of this paper is to provide an improved technique, which can assist oncopathologists in correct screening of oral precancerous conditions specially oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) with significant accuracy on the basis of collagen fibres in the sub-epithelial connective tissue. The proposed scheme is composed of collagen fibres segmentation, its textural feature extraction and selection, screening perfomance enhancement under Gaussian transformation and finally classification. In this study, collagen fibres are segmented on R,G,B color channels using back-probagation neural network from 60 normal and 59 OSF histological images followed by histogram specification for reducing the stain intensity variation. Henceforth, textural features of collgen area are extracted using fractal approaches viz., differential box counting and brownian motion curve . Feature selection is done using Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence criterion and the screening performance is evaluated based on various statistical tests to conform Gaussian nature. Here, the screening performance is enhanced under Gaussian transformation of the non-Gaussian features using hybrid distribution. Moreover, the routine screening is designed based on two statistical classifiers viz., Bayesian classification and support vector machines (SVM) to classify normal and OSF. It is observed that SVM with linear kernel function provides better classification accuracy (91.64%) as compared to Bayesian classifier. The addition of fractal features of collagen under Gaussian transformation improves Bayesian classifier's performance from 80.69% to 90.75%. Results are here studied and discussed.

THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY VERSION OF POSITIVE MATRIX FACTORIZATION

EPA Science Inventory

The abstract describes some of the special features of the EPA's version of Positive Matrix Factorization that is freely distributed. Features include descriptions of the Graphical User Interface, an approach for estimating errors in the modeled solutions, and future development...

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...

Analyzing and Integrating Models of Multiple Text Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

List, Alexandra; Alexander, Patricia A.

2017-01-01

We introduce a special issue featuring four theoretical models of multiple text comprehension. We present a central framework for conceptualizing the four models in this special issue. Specifically, we chart the models according to how they consider learner, texts, task, and context factors in explaining multiple text comprehension. In addition,…

Environmental Correlates to Behavioral Health Outcomes in Alzheimer's Special Care Units

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zeisel, John; Silverstein, Nina M.; Hyde, Joan; Levkoff, Sue; Lawton, M. Powell; Holmes, William

2003-01-01

Purpose: We systematically measured the associations between environmental design features of nursing home special care units and the incidence of aggression, agitation, social withdrawal, depression, and psychotic problems among persons living there who have Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder. Design and Methods: We developed and tested a…

A Level Playing Field

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harac, Lani

2004-01-01

In this article, the author features the Universal Design for Learning, a computer-assisted methodology that has enabled special-needs kids in the Boston area to stay in regular classrooms. Developed by a nonprofit group called the Center for Applied Special Technology, the UDL approach--in which students use whatever print or technological tools…

Teacher Talk in General and Special Education Elementary Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hollo, Alexandra; Wehby, Joseph H.

2017-01-01

Teachers' oral language use may be an important factor in student achievement, particularly for students who struggle with language, learning, and behavior. This study examined features of teacher talk during whole-class instruction in 14 general education (GE) and 14 self-contained special education (SE) elementary classrooms that included…

Understanding Game-Based Learning Cultures: Introduction to Special Issue

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engerman, Jason A.; Carr-Chellman, Alison

2017-01-01

This special issue expands our understanding of teaching and learning through video game play, with specific attention to culture. The issue gives insight into the ways educators, researchers, and developers should be discussing and designing for impactful learner-centered game-based learning experiences. The issue features forward-thinking…

Learning to Teach: Practice-Based Preparation in Teacher Education. Special Issues Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benedict, Amber; Holdheide, Lynn; Brownell, Mary; Foley, Abigail Marshall

2016-01-01

This Special Issues Brief from the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability and Reform (CEEDAR Center) and the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL Center) outlines essential features for providing high-quality, structured, and sequenced opportunities to practice within teacher preparation programs. This brief is…

Videodiscs in Special Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Education Turnkey Systems, Inc., Falls Church, VA.

One of four reports designed to assess the current state of new technologies, the document reviews the current and future 5-year status of videodisc technology in special and regular education. Described first are the history, technological features, and prices of videodisc systems (which consist of a player, programing material stored on a disc,…

40 CFR 265.229 - Special requirements for ignitable or reactive waste.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 25 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Special requirements for ignitable or reactive waste. 265.229 Section 265.229 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... qualified chemist or engineer that, to the best of his knowledge and opinion, the design features or...

Assessment as Action Research: Bridging Academic Scholarship and Everyday Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malenfant, Kara J.; Hinchliffe, Lisa Janicke; Gilchrist, Debra

2016-01-01

This introductory essay to this special issue demonstrates that action research has a vital role in evidence-informed practice in academic libraries. This special issue of "College and Research Libraries" ("C&RL") proudly features a selection of action research studies by participants of the Association of College and…

Spatial organization of astrocytes in ferret visual cortex.

PubMed

López-Hidalgo, Mónica; Hoover, Walter B; Schummers, James

2016-12-01

Astrocytes form an intricate partnership with neural circuits to influence numerous cellular and synaptic processes. One prominent organizational feature of astrocytes is the "tiling" of the brain with non-overlapping territories. There are some documented species and brain region-specific astrocyte specializations, but the extent of astrocyte diversity and circuit specificity are still unknown. We quantitatively defined the rules that govern the spatial arrangement of astrocyte somata and territory overlap in ferret visual cortex using a combination of in vivo two-photon imaging, morphological reconstruction, immunostaining, and model simulations. We found that ferret astrocytes share, on average, half of their territory with other astrocytes. However, a specific class of astrocytes, abundant in thalamo-recipient cortical layers ("kissing" astrocytes), overlap markedly less. Together, these results demonstrate novel features of astrocyte organization indicating that different classes of astrocytes are arranged in a circuit-specific manner and that tiling does not apply universally across brain regions and species. J. Comp. Neurol. 524:3561-3576, 2016. © 2016 The Authors The Journal of Comparative Neurology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 The Authors The Journal of Comparative Neurology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A new approach to enhance the performance of decision tree for classifying gene expression data.

PubMed

Hassan, Md; Kotagiri, Ramamohanarao

2013-12-20

Gene expression data classification is a challenging task due to the large dimensionality and very small number of samples. Decision tree is one of the popular machine learning approaches to address such classification problems. However, the existing decision tree algorithms use a single gene feature at each node to split the data into its child nodes and hence might suffer from poor performance specially when classifying gene expression dataset. By using a new decision tree algorithm where, each node of the tree consists of more than one gene, we enhance the classification performance of traditional decision tree classifiers. Our method selects suitable genes that are combined using a linear function to form a derived composite feature. To determine the structure of the tree we use the area under the Receiver Operating Characteristics curve (AUC). Experimental analysis demonstrates higher classification accuracy using the new decision tree compared to the other existing decision trees in literature. We experimentally compare the effect of our scheme against other well known decision tree techniques. Experiments show that our algorithm can substantially boost the classification performance of the decision tree.

IdentiPy: An Extensible Search Engine for Protein Identification in Shotgun Proteomics.

PubMed

Levitsky, Lev I; Ivanov, Mark V; Lobas, Anna A; Bubis, Julia A; Tarasova, Irina A; Solovyeva, Elizaveta M; Pridatchenko, Marina L; Gorshkov, Mikhail V

2018-06-18

We present an open-source, extensible search engine for shotgun proteomics. Implemented in Python programming language, IdentiPy shows competitive processing speed and sensitivity compared with the state-of-the-art search engines. It is equipped with a user-friendly web interface, IdentiPy Server, enabling the use of a single server installation accessed from multiple workstations. Using a simplified version of X!Tandem scoring algorithm and its novel "autotune" feature, IdentiPy outperforms the popular alternatives on high-resolution data sets. Autotune adjusts the search parameters for the particular data set, resulting in improved search efficiency and simplifying the user experience. IdentiPy with the autotune feature shows higher sensitivity compared with the evaluated search engines. IdentiPy Server has built-in postprocessing and protein inference procedures and provides graphic visualization of the statistical properties of the data set and the search results. It is open-source and can be freely extended to use third-party scoring functions or processing algorithms and allows customization of the search workflow for specialized applications.

"Team Leadership Training in Vocational Special Needs." Proceedings: Annual Statewide Conference on Vocational Special Needs (3rd, College Station, Texas, April 16,17, and 18, 1979).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kok, Marilyn, Ed.; And Others

These proceedings of a statewide Texas conference focus on the need for cooperation between the leadership in the fields of special and vocational education in order to meet the needs of handicapped students. Featured presentations (1) stress the necessity for this team approach at the top levels of the education-state agency bureaucracy as well…

MitoAge: a database for comparative analysis of mitochondrial DNA, with a special focus on animal longevity.

PubMed

Toren, Dmitri; Barzilay, Thomer; Tacutu, Robi; Lehmann, Gilad; Muradian, Khachik K; Fraifeld, Vadim E

2016-01-04

Mitochondria are the only organelles in the animal cells that have their own genome. Due to a key role in energy production, generation of damaging factors (ROS, heat), and apoptosis, mitochondria and mtDNA in particular have long been considered one of the major players in the mechanisms of aging, longevity and age-related diseases. The rapidly increasing number of species with fully sequenced mtDNA, together with accumulated data on longevity records, provides a new fascinating basis for comparative analysis of the links between mtDNA features and animal longevity. To facilitate such analyses and to support the scientific community in carrying these out, we developed the MitoAge database containing calculated mtDNA compositional features of the entire mitochondrial genome, mtDNA coding (tRNA, rRNA, protein-coding genes) and non-coding (D-loop) regions, and codon usage/amino acids frequency for each protein-coding gene. MitoAge includes 922 species with fully sequenced mtDNA and maximum lifespan records. The database is available through the MitoAge website (www.mitoage.org or www.mitoage.info), which provides the necessary tools for searching, browsing, comparing and downloading the data sets of interest for selected taxonomic groups across the Kingdom Animalia. The MitoAge website assists in statistical analysis of different features of the mtDNA and their correlative links to longevity. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Predictive features of breast cancer on Mexican screening mammography patients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodriguez-Rojas, Juan; Garza-Montemayor, Margarita; Trevino-Alvarado, Victor; Tamez-Pena, José Gerardo

2013-02-01

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide. In response, breast cancer screening programs are becoming common around the world and public programs now serve millions of women worldwide. These programs are expensive, requiring many specialized radiologists to examine all images. Nevertheless, there is a lack of trained radiologists in many countries as in Mexico, which is a barrier towards decreasing breast cancer mortality, pointing at the need of a triaging system that prioritizes high risk cases for prompt interpretation. Therefore we explored in an image database of Mexican patients whether high risk cases can be distinguished using image features. We collected a set of 200 digital screening mammography cases from a hospital in Mexico, and assigned low or high risk labels according to its BIRADS score. Breast tissue segmentation was performed using an automatic procedure. Image features were obtained considering only the segmented region on each view and comparing the bilateral di erences of the obtained features. Predictive combinations of features were chosen using a genetic algorithms based feature selection procedure. The best model found was able to classify low-risk and high-risk cases with an area under the ROC curve of 0.88 on a 150-fold cross-validation test. The features selected were associated to the differences of signal distribution and tissue shape on bilateral views. The model found can be used to automatically identify high risk cases and trigger the necessary measures to provide prompt treatment.

A Two-Layers Based Approach of an Enhanced-Map for Urban Positioning Support

PubMed Central

Piñana-Díaz, Carolina; Toledo-Moreo, Rafael; Toledo-Moreo, F. Javier; Skarmeta, Antonio

2012-01-01

This paper presents a two-layer based enhanced map that can support navigation in urban environments. One layer is dedicated to describe the drivable road with a special focus on the accurate description of its bounds. This feature can support positioning and advanced map-matching when compared with standard polyline-based maps. The other layer depicts building heights and locations, thus enabling the detection of non-line-of-sight signals coming from GPS satellites not in direct view. Both the concept and the methodology for creating these enhanced maps are shown in the paper. PMID:23202172

Behavioral Interventions: Creating a Safe Environment in Our Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Association of School Psychologists, Bethesda, MD.

This publication features articles on prevention of school violence and focuses upon promising practices that reflect practical approaches to positive behavioral interventions. Directed at both regular and special education students, these articles feature prosocial skills for improving student responsibility and discipline, effective parenting…

Atypical hemispheric specialization for faces in infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Keehn, Brandon; Vogel-Farley, Vanessa; Tager-Flusberg, Helen; Nelson, Charles A

2015-04-01

Among the many experimental findings that tend to distinguish those with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are face processing deficits, reduced hemispheric specialization, and atypical neurostructural and functional connectivity. To investigate the earliest manifestations of these features, we examined lateralization of event-related gamma-band coherence to faces during the first year of life in infants at high risk for autism (HRA; defined as having an older sibling with ASD) who were compared with low-risk comparison (LRC) infants, defined as having no family history of ASD. Participants included 49 HRA and 46 LRC infants who contributed a total of 127 data sets at 6 and 12 months. Electroencephalography was recorded while infants viewed images of familiar/unfamiliar faces. Event-related gamma-band (30-50 Hz) phase coherence between anterior-posterior electrode pairs for left and right hemispheres was computed. Developmental trajectories for lateralization of intra-hemispheric coherence were significantly different in HRA and LRC infants: by 12 months, HRA infants showed significantly greater leftward lateralization compared with LRC infants who showed rightward lateralization. Preliminary results indicate that infants who later met criteria for ASD were those that showed the greatest leftward lateralization. HRA infants demonstrate an aberrant pattern of leftward lateralization of intra-hemispheric coherence by the end of the first year of life, suggesting that the network specialized for face processing may develop atypically. Further, infants with the greatest leftward asymmetry at 12 months where those that later met criteria for ASD, providing support to the growing body of evidence that atypical hemispheric specialization may be an early neurobiological marker for ASD. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The scope of culture in chimpanzees, humans and ancestral apes

PubMed Central

Whiten, Andrew

2011-01-01

More studies have focused on aspects of chimpanzee behaviour and cognition relevant to the evolution of culture than on any other species except our own. Accordingly, analysis of the features shared by chimpanzees and humans is here used to infer the scope of cultural phenomena in our last common ancestor, at the same time clarifying the nature of the special characteristics that advanced further in the hominin line. To do this, culture is broken down into three major aspects: the large scale, population-level patterning of traditions; social learning mechanisms; and the behavioural and cognitive contents of culture. Each of these is further dissected into subcomponents. Shared features, as well as differences, are identified in as many as a dozen of these, offering a case study for the comparative analysis of culture across animal taxa and a deeper understanding of the roots of our own cultural capacities. PMID:21357222

[Current Knee Arthroplasty Designs and Kinematics: Differences in Radii, Conformity and Pivoting].

PubMed

Calliess, Tilman; Savov, Peter; Ettinger, Max; Karkosch, Roman

2018-06-14

Today, there is an almost endless variety of knee prosthesis models on the market from which the surgeon can choose. Although the designs appear closer and closer to one another, the industry makes a great effort to emphasise different features as beneficial and a stand-alone. It is increasingly difficult to keep an overview and to assess the clinical relevance of the diverse features. There is a clear lack of independent comparative studies and evidence is low. Nevertheless, different design philosophies require special surgical techniques, so that the surgeon must be familiar with the peculiarity of his/her prosthesis. Also, a differentiated indication for different designs appears to be an interesting concept. The aim of this essay is to give a brief overview of the major design concepts of current unconstrained knee prosthesis designs and their differences regarding biomechanics and kinematics. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

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...

Ecospaces occupied by Homo erectus and Homo sapiens in insular Southeast Asia in the Pleistocene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hertler, Christine; Haupt, Susanne; Volmer, Rebekka; Bruch, Angela

2014-05-01

Hominins migrated to the islands of the Sunda Shelf multiple times. At least two immigration events are evident, an early immigration of Homo erectus in the late Early Pleistocene and a second immigration of Homo sapiens during the Late Pleistocene. Regional environments changed considerably in the Pleistocene. Expansion patterns among hominins are at least co-determined by their ecologies and environmental change. We examine these expansion patterns on the basis of habitat reconstructions. Mammalian communities provide a geographically extensive record and permit to assess hominin ecospaces. Although chronological resolution is low, they represent the most complete record of habitat changes associated with hominin expansion patterns. In order to reconstruct and compare hominin ecospaces on a quantitative scale, we set up a reference sample consisting of mammalian communities of 117 national parks in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The diversity of such communities is assessed by ecological profiling of specialized herbivore taxa. Moreover, datasets on climate and vegetation correlate with the diversity structure of such specialized herbivore communities. Reconstructing the diversity structure of communities at key sites in Pleistocene Southeast Asia permits to infer features of the climatic and vegetation framework associated with different hominin taxa. Our results show that Homo erectus and Homo sapiens did not occupy similar ecospaces. The ecospace of Homo erectus is characterized by comparatively low diversity among frugivorous and folivorous taxa, while obligate grazers are part of the assemblages. Specialized herbivore communities with such a diversity structure occur at present in East Africa, while they are absent in Southeast Asia. In the reference sample, this type of ecospace corresponds to seasonal wetlands. Although Homo sapiens still inhabits this type of environment in Southeast Asia, his ecospace is wider. Homo sapiens is associated with specialized herbivore communities dominated by frugivorous and folivorous taxa. Specialized herbivore communities with such a diversity structure occur at present in rainforests on the Sunda Shelf.

Who is having a voice? Journalists' selection of sources in a creationism controversy in the UK press

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allgaier, Joachim

2011-06-01

Media accounts of reality have the potential to influence public opinion and decision making processes. Therefore who has and who does not have access to the media and can make their voice heard is a crucial question with serious political consequences. In this article it is investigated whether the speciality of journalists influences their source selection procedures. The coverage of science in schools is an interesting example, since it can be covered by specialized science or education correspondents, but also by general news reporters. A public controversy in the UK about the inclusion of creationism in a school is used to identify which types of sources were selected by various journalists. The focus is upon the selection of sources and whether journalists with different specialties consider various sources relevant and credible. A content analysis of articles, featuring this controversy, is combined with an analysis of correspondent's strategies for selecting sources based on interviews with them. The findings suggest that compared to journalists that specialize in education issues, science correspondents employ a narrower scope when seeking sources. This might have important consequences for the representation of views on science education in the media.

Foreward for special issue of philosophical magazine on: topological correlated insulators and SmB6

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, J. W.

2016-11-01

This Foreward briefly surveys the recent burst of research on the mixed valent insulator SmB6 in the context of two questions, (1) is SmB6 in fact the first example of a strongly correlated topological insulator, and (2) if so are there unique features of special interest for both topology and strong correlations? Accordingly, the papers of this special issue are situated within this general rubric.

Winnowing the Field: Candidates, Caucuses, and Presidential Elections.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gore, Deborah, Ed.

1991-01-01

This issue features articles and activities that concern the history of the presidential election process in the United States, with a special focus on Iowa's role in that process. The following features are included: "Lights, Camera, Action!"; "Presidential Whoopla"; "From Tree Stumps to Living Rooms"; "Wild…

Practical Guide to HVAC for Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ASHRAE Journal, 1998

1998-01-01

Features six articles on heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems for schools. Examines how to avoid air temperature complaints when choosing a system; special system features; engineers, indoor air quality, and schools; mechanical systems noise in classrooms; operation and management issues related to design; and details on bids and…

Does Abstracting Threaten a Sustainable Future?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grant, Lyle K.

2012-01-01

In abstraction, or conceptual behavior, people discriminate features or properties of their surroundings. This permits people to respond selectively and precisely to specialized features of their environment, which has had many benefits, including steady advances in science and technology. Within psychology, J. R. Kantor and B. F. Skinner…

The Language of Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beecham, Rod

2008-01-01

Rhetoric, or persuasion, was recognised in classical times both as central to education and as dangerous when misused. Since the time of Kant, a feature of western thinking has been the creation of a special language to accompany a special idea. Making language prior to or separate from its referents is of its nature an authoritarian activity. The…

Facilities Planning Guide for Special Education Programs: Planning Accessibility for the Handicapped in Public Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Kenneth W.

The guide details characteristics to provide architecturally accessible special education programs for handicapped students. Impetus for the accessibility movement is traced to legislation, including the Architectural Barriers Act and Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Planning features considered are the development of a…

Deux provinces speciales: la bretagne et la provence (Two Special Provinces; Brittany and Provence).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pazery, Paul

1974-01-01

This article contrasts the geography, history, customs, personality features, costumes, language, music, cooking, and way of life of Brittany and of Provence. The Bretons are Celtic peoples and speak a Celtic tongue, "Breton," while the people of Provence were assimilated into the society of their Roman conquerors and speak…

76 FR 54923 - Special Conditions: Dassault Falcon Model 900 and 900EX Airplanes; Interaction of Systems and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-06

... Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington 98057-3356... affected aircraft. In addition, the substance of these special conditions has been subject to the public... modified by API, feature a wing-load-alleviation system that precludes deployment of the air brakes at...

Examining the Methods for Investigating Behavioral Clues of Special-Schooled Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hussein, Hazreena; Daud, Md Nasir

2015-01-01

This article discusses the authors' use of a combination of methods to understand the engagement of special needs children with design features in sensory gardens at two schools in Britain. In addition to observation and behavior mapping, we interviewed landscape architects, teachers, and therapists to anticipate the children's behavior when…

Integrating Vocational & Academic Education. A Handbook Featuring Four Demonstration Sites Including Students from Special Populations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tindall, Lloyd W.; And Others

This handbook describes the processes and techniques used to develop, implement, and evaluate four integrated vocational and academic learning programs in Wisconsin that included students from special populations. The handbook contains seven chapters. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the project, including the request for proposal process and…

Alternative Route Programs for Certification in Special Education: Program Infrastructure Instructional Delivery, and Participant Characteristics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenberg, Michael S.; Boyer, K. Lynn; Sindelar, Paul T.; Misra, Sunil K.

2007-01-01

This study describes special education alternative route (AR) teacher preparation programs. The authors developed a national database of programs and collected information on program sponsorship, length and intensity, features, and participant demographics. Most of the 235 programs in the database were in states that had significant shortages of…

Tool Measures Depths of Defects on a Case Tang Joint

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ream, M. Bryan; Montgomery, Ronald B.; Mecham, Brent A.; Keirstead, Bums W.

2005-01-01

A special-purpose tool has been developed for measuring the depths of defects on an O-ring seal surface. The surface lies in a specially shaped ringlike fitting, called a capture feature tang, located on an end of a cylindrical segment of a case that contains a solid-fuel booster rocket motor for launching a space shuttle. The capture feature tang is a part of a tang-and-clevis, O-ring joint between the case segment and a similar, adjacent cylindrical case segment. When the segments are joined, the tang makes an interference fit with the clevis and squeezes the O-ring at the side of the gap.

History of psychology.

PubMed

Weidman, Nadine

2016-02-01

The editor of History of Psychology discusses her plan to vary the journal's content and expand its scope in specific ways. The first is to introduce a "Spotlight" feature, a relatively brief, provocative thought piece that might take one of several forms. Along with this new feature, she hopes further to broaden the journal's coverage and its range of contributors. She encourages submissions on the history of the psy-sciences off the beaten path. Finally, she plans to continue the journal's tradition of special issues, special sections, and essay reviews of two or more important recently published books in the field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

[The perichromatin compartment of the cell nucleus].

PubMed

Bogoliubov, D S

2014-01-01

In this review, the data on the structure and composition of the perichromatin compartment, a special border area between the condensed chromatin and the interchromatin space of the cell nucleus, are discussed in the light of the concept of nuclear functions in complex nuclear architectonics. Morphological features, molecular composition and functions of main extrachromosomal structures of the perichromatin compartment, perichromatin fibrils (PFs) and perichromatin granules (PGs) including nuclear stress-bodies (nSBs) that are derivates of the PGs under heat shock, are presented. A special attention was paid to the features of the molecular compositions of PFs and PGs in different cell types and at different physiological conditions.

Going beyond panaceas

PubMed Central

Ostrom, Elinor; Janssen, Marco A.; Anderies, John M.

2007-01-01

In the context of governance of human–environment interactions, a panacea refers to a blueprint for a single type of governance system (e.g., government ownership, privatization, community property) that is applied to all environmental problems. The aim of this special feature is to provide theoretical analysis and empirical evidence to caution against the tendency, when confronted with pervasive uncertainty, to believe that scholars can generate simple models of linked social–ecological systems and deduce general solutions to the overuse of resources. Practitioners and scholars who fall into panacea traps falsely assume that all problems of resource governance can be represented by a small set of simple models, because they falsely perceive that the preferences and perceptions of most resource users are the same. Readers of this special feature will become acquainted with many cases in which panaceas fail. The articles provide an excellent overview of why they fail. Furthermore, the articles in this special feature address how scholars and public officials can increase the prospects for future sustainable resource use by facilitating a diagnostic approach in selecting appropriate starting points for governance and monitoring, as well as by learning from the outcomes of new policies and adapting in light of effective feedback. PMID:17881583

Asymmetric specialization and extinction risk in plant-flower visitor webs: a matter of morphology or abundance?

PubMed

Stang, Martina; Klinkhamer, Peter G L; van der Meijden, Eddy

2007-03-01

A recently discovered feature of plant-flower visitor webs is the asymmetric specialization of the interaction partners: specialized plants interact mainly with generalized flower visitors and specialized flower visitors mainly with generalized plants. Little is known about the factors leading to this asymmetry and their consequences for the extinction risk of species. Previous studies have proposed random interactions proportional to species abundance as an explanation. However, the simulation models used in these studies did not include potential biological constraints. In the present study, we tested the potential role of both morphological constraints and species abundance in promoting asymmetric specialization. We compared actual field data of a Mediterranean plant-flower visitor web with predictions of Monte Carlo simulations including different combinations of the potential factors structuring the web. Our simulations showed that both nectar-holder depth and abundance were able to produce asymmetry; but that the expected degree of asymmetry was stronger if based on both. Both factors can predict the number of interaction partners, but only nectar-holder depth was able to predict the degree of asymmetry of a certain species. What is more, without the size threshold the influence of abundance would disappear over time. Thus, asymmetric specialization seems to be the result of a size threshold and, only among the allowed interactions above this size threshold, a result of random interactions proportional to abundance. The simulations also showed that asymmetric specialization could not be the reason that the extinction risk of specialists and generalists is equalized, as suggested in the literature. In asymmetric webs specialists clearly had higher short-term extinction risks. In fact, primarily generalist visitors seem to profit from asymmetric specialization. In our web, specialists were less abundant than generalists. Therefore, including abundance in the simulation models increased the difference between specialists and generalists even more.

Characteristics of an airborne demonstrator for MERLIN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amediek, A.; Büdenbender, C.; Ehret, G.; Fix, A.; Kiemle, C.; Quatrevalet, M.; Wirth, M.; Dieter, H.; Löhring, J.; Klein, V.

2012-12-01

After three years development time, first test measurements on DLR's (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) CO2 and CH4 airborne Lidar have started. It is an integrated path differential absorption (IPDA) lidar for the simultaneous measurement of CO2 and CH4 columns, designed for operation onboard the new German research aircraft HALO. In the framework of the project "CHARM-F", funded by the German ministry of education and research, the lidar was developed in collaboration with Fraunhofer Institut für Lasertechnik and Kayser-Threde. Due to the special features of the aircraft, such as the maximum flight altitude of 15 km and its long range, as well as the special design of the lidar, the system is particularly suitable to be an airborne demonstrator for the French-German MERLIN project, a spaceborne IPDA lidar sounder for methane. The layout of the receiver optics allows a large field of view, i.e. a large laser footprint on ground is possible, comparable to the size obtained by a spaceborne system. So, important features that come along with ground reflectivity issues, such as albedo variations on different spatial scales, can be taken into account in the same way and can be investigated in detail. Furthermore, two detector types are used, PIN photodiodes and APDs, each with specially adapted telescopes, to compare their respective properties. The basic design of the transmitter is identical to the one envisaged for MERLIN. Also important subsystems of the presented lidar, like wavelengths stabilization and output power monitoring, can serve as demonstrators for the satellite system. The main features of the airborne system are: Two almost identical laser systems for CH4 and CO2. Nd:YAG lasers serve as the pump sources for optical parametric oscillators (OPO), injection seeded by laser diodes, to generate the desired online and offline wavelengths in single mode operation. The online wavelength is tuned to an absorption line of the measured trace gas, the offline to a wavelength nearby showing much less absorption (DIAL principle). Pulsed operation of the laser transmitters allows proper separation of atmospheric influences (e.g. aerosol and clouds) as well as precise ranging, which is crucial for the retrieval of the column averaged gas mixing ratio. Due to double pulse operation with a short temporal separation (250 μs), the areas on ground illuminated by subsequent online and offline laser pulses show only little spatial shifts. Currently, the system is being set into operation, and in the course of this all relevant specifications are being characterized. Extensive tests and validation missions are planned for 2013.

Present status, future prospects of domestic acoustical instruments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guibin, L.

1984-01-01

The product lines, specifications, and special features of China's main acoustical instrument products are described. The methods of operation nd the main problems associated with these products are discussed. Examples of the application of acoustical instruments are given. The main features of a digital signal analyzer are enumerated.

76 FR 9265 - Special Conditions: Gulfstream Model GVI Airplane; Electronic Flight Control System: Control...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-17

... for transport category airplanes. These design features include an electronic flight control system... Design Features The GVI has an electronic flight control system and no direct coupling from the cockpit...: Gulfstream Model GVI Airplane; Electronic Flight Control System: Control Surface Position Awareness AGENCY...

75 FR 2433 - Special Conditions: Boeing Model 747-8/-8F Airplanes, Systems and Data Networks Security...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-15

... design features associated with the architecture and connectivity capabilities of the airplane's computer... novel or unusual design features: digital systems architecture composed of several connected networks. The architecture and network configuration may be used for, or interfaced with, a diverse set of...

76 FR 36863 - Special Conditions: Gulfstream Model GVI Airplane; Electronic Systems Security Protection From...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-23

... airplane. This airplane will have novel or unusual design features associated with the architecture and... incorporate the following novel or unusual design features: Digital systems architecture composed of several connected networks. The proposed architecture and network configuration may be used for, or interfaced with...

Review: Analysis of the evolutionary convergence for high performance swimming in lamnid sharks and tunas.

PubMed

Bernal, D; Dickson, K A; Shadwick, R E; Graham, J B

2001-06-01

Elasmobranchs and bony fishes have evolved independently for more than 400 million years. However, two Recent groups, the lamnid sharks (Family Lamnidae) and tunas (Family Scombridae), display remarkable similarities in features related to swimming performance. Traits separating these two groups from other fishes include a higher degree of body streamlining, a shift in the position of the aerobic, red, locomotor muscle that powers sustained swimming to a more anterior location in the body and nearer to the vertebral column, the capacity to conserve metabolic heat (i.e. regional endothermy), an increased gill surface area with a decreased blood-water barrier thickness, a higher maximum blood oxygen carrying capacity, and greater muscle aerobic and anaerobic enzyme activities at in vivo temperatures. The suite of morphological, physiological, and biochemical specializations that define "high-performance fishes" have been extensively characterized in the tunas. This review examines the convergent features of lamnid sharks and tunas in order to gain insight into the extent that comparable environmental selection pressures have led to the independent origin of similar suites of functional characteristics in these two distinctly different taxa. We propose that, despite differences between teleost and elasmobranch fishes, lamnid sharks and tunas have evolved morphological and physiological specializations that enhance their swimming performance relative to other sharks and most other high performance pelagic fishes.

Qualitative Maintenance Experience Handbook

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-10-20

differences in type and location of actuators results. DESIRABLE FEATURES: 1. The simpler assist methods are easier to get to usually and are smaller...the wheels differ somewhat in method of removal, there exists no particular features that would qualify as 4 "undesirable." 3. The AV-8 requires special... different airplanes, this survey identifies desirable and unde- sirable features evident in the various installations of the same compo- nent. In essence

Ergonomic audit of a specially engineered sonic powered toothbrush with unique sensing and control technologies, the Sonicare Flexcare, and the Oral-B Smart Series 5000.

PubMed

Hunter, Gail; Burns, Laurie; Bone, Brian; Mintel, Thomas; Jimenez, Eduardo

2012-01-01

The presence of ergonomic features can impact the marketplace success of a new product. Metaphase Design Group, Inc., in partnership with the Colgate-Palmolive Company, conducted an ergonomic audit on three electric toothbrushes: a specially engineered sonic powered toothbrush with unique sensing and control technologies, the Sonicare FlexCare, and the Oral-B Smart Series 5000. The ergonomic audit was conducted by Metaphase Design Groups's ergonomic and usability experts. Two experts used the toothbrushes over a one-week period and assessed the performance of each brush against a set of ergonomic principles. The three toothbrushes have some solid ergonomic features. They each have adequate grip zones, provide grip security with elastomeric materials, and provide easy access to the on/off button. The most distinctive feature is the longitudinal shape of the handle of the specially engineered sonic powered toothbrush with unique sensing and control technologies. This handle angles downward at the top end and provides additional advantages through improved grip security and visibility. Yet all three toothbrushes have different opportunities for improvement. The Sonicare Flex Care toothbrush has a cluttered and complicated user interface that is difficult to read. The disadvantages of the Oral-B Smart Series 5000 toothbrush are related to its physical dimensions and audible feedback. The specially engineered sonic powered toothbrush with unique sensing afid control technologies is surprising to use with its changes in speeds, brush movements, and resulting changes in audible feedback.

Special Issue of Selected Papers from Visualization and Data Analysis 2011

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kao, David L.; Wong, Pak Chung

2012-01-01

This special issue features the best papers that were selected from the 18th SPIE Conference on Visualization and Data Analysis (VDA 2011). This annual conference is a major international forum for researchers and practitioners interested in data visualization and analytics research, development, and applications. VDA 2011 received 42 high-quality submissions from around the world. Twenty-four papers were selected for full conference papers. The top five papers have been expanded and reviewed for this special issue.

Funding of drugs: do vaccines warrant a different approach?

PubMed

Beutels, Philippe; Scuffham, Paul A; MacIntyre, C Raina

2008-11-01

Vaccines have features that require special consideration when assessing their cost-effectiveness. These features are related to herd immunity, quality-of-life losses in young children, parental care and work loss, time preference, uncertainty, eradication, macroeconomics, and tiered pricing. Advisory committees on public funding for vaccines, or for pharmaceuticals in general, should be knowledgable about these special features. We discuss key issues and difficulties in decision making for vaccines against rotavirus, human papillomavirus, varicella-zoster virus, influenza virus, and Streptococcus pneumoniae. We argue that guidelines for economic evaluation should be reconsidered generally to recommend (1) modelling options for the assessment of interventions against infectious diseases; (2) a wider perspective to account for impacts on third parties, if relevant; (3) a wider scope of costs than health-care system costs alone, if appropriate; and (4) alternative discounting techniques to explore social time preference over long periods.

Changing facial phenotype in Cohen syndrome: towards clues for an earlier diagnosis.

PubMed

El Chehadeh-Djebbar, Salima; Blair, Edward; Holder-Espinasse, Muriel; Moncla, Anne; Frances, Anne-Marie; Rio, Marlène; Debray, François-Guillaume; Rump, Patrick; Masurel-Paulet, Alice; Gigot, Nadège; Callier, Patrick; Duplomb, Laurence; Aral, Bernard; Huet, Frédéric; Thauvin-Robinet, Christel; Faivre, Laurence

2013-07-01

Cohen syndrome (CS) is a rare autosomal recessive condition caused by mutations and/or large rearrangements in the VPS13B gene. CS clinical features, including developmental delay, the typical facial gestalt, chorioretinal dystrophy (CRD) and neutropenia, are well described. CS diagnosis is generally raised after school age, when visual disturbances lead to CRD diagnosis and to VPS13B gene testing. This relatively late diagnosis precludes accurate genetic counselling. The aim of this study was to analyse the evolution of CS facial features in the early period of life, particularly before school age (6 years), to find clues for an earlier diagnosis. Photographs of 17 patients with molecularly confirmed CS were analysed, from birth to preschool age. By comparing their facial phenotype when growing, we show that there are no special facial characteristics before 1 year. However, between 2 and 6 years, CS children already share common facial features such as a short neck, a square face with micrognathia and full cheeks, a hypotonic facial appearance, epicanthic folds, long ears with an everted upper part of the auricle and/or a prominent lobe, a relatively short philtrum, a small and open mouth with downturned corners, a thick lower lip and abnormal eye shapes. These early transient facial features evolve to typical CS facial features with aging. These observations emphasize the importance of ophthalmological tests and neutrophil count in children in preschool age presenting with developmental delay, hypotonia and the facial features we described here, for an earlier CS diagnosis.

Curriculum and Testing Strategies to Maximize Special Education STAAR Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, William L.; Johnson, Annabel M.; Johnson, Jared W.

2015-01-01

This document is from a presentation at the 2015 annual conference of the Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT). The two sessions (each listed as feature sessions at the state conference) examined classroom strategies the presenter used in his chemistry classes to maximize Texas end-of-course chemistry test scores for his special population…

[Experience of the development special medical technical laboratory for studies of effects caused by potent electromagnetic radiation in biologic objects].

PubMed

Gorodetsky, B N; Kalyada, T V; Petrov, S V

2015-01-01

This article covers topics of creating special medical technical laboratory for medial and biologic studies concerning influence of potent high-frequency elecromagnetic radiation on various biologic objects. The authors gave example of such laboratory, described its construction features, purpose and main characteristics of the included devices.

76 FR 63823 - Special Conditions: Gulfstream Aerospace LP (GALP) Model G280 Airplane Pilot-Compartment View...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-14

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Aviation Administration 14 CFR Part 25 [Docket No. NM457; Notice No. 25-449-SC] Special Conditions: Gulfstream Aerospace LP (GALP) Model G280 Airplane Pilot... Gulfstream Aerospace LP (GALP) Model G280 airplane. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature...

ICT and Knowledge Construction: Towards New Features for the Socio-Technical Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cartelli, Antonio

2007-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis and review of the sociotechnical approach as a result of analysis of experiences with the introduction of ICT in higher education. Design/methodology/approach: The experiences of the author with the creation of special web sites in palaeography are analysed paying special attention to…

75 FR 27662 - Special Conditions: Boeing 747-468, Installation of a Medical Lift

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-18

...; Notice No. 25-99-11-SC] Special Conditions: Boeing 747-468, Installation of a Medical Lift AGENCY... Aviation, will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with the installation of a medical lift... modification includes the installation of a medical lift between the main deck and upper deck. The lift allows...

Recent Innovations in the Changing Criterion Design: Implications for Research and Practice in Special Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDougall, Dennis; Hawkins, Jacqueline; Brady, Michael; Jenkins, Amelia

2006-01-01

This article illustrates (a) 2 recent innovations in the changing criterion research design, (b) how these innovations apply to research and practice in special education, and (c) how clinical needs influence design features of the changing criterion design. The first innovation, the range-bound changing criterion, is a very simple variation of…

Project Explorer: Get Away Special #007. [alloy solidification, seed germination, crystal growth, and radio transmission of payload data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Henderson, A. J., Jr.

1984-01-01

Tentatively scheduled to fly on STS-17 (41G), this get away special aims to demonstrate amateur radio transmissions to global ground stations in the English language. Experiments No. 1, 2, and 3 use the micro-gravity of space flight to study the solidification of lead-antimony and aluminum-copper alloys, the germination of radish seeds, and the growth of potassium-tetracyanoplatinate hydrate crystals in an aqueous solution. Flight results are to be compared with Earth-based data. Experiment No. 4 (the Marshall Amateur Radio Club Experiment - MARCE) features radio transmissions and also provides timing for the start of all other experiments. A microprocessor obtains real-time data from all experiments as well as temperature and pressure measurements within the GAS canister. These data are to be transmitted on previously announced amateur radio frequencies after they are converted into the English language by a digitalker for general reception. The support structure for the G #007 experiments consists of two primary plates and four bumper assemblies.

Design of state-feedback controllers including sensitivity reduction, with applications to precision pointing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hadass, Z.

1974-01-01

The design procedure of feedback controllers was described and the considerations for the selection of the design parameters were given. The frequency domain properties of single-input single-output systems using state feedback controllers are analyzed, and desirable phase and gain margin properties are demonstrated. Special consideration is given to the design of controllers for tracking systems, especially those designed to track polynomial commands. As an example, a controller was designed for a tracking telescope with a polynomial tracking requirement and some special features such as actuator saturation and multiple measurements, one of which is sampled. The resulting system has a tracking performance comparing favorably with a much more complicated digital aided tracker. The parameter sensitivity reduction was treated by considering the variable parameters as random variables. A performance index is defined as a weighted sum of the state and control convariances that sum from both the random system disturbances and the parameter uncertainties, and is minimized numerically by adjusting a set of free parameters.

Fingerprinting analysis of Rhizoma chuanxiong of commercial types using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and high performance liquid chromatography method.

PubMed

Qin, Hai-Lin; Deng, An-Jun; Du, Guan-Hua; Wang, Peng; Zhang, Jin-Lan; Li, Zhi-Hong

2009-06-01

The (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR) fingerprints of fractionated non-polar extracts (control substance for a plant drug (CSPD) A) from Rhizoma chuanxiong, the rhizomes of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort., of seven specimens from different sources were measured on Fourier Transform (FT)-NMR spectrometer and assigned by comparing them with the (1)H NMR spectra of the isolated pure compounds. The (1)H NMR fingerprints showed exclusively characteristic resonance signals of the major special constituents of the plant. Although the differences in the relative intensity of the (1)H NMR signals due to a discrepancy in the ratio of the major constituents among these samples could be confirmed by high performance liquid chromatography analysis, the general features of the (1)H NMR fingerprint established for an authentic sample of the rhizomes of L. chuanxiong exhibited exclusive data from those special compounds and can be used for authenticating L. Chuanxiong species.

Identification of input variables for feature based artificial neural networks-saccade detection in EOG recordings.

PubMed

Tigges, P; Kathmann, N; Engel, R R

1997-07-01

Though artificial neural networks (ANN) are excellent tools for pattern recognition problems when signal to noise ratio is low, the identification of decision relevant features for ANN input data is still a crucial issue. The experience of the ANN designer and the existing knowledge and understanding of the problem seem to be the only links for a specific construction. In the present study a backpropagation ANN based on modified raw data inputs showed encouraging results. Investigating the specific influences of prototypical input patterns on a specially designed ANN led to a new sparse and efficient input data presentation. This data coding obtained by a semiautomatic procedure combining existing expert knowledge and the internal representation structures of the raw data based ANN yielded a list of feature vectors, each representing the relevant information for saccade identification. The feature based ANN produced a reduction of the error rate of nearly 40% compared with the raw data ANN. An overall correct classification of 92% of so far unknown data was realized. The proposed method of extracting internal ANN knowledge for the production of a better input data representation is not restricted to EOG recordings, and could be used in various fields of signal analysis.

Efficient iris texture analysis method based on Gabor ordinal measures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tajouri, Imen; Aydi, Walid; Ghorbel, Ahmed; Masmoudi, Nouri

2017-07-01

With the remarkably increasing interest directed to the security dimension, the iris recognition process is considered to stand as one of the most versatile technique critically useful for the biometric identification and authentication process. This is mainly due to every individual's unique iris texture. A modestly conceived efficient approach relevant to the feature extraction process is proposed. In the first place, iris zigzag "collarette" is extracted from the rest of the image by means of the circular Hough transform, as it includes the most significant regions lying in the iris texture. In the second place, the linear Hough transform is used for the eyelids' detection purpose while the median filter is applied for the eyelashes' removal. Then, a special technique combining the richness of Gabor features and the compactness of ordinal measures is implemented for the feature extraction process, so that a discriminative feature representation for every individual can be achieved. Subsequently, the modified Hamming distance is used for the matching process. Indeed, the advanced procedure turns out to be reliable, as compared to some of the state-of-the-art approaches, with a recognition rate of 99.98%, 98.12%, and 95.02% on CASIAV1.0, CASIAV3.0, and IIT Delhi V1 iris databases, respectively.

Strategic Choice: United States Special Forces’ Comparative Advantage in Irregular Warfare

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-01

UNITED STATES SPECIAL FORCES’ COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE IN IRREGULAR WARFARE by Steven F. Payne March 2017 Thesis Advisor: Hy S. Rothstein...REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master’s thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE STRATEGIC CHOICE: UNITED STATES SPECIAL FORCES’ COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE IN...methodology, this thesis concludes that U.S. Army Special Forces have a comparative advantage over conventional forces to provide the National Command

Evolutionary ecology of specialization: insights from phylogenetic analysis

PubMed Central

Vamosi, Jana C.; Armbruster, W. Scott; Renner, Susanne S.

2014-01-01

In this Special feature, we assemble studies that illustrate phylogenetic approaches to studying salient questions regarding the effect of specialization on lineage diversification. The studies use an array of techniques involving a wide-ranging collection of biological systems (plants, butterflies, fish and amphibians are all represented). Their results reveal that macroevolutionary examination of specialization provides insight into the patterns of trade-offs in specialized systems; in particular, the genetic mechanisms of trade-offs appear to extend to very different aspects of life history in different groups. In turn, because a species may be a specialist from one perspective and a generalist in others, these trade-offs influence whether we perceive specialization to have effects on the evolutionary success of a lineage when we examine specialization only along a single axis. Finally, how geographical range influences speciation and extinction of specialist lineages remains a question offering much potential for further insight. PMID:25274367

75 FR 16046 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Listing Casey's June Beetle as Endangered and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-31

... the physical and biological features essential to the conservation of Casey's June beetle, and what special management considerations or protections may be required to maintain or enhance the essential... with... [the Act], on which are found those physical or biological features (I) essential to the...

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 Next Generation Science Standards and the Life Sciences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bybee, Rodger W.

2013-01-01

Using the life sciences, this article first reviews essential features of the "NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education" that provided a foundation for the new standards. Second, the article describes the important features of life science standards for elementary, middle, and high school levels. Special attention is paid to the teaching…

The Linguistic Special Features of the Sami Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keskitalo, Pigga; Maatta, Kaarina

2011-01-01

This article focuses on the features of Sami language instruction at the first school grades in Norway. The most important part is to describe what kind of challenges Sami language instruction at the first grades as an indigenous people's language and with the status of a minority language has. This situation introduces some differences and…

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...

78 FR 11553 - Special Conditions: Embraer S.A., Model EMB-550 Airplane; Electronic Flight Control System...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-19

... metal with composite empennage and control surfaces. The Model EMB-550 airplane is designed for 8...; Electronic Flight Control System: Control Surface Awareness and Mode Annunciation AGENCY: Federal Aviation... Embraer S.A. Model EMB-550 airplane. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature(s...

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...

Improving Measurements of Self-Regulated Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winne, Philip H.

2010-01-01

Articles in this special issue present recent advances in using state-of-the-art software systems that gather data with which to examine and measure features of learning and particularly self-regulated learning (SRL). Despite important advances, there remain challenges. I examine key features of SRL and how they are measured using common tools. I…

Feature binding in visual short-term memory is unaffected by task-irrelevant changes of location, shape, and color.

PubMed

Logie, Robert H; Brockmole, James R; Jaswal, Snehlata

2011-01-01

Three experiments used a change detection paradigm across a range of study-test intervals to address the respective contributions of location, shape, and color to the formation of bindings of features in sensory memory and visual short-term memory (VSTM). In Experiment 1, location was designated task irrelevant and was randomized between study and test displays. The task was to detect changes in the bindings between shape and color. In Experiments 2 and 3, shape and color, respectively, were task irrelevant and randomized, with bindings tested between location and color (Experiment 2) and location and shape (Experiment 3). At shorter study-test intervals, randomizing location was most disruptive, followed by shape and then color. At longer intervals, randomizing any task-irrelevant feature had no impact on change detection for bindings between features, and location had no special role. Results suggest that location is crucial for initial perceptual binding but loses that special status once representations are formed in VSTM, which operates according to different principles, than do visual attention and perception.

Topometry of technical and biological objects by fringe projection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Windecker, R.; Tiziani, H. J.

1995-07-01

Fringe projection is a fast and accurate technique for obtaining the topometry of a wide range of surfaces. Here some features of the principle are described, together with the possibilities of adapting this technique for the measurement of vaulted surfaces. We discuss various methods of phase evaluation and compare them with simulated computer data to obtain the resolution limits. Under certain restrictions a semispatial algorithm, called the modified Fourier analysis algorithm, gives the best results. One special subject of interest is the application of fringe projection for the measurement of the three-dimensional surface of the cornea. First results of in vivo measurements are presented.

A statics-dynamics equivalence through the fluctuation–dissipation ratio provides a window into the spin-glass phase from nonequilibrium measurements

PubMed Central

Baity-Jesi, Marco; Calore, Enrico; Cruz, Andres; Fernandez, Luis Antonio; Gil-Narvión, José Miguel; Gordillo-Guerrero, Antonio; Iñiguez, David; Maiorano, Andrea; Marinari, Enzo; Martin-Mayor, Victor; Monforte-Garcia, Jorge; Muñoz Sudupe, Antonio; Navarro, Denis; Parisi, Giorgio; Perez-Gaviro, Sergio; Ricci-Tersenghi, Federico; Ruiz-Lorenzo, Juan Jesus; Schifano, Sebastiano Fabio; Tarancón, Alfonso; Tripiccione, Raffaele; Yllanes, David

2017-01-01

We have performed a very accurate computation of the nonequilibrium fluctuation–dissipation ratio for the 3D Edwards–Anderson Ising spin glass, by means of large-scale simulations on the special-purpose computers Janus and Janus II. This ratio (computed for finite times on very large, effectively infinite, systems) is compared with the equilibrium probability distribution of the spin overlap for finite sizes. Our main result is a quantitative statics-dynamics dictionary, which could allow the experimental exploration of important features of the spin-glass phase without requiring uncontrollable extrapolations to infinite times or system sizes. PMID:28174274

Study of multi-dimensional radiative energy transfer in molecular gases

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Jiwen; Tiwari, S. N.

1993-01-01

The Monte Carlo method (MCM) is applied to analyze radiative heat transfer in nongray gases. The nongray model employed is based on the statistical arrow band model with an exponential-tailed inverse intensity distribution. Consideration of spectral correlation results in some distinguishing features of the Monte Carlo formulations. Validation of the Monte Carlo formulations has been conducted by comparing results of this method with other solutions. Extension of a one-dimensional problem to a multi-dimensional problem requires some special treatments in the Monte Carlo analysis. Use of different assumptions results in different sets of Monte Carlo formulations. The nongray narrow band formulations provide the most accurate results.

Barrels, stripes, and fingerprints in the brain - implications for theories of cortical organization.

PubMed

Catania, Kenneth C

2002-01-01

In the last decade improvements in the histological processing of cortical tissue in conjunction with the investigation of additional mammalian species in comparative brain studies has expanded the information available to guide theories of cortical organization. Here I review some of these recent findings in the somatosensory system with an emphasis on modules related to specializations of the peripheral sensory surface. The diversity of modular representations, or cortical "isomorphs" suggest that information from the sensory sheet guides many of the features of cortical maps and suggest that cortex is not constrained to form circular units in the form of a traditional cortical column.

Urban Culturally and Ethnically Diverse Doctoral Students and Their Perceptions of Doctoral Program Design Features and Procedures: An Evaluation Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nevin, Ann I.; Barbetta, Patricia; Cramer, Elizabeth

2009-01-01

The mission for Urban SEALS (Special Education Academic Leaders), a federally funded doctoral preparation program, is to prepare doctoral-level special educators, including those who are culturally and/or linguistically diverse (CLD) to assume leadership roles in the education of urban students with disabilities who are CLD. This report provides…

Children's Mental Health: From Parenting to Policymaking. A Wiskids Count Special Report, 2002.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tyson, Terry; Weidel, Carol; Cranley, M. Martha

This Wiskid special report, the third in a series focusing on areas of child well-being in Wisconsin, focuses on issues related to childrens mental health. The first part of the report features the following articles: (1) Infant Mental Health: From Parenting to Policymaking (Raquel L. Reyes), introducing the concept of infant mental health and…

75 FR 26643 - Special Conditions: Rockwell Collins, Inc., Boeing Model 737-700/-700C/-800/-900 and -900ER...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-12

... -900 ER series airplanes because of a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are... and -900ER Series Airplanes Equipped With Rockwell HGS- 4000 Head-Up Guidance System With Enhanced.../-700C/-800/-900 and -900ER series airplanes equipped with the Rockwell HGS-4000 Head-Up Guidance System...

Future Anxiety and Its Relationship to Students' Attitude toward Academic Specialization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hammad, Mahammad Ahmed

2016-01-01

Future anxiety is considered one of the main features as a result of economic and social changes, and increasingly emerges among university students not only because of the fear of failure in the study, but also because of the fear of lack of job opportunities--the thing that affects joining their specializations. Hence this study examines the…

Microcomputer-Assisted Needs Assessment System for Teacher Training in Special Education. Final Project Report, 8/1/83 through 5/31/86.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malouf, David; And Others

The report describes the features, underlying knowledge base, and goals of the "Smart Needs Assessment Program" (SNAP), an interactive, microcomputer-based system designed to provide inservice training in special education for regular education teachers. The Teacher Effectiveness Expert System portion uses teacher data concerning attitudes, goals,…

Intelligent Testing with Wechsler’s Fourth Editions: Perspectives on the Weiss et al. Studies and the Eight Commentaries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaufman, Alan S.

2013-01-01

The two featured articles and eight commentaries on the WISC-IV (Wechsler, 2003) and WAIS-IV (Wechsler, 2008) in this special issue of "Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment" are of exceptional quality. As a collective, this special issue greatly advances the field of cognitive assessment by intelligently synthesizing the best of…

"We Are Special, beyond Our Special Needs": E*LIT Project Entry Inspires Pride in Disabilities' Students. Spotlight Feature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dopke-Wilson, MariRae

2007-01-01

The spin on Frazer School Librarian Laurie LeFever's entry for Syracuse University's 2007 E*LIT competition is what made her school literacy project for children with disabilities really unique. Instead of working with students to create a project that would be targeted toward children with disabilities, she actually used students with…

Innovations and Future Directions for Early Numeracy Curriculum-Based Measurement: Commentary on the Special Series, Part 2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Methe, Scott A.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this extended commentary article is to frame the set of studies in the first of two issues and recommend areas of inquiry for future research. This special series issue features studies examining the technical qualities of formative assessment procedures that were developed to inform intervention. This article intends to emphasize…

Attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy of plant leaves: A tool for ecological and botanical studies

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ribeiro da Luz, B.

2006-01-01

??? Attenuated total reflectance (ATR) spectra of plant leaves display complex absorption features related to organic constituents of leaf surfaces. The spectra can be recorded rapidly, both in the field and in the laboratory, without special sample preparation. ??? This paper explores sources of ATR spectral variation in leaves, including compositional, positional and temporal variations. Interspecific variations are also examined, including the use of ATR spectra as a tool for species identification. ??? Positional spectral variations generally reflected the abundance of cutin and the epicuticular wax thickness and composition. For example, leaves exposed to full sunlight commonly showed more prominent cutin- and wax-related absorption features compared with shaded leaves. Adaxial vs. abaxial leaf surfaces displayed spectral variations reflecting differences in trichome abundance and wax composition. Mature vs. young leaves showed changes in absorption band position and intensity related to cutin, polysaccharide, and possibly amorphous silica development on and near the leaf surfaces. ??? Provided that similar samples are compared (e.g. adaxial surfaces of mature, sun-exposed leaves) same-species individuals display practically identical ATR spectra. Using spectral matching procedures to analyze an ATR database containing 117 individuals, including 32 different tree species, 83% of the individuals were correctly identified. ?? The Authors (2006).

Rotation-invariant features for multi-oriented text detection in natural images.

PubMed

Yao, Cong; Zhang, Xin; Bai, Xiang; Liu, Wenyu; Ma, Yi; Tu, Zhuowen

2013-01-01

Texts in natural scenes carry rich semantic information, which can be used to assist a wide range of applications, such as object recognition, image/video retrieval, mapping/navigation, and human computer interaction. However, most existing systems are designed to detect and recognize horizontal (or near-horizontal) texts. Due to the increasing popularity of mobile-computing devices and applications, detecting texts of varying orientations from natural images under less controlled conditions has become an important but challenging task. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm to detect texts of varying orientations. Our algorithm is based on a two-level classification scheme and two sets of features specially designed for capturing the intrinsic characteristics of texts. To better evaluate the proposed method and compare it with the competing algorithms, we generate a comprehensive dataset with various types of texts in diverse real-world scenes. We also propose a new evaluation protocol, which is more suitable for benchmarking algorithms for detecting texts in varying orientations. Experiments on benchmark datasets demonstrate that our system compares favorably with the state-of-the-art algorithms when handling horizontal texts and achieves significantly enhanced performance on variant texts in complex natural scenes.

Self-assembly of hard helices: a rich and unconventional polymorphism.

PubMed

Kolli, Hima Bindu; Frezza, Elisa; Cinacchi, Giorgio; Ferrarini, Alberta; Giacometti, Achille; Hudson, Toby S; De Michele, Cristiano; Sciortino, Francesco

2014-11-07

Hard helices can be regarded as a paradigmatic elementary model for a number of natural and synthetic soft matter systems, all featuring the helix as their basic structural unit, from natural polynucleotides and polypeptides to synthetic helical polymers, and from bacterial flagella to colloidal helices. Here we present an extensive investigation of the phase diagram of hard helices using a variety of methods. Isobaric Monte Carlo numerical simulations are used to trace the phase diagram; on going from the low-density isotropic to the high-density compact phases a rich polymorphism is observed, exhibiting a special chiral screw-like nematic phase and a number of chiral and/or polar smectic phases. We present full characterization of the latter, showing that they have unconventional features, ascribable to the helical shape of the constituent particles. Equal area construction is used to locate the isotropic-to-nematic phase transition, and the results are compared with those stemming from an Onsager-like theory. Density functional theory is also used to study the nematic-to-screw-nematic phase transition; within the simplifying assumption of perfectly parallel helices, we compare different levels of approximation, that is second- and third-virial expansions and a Parsons-Lee correction.

Quantifying resilience

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allen, Craig R.; Angeler, David G.

2016-01-01

Several frameworks to operationalize resilience have been proposed. A decade ago, a special feature focused on quantifying resilience was published in the journal Ecosystems (Carpenter, Westley & Turner 2005). The approach there was towards identifying surrogates of resilience, but few of the papers proposed quantifiable metrics. Consequently, many ecological resilience frameworks remain vague and difficult to quantify, a problem that this special feature aims to address. However, considerable progress has been made during the last decade (e.g. Pope, Allen & Angeler 2014). Although some argue that resilience is best kept as an unquantifiable, vague concept (Quinlan et al. 2016), to be useful for managers, there must be concrete guidance regarding how and what to manage and how to measure success (Garmestani, Allen & Benson 2013; Spears et al. 2015). Ideas such as ‘resilience thinking’ have utility in helping stakeholders conceptualize their systems, but provide little guidance on how to make resilience useful for ecosystem management, other than suggesting an ambiguous, Goldilocks approach of being just right (e.g. diverse, but not too diverse; connected, but not too connected). Here, we clarify some prominent resilience terms and concepts, introduce and synthesize the papers in this special feature on quantifying resilience and identify core unanswered questions related to resilience.

Cognitive architecture of perceptual organization: from neurons to gnosons.

PubMed

van der Helm, Peter A

2012-02-01

What, if anything, is cognitive architecture and how is it implemented in neural architecture? Focusing on perceptual organization, this question is addressed by way of a pluralist approach which, supported by metatheoretical considerations, combines complementary insights from representational, connectionist, and dynamic systems approaches to cognition. This pluralist approach starts from a representationally inspired model which implements the intertwined but functionally distinguishable subprocesses of feedforward feature encoding, horizontal feature binding, and recurrent feature selection. As sustained by a review of neuroscientific evidence, these are the subprocesses that are believed to take place in the visual hierarchy in the brain. Furthermore, the model employs a special form of processing, called transparallel processing, whose neural signature is proposed to be gamma-band synchronization in transient horizontal neural assemblies. In neuroscience, such assemblies are believed to mediate binding of similar features. Their formal counterparts in the model are special input-dependent distributed representations, called hyperstrings, which allow many similar features to be processed in a transparallel fashion, that is, simultaneously as if only one feature were concerned. This form of processing does justice to both the high combinatorial capacity and the high speed of the perceptual organization process. A naturally following proposal is that those temporarily synchronized neural assemblies are "gnosons", that is, constituents of flexible self-organizing cognitive architecture in between the relatively rigid level of neurons and the still elusive level of consciousness.

Specific Features of Social Competence Development in the Future Music Teachers Working at Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dzheksembekova, Menslu I.; Ibrayeva, Kamarsulu E.; Akhmetova, Aimkul K.; Urazalieva, Moldir A.; Sultangaliyeva, Elmira S.; Issametova, Klavdiya I.

2016-01-01

This paper aims at analyzing specific features of social competence of future music teachers and the development of specialized techniques in order to improve the quality of motivational and cognitive components of student social competence. The sample involved 660 undergraduate students. The authors used a number of research methods, such as…

78 FR 37958 - Special Conditions: Cessna Aircraft Company, Model J182T; Electronic Engine Control System...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-25

...; Electronic Engine Control System Installation AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION... feature(s) associated with the installation of an electronic engine control. The applicable airworthiness...) Engines, Inc. SR305-230E-C1 which is a four-stroke, air cooled, diesel cycle engine that uses turbine (jet...

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...

78 FR 11981 - Special Regulations; Areas of the National Park System, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-21

... complex of coastal sand dunes, the Lakeshore features white sand beaches, steep bluffs reaching as high as... most notable feature--the ancient sand dunes--are products of wind, ice, and water action over... National Lakeshore'' (NPS Environmental Quality Division--May 2012), available for review at http://www.nps...

77 FR 62476 - Special Regulations; Areas of the National Park System, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-15

... such as Empire, Glen Arbor, and Frankfort are closer. Named after a complex of coastal sand dunes, the Lakeshore features white sand beaches, steep bluffs reaching as high as 450 feet above Lake Michigan, thick maple and beech forests, and clear inland lakes. The Lakeshore's most notable features--the ancient sand...

7 CFR 1980.310 - Loan purposes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... cellars. Incidental expenses for tax monitoring services, architectural, appraisal, survey, environmental... to pay. (b) Special design features or equipment necessary to accommodate a physically disabled...

7 CFR 1980.310 - Loan purposes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... cellars. Incidental expenses for tax monitoring services, architectural, appraisal, survey, environmental... to pay. (b) Special design features or equipment necessary to accommodate a physically disabled...

A Probe into Key Points in the Planning and Design of Integrated Corridor at Large Civil Airports

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Qing

2018-05-01

If we compare an airport to our human body, all sorts of specialized pipelines and wires are to an airport as the vascular system and nervous system etc. to the human body, where each functional zone connecting the airport serves each major system of airport and provides “throughput like the function of driving out the processed for the new” and “central control and transmission function”. Guided by the master plan and the concept of progressive development of airports, it is critical to map out a plan to link near-term and long-term development of supporting utilities. The role and effect of integrated corridor is of significance to the construction of multi-runway large-sized new airports or to the expansion of an airport costing tens of billions. In view of the features of the fast growing civil aviation sector in China, this thesis argues for the necessity to plan for and build integrated corridor at large airports, suggests doing research on integrated corridor at the project consulting stage by drawing upon available airport design experiences and case studies and combining the plan for public utilities (or special plan), and analyzes and outlines key points in integrated corridor design based on special requirements and industrial standards for civil airport management.

[Comparative evaluation of the efficiency of the effect of very high frequency electromagnetic waves on platelet functional activity].

PubMed

Kirichuk, V F; Maĭborodin, A V; Volin, M V; Krenitskiĭ, A P; Tupikin, V D

2001-01-01

A comparative analysis was made of the effect of two kinds of EMI MMD-radiation: EMI MMD-waves, generated by a vehicle "Jav-1 M" (42.2 and 53.5 HHz), and EMI MMD-waves exerting influence with frequencies of molecular spectrum of radiation and nitric oxide absorption (150.176-150.644 HHz), obtained with a specially created generator, with respect to their influence on the functional ability of platelets of unstable angina pectoris patients. It was shown that in vitro EMI MMD-fluctuations with frequencies of molecular spectrum of radiation and nitric oxide absorption exert a stronger inhibiting influence on the functional activity of platelets of unstable angina pectoris patients. Features of the action of various kinds of EMI MMD-effect on the activative-high-speed characteristics of platelet aggregation are shown.

Hyoid skeleton, its related muscles, and morphological novelties in the frog Lepidobatrachus (anura, ceratophryidae).

PubMed

Fabrezi, Marissa; Lobo, Fernando

2009-11-01

Many traits of the skull of ceratophryines are related to the capture of large prey independently of aquatic or terrestrial feeding. Herein, detailed descriptions of the development of hyoid skeleton and the anatomy of muscles responsible for hyoid and tongue movements in Lepidobatrachus laevis and L. llanensis are provided and compared with those of other neobatrachians. The aquatic Lepidobatrachus has special features in its hyoid skeleton that integrates a set of derived features convergent with the conditions observed in non-neobatrachian anurans and morphological novelties (e.g., dorsal dermal hyoid ossification) that deviate from the generalized pattern found in most frogs. Further, reduction of fibers of muscles of buccal floor, reduction or loss of hyoid muscles (m. geniohyoideus rama lateralis, anterior pair of m. petrohyoideus posteriores), small tongue, and simplified tongue muscles are also morphological deviations from the pattern of terrestrial ceratophryines, and other aquatic ceratophryids (e.g., Telmatobius) that seem to be related to feeding underwater. The historical derived features shared with Chacophrys and Ceratophrys involved in megalophagy are conserved in Lepidobatrachus and morphological changes in the hyoglossal apparatus define a unique functional complex among anurans.

MedCast: a discussion support system for cooperative work

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moreno, Ramon A.; Lima, Vinícius; Lopes, Isidro; Gutierrez, Marco A.

2012-02-01

The availability of low cost Internet connections and specialized hardware, like webcams and headsets, makes possible the development of solutions for remote collaborative work. These solutions can provide advantages compared to presential meetings, such as: availability of experts on remote locations; lower price compared to presential meetings; creation of online didactic material (e.g. video-classes); richer forms of interaction between participants. These technologies are particularly interesting for continent-sized countries where typically there is a short number of skilled people in remote areas. However, the application of these technologies in medical field represents a special challenge due to the more complex requirements of this area, such as: Provide confidentiality (patient de-identification) and integrity of patient data; Guarantee availability of the system; Guarantee authenticity of data and users; Provide simple and effective user interface; Be compliant with medical standards such as DICOM and HL7. In order to satisfy those requirements a prototype called MedCast is under development whose architecture allows the integration of the Hospital Information System (HIS) with a collaborative tool in compliance with the HIPAA rules. Some of the MedCast features are: videoconferencing, chat, recording of the sessions, sharing of documents and reports and still and dynamic images presentation. Its current version allows the remote discussion of clinical cases and the remote ECG evaluation.

Program Bytes - Satellite Meetings, SIGs, and AKEs at ISMB 2016

PubMed Central

Fogg, Christiana

2016-01-01

The International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) is gearing up for its flagship meeting, ISMB.  The conference is the world’s largest gathering of computational biology and bioinformatics researchers. The ISMB 2016 pre-conference program will feature 17 special interest group and satellite meetings over the course of two days. This article previews those special meetings at ISCB’s flagship meeting, ISMB. PMID:27347388

Special electrical machines: Sources and converters of energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertinov, A. I.; But, D. A.; Miziurin, S. R.; Alievskii, B. L.; Sineva, N. V.

The principles underlying the operation of electromechanical and dynamic energy converters are discussed, along with those for the direct conversion of solar, thermal, and chemical energy into electrical energy. The theory for electromechanical and dynamic converters is formulated using a generalized model for the electromechanical conversion of energy. Particular attention is given to electrical machinery designed for special purposes. Features of superconductor electrical machines are discussed.

Mass spectrometric measurements of atmospheric composition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoffman, J. H.

1974-01-01

The development of a magnetic sector field analyzer for continuous sampling and measurement of outer planetary atmospheres is discussed. Special features of the analyzer include a dynamic range of 10 to the minus 7th power, a mass range from 1 to 48 AMU, two ion sensitivities, a special scan time of 35 sec at 14 BPS, and the use of ion counting techniques for analysis.

International Perspectives on Academic and Professional Preparation of School and Educational Psychologists: Introduction to a Special Issue of the "International Journal of School & Educational Psychology"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oakland, Thomas; Hatzichristou, Chryse

2014-01-01

This special issue of the "International Journal of School & Educational Psychology" is devoted to promoting an understanding of some current features of school psychology programs and to suggest ways to further strengthen preparation. Information summarized in these 12 articles is intended to assist us in determining the relevance…

Extramedullary (EMP) relapse in unusual locations in multiple myeloma: Is there an association with precedent thalidomide administration and a correlation of special biological features with treatment and outcome?

PubMed

Katodritou, E; Gastari, V; Verrou, E; Hadjiaggelidou, C; Varthaliti, M; Georgiadou, S; Laschos, K; Xirou, P; Yiannaki, E; Constantinou, N; Markala, D; Zervas, K

2009-08-01

Extramedullary relapse constitutes an uncommon manifestation of multiple myeloma (MM), characterized by highly malignant histology, special biological features, resistance to treatment and poor outcome. Its incidence has been increased during the last years, probably due to the introduction of novel strategies in the management of MM, including intensified treatment and immunomodulatory drugs. Here we report nine cases of extramedullary relapse of MM, presented in unusual locations, seven of which had previously been treated with thalidomide-containing regimens (TCR). Our aim was to explore the morphological, immunophenotypical, molecular and laboratory characteristics accompanying EMP-relapse and seek possible correlations with treatment and clinical outcome.

Emotional/Behavioral difficulties and mental health service contacts of students in special education for non-mental health problems.

PubMed

Pastor, Patricia N; Reuben, Cynthia A

2009-02-01

Emotional/behavioral difficulties and mental health (MH) service contacts of 3 groups of youth were compared: students in special education for non-MH problems, students in special education for MH problems, and youth not in special education. Parents reported the characteristics, special education placement, emotional/behavioral difficulties, and MH service contacts of 25,122 youth aged 6-17 years in the National Health Interview Survey. Two thirds of students in special education received special education services for non-MH problems. Among students in special education for non-MH problems, 17% had serious emotional/behavioral difficulties compared with 51% of students in special education for MH problems and 4% of youth not in special education. MH service contacts were examined only for youth whose difficulties significantly interfered with their ability to function in or out of school. Among youth with serious difficulties, the percentage of youth without a recent MH service contact was greater for students in special education for non-MH problems (40%) and youth not in special education (47%) compared with students in special education for MH problems (13%). Compared with youth not in special education, students in special education for non-MH problems were 4 times more likely to have serious emotional/behavioral difficulties but were just as likely as youth not in special education to lack a recent MH service contact. Study findings provide a national context for considering the MH screening/evaluation needs of students receiving special education for non-MH problems.

Aspects of vertebrate gustatory phylogeny: morphology and turnover of chick taste bud cells.

PubMed

Ganchrow, J R; Ganchrow, D; Royer, S M; Kinnamon, J C

1993-10-01

The taste bud is a receptor form observed across vertebrates. The present report compares chick taste buds to those of other vertebrates using light and electron microscopy. Unlike mammals, but common to many modern avians, the dorsal surface of chick anterior tongue lacks taste papillae and taste buds. Ultrastructurally, chick buds located in the anterior floor of the mouth (as in some reptiles and amphibians) and palate contain dark, intermediate, light, and basal cell types. Dark, intermediate, and light cells extend microvilli into intragemmal lumina and pores communicating with the oral cavity. As specialized features, dark cell apices lack dense granules and exhibit short microvilli relative to light and intermediate cells. Dark cell cytoplasmic fingers envelop intragemmal nerve fibers and cells as in other species, and sometimes contain abundant clear vesicles. Nerve profile expansions often are located adjacent to dark, intermediate, and light cell nuclei. Classical afferent synaptic contacts are rarely observed. Taste cell turnover is suggested by mitotic and degenerating figures in chick buds. In addition, tritiated thymidine injected into hatchlings, whose anterior mandibular oral taste bud population approximates that in adults, reveals a turnover rate of about 4.5 days. This is about half that observed in altricial mammals, reflecting a species difference or developmental factor in precocial avians. It is concluded that chick taste buds exhibit morphologic features common to other vertebrate buds with specializations reflecting the influences of niche, glandular relations, and/or age.

Comparative anatomy of the arm muscles of the Japanese monkey (Macaca fuscata) with some comments on locomotor mechanics and behavior.

PubMed

Aversi-Ferreira, Tales Alexandre; Aversi-Ferreira, Roqueline A G M F; Bretas, Rafael Vieira; Nishimaru, Hiroshi; Nishijo, Hisao

2016-08-01

The anatomical literature on the genus Macaca has focused mainly on the rhesus monkey. However, some aspects in the positional behaviors of the Japanese monkey may be different from those in rhesus monkey, suggesting that the anatomical details of these species are divergent. Four thoracic limbs of Macaca fuscata adults were dissected. The arm muscles in Japanese macaques are more similar to rhesus monkeys and Papio; these characteristics are closer to those of bearded capuchins than apes, indicating more proximity of this genus to New World primates. The anatomical features observed favor quadrupedal locomotor behaviors on the ground and in arboreal environments. Japanese monkeys, rhesus monkeys, and bearded capuchins, which share more primitive characteristics in their arm muscles, present features that favor both arboreal and quadrupedal locomotor behaviors, whereas apes, mainly Pan and Gorilla, which spend more time on the ground, present more quadrupedal specializations. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Small unmanned aircraft systems for remote sensing and Earth science research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hugenholtz, Chris H.; Moorman, Brian J.; Riddell, Kevin; Whitehead, Ken

2012-06-01

To understand and predict Earth-surface dynamics, scientists often rely on access to the latest remote sensing data. Over the past several decades, considerable progress has been made in the development of specialized Earth observation sensors for measuring a wide range of processes and features. Comparatively little progress has been made, however, in the development of new platforms upon which these sensors can be deployed. Conventional platforms are still almost exclusively restricted to piloted aircraft and satellites. For many Earth science research questions and applications these platforms do not yet have the resolution or operational flexibility to provide answers affordably. The most effective remote sensing data match the spatiotemporal scale of the process or feature of interest. An emerging technology comprising unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), is poised to offer a viable alternative to conventional platforms for acquiring high-resolution remote sensing data with increased operational flexibility, lower cost, and greater versatility (Figure 1).

Foot Structure in Boys with Down Syndrome.

PubMed

Puszczałowska-Lizis, Ewa; Nowak, Krzysztof; Omorczyk, Jarosław; Ambroży, Tadeusz; Bujas, Przemysław; Nosiadek, Leszek

2017-01-01

Down syndrome (DS) is associated with numerous developmental abnormalities, some of which cause dysfunctions of the posture and the locomotor system. The analysis of selected features of the foot structure in boys with DS versus their peers without developmental disorders is done. The podoscopic examination was performed on 30 boys with DS aged 14-15 years. A control group consisted of 30 age- and gender-matched peers without DS. The feet of boys with DS are flatter compared to their healthy peers. The hallux valgus angle is not the most important feature differentiating the shape of the foot in the boys with DS and their healthy peers. In terms of the V toe setting, healthy boys had poorer results. Specialized therapeutic treatment in individuals with DS should involve exercises to increase the muscle strength around the foot joints, enhancing the stabilization in the joints and proprioception. Introducing orthotics and proper footwear is also important. It is also necessary to monitor the state of the foot in order to modify undertaken therapies.

Ionospheric effects of the simultaneous occurrence of a solar proton event and relativistic electron precipitation as recorded by ground-based instruments at different latitudes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shirochkov, A. V.; Makarova, L. N.; Sokolov, S. N.; Sheldon, W. R.

2004-08-01

The intense event of highly relativistic electron (HRE) precipitation of May 1992 has been analyzed using data from ground-based observations (riometers and VLF phase measurements). Special attention was given to some features of this event observed at high and very high geomagnetic latitudes, since this aspect of the event was not well documented in previous studies. A remarkable feature of the HRE event of May 1992 was the simultaneous occurrence of a strong solar proton event (SPE), although reliable evidence shows that the simultaneous appearance of SPE and HRE events is not unique. It was demonstrated that a meridian chain of riometers with high latitudinal resolution is an effective and low-cost (as compared with satellite observations) tool to separate the effects of solar proton and relativistic electrons in the lower ionosphere. A significant conclusion is that the polar cap area is free from relativistic electron precipitation. Other interesting aspects of this complex geophysical phenomenon are also discussed.

Comparison of imaging characteristics of multiple-beam equalization and storage phosphor direct digitizer radiographic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sankaran, A.; Chuang, Keh-Shih; Yonekawa, Hisashi; Huang, H. K.

1992-06-01

The imaging characteristics of two chest radiographic equipment, Advanced Multiple Beam Equalization Radiography (AMBER) and Konica Direct Digitizer [using a storage phosphor (SP) plate] systems have been compared. The variables affecting image quality and the computer display/reading systems used are detailed. Utilizing specially designed wedge, geometric, and anthropomorphic phantoms, studies were conducted on: exposure and energy response of detectors; nodule detectability; different exposure techniques; various look- up tables (LUTs), gray scale displays and laser printers. Methods for scatter estimation and reduction were investigated. It is concluded that AMBER with screen-film and equalization techniques provides better nodule detectability than SP plates. However, SP plates have other advantages such as flexibility in the selection of exposure techniques, image processing features, and excellent sensitivity when combined with optimum reader operating modes. The equalization feature of AMBER provides better nodule detectability under the denser regions of the chest. Results of diagnostic accuracy are demonstrated with nodule detectability plots and analysis of images obtained with phantoms.

Novel biomaterials: plasma-enabled nanostructures and functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levchenko, Igor; Keidar, Michael; Cvelbar, Uroš; Mariotti, Davide; Mai-Prochnow, Anne; Fang, Jinghua; (Ken Ostrikov, Kostya

2016-07-01

Material processing techniques utilizing low-temperature plasmas as the main process tool feature many unique capabilities for the fabrication of various nanostructured materials. As compared with the neutral-gas based techniques and methods, the plasma-based approaches offer higher levels of energy and flux controllability, often leading to higher quality of the fabricated nanomaterials and sometimes to the synthesis of the hierarchical materials with interesting properties. Among others, nanoscale biomaterials attract significant attention due to their special properties towards the biological materials (proteins, enzymes), living cells and tissues. This review briefly examines various approaches based on the use of low-temperature plasma environments to fabricate nanoscale biomaterials exhibiting high biological activity, biological inertness for drug delivery system, and other features of the biomaterials make them highly attractive. In particular, we briefly discuss the plasma-assisted fabrication of gold and silicon nanoparticles for bio-applications; carbon nanoparticles for bioimaging and cancer therapy; carbon nanotube-based platforms for enzyme production and bacteria growth control, and other applications of low-temperature plasmas in the production of biologically-active materials.

Auditory Profiles of Classical, Jazz, and Rock Musicians: Genre-Specific Sensitivity to Musical Sound Features.

PubMed

Tervaniemi, Mari; Janhunen, Lauri; Kruck, Stefanie; Putkinen, Vesa; Huotilainen, Minna

2015-01-01

When compared with individuals without explicit training in music, adult musicians have facilitated neural functions in several modalities. They also display structural changes in various brain areas, these changes corresponding to the intensity and duration of their musical training. Previous studies have focused on investigating musicians with training in Western classical music. However, musicians involved in different musical genres may display highly differentiated auditory profiles according to the demands set by their genre, i.e., varying importance of different musical sound features. This hypothesis was tested in a novel melody paradigm including deviants in tuning, timbre, rhythm, melody transpositions, and melody contour. Using this paradigm while the participants were watching a silent video and instructed to ignore the sounds, we compared classical, jazz, and rock musicians' and non-musicians' accuracy of neural encoding of the melody. In all groups of participants, all deviants elicited an MMN response, which is a cortical index of deviance discrimination. The strength of the MMN and the subsequent attentional P3a responses reflected the importance of various sound features in each music genre: these automatic brain responses were selectively enhanced to deviants in tuning (classical musicians), timing (classical and jazz musicians), transposition (jazz musicians), and melody contour (jazz and rock musicians). Taken together, these results indicate that musicians with different training history have highly specialized cortical reactivity to sounds which violate the neural template for melody content.

Auditory Profiles of Classical, Jazz, and Rock Musicians: Genre-Specific Sensitivity to Musical Sound Features

PubMed Central

Tervaniemi, Mari; Janhunen, Lauri; Kruck, Stefanie; Putkinen, Vesa; Huotilainen, Minna

2016-01-01

When compared with individuals without explicit training in music, adult musicians have facilitated neural functions in several modalities. They also display structural changes in various brain areas, these changes corresponding to the intensity and duration of their musical training. Previous studies have focused on investigating musicians with training in Western classical music. However, musicians involved in different musical genres may display highly differentiated auditory profiles according to the demands set by their genre, i.e., varying importance of different musical sound features. This hypothesis was tested in a novel melody paradigm including deviants in tuning, timbre, rhythm, melody transpositions, and melody contour. Using this paradigm while the participants were watching a silent video and instructed to ignore the sounds, we compared classical, jazz, and rock musicians' and non-musicians' accuracy of neural encoding of the melody. In all groups of participants, all deviants elicited an MMN response, which is a cortical index of deviance discrimination. The strength of the MMN and the subsequent attentional P3a responses reflected the importance of various sound features in each music genre: these automatic brain responses were selectively enhanced to deviants in tuning (classical musicians), timing (classical and jazz musicians), transposition (jazz musicians), and melody contour (jazz and rock musicians). Taken together, these results indicate that musicians with different training history have highly specialized cortical reactivity to sounds which violate the neural template for melody content. PMID:26779055

Developmental plasticity and language: A comparative perspective

PubMed Central

Griebel, Ulrike; Pepperberg, Irene; Oller, D. Kimbrough

2016-01-01

The growing field of evo-devo is increasingly demonstrating the complexity of steps involved in genetic, intracellular regulatory, and extracellular environmental control of the development of phenotypes. A key result of such work is an account for the remarkable plasticity of organismal form in many species based on relatively minor changes in regulation of highly conserved genes and genetic processes. Accounting for behavioral plasticity is of similar potential interest but has received far less attention. Of particular interest is plasticity in communication systems, where human language represents an ultimate target for research. The present paper considers plasticity of language capabilities in a comparative framework, focusing attention on examples of a remarkable fact: Whereas there exist design features of mature human language that have never been observed to occur in nonhumans in the wild, many of these features can be developed to notable extents when nonhumans are enculturated through human training (especially with intensive social interaction). These examples of enculturated developmental plasticity across extremely diverse taxa suggest, consistent with the evo-devo theme of highly conserved processes in evolution, that human language is founded in part on cognitive capabilities that are indeed ancient and that even modern humans show self-organized emergence of many language capabilities in the context of rich enculturation, built on the special social/ecological history of the hominin line. Human culture can thus be seen as a regulatory system encouraging language development in the context of a cognitive background with many highly conserved features. PMID:27003391

Developmental Plasticity and Language: A Comparative Perspective.

PubMed

Griebel, Ulrike; Pepperberg, Irene M; Oller, D Kimbrough

2016-04-01

The growing field of evo-devo is increasingly demonstrating the complexity of steps involved in genetic, intracellular regulatory, and extracellular environmental control of the development of phenotypes. A key result of such work is an account for the remarkable plasticity of organismal form in many species based on relatively minor changes in regulation of highly conserved genes and genetic processes. Accounting for behavioral plasticity is of similar potential interest but has received far less attention. Of particular interest is plasticity in communication systems, where human language represents an ultimate target for research. The present paper considers plasticity of language capabilities in a comparative framework, focusing attention on examples of a remarkable fact: Whereas there exist design features of mature human language that have never been observed to occur in non-humans in the wild, many of these features can be developed to notable extents when non-humans are enculturated through human training (especially with intensive social interaction). These examples of enculturated developmental plasticity across extremely diverse taxa suggest, consistent with the evo-devo theme of highly conserved processes in evolution, that human language is founded in part on cognitive capabilities that are indeed ancient and that even modern humans show self-organized emergence of many language capabilities in the context of rich enculturation, built on the special social/ecological history of the hominin line. Human culture can thus be seen as a regulatory system encouraging language development in the context of a cognitive background with many highly conserved features. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Features and technologies of ERS-1 (ESA) and X-SAR antennas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schuessler, R.; Wagner, R.

1986-01-01

Features and technologies of planar waveguide array antennas developed for spaceborne microwave sensors are described. Such antennas are made from carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) employing special manufacturing and metallization techniques to achieve satisfactory electrical properties. Mechanical design enables deployable antenna structures necessary for satellite applications (e.g., ESA ERS-1). The slotted waveguide concept provides high aperture efficiency, good beamshaping capabilities, and low losses. These CFRP waveguide antennas feature low mass, high accuracy and stiffness, and can be operated within wide temperature ranges.

47 CFR 73.4082 - Comparative broadcast hearings-specialized programming formats.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Comparative broadcast hearings-specialized programming formats. 73.4082 Section 73.4082 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED... Comparative broadcast hearings—specialized programming formats. (a) See Memorandum Opinion and Order, FCC 80...

47 CFR 73.4082 - Comparative broadcast hearings-specialized programming formats.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Comparative broadcast hearings-specialized programming formats. 73.4082 Section 73.4082 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED... Comparative broadcast hearings—specialized programming formats. (a) See Memorandum Opinion and Order, FCC 80...

47 CFR 73.4082 - Comparative broadcast hearings-specialized programming formats.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Comparative broadcast hearings-specialized programming formats. 73.4082 Section 73.4082 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED... Comparative broadcast hearings—specialized programming formats. (a) See Memorandum Opinion and Order, FCC 80...

47 CFR 73.4082 - Comparative broadcast hearings-specialized programming formats.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Comparative broadcast hearings-specialized programming formats. 73.4082 Section 73.4082 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED... Comparative broadcast hearings—specialized programming formats. (a) See Memorandum Opinion and Order, FCC 80...

47 CFR 73.4082 - Comparative broadcast hearings-specialized programming formats.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Comparative broadcast hearings-specialized programming formats. 73.4082 Section 73.4082 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED... Comparative broadcast hearings—specialized programming formats. (a) See Memorandum Opinion and Order, FCC 80...

How does the 'rest-self overlap' mediate the qualitative and automatic features of self-reference?

PubMed

Northoff, Georg

2016-01-01

The target article points out the qualitative and automatic features of self-reference while leaving open the underlying neural mechanisms. Based on empirical evidence about rest-self overlap and rest-stimulus interaction being special for self-related stimuli, I postulate that the resting state shows self-specific organization. The resting state's self-specific organization may be encoded by activity balances between different networks which in turn predispose the qualitative features of subsequent self-related stimulus-induced activity in, for instance, SAN as well as the automatic features of self-reference effects.

Features of Household Lexics, Their Characteristics and Structural Analysis in the Modern English Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yusifova, Aygun

2014-01-01

The present paper aims to analyze the most inherent features and characteristics of household lexis in English. Special emphasis has been placed on their names of the objects used in everyday life, kitchen utensils, animal and birds. Lexical units concerning ceremonies, habits and traditions are also among the scope of the paper. Moreover, the…

Web-Based Online Public Access Catalogues of IIT Libraries in India: An Evaluative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madhusudhan, Margam; Aggarwal, Shalini

2011-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to examine the various features and components of web-based online public access catalogues (OPACs) of IIT libraries in India with the help of a specially designed evaluation checklist. Design/methodology/approach: The various features of the web-based OPACs in six IIT libraries (IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT…

76 FR 39795 - Special Conditions: Pratt and Whitney Canada Model PT6C-67E Turboshaft Engine

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-07

... Whitney Canada (PWC) model PT6C-67E engines. The engine model will have a novel or unusual design feature... regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These proposed... pre-addressed, stamped postcard on which the docket number appears. We will stamp the date on the...

STUDIES IN EDUCATIONAL CLOSED-CIRCUIT TELEVISION.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MARTIN, JOHN R.; AND OTHERS

THE 3 MOST OBJECTED-TO FEATURES OF INSTRUCTIONAL TV ARE (1) RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED BY THE USE OF A SPECIAL STUDIO, (2) LOSS OF TEACHER-STUDENT CONTACT, (3) THE LIMITED VIEWING AREA OF TV SCREENS. THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED 4 CLOSED-CIRCUIT TV COURSES IN AN ATTEMPT TO MINIMIZE FEATURES (1) AND (2). OVER THE ACADEMIC YEAR 1957-58 AT THE CASE INSTITUTE,…

75 FR 12965 - Special Conditions: Airbus Model A318, A319, A320, and A321 Series Airplanes; Seats With Non...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-18

...-traditional, large, non-metallic panels. In order to provide a level of safety that is equivalent to that... Airplanes; Seats With Non-Traditional, Large, Non-Metallic Panels AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration... a novel or unusual design feature(s) associated with seats that include non-traditional, large, non...

RELAP5-3D Resolution of Known Restart/Backup Issues

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

Mesina, George L.; Anderson, Nolan A.

2014-12-01

The state-of-the-art nuclear reactor system safety analysis computer program developed at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), RELAP5-3D, continues to adapt to changes in computer hardware and software and to develop to meet the ever-expanding needs of the nuclear industry. To continue at the forefront, code testing must evolve with both code and industry developments, and it must work correctly. To best ensure this, the processes of Software Verification and Validation (V&V) are applied. Verification compares coding against its documented algorithms and equations and compares its calculations against analytical solutions and the method of manufactured solutions. A form of this, sequentialmore » verification, checks code specifications against coding only when originally written then applies regression testing which compares code calculations between consecutive updates or versions on a set of test cases to check that the performance does not change. A sequential verification testing system was specially constructed for RELAP5-3D to both detect errors with extreme accuracy and cover all nuclear-plant-relevant code features. Detection is provided through a “verification file” that records double precision sums of key variables. Coverage is provided by a test suite of input decks that exercise code features and capabilities necessary to model a nuclear power plant. A matrix of test features and short-running cases that exercise them is presented. This testing system is used to test base cases (called null testing) as well as restart and backup cases. It can test RELAP5-3D performance in both standalone and coupled (through PVM to other codes) runs. Application of verification testing revealed numerous restart and backup issues in both standalone and couple modes. This document reports the resolution of these issues.« less

Computer programs for generation and evaluation of near-optimum vertical flight profiles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sorensen, J. A.; Waters, M. H.; Patmore, L. C.

1983-01-01

Two extensive computer programs were developed. The first, called OPTIM, generates a reference near-optimum vertical profile, and it contains control options so that the effects of various flight constraints on cost performance can be examined. The second, called TRAGEN, is used to simulate an aircraft flying along an optimum or any other vertical reference profile. TRAGEN is used to verify OPTIM's output, examine the effects of uncertainty in the values of parameters (such as prevailing wind) which govern the optimum profile, or compare the cost performance of profiles generated by different techniques. A general description of these programs, the efforts to add special features to them, and sample results of their usage are presented.

Preface.

PubMed

Villarreal-Garza, Cynthia; Castro-Sánchez, Andrea

2017-01-01

Young women with breast cancer (BC) are a special population with distinctive genetic, clinical, and psychosocial features and requirements based on at least three considerations: (1) Cancer presentation at young age is often diagnosed at advanced stages, hence its prognosis is worse compared to their older counterparts1,2; (2) young BC patients often receive aggressive and prolonged systemic treatments that can be associated with significant long-term morbidity3; and (3) young women with BC experience substantial psychosocial vulnerability resulting from high levels of distress and depression associated with oncological interventions4. These factors pose complex issues for young patients with BC, particularly in regard to their family dynamics, social and professional lives, and self-development, thereby substantially undermining their quality of life.

Engineering design of sub-micron topographies for simultaneously adherent and reflective metal-polymer interfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Christopher A.

1993-01-01

The approach of the project is to base the design of multi-function, reflective topographies on the theory that topographically dependent phenomena react with surfaces and interfaces at certain scales. The first phase of the project emphasizes the development of methods for understanding the sizes of topographic features which influence reflectivity. Subsequent phases, if necessary, will address the scales of interaction for adhesion and manufacturing processes. A simulation of the interaction of electromagnetic radiation, or light, with a reflective surface is performed using specialized software. Reflectivity of the surface as a function of scale is evaluated and the results from the simulation are compared with reflectivity measurements made on multi-function, reflective surfaces.

Surface critical behavior of thin Ising films at the ‘special point’

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moussa, Najem; Bekhechi, Smaine

2003-03-01

The critical surface phenomena of a magnetic thin Ising film is studied using numerical Monte-Carlo method based on Wolff cluster algorithm. With varying the surface coupling, js= Js/ J, the phase diagram exhibits a special surface coupling jsp at which all the films have a unique critical temperature Tc for an arbitrary thickness n. In spite of this, the critical exponent of the surface magnetization at the special point is found to increase with n. Moreover, non-universal features as well as dimensionality crossover from two- to three-dimensional behavior are found at this point.

Design, analysis, fabrication and test of the Space Shuttle solid rocket booster motor case

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kapp, J. R.

1978-01-01

The motor case used in the solid propellant booster for the Space Shuttle is unique in many respects, most of which are indigenous to size and special design requirements. The evolution of the case design from initial requirements to finished product is discussed, with increased emphasis of reuse capability, special design features, fracture mechanics and corrosion control. Case fabrication history and the resulting procedure are briefly reviewed with respect to material development, processing techniques and special problem areas. Case assembly, behavior and performance during the DM-1 static firing are reviewed, with appropriate comments and conclusions.

The Four-Year Investigation of Physical and Physiological Features of Students in a Physical Education and Sports Department

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ocak, Yucel

2016-01-01

Problem Statement: Student candidates who want to be a Physical Education Teacher in Turkey should take special ability exams of Physical Education and Sports Schools. In this exam, it is required to have a high physical capability apart from a high level of special branch skills. For this reason, the students who pass and start their education at…

Recent inner ear specialization for high-speed hunting in cheetahs.

PubMed

Grohé, Camille; Lee, Beatrice; Flynn, John J

2018-02-02

The cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, is the fastest living land mammal. Because of its specialized hunting strategy, this species evolved a series of specialized morphological and functional body features to increase its exceptional predatory performance during high-speed hunting. Using high-resolution X-ray computed micro-tomography (μCT), we provide the first analyses of the size and shape of the vestibular system of the inner ear in cats, an organ essential for maintaining body balance and adapting head posture and gaze direction during movement in most vertebrates. We demonstrate that the vestibular system of modern cheetahs is extremely different in shape and proportions relative to other cats analysed (12 modern and two fossil felid species), including a closely-related fossil cheetah species. These distinctive attributes (i.e., one of the greatest volumes of the vestibular system, dorsal extension of the anterior and posterior semicircular canals) correlate with a greater afferent sensitivity of the inner ear to head motions, facilitating postural and visual stability during high-speed prey pursuit and capture. These features are not present in the fossil cheetah A. pardinensis, that went extinct about 126,000 years ago, demonstrating that the unique and highly specialized inner ear of the sole living species of cheetah likely evolved extremely recently, possibly later than the middle Pleistocene.

The tourism resources and possibilities using of its for development of the town and commune of Nałęczów and the commune of Wojciechów

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Świeca, Andrzej; Brzezińska-Wójcik, Teresa

2009-01-01

Structural part of the resources of the tourism potential of the town and commune of Nałęczów and the commune of Wojciechów was studied in this paper. In the study, the attractiveness of tourism resources of the communes was assessed based on 48 features grouped into four divisions: sightseeing assets, recreational and special assets, tourist infrastructure and environmental protection. A field survey (listing, query) and a quantitative evaluation of tourist resources, carried out by means of a multidimensional comparative analysis, indicated an appreciable difference in features between the commune of Nałęczów and commune of Wojciechów. The tourist attractiveness index determined for the commune of Nałęczów was 0.695, almost twice as high as the index for the commune of Wojciechów (0.349). In the light of carrying out of investigations, the tourist attractiveness of the commune of Nałęczów results primarily from its environmental (mineral springs, unique flora) and cultural assets (historic monuments) as well as recreational assets (bioclimate, forest complexes, ravines; more than half of the commune's territory is within the Kazimierz Landscape Park) and special assets (angling). The tourism potential of the commune of Wojciechów is primarily determined by its recreational assets (diverse land relief) and special assets (hunting). The commune of Nałęczów is superior with regard to tourist infrastructure and environmental protection. Owing to the diversity of tourist assets, different degrees of tourist infrastructure development and varying quality of the natural environment, various forms of tourism exist in the two communes, i.e. educational tourism (environmental, geotourism, ecotourism, cultural and festival tourism), recreational tourism (agritourism), adventure tourism (walking, cycling, skiing and cross-country skiing) as well as health tourism (health, spa and wellness tourism).

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy

MedlinePlus

... page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002375.htm Hyperbaric oxygen therapy To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy uses a special pressure chamber to increase ...

Personal protective equipment

MedlinePlus

... medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000447.htm Personal protective equipment To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. Personal protective equipment is special equipment you wear to create a ...

Clinical features of children and adults with a muscular dystrophy using powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs: disease features, comorbidities and complications of disability.

PubMed

Frank, Andrew Oliver; De Souza, Lorraine H

2018-05-01

To describe the clinical features of electric powered indoor/outdoor wheelchair users with a muscular dystrophy, likely to influence optimal prescription; reflecting features of muscular dystrophies, conditions secondary to disability, and comorbidities impacting on equipment provision. Cross-sectional retrospective case note review of recipients of electric powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs provided by a specialist regional wheelchair service. Data on demography, diagnostic/clinical, and wheelchair prescription were systematically extracted. Fifty-one men and 14 women, mean age 23.7 (range 10-67, s.d. 12.95) years, were studied. Forty had Duchenne muscular dystrophy, 22 had other forms of muscular dystrophy, and three were unclassified. Twenty-seven were aged under 19. Notable clinical features included problematic pain (10), cardiomyopathy (5), and ventilatory failure (4). Features related to disability were (kypho)scoliosis (20) and edema/cellulitis (3) whilst comorbidities included back pain (5). Comparison of younger with older users revealed younger users had more features of muscular dystrophy affecting electric powered chair provision (56%) whilst older users had more comorbidity (37%). Tilt-in-space was prescribed for 81% of users, specialized seating for 55% and complex controls for 16%. Muscular dystrophy users were prescribed electric powered indoor/outdoor chairs with many additional features reflecting the consequences of profound muscle weakness. In addition to facilitating independence and participation, electric powered indoor/outdoor chairs have major therapeutic benefits. Implications for rehabilitation Powered wheelchairs have therapeutic benefits in managing muscular dystrophy pain and weakness. The use of specialized seating needs careful consideration in supporting progressive muscle weakness and the management of scoliosis. Pain, discomfort, pressure risk, and muscle fatigue may be reduced by use of tilt-in-space.

Comparing the Accuracy of AMSRE, AMSR2, SSMI and SSMIS Satellite Radiometer Ice Concentration Products with One-Meter Resolution Visible Imagery in the Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peterson, E. R.; Stanton, T. P.

2016-12-01

Determining ice concentration in the Arctic is necessary to track significant changes in sea ice edge extent. Sea ice concentrations are also needed to interpret data collected by in-situ instruments like buoys, as the amount of ice versus water in a given area determines local solar heating. Ice concentration products are now routinely derived from satellite radiometers including the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System (AMSR-E), the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2), the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSMI), and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS). While these radiometers are viewed as reliable to monitor long-term changes in sea ice extent, their accuracy should be analyzed, and compared to determine which radiometer performs best over smaller features such as melt ponds, and how seasonal conditions affect accuracy. Knowledge of the accuracy of radiometers at high resolution can help future researchers determine which radiometer to use, and be aware of radiometer shortcomings in different ice conditions. This will be especially useful when interpreting data from in-situ instruments which deal with small scale measurements. In order to compare these passive microwave radiometers, selected high spatial resolution one-meter resolution Medea images, archived at the Unites States Geological Survey, are used for ground truth comparison. Sea ice concentrations are derived from these images in an interactive process, although estimates are not perfect ground truth due to exposure of images, shadowing and cloud cover. 68 images are retrieved from the USGS website and compared with 9 useable, collocated SSMI, 33 SSMIS, 36 AMSRE, and 14 AMSR2 ice concentrations in the Arctic Ocean. We analyze and compare the accuracy of radiometer instrumentation in differing ice conditions.

Mobius Molecules

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eckert, J. M.

1973-01-01

Discusses formation of chemical molecules via Mobius strip intermediates, and concludes that many special physics-chemical properties of the fully closed circular form (1) of polyoma DNA are explainable by this topological feature. (CC)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Stephanie Stilson, NASA vehicle manager for Discovery, is being filmed for a special feature on the KSC Web about the recent Orbiter Major Modification period, which included inspection, modifications and reservicing of most systems onboard Discovery, plus installation of a Multifunction Electronic Display Subsystem (MEDS) - a state-of-the-art “glass cockpit.” The orbiter is now being prepared for eventual launch on a future mission.

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-01-22

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Stephanie Stilson, NASA vehicle manager for Discovery, is being filmed for a special feature on the KSC Web about the recent Orbiter Major Modification period, which included inspection, modifications and reservicing of most systems onboard Discovery, plus installation of a Multifunction Electronic Display Subsystem (MEDS) - a state-of-the-art “glass cockpit.” The orbiter is now being prepared for eventual launch on a future mission.

Interface between black-footed ferret research and operational conservation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Biggins, Dean E.; Livieri, Travis M.; Breck, Stewart W.

2011-01-01

Questions and problems that emerged during operational conservation of black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) have been addressed by a wide variety of studies. Early results from such studies often were communicated orally during meetings of recovery groups and in written form using memoranda, unpublished reports, and theses. Typically, implementation of results preceded their publication in widely distributed journals. Many of these studies eventually were published in journals, and we briefly summarize the contents of 8 volumes and special features of journals that have been dedicated to the biology of ferrets and issues in ferret recovery. This year marks the 30th anniversary of rediscovery of the black-footed ferret, and the 7 papers of the following Special Feature summarize data collected over nearly that span of time.

Use of the self-organizing feature map to diagnose abnormal engineering change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Ruei-Shan; Wu, Zhi-Ting; Peng, Kuo-Wei; Yu, Tai-Yi

2015-07-01

This study established identification manners with self-organizing feature map (SOM) to achieve the goal of monitoring Engineering Change (EC) based on historical data of a company that specializes in computers and peripherals. The product life cycle of this company is 3-6 months. The historical data were divided into three parts, each covering four months. The first part, comprising 2,343 records from January to April (the training period), comprise the Control Group. The second and third parts comprise Experimental Groups (EG) 1 and 2, respectively. For EG 1 and 2, the successful rate of recognizing information on abnormal ECs was approximately 96% and 95%, respectively. This paper shows the importance and screening procedures of abnormal engineering change for a particular company specializing in computers and peripherals.

A Rover Operations Protocol for Maintaining Compliance with Planetary Protection Requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Melissa; Vasavada, Ashwin

2016-07-01

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, with its Curiosity rover, arrived at Gale Crater in August 2012 with the scientific objective of assessing the past and present habitability of the landing site area. It is not a life detection mission, but one that uses geological, geochemical, and environmental measurements to understand whether past and present conditions could have supported life. The MSL mission is designated Planetary Protection Category IVa, with specific restrictions on the landing site and surface operations. In particular, the mission is prohibited from introducing any hardware into a Mars Special Region, as defined by COSPAR policy and in NASA document NPR 8020.12D. Fluid-formed features such as recurring slope lineae are included in this prohibition. Finally, any evidence suggesting the presence of Special Regions or flowing liquid at the actual MSL landing site shall be communicated to the NASA Planetary Protection Officer immediately, and physical contact by the rover with such features shall be entirely avoided. The MSL Project has recently developed and instituted a protocol in daily rover operations to ensure ongoing compliance with its planetary protection categorization. A particular challenge comes from the fact that the characteristics of potential Special Regions may not be obvious in the rover downlink data (e.g., landscape images, chemical measurements, or meteorology), or easily distinguishable from characteristics of other processes that do not imply Special Regions. For this reason, the first step in the process would be for the lead scientist for that day of operations (a role that rotates through senior scientists on the mission) to scrutinize all the targets that may receive interaction by rover hardware, such as targets for arm contact, or paths for wheel contact. Based on the expertise of the lead scientist, and definitions of Mars Special Regions, if any features of concern are identified, the other scientists on duty that day would be brought into a discussion. Typically the tactical team has a mix of experts in geology, astrobiology, geological materials, geochemistry, and meteorology. If this team cannot rule out the concern of introducing rover hardware into a potential Special Region, arm and wheel usage would be prohibited in that day's planning. This halt in tactical operations would allow a separate Special Regions Team to re-consider the data more deliberately, but still on timeline that would allow rover operations to resume as quickly as possible. This team is chosen in advance to have a broad range of expertise that can weigh the evidence for a potential Special Region, including representatives from the institutional planetary protection organization and involvement of the MSL Project Manager. If this team cannot rule out the concern, rover operations continue to hold while the NASA Planetary Protection Office is engaged to determine the best course of action for the mission. It is worth noting that evidence of modern, fluid-formed features at Gale Crater is not expected and would represent a major scientific discovery for the mission and Mars Exploration Program. However, this low-likelihood outcome still requires vigilance to ensure compliance with planetary protection requirements.

The brain adapts to orthography with experience: Evidence from English and Chinese

PubMed Central

Cao, Fan; Brennan, Christine; Booth, James R.

2016-01-01

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined the process of language specialization in the brain by comparing developmental changes in two contrastive orthographies: Chinese and English. In a visual word rhyming judgment task, we found a significant interaction between age and language in left inferior parietal lobule and left superior temporal gyrus, which was due to greater developmental increases in English than in Chinese. Moreover, we found that higher skill only in English children was correlated with greater activation in left inferior parietal lobule. These findings suggest that the regions associated with phonological processing are essential in English reading development. We also found greater developmental increases in English than in Chinese in left inferior temporal gyrus, suggesting refinement of this region for fine-grained word form recognition. In contrast, greater developmental increases in Chinese than in English were found in right middle occipital gyrus, suggesting the importance of holistic visual-orthographic analysis in Chinese reading acquisition. Our results suggest that the brain adapts to the special features of the orthography by engaging relevant brain regions to a greater degree over development. PMID:25444089

Prevalence of tics in schoolchildren and association with placement in special education.

PubMed

Kurlan, R; McDermott, M P; Deeley, C; Como, P G; Brower, C; Eapen, S; Andresen, E M; Miller, B

2001-10-23

Based on the knowledge that Tourette's syndrome (TS) is associated with several clinical features that can impair school function and growing evidence that the disorder is much more common than previously thought, the authors hypothesized that TS and related tic disorders would be associated with school problems in the childhood population at large. Direct, blinded (to educational placement) interviews of 1,596 schoolchildren in Monroe County, Rochester, NY, were conducted. Twenty-seven percent of 341 students classified as receiving special education (SpEd) had tics compared with 19.7% (p = 0.008) of 1,255 students in regular classroom programs (RegEd). The weighted prevalence estimates for tics were 23.4% in SpEd and 18.5% in RegEd. A higher percentage of students in SpEd (7.0%) met diagnostic criteria for TS than students in RegEd (3.8%; p = 0.01). Although possibly influenced by selection bias, our results indicate that tic disorders are common in children and are highly associated with school dysfunction. Tics may represent an identifiable sign of an underlying brain developmental disorder that contributes to academic difficulties.

Modelling the competition of planktonic and sessile aerobic heterotrophs for complementary nutrients in biofilm reactor.

PubMed

Lu, T; Saikaly, P E; Oerther, D B

2007-01-01

A comprehensive, simplified microbial biofilm model was developed to evaluate the impact of bioreactor operating parameters on changes in microbial population abundance. Biofilm simulations were conducted using three special cases: fully penetrated, internal mass transfer resistance and external mass transfer resistance. The results of model simulations showed that for certain operating conditions, competition for growth limiting nutrients generated oscillations in the abundance of planktonic and sessile microbial populations. These oscillations resulted in the violation of the competitive exclusion principle where the number of microbial populations was greater than the number of growth limiting nutrients. However, the operating conditions which impacted microbial community diversity were different for the three special cases. Comparing the results of model simulations for dispersed-growth, biofilms and bioflocs showed that oscillations and microbial community diversity were a function of competition as well as other key features of the ecosystem. The significance of the current study is that it is the first to examine competition as a mechanism for controlling microbial community diversity in biofilm reactors.

Application of Central Upwind Scheme for Solving Special Relativistic Hydrodynamic Equations

PubMed Central

Yousaf, Muhammad; Ghaffar, Tayabia; Qamar, Shamsul

2015-01-01

The accurate modeling of various features in high energy astrophysical scenarios requires the solution of the Einstein equations together with those of special relativistic hydrodynamics (SRHD). Such models are more complicated than the non-relativistic ones due to the nonlinear relations between the conserved and state variables. A high-resolution shock-capturing central upwind scheme is implemented to solve the given set of equations. The proposed technique uses the precise information of local propagation speeds to avoid the excessive numerical diffusion. The second order accuracy of the scheme is obtained with the use of MUSCL-type initial reconstruction and Runge-Kutta time stepping method. After a discussion of the equations solved and of the techniques employed, a series of one and two-dimensional test problems are carried out. To validate the method and assess its accuracy, the staggered central and the kinetic flux-vector splitting schemes are also applied to the same model. The scheme is robust and efficient. Its results are comparable to those obtained from the sophisticated algorithms, even in the case of highly relativistic two-dimensional test problems. PMID:26070067

Superhydrophobic Natural and Artificial Surfaces—A Structural Approach

PubMed Central

Avrămescu, Roxana-Elena; Ghica, Mihaela Violeta; Dinu-Pîrvu, Cristina; Prisada, Răzvan; Popa, Lăcrămioara

2018-01-01

Since ancient times humans observed animal and plants features and tried to adapt them according to their own needs. Biomimetics represents the foundation of many inventions from various fields: From transportation devices (helicopter, airplane, submarine) and flying techniques, to sports’ wear industry (swimming suits, scuba diving gear, Velcro closure system), bullet proof vests made from Kevlar etc. It is true that nature provides numerous noteworthy models (shark skin, spider web, lotus leaves), referring both to the plant and animal kingdom. This review paper summarizes a few of “nature’s interventions” in human evolution, regarding understanding of surface wettability and development of innovative special surfaces. Empirical models are described in order to reveal the science behind special wettable surfaces (superhydrophobic /superhydrophilic). Materials and methods used in order to artificially obtain special wettable surfaces are described in correlation with plants’ and animals’ unique features. Emphasis is placed on joining superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic surfaces, with important applications in cell culturing, microorganism isolation/separation and molecule screening techniques. Bio-inspired wettability is presented as a constitutive part of traditional devices/systems, intended to improve their characteristics and extend performances. PMID:29789488

Variable-intercept panel model for deformation zoning of a super-high arch dam.

PubMed

Shi, Zhongwen; Gu, Chongshi; Qin, Dong

2016-01-01

This study determines dam deformation similarity indexes based on an analysis of deformation zoning features and panel data clustering theory, with comprehensive consideration to the actual deformation law of super-high arch dams and the spatial-temporal features of dam deformation. Measurement methods of these indexes are studied. Based on the established deformation similarity criteria, the principle used to determine the number of dam deformation zones is constructed through entropy weight method. This study proposes the deformation zoning method for super-high arch dams and the implementation steps, analyzes the effect of special influencing factors of different dam zones on the deformation, introduces dummy variables that represent the special effect of dam deformation, and establishes a variable-intercept panel model for deformation zoning of super-high arch dams. Based on different patterns of the special effect in the variable-intercept panel model, two panel analysis models were established to monitor fixed and random effects of dam deformation. Hausman test method of model selection and model effectiveness assessment method are discussed. Finally, the effectiveness of established models is verified through a case study.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND APPLICATIONS OF SUPERHEATED EMULSIONS: WARHEAD VERIFICATION AND SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL INTERDICTION.

PubMed

d'Errico, F; Chierici, A; Gattas-Sethi, M; Philippe, S; Goldston, R; Glaser, A

2018-04-25

In recent years, neutron detection with superheated emulsions has received renewed attention thanks to improved detector manufacturing and read-out techniques, and thanks to successful applications in warhead verification and special nuclear material (SNM) interdiction. Detectors are currently manufactured with methods allowing high uniformity of the drop sizes, which in turn allows the use of optical read-out techniques based on dynamic light scattering. Small detector cartridges arranged in 2D matrices are developed for the verification of a declared warhead without revealing its design. For this application, the enabling features of the emulsions are that bubbles formed at different times cannot be distinguished from each other, while the passive nature of the detectors avoids the susceptibility to electronic snooping and tampering. Large modules of emulsions are developed to detect the presence of shielded special nuclear materials hidden in cargo containers 'interrogated' with high energy X-rays. In this case, the enabling features of the emulsions are photon discrimination, a neutron detection threshold close to 3 MeV and a rate-insensitive read-out.

Superhydrophobic Natural and Artificial Surfaces-A Structural Approach.

PubMed

Avrămescu, Roxana-Elena; Ghica, Mihaela Violeta; Dinu-Pîrvu, Cristina; Prisada, Răzvan; Popa, Lăcrămioara

2018-05-22

Since ancient times humans observed animal and plants features and tried to adapt them according to their own needs. Biomimetics represents the foundation of many inventions from various fields: From transportation devices (helicopter, airplane, submarine) and flying techniques, to sports' wear industry (swimming suits, scuba diving gear, Velcro closure system), bullet proof vests made from Kevlar etc. It is true that nature provides numerous noteworthy models (shark skin, spider web, lotus leaves), referring both to the plant and animal kingdom. This review paper summarizes a few of "nature's interventions" in human evolution, regarding understanding of surface wettability and development of innovative special surfaces. Empirical models are described in order to reveal the science behind special wettable surfaces (superhydrophobic /superhydrophilic). Materials and methods used in order to artificially obtain special wettable surfaces are described in correlation with plants' and animals' unique features. Emphasis is placed on joining superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic surfaces, with important applications in cell culturing, microorganism isolation/separation and molecule screening techniques. Bio-inspired wettability is presented as a constitutive part of traditional devices/systems, intended to improve their characteristics and extend performances.

Teachers' Source Evaluation Self-Efficacy Predicts Their Use of Relevant Source Features When Evaluating the Trustworthiness of Web Sources on Special Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andreassen, Rune; Bråten, Ivar

2013-01-01

Building on prior research and theory concerning source evaluation and the role of self-efficacy in the context of online learning, this study investigated the relationship between teachers' beliefs about their capability to evaluate the trustworthiness of sources and their reliance on relevant source features when judging the trustworthiness…

Taking Wave Prediction to New Levels: Wavewatch 3

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-01-01

features such as surf and rip currents , conditions that affect special operations, amphibious assaults, and logistics over the shore. Changes in...The Navy’s current version of WAVEWATCH Ill features the capability of operating with gridded domains of multiple resolution simultaneously, ranging...Netherlands. Its current form, WAVEWATCH Ill, was developed at NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Prediction. The model is free and open source

Morphology of the first zoeal stages of five species of the portunid genus Callinectes (Decapoda, Brachyura) hatched at the laboratory.

PubMed

Mantelatto, Fernando L; Reigada, Alvaro L D; Gatti, Aline C R; Cuesta, José A

2014-05-23

The genus Callinectes Stimpson, 1860 currently consists of 16 species, six of which are reported in Brazilian coast. In the present study, the first zoeal stages of Callinectes bocourti, C. danae, C. exasperatus, C. ornatus and C. sapidus from Brazil were obtained from ovigerous females. The morphological and meristic characters of all these larval stages are described and illustrated. Those of C. bocourti, C. danae and C. sapidus are redescribed and compared with the previous descriptions, and differences are listed. Larval characters of these species were examined for interspecific differences, as well as larval features to distinguish the genus Callinectes within Portunidae. In addition, other portunid genera and species with a known first zoeal stage are compared, with special attention to those species present in the same geographical area. Our findings concord with some previous molecular studies, and we discuss the complexity within the group.

A study of optical design of power-saving backlight module with external illuminance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Yi-Chin; Tzeng, Yih-Fong

2014-05-01

In backlight modules, the light guide plate (LGP) is a key component for performance and also facilitates access to develop LGPs on its own. In this research, we propose a newly developed method: LEDs with freeform as a lighting source, are employed to integrate and manipulate the specially designed and optimized 3D-like pattern distribution of the micro features in order to obtain the required optical characteristics at maximal performance. In this research propose the concept of Light Guide Film(LGF) at the back side of Back Light Unit(BLU). This new design may induce the exterior light ,then improve the power-saving of existent BLU. Two design models are reseated: One is design for 14 inch LCD monitor of notebook computer, which might improve 21% compared to traditional one. Another is designed for 3.5 inch LCD for mobile phone display ,which might improve 15% compared to traditional one.

Gene masking - a technique to improve accuracy for cancer classification with high dimensionality in microarray data.

PubMed

Saini, Harsh; Lal, Sunil Pranit; Naidu, Vimal Vikash; Pickering, Vincel Wince; Singh, Gurmeet; Tsunoda, Tatsuhiko; Sharma, Alok

2016-12-05

High dimensional feature space generally degrades classification in several applications. In this paper, we propose a strategy called gene masking, in which non-contributing dimensions are heuristically removed from the data to improve classification accuracy. Gene masking is implemented via a binary encoded genetic algorithm that can be integrated seamlessly with classifiers during the training phase of classification to perform feature selection. It can also be used to discriminate between features that contribute most to the classification, thereby, allowing researchers to isolate features that may have special significance. This technique was applied on publicly available datasets whereby it substantially reduced the number of features used for classification while maintaining high accuracies. The proposed technique can be extremely useful in feature selection as it heuristically removes non-contributing features to improve the performance of classifiers.

Roles and Responsibilities in Feature Teams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eckstein, Jutta

Agile development requires self-organizing teams. The set-up of a (feature) team has to enable self-organization. Special care has to be taken if the project is not only distributed, but also large and more than one feature team is involved. Every feature team needs in such a setting a product owner who ensures the continuous focus on business delivery. The product owners collaborate by working together in a virtual team. Each feature team is supported by a coach who ensures not only the agile process of the individual feature team but also across all feature teams. An architect (or if necessary a team of architects) takes care that the system is technically sound. Contrariwise to small co-located projects, large global projects require a project manager who deals with—among other things—internal and especially external politics.

Robust Feature Matching in Terrestrial Image Sequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbas, A.; Ghuffar, S.

2018-04-01

From the last decade, the feature detection, description and matching techniques are most commonly exploited in various photogrammetric and computer vision applications, which includes: 3D reconstruction of scenes, image stitching for panoramic creation, image classification, or object recognition etc. However, in terrestrial imagery of urban scenes contains various issues, which include duplicate and identical structures (i.e. repeated windows and doors) that cause the problem in feature matching phase and ultimately lead to failure of results specially in case of camera pose and scene structure estimation. In this paper, we will address the issue related to ambiguous feature matching in urban environment due to repeating patterns.

Online 3D Ear Recognition by Combining Global and Local Features.

PubMed

Liu, Yahui; Zhang, Bob; Lu, Guangming; Zhang, David

2016-01-01

The three-dimensional shape of the ear has been proven to be a stable candidate for biometric authentication because of its desirable properties such as universality, uniqueness, and permanence. In this paper, a special laser scanner designed for online three-dimensional ear acquisition was described. Based on the dataset collected by our scanner, two novel feature classes were defined from a three-dimensional ear image: the global feature class (empty centers and angles) and local feature class (points, lines, and areas). These features are extracted and combined in an optimal way for three-dimensional ear recognition. Using a large dataset consisting of 2,000 samples, the experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of fusing global and local features, obtaining an equal error rate of 2.2%.

Online 3D Ear Recognition by Combining Global and Local Features

PubMed Central

Liu, Yahui; Zhang, Bob; Lu, Guangming; Zhang, David

2016-01-01

The three-dimensional shape of the ear has been proven to be a stable candidate for biometric authentication because of its desirable properties such as universality, uniqueness, and permanence. In this paper, a special laser scanner designed for online three-dimensional ear acquisition was described. Based on the dataset collected by our scanner, two novel feature classes were defined from a three-dimensional ear image: the global feature class (empty centers and angles) and local feature class (points, lines, and areas). These features are extracted and combined in an optimal way for three-dimensional ear recognition. Using a large dataset consisting of 2,000 samples, the experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of fusing global and local features, obtaining an equal error rate of 2.2%. PMID:27935955

Signatures of host specialization and a recent transposable element burst in the dynamic one-speed genome of the fungal barley powdery mildew pathogen.

PubMed

Frantzeskakis, Lamprinos; Kracher, Barbara; Kusch, Stefan; Yoshikawa-Maekawa, Makoto; Bauer, Saskia; Pedersen, Carsten; Spanu, Pietro D; Maekawa, Takaki; Schulze-Lefert, Paul; Panstruga, Ralph

2018-05-22

Powdery mildews are biotrophic pathogenic fungi infecting a number of economically important plants. The grass powdery mildew, Blumeria graminis, has become a model organism to study host specialization of obligate biotrophic fungal pathogens. We resolved the large-scale genomic architecture of B. graminis forma specialis hordei (Bgh) to explore the potential influence of its genome organization on the co-evolutionary process with its host plant, barley (Hordeum vulgare). The near-chromosome level assemblies of the Bgh reference isolate DH14 and one of the most diversified isolates, RACE1, enabled a comparative analysis of these haploid genomes, which are highly enriched with transposable elements (TEs). We found largely retained genome synteny and gene repertoires, yet detected copy number variation (CNV) of secretion signal peptide-containing protein-coding genes (SPs) and locally disrupted synteny blocks. Genes coding for sequence-related SPs are often locally clustered, but neither the SPs nor the TEs reside preferentially in genomic regions with unique features. Extended comparative analysis with different host-specific B. graminis formae speciales revealed the existence of a core suite of SPs, but also isolate-specific SP sets as well as congruence of SP CNV and phylogenetic relationship. We further detected evidence for a recent, lineage-specific expansion of TEs in the Bgh genome. The characteristics of the Bgh genome (largely retained synteny, CNV of SP genes, recently proliferated TEs and a lack of significant compartmentalization) are consistent with a "one-speed" genome that differs in its architecture and (co-)evolutionary pattern from the "two-speed" genomes reported for several other filamentous phytopathogens.

Multi-Omics of Tomato Glandular Trichomes Reveals Distinct Features of Central Carbon Metabolism Supporting High Productivity of Specialized Metabolites[OPEN

PubMed Central

Bennewitz, Stefan; Bergau, Nick; Athmer, Benedikt; Henning, Anja; Majovsky, Petra; Jiménez-Gómez, José M.

2017-01-01

Glandular trichomes are metabolic cell factories with the capacity to produce large quantities of secondary metabolites. Little is known about the connection between central carbon metabolism and metabolic productivity for secondary metabolites in glandular trichomes. To address this gap in our knowledge, we performed comparative metabolomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and 13C-labeling of type VI glandular trichomes and leaves from a cultivated (Solanum lycopersicum LA4024) and a wild (Solanum habrochaites LA1777) tomato accession. Specific features of glandular trichomes that drive the formation of secondary metabolites could be identified. Tomato type VI trichomes are photosynthetic but acquire their carbon essentially from leaf sucrose. The energy and reducing power from photosynthesis are used to support the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, while the comparatively reduced Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle activity may be involved in recycling metabolic CO2. Glandular trichomes cope with oxidative stress by producing high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids, oxylipins, and glutathione. Finally, distinct mechanisms are present in glandular trichomes to increase the supply of precursors for the isoprenoid pathways. Particularly, the citrate-malate shuttle supplies cytosolic acetyl-CoA and plastidic glycolysis and malic enzyme support the formation of plastidic pyruvate. A model is proposed on how glandular trichomes achieve high metabolic productivity. PMID:28408661

Influences of dehydration on clinical features of radiological pneumonia in children attending an urban diarrhoea treatment centre in Bangladesh.

PubMed

Chisti, M J; Salam, M A; Bardhan, P K; Ahad, R; La Vincente, S; Duke, T

2010-01-01

As the signs of dehydration often overlap with those of pneumonia, it may be difficult for health workers in resource-poor settings to make a clinical diagnosis of pneumonia in children with dehydration. This issue has received very little attention. To compare the clinical features of pneumonia in children with and without dehydration caused by diarrhoea. All children aged 2-59 months with diarrhoea and radiologically confirmed pneumonia admitted to the Special Care Ward (SCW) of Dhaka Hospital, ICDDR,B between September and December 2007 were enrolled for the study. Children with dehydration (67 cases) and those without (101 controls) were compared. Cases presented less frequently with fast breathing (60% vs 88%, p<0.001) and lower chest-wall indrawing (67% vs 82%, p=0.035) than did controls. In logistic regression analysis, cases more often had severe malnutrition (OR 2.31, CI 1.06-5.02, p=0.035) and cyanosis (OR 19.05, CI 1.94-186.68, p=0.011) and were abnormally sleepy (OR 372, CI 1.71-8.08, p=0.001). Fast breathing and lower chest-wall indrawing may be less reliable for the diagnosis of pneumonia in children with dehydration, especially when there is severe malnutrition.

Breast reduction (mammoplasty) - slideshow

MedlinePlus

... page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/presentations/100189.htm Breast reduction (mammoplasty) - series—Indications To use the sharing features ... Lickstein, MD, FACS, specializing in cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Review provided by ...

British Management Training Today and Tomorrow

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lippert, Frederick G.

1970-01-01

An American observer's special report on social science in management, the role of trainers and academic institutions, and other features of the current management training scene in Great Britain. Six references. (LY)

Computer vision approach to morphometric feature analysis of basal cell nuclei for evaluating malignant potentiality of oral submucous fibrosis.

PubMed

Muthu Rama Krishnan, M; Pal, Mousumi; Paul, Ranjan Rashmi; Chakraborty, Chandan; Chatterjee, Jyotirmoy; Ray, Ajoy K

2012-06-01

This research work presents a quantitative approach for analysis of histomorphometric features of the basal cell nuclei in respect to their size, shape and intensity of staining, from surface epithelium of Oral Submucous Fibrosis showing dysplasia (OSFD) to that of the Normal Oral Mucosa (NOM). For all biological activity, the basal cells of the surface epithelium form the proliferative compartment and therefore their morphometric changes will spell the intricate biological behavior pertaining to normal cellular functions as well as in premalignant and malignant status. In view of this, the changes in shape, size and intensity of staining of the nuclei in the basal cell layer of the NOM and OSFD have been studied. Geometric, Zernike moments and Fourier descriptor (FD) based as well as intensity based features are extracted for histomorphometric pattern analysis of the nuclei. All these features are statistically analyzed along with 3D visualization in order to discriminate the groups. Results showed increase in the dimensions (area and perimeter), shape parameters and decreasing mean nuclei intensity of the nuclei in OSFD in respect to NOM. Further, the selected features are fed to the Bayesian classifier to discriminate normal and OSFD. The morphometric and intensity features provide a good sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 98.53% and positive predicative accuracy of 97.35%. This comparative quantitative characterization of basal cell nuclei will be of immense help for oral onco-pathologists, researchers and clinicians to assess the biological behavior of OSFD, specially relating to their premalignant and malignant potentiality. As a future direction more extensive study involving more number of disease subjects is observed.

Cognitive specialization for learning faces is associated with shifts in the brain transcriptome of a social wasp.

PubMed

Berens, Ali J; Tibbetts, Elizabeth A; Toth, Amy L

2017-06-15

The specialized ability to learn and recall individuals based on distinct facial features is known in only a few, large-brained social taxa. Social paper wasps in the genus Polistes are the only insects known to possess this form of cognitive specialization. We analyzed genome-wide brain gene expression during facial and pattern training for two species of paper wasps ( P. fuscatus , which has face recognition, and P. metricus , which does not) using RNA sequencing. We identified 237 transcripts associated with face specialization in P. fuscatus , including some transcripts involved in neuronal signaling (serotonin receptor and tachykinin). Polistes metricus that learned faces (without specialized learning) and P. fuscatus in social interactions with familiar partners (from a previous study) showed distinct sets of brain differentially expressed transcripts. These data suggest face specialization in P. fuscatus is related to shifts in the brain transcriptome associated with genes distinct from those related to general visual learning and social interactions. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

A specialized bioengineering ion beam line

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, L. D.; Sangyuenyongpipat, S.; Sriprom, C.; Thongleurm, C.; Suwanksum, R.; Tondee, N.; Prakrajang, K.; Vilaithong, T.; Brown, I. G.; Wiedemann, H.

2007-04-01

A specialized bioengineering ion beam line has recently been completed at Chiang Mai University to meet rapidly growing needs of research and application development in low-energy ion beam biotechnology. This beam line possesses special features: vertical main beam line, low-energy (30 keV) ion beams, double swerve of the beam, a fast pumped target chamber, and an in-situ atomic force microscope (AFM) system chamber. The whole beam line is situated in a bioclean environment, occupying two stories. The quality of the ion beam has been studied. It has proved that this beam line has significantly contributed to our research work on low-energy ion beam biotechnology.

Application of Pulse Processes in Fabrication of Metal Matrix Composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sudnik, L. V.; Vityaz', P. A.; Il'yushchenko, A. F.; Smirnov, G. V.; Petrov, I. V.; Konoplyanik, V. N.; Komornyi, A. A.; Luchenok, A. R.

2016-05-01

Special features and advantages of metal matrix composites obtained by pulse loading are considered. Examples of effective use of metal matrix composites in various fields of engineering are presented.

Specialized adaptation of a lactic acid bacterium to the milk environment: the comparative genomics of Streptococcus thermophilus LMD-9

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Streptococcus thermophilus represents the only species among the streptococci that has “Generally Regarded As Safe” status and that plays an economically important role in the fermentation of yogurt and cheeses. We conducted comparative genome analysis of S. thermophilus LMD-9 to identify unique gene features as well as features that contribute to its adaptation to the dairy environment. In addition, we investigated the transcriptome response of LMD-9 during growth in milk in the presence of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus, a companion culture in yogurt fermentation, and during lytic bacteriophage infection. Results The S. thermophilus LMD-9 genome is comprised of a 1.8 Mbp circular chromosome (39.1% GC; 1,834 predicted open reading frames) and two small cryptic plasmids. Genome comparison with the previously sequenced LMG 18311 and CNRZ1066 strains revealed 114 kb of LMD-9 specific chromosomal region, including genes that encode for histidine biosynthetic pathway, a cell surface proteinase, various host defense mechanisms and a phage remnant. Interestingly, also unique to LMD-9 are genes encoding for a putative mucus-binding protein, a peptide transporter, and exopolysaccharide biosynthetic proteins that have close orthologs in human intestinal microorganisms. LMD-9 harbors a large number of pseudogenes (13% of ORFeome), indicating that like LMG 18311 and CNRZ1066, LMD-9 has also undergone major reductive evolution, with the loss of carbohydrate metabolic genes and virulence genes found in their streptococcal counterparts. Functional genome distribution analysis of ORFeomes among streptococci showed that all three S. thermophilus strains formed a distinct functional cluster, further establishing their specialized adaptation to the nutrient-rich milk niche. An upregulation of CRISPR1 expression in LMD-9 during lytic bacteriophage DT1 infection suggests its protective role against phage invasion. When co-cultured with L. bulgaricus, LMD-9 overexpressed genes involved in amino acid transport and metabolism as well as DNA replication. Conclusions The genome of S. thermophilus LMD-9 is shaped by its domestication in the dairy environment, with gene features that conferred rapid growth in milk, stress response mechanisms and host defense systems that are relevant to its industrial applications. The presence of a unique exopolysaccharide gene cluster and cell surface protein orthologs commonly associated with probiotic functionality revealed potential probiotic applications of LMD-9. PMID:21995282

Specialized adaptation of a lactic acid bacterium to the milk environment: the comparative genomics of Streptococcus thermophilus LMD-9.

PubMed

Goh, Yong Jun; Goin, Caitlin; O'Flaherty, Sarah; Altermann, Eric; Hutkins, Robert

2011-08-30

Streptococcus thermophilus represents the only species among the streptococci that has "Generally Regarded As Safe" status and that plays an economically important role in the fermentation of yogurt and cheeses. We conducted comparative genome analysis of S. thermophilus LMD-9 to identify unique gene features as well as features that contribute to its adaptation to the dairy environment. In addition, we investigated the transcriptome response of LMD-9 during growth in milk in the presence of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus, a companion culture in yogurt fermentation, and during lytic bacteriophage infection. The S. thermophilus LMD-9 genome is comprised of a 1.8 Mbp circular chromosome (39.1% GC; 1,834 predicted open reading frames) and two small cryptic plasmids. Genome comparison with the previously sequenced LMG 18311 and CNRZ1066 strains revealed 114 kb of LMD-9 specific chromosomal region, including genes that encode for histidine biosynthetic pathway, a cell surface proteinase, various host defense mechanisms and a phage remnant. Interestingly, also unique to LMD-9 are genes encoding for a putative mucus-binding protein, a peptide transporter, and exopolysaccharide biosynthetic proteins that have close orthologs in human intestinal microorganisms. LMD-9 harbors a large number of pseudogenes (13% of ORFeome), indicating that like LMG 18311 and CNRZ1066, LMD-9 has also undergone major reductive evolution, with the loss of carbohydrate metabolic genes and virulence genes found in their streptococcal counterparts. Functional genome distribution analysis of ORFeomes among streptococci showed that all three S. thermophilus strains formed a distinct functional cluster, further establishing their specialized adaptation to the nutrient-rich milk niche. An upregulation of CRISPR1 expression in LMD-9 during lytic bacteriophage DT1 infection suggests its protective role against phage invasion. When co-cultured with L. bulgaricus, LMD-9 overexpressed genes involved in amino acid transport and metabolism as well as DNA replication. The genome of S. thermophilus LMD-9 is shaped by its domestication in the dairy environment, with gene features that conferred rapid growth in milk, stress response mechanisms and host defense systems that are relevant to its industrial applications. The presence of a unique exopolysaccharide gene cluster and cell surface protein orthologs commonly associated with probiotic functionality revealed potential probiotic applications of LMD-9.

The IERS Special Bureau for Tides

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ray, Richard D.; Chao, B. F.; Desai, S. D.

2002-01-01

The Global Geophysical Fluids Center of the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) comprises 8 special bureaus, one of which is the Special Bureau for Tides. Its purpose is to facilitate studies related to tidal effects in earth rotation. To that end it collects various relevant datasets and distributes them, primarily through its website at bowie.gsfc.nasa.gov/ggfc/tides. Example datasets include tabulations of tidal variations in angular momentum and in earth rotation as estimated from numerical ocean tide models and from meteorological reanalysis products. The web site also features an interactive tidal prediction "machine" which generates tidal predictions (e.g., of UT1) from lists of harmonic constants. The Special Bureau relies on the tidal and earth-rotation communities to build and enlarge its datasets; further contributions from this community are most welcome.

A pursuit of lineage-specific and niche-specific proteome features in the world of archaea

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Archaea evoke interest among researchers for two enigmatic characteristics –a combination of bacterial and eukaryotic components in their molecular architectures and an enormous diversity in their life-style and metabolic capabilities. Despite considerable research efforts, lineage- specific/niche-specific molecular features of the whole archaeal world are yet to be fully unveiled. The study offers the first large-scale in silico proteome analysis of all archaeal species of known genome sequences with a special emphasis on methanogenic and sulphur-metabolising archaea. Results Overall amino acid usage in archaea is dominated by GC-bias. But the environmental factors like oxygen requirement or thermal adaptation seem to play important roles in selection of residues with no GC-bias at the codon level. All methanogens, irrespective of their thermal/salt adaptation, show higher usage of Cys and have relatively acidic proteomes, while the proteomes of sulphur-metabolisers have higher aromaticity and more positive charges. Despite of exhibiting thermophilic life-style, korarchaeota possesses an acidic proteome. Among the distinct trends prevailing in COGs (Cluster of Orthologous Groups of proteins) distribution profiles, crenarchaeal organisms display higher intra-order variations in COGs repertoire, especially in the metabolic ones, as compared to euryarchaea. All methanogens are characterised by a presence of 22 exclusive COGs. Conclusions Divergences in amino acid usage, aromaticity/charge profiles and COG repertoire among methanogens and sulphur-metabolisers, aerobic and anaerobic archaea or korarchaeota and nanoarchaeota, as elucidated in the present study, point towards the presence of distinct molecular strategies for niche specialization in the archaeal world. PMID:22691113

A pursuit of lineage-specific and niche-specific proteome features in the world of archaea.

PubMed

Roy Chowdhury, Anindya; Dutta, Chitra

2012-06-12

Archaea evoke interest among researchers for two enigmatic characteristics -a combination of bacterial and eukaryotic components in their molecular architectures and an enormous diversity in their life-style and metabolic capabilities. Despite considerable research efforts, lineage- specific/niche-specific molecular features of the whole archaeal world are yet to be fully unveiled. The study offers the first large-scale in silico proteome analysis of all archaeal species of known genome sequences with a special emphasis on methanogenic and sulphur-metabolising archaea. Overall amino acid usage in archaea is dominated by GC-bias. But the environmental factors like oxygen requirement or thermal adaptation seem to play important roles in selection of residues with no GC-bias at the codon level. All methanogens, irrespective of their thermal/salt adaptation, show higher usage of Cys and have relatively acidic proteomes, while the proteomes of sulphur-metabolisers have higher aromaticity and more positive charges. Despite of exhibiting thermophilic life-style, korarchaeota possesses an acidic proteome. Among the distinct trends prevailing in COGs (Cluster of Orthologous Groups of proteins) distribution profiles, crenarchaeal organisms display higher intra-order variations in COGs repertoire, especially in the metabolic ones, as compared to euryarchaea. All methanogens are characterised by a presence of 22 exclusive COGs. Divergences in amino acid usage, aromaticity/charge profiles and COG repertoire among methanogens and sulphur-metabolisers, aerobic and anaerobic archaea or korarchaeota and nanoarchaeota, as elucidated in the present study, point towards the presence of distinct molecular strategies for niche specialization in the archaeal world.

Functional-adaptive anatomy of the forelimb in the Didelphidae, and the paleobiology of the Paleocene marsupials Mayulestes ferox and Pucadelphys andinus.

PubMed

Argot, C

2001-01-01

An attempt to determine the locomotor activities of Mayulestes ferox (Borhyaenoidea) and Pucadelphys andinus (Didelphoidea) from the early Paleocene site of Tiupampa (Bolivia) is presented. The functional anatomy of the forelimbs of these South American marsupials is compared to that of some living didelphids: Caluromys philander, Micoureus demerarae, Marmosa murina, Didelphis marsupialis, Monodelphis brevicaudata and Metachirus nudicaudatus. Deductions from bone morphology to myology and locomotor behavior in the fossils are inferred from the comparisons with living forms. Some features of the postcranial skeleton, indicative of arboreal adaptations, are found in the extinct marsupials: anteriorly projected acromion, hemispherical head of the humerus, extended humeral lateral epicondylar ridge, medially protruding humeral entepicondyle, proximal ulnar posterior convexity, and deep flexor fossa on the medial side of the ulna. But other features are related to a more terrestrial pattern: the well-developed tubercles of the humeral head, the elongated olecranon process of the ulna, and the oval shape of the radial head. Mayulestes had clear arboreal abilities, but, as a predaceous mammal, probably hunted on the ground. Pucadelphys was less specialized, close to the living Monodelphis, a terrestrial insectivorous form with some skeletal features related to arboreal locomotion that are probably plesiomorphic for marsupials. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Effect of speech-intrinsic variations on human and automatic recognition of spoken phonemes.

PubMed

Meyer, Bernd T; Brand, Thomas; Kollmeier, Birger

2011-01-01

The aim of this study is to quantify the gap between the recognition performance of human listeners and an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system with special focus on intrinsic variations of speech, such as speaking rate and effort, altered pitch, and the presence of dialect and accent. Second, it is investigated if the most common ASR features contain all information required to recognize speech in noisy environments by using resynthesized ASR features in listening experiments. For the phoneme recognition task, the ASR system achieved the human performance level only when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was increased by 15 dB, which is an estimate for the human-machine gap in terms of the SNR. The major part of this gap is attributed to the feature extraction stage, since human listeners achieve comparable recognition scores when the SNR difference between unaltered and resynthesized utterances is 10 dB. Intrinsic variabilities result in strong increases of error rates, both in human speech recognition (HSR) and ASR (with a relative increase of up to 120%). An analysis of phoneme duration and recognition rates indicates that human listeners are better able to identify temporal cues than the machine at low SNRs, which suggests incorporating information about the temporal dynamics of speech into ASR systems.

Impact-acoustics inspection of tile-wall bonding integrity via wavelet transform and hidden Markov models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luk, B. L.; Liu, K. P.; Tong, F.; Man, K. F.

2010-05-01

The impact-acoustics method utilizes different information contained in the acoustic signals generated by tapping a structure with a small metal object. It offers a convenient and cost-efficient way to inspect the tile-wall bonding integrity. However, the existence of the surface irregularities will cause abnormal multiple bounces in the practical inspection implementations. The spectral characteristics from those bounces can easily be confused with the signals obtained from different bonding qualities. As a result, it will deteriorate the classic feature-based classification methods based on frequency domain. Another crucial difficulty posed by the implementation is the additive noise existing in the practical environments that may also cause feature mismatch and false judgment. In order to solve this problem, the work described in this paper aims to develop a robust inspection method that applies model-based strategy, and utilizes the wavelet domain features with hidden Markov modeling. It derives a bonding integrity recognition approach with enhanced immunity to surface roughness as well as the environmental noise. With the help of the specially designed artificial sample slabs, experiments have been carried out with impact acoustic signals contaminated by real environmental noises acquired under practical inspection background. The results are compared with those using classic method to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Network analysis of named entity co-occurrences in written texts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amancio, Diego Raphael

2016-06-01

The use of methods borrowed from statistics and physics to analyze written texts has allowed the discovery of unprecedent patterns of human behavior and cognition by establishing links between models features and language structure. While current models have been useful to unveil patterns via analysis of syntactical and semantical networks, only a few works have probed the relevance of investigating the structure arising from the relationship between relevant entities such as characters, locations and organizations. In this study, we represent entities appearing in the same context as a co-occurrence network, where links are established according to a null model based on random, shuffled texts. Computational simulations performed in novels revealed that the proposed model displays interesting topological features, such as the small world feature, characterized by high values of clustering coefficient. The effectiveness of our model was verified in a practical pattern recognition task in real networks. When compared with traditional word adjacency networks, our model displayed optimized results in identifying unknown references in texts. Because the proposed representation plays a complementary role in characterizing unstructured documents via topological analysis of named entities, we believe that it could be useful to improve the characterization of written texts (and related systems), specially if combined with traditional approaches based on statistical and deeper paradigms.

Chromosomal aberrations and aneuploidy in oral potentially malignant lesions: distinctive features for tongue

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background The mucosae of the oral cavity are different at the histological level but appear all equally exposed to common genotoxic agents. As a result of this exposure, changes in the mucosal epithelia may develop giving rise to Oral Potentially Malignant Lesions (OPMLs), which with time may in turn progress to Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas (OSCCs). Therefore, much effort should be devoted to identify features able to predict the likeliness of progression associated with an OPML. Such features may be helpful in assisting the clinician to establish both appropriate therapies and follow-up schedules. Here, we report a pilot study that compared the occurrence of DNA aneuploidy and chromosomal copy number aberrations (CNAs) in the OPMLs from different oral anatomical subsites. Methods Samples from histologically diagnosed OPMLs were processed for high resolution DNA flow cytometry (hr DNA-FCM) in order to determine the relative DNA content expressed by the DNA index (DI). Additionally, array-Comparative Genomic Hybridization (a-CGH) analysis was performed on DNA obtained from diploid nuclei suspensions directly. When aneuploid nuclei were detected, these were physically separated from diploid nuclei on the base of their DI values by means of a DNA-FCM-Sorter in order to improve the a-CGH analysis. Results Tongue OPMLs were more frequently associated with DNA aneuploidy and CNAs than OPMLs arising from all the other mucosal subsites. Conclusions We suggest that the follow-up and the management of the patients with tongue OPMLs should receive a distinctive special attention. Clearly, this hypothesis should be validated in a prospective clinical study. PMID:21995418

Computed tomography synthesis from magnetic resonance images in the pelvis using multiple random forests and auto-context features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andreasen, Daniel; Edmund, Jens M.; Zografos, Vasileios; Menze, Bjoern H.; Van Leemput, Koen

2016-03-01

In radiotherapy treatment planning that is only based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the electron density information usually obtained from computed tomography (CT) must be derived from the MRI by synthesizing a so-called pseudo CT (pCT). This is a non-trivial task since MRI intensities are neither uniquely nor quantitatively related to electron density. Typical approaches involve either a classification or regression model requiring specialized MRI sequences to solve intensity ambiguities, or an atlas-based model necessitating multiple registrations between atlases and subject scans. In this work, we explore a machine learning approach for creating a pCT of the pelvic region from conventional MRI sequences without using atlases. We use a random forest provided with information about local texture, edges and spatial features derived from the MRI. This helps to solve intensity ambiguities. Furthermore, we use the concept of auto-context by sequentially training a number of classification forests to create and improve context features, which are finally used to train a regression forest for pCT prediction. We evaluate the pCT quality in terms of the voxel-wise error and the radiologic accuracy as measured by water-equivalent path lengths. We compare the performance of our method against two baseline pCT strategies, which either set all MRI voxels in the subject equal to the CT value of water, or in addition transfer the bone volume from the real CT. We show an improved performance compared to both baseline pCTs suggesting that our method may be useful for MRI-only radiotherapy.

Comparing supervised learning methods for classifying sex, age, context and individual Mudi dogs from barking.

PubMed

Larrañaga, Ana; Bielza, Concha; Pongrácz, Péter; Faragó, Tamás; Bálint, Anna; Larrañaga, Pedro

2015-03-01

Barking is perhaps the most characteristic form of vocalization in dogs; however, very little is known about its role in the intraspecific communication of this species. Besides the obvious need for ethological research, both in the field and in the laboratory, the possible information content of barks can also be explored by computerized acoustic analyses. This study compares four different supervised learning methods (naive Bayes, classification trees, [Formula: see text]-nearest neighbors and logistic regression) combined with three strategies for selecting variables (all variables, filter and wrapper feature subset selections) to classify Mudi dogs by sex, age, context and individual from their barks. The classification accuracy of the models obtained was estimated by means of [Formula: see text]-fold cross-validation. Percentages of correct classifications were 85.13 % for determining sex, 80.25 % for predicting age (recodified as young, adult and old), 55.50 % for classifying contexts (seven situations) and 67.63 % for recognizing individuals (8 dogs), so the results are encouraging. The best-performing method was [Formula: see text]-nearest neighbors following a wrapper feature selection approach. The results for classifying contexts and recognizing individual dogs were better with this method than they were for other approaches reported in the specialized literature. This is the first time that the sex and age of domestic dogs have been predicted with the help of sound analysis. This study shows that dog barks carry ample information regarding the caller's indexical features. Our computerized analysis provides indirect proof that barks may serve as an important source of information for dogs as well.

Meteoroid and Debris Impact Features Documented on the Long Duration Exposure Facility

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-08-01

surfaces was very different from the hole production (penetration) mechanism in true thin films; the laminated structure was never actually penetrated...16 METEOROID & DEBRIS SPECIAL INVESTIGATION GROUP Impacts into laminated polymeric films, such as the Kapton test specimens on experiment A0138...several layers of carbon, glass, and/or Kevlar woven fiber cloth laminated together with resin binders. Impact features in these materials were

Literacy in Japan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kanaya, Toshio

1979-01-01

Examines three causes for Japan's high literacy rate: (1) emphasis on literacy in Japanese society; (2) pervasive effect of the modern Japanese school system; (3) special structural features of the Japanese language which aid in functional use. (DR)

Questioning scrutiny: bioethics, sexuality, and gender identity.

PubMed

Wahlert, Lance; Fiester, Autumn

2012-09-01

The clinic is a loaded space for LGBTQI persons. Historically a site of pathology and culturally a site of stigma, the contemporary clinic for queer patient populations and their loved ones is an ethically fraught space. This paper, which introduces the featured articles of this special issue of the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry on "Bioethics, Sexuality, and Gender Identity," begins by offering an analysis of scrutiny itself. How do we scrutinize? When is it apt for us to scrutinize? And what are the benefits and perils of clinical and bioethical scrutiny? Bearing in mind these questions, the second half of this paper introduces the feature articles in this special issue in response to such forms of scrutiny. How, why, when, and in what ways to sensitively scrutinize LGBTQI persons in the clinic are the aims of this piece.

Editorial: Latest methods and advances in biotechnology.

PubMed

Lee, Sang Yup; Jungbauer, Alois

2014-01-01

The latest "Biotech Methods and Advances" special issue of Biotechnology Journal continues the BTJ tradition of featuring the latest breakthroughs in biotechnology. The special issue is edited by our Editors-in-Chief, Prof. Sang Yup Lee and Prof. Alois Jungbauer and covers a wide array of topics in biotechnology, including the perennial favorite workhorses of the biotech industry, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell and Escherichia coli. Copyright © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Exact partition functions for the Ω-deformed {N}={2}^{ast } SU(2) gauge theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beccaria, Matteo; Macorini, Guido

2016-07-01

We study the low energy effective action of the Ω-deformed {N}={2}^{ast } SU(2) gauge theory. It depends on the deformation parameters ɛ 1, ɛ 2, the scalar field expectation value a, and the hypermultiplet mass m. We explore the plane (m/ɛ_1,ɛ_2/ɛ_1) looking for special features in the multi-instanton contributions to the prepotential, motivated by what happens in the Nekrasov-Shatashvili limit ɛ 2 → 0. We propose a simple condition on the structure of poles of the k-instanton prepotential and show that it is admissible at a finite set of points in the above plane. At these special points, the prepotential has poles at fixed positions independent on the instanton number. Besides and remarkably, both the instanton partition function and the full prepotential, including the perturbative contribution, may be given in closed form as functions of the scalar expectation value a and the modular parameter q appearing in special combinations of Eisenstein series and Dedekind η function. As a byproduct, the modular anomaly equation can be tested at all orders at these points. We discuss these special features from the point of view of the AGT correspondence and provide explicit toroidal 1-blocks in non-trivial closed form. The full list of solutions with 1, 2, 3, and 4 poles is determined and described in details.

Comparative study on the efficiency of some optical methods for artwork diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schirripa Spagnolo, Giuseppe; Ambrosini, Dario; Paoletti, Domenica

2001-10-01

Scientific investigation methods are founding their place besides the stylistic-historical study methods in art research works. In particular, optical techniques, transferred from other fields or developed ad hoc, can make a strong contribution to the safeguarding and exploitation of cultural heritage. This paper describes the use of different optical techniques, such as holographic interferometry, decorrelation, shearography and ESPI, in the diagnostics of works of art. A comparison between different methods is obtained by performing tests on specially designed models, prepared using typical techniques and materials. Inside the model structure, a number of defects of known types, form and extension are inserted. The different features of each technique are outlined and a comparison with IR thermography is also carried out.

Developmental dyscalculia and basic numerical capacities: a study of 8-9-year-old students.

PubMed

Landerl, Karin; Bevan, Anna; Butterworth, Brian

2004-09-01

Thirty-one 8- and 9-year-old children selected for dyscalculia, reading difficulties or both, were compared to controls on a range of basic number processing tasks. Children with dyscalculia only had impaired performance on the tasks despite high-average performance on tests of IQ, vocabulary and working memory tasks. Children with reading disability were mildly impaired only on tasks that involved articulation, while children with both disorders showed a pattern of numerical disability similar to that of the dyscalculic group, with no special features consequent on their reading or language deficits. We conclude that dyscalculia is the result of specific disabilities in basic numerical processing, rather than the consequence of deficits in other cognitive abilities.

Spectrophotometry of comets Giacobini-Zinner and Halley

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tegler, Stephen C.; O'Dell, C. R.

1987-01-01

Optical window spectrophotometry was performed on comets Giacobini-Zinner and Halley over the interval 300-1000 nm. Band and band-sequence fluxes were obtained for the brightest features of OH, CN, NH, and C2, special care having been given to determinations of extinction, instrumental sensitivities, and corrections for Fraunhofer lines. C2 Swan band-sequence flux ratios were determined with unprecedented accuracy and compared with the predictions of the detailed equilibrium models of Krishna Swamy et al. (1977, 1979, 1981, and 1987). It is found that these band sequences do not agree with the predictions, which calls into question the assumptions made in deriving the model, namely resonance fluorescence statistical equilibrium. Suggestions are made as to how to resolve this discrepancy.

Multiplicative Multitask Feature Learning

PubMed Central

Wang, Xin; Bi, Jinbo; Yu, Shipeng; Sun, Jiangwen; Song, Minghu

2016-01-01

We investigate a general framework of multiplicative multitask feature learning which decomposes individual task’s model parameters into a multiplication of two components. One of the components is used across all tasks and the other component is task-specific. Several previous methods can be proved to be special cases of our framework. We study the theoretical properties of this framework when different regularization conditions are applied to the two decomposed components. We prove that this framework is mathematically equivalent to the widely used multitask feature learning methods that are based on a joint regularization of all model parameters, but with a more general form of regularizers. Further, an analytical formula is derived for the across-task component as related to the task-specific component for all these regularizers, leading to a better understanding of the shrinkage effects of different regularizers. Study of this framework motivates new multitask learning algorithms. We propose two new learning formulations by varying the parameters in the proposed framework. An efficient blockwise coordinate descent algorithm is developed suitable for solving the entire family of formulations with rigorous convergence analysis. Simulation studies have identified the statistical properties of data that would be in favor of the new formulations. Extensive empirical studies on various classification and regression benchmark data sets have revealed the relative advantages of the two new formulations by comparing with the state of the art, which provides instructive insights into the feature learning problem with multiple tasks. PMID:28428735

Mapping from Space - Ontology Based Map Production Using Satellite Imageries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asefpour Vakilian, A.; Momeni, M.

2013-09-01

Determination of the maximum ability for feature extraction from satellite imageries based on ontology procedure using cartographic feature determination is the main objective of this research. Therefore, a special ontology has been developed to extract maximum volume of information available in different high resolution satellite imageries and compare them to the map information layers required in each specific scale due to unified specification for surveying and mapping. ontology seeks to provide an explicit and comprehensive classification of entities in all sphere of being. This study proposes a new method for automatic maximum map feature extraction and reconstruction of high resolution satellite images. For example, in order to extract building blocks to produce 1 : 5000 scale and smaller maps, the road networks located around the building blocks should be determined. Thus, a new building index has been developed based on concepts obtained from ontology. Building blocks have been extracted with completeness about 83%. Then, road networks have been extracted and reconstructed to create a uniform network with less discontinuity on it. In this case, building blocks have been extracted with proper performance and the false positive value from confusion matrix was reduced by about 7%. Results showed that vegetation cover and water features have been extracted completely (100%) and about 71% of limits have been extracted. Also, the proposed method in this article had the ability to produce a map with largest scale possible from any multi spectral high resolution satellite imagery equal to or smaller than 1 : 5000.

Mapping from Space - Ontology Based Map Production Using Satellite Imageries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asefpour Vakilian, A.; Momeni, M.

2013-09-01

Determination of the maximum ability for feature extraction from satellite imageries based on ontology procedure using cartographic feature determination is the main objective of this research. Therefore, a special ontology has been developed to extract maximum volume of information available in different high resolution satellite imageries and compare them to the map information layers required in each specific scale due to unified specification for surveying and mapping. ontology seeks to provide an explicit and comprehensive classification of entities in all sphere of being. This study proposes a new method for automatic maximum map feature extraction and reconstruction of high resolution satellite images. For example, in order to extract building blocks to produce 1 : 5000 scale and smaller maps, the road networks located around the building blocks should be determined. Thus, a new building index has been developed based on concepts obtained from ontology. Building blocks have been extracted with completeness about 83 %. Then, road networks have been extracted and reconstructed to create a uniform network with less discontinuity on it. In this case, building blocks have been extracted with proper performance and the false positive value from confusion matrix was reduced by about 7 %. Results showed that vegetation cover and water features have been extracted completely (100 %) and about 71 % of limits have been extracted. Also, the proposed method in this article had the ability to produce a map with largest scale possible from any multi spectral high resolution satellite imagery equal to or smaller than 1 : 5000.

Features in Grocery Stores that Motivate Shoppers to Buy Healthier Foods, ConsumerStyles 2014.

PubMed

Moore, Latetia V; Pinard, Courtney A; Yaroch, Amy L

2016-08-01

We examined nine features in grocery stores shoppers reported motivated them to purchase more healthful foods in the past month. Features were compiled from common supermarket practices for each of the 4 Ps of marketing: pricing, placement, promotion, and product. We examined percentages of the features overall and by shopping frequency using Chi square tests from a 2014 cross sectional web-based health attitudes and behaviors survey, ConsumerStyles. The survey was fielded from June to July in 2014. Participants were part of a market research consumer panel that were randomly recruited by probability-based sampling using address-based sampling methods to achieve a sample representative of the U.S. Data from 4242 adults ages 18 and older were analyzed. About 44 % of respondents indicated at least one feature motivated them to purchase more healthful foods. Top choices included in-store coupons or specials (20.1 %), availability of convenient, ready-to-eat more healthful foods (18.8 %), product labels or advertising on packages (15.2 %), and labels or signs on shelves that highlighted more healthful options (14.6 %). Frequent shoppers reported being motivated to purchase more healthful foods by in-store tastings/recipe demonstrations and coupons/specials more often than infrequent shoppers. Enhancing the visibility and appeal of more healthful food items in grocery stores may help improve dietary choices in some populations but additional research is needed to identify the most effective strategies for interventions.

Features in grocery stores that motivate shoppers to buy healthier foods, ConsumerStyles 2014

PubMed Central

Moore, Latetia V; Pinard, Courtney A.; Yaroch, Amy L.

2016-01-01

Objective We examined nine features in grocery stores shoppers reported motivated them to purchase more healthful foods in the past month. Design Features were compiled from common supermarket practices for each of the 4 Ps of marketing: pricing, placement, promotion, and product. We examined percentages of the features overall and by shopping frequency using chi-square tests from a 2014 cross sectional web-based health attitudes and behaviors survey, ConsumerStyles. The survey was fielded from June to July in 2014. Setting Participants were part of a market research consumer panel that were randomly recruited by probability-based sampling using address-based sampling methods to achieve a sample representative of the U.S. population. Subjects Data from 4,242 adults ages 18 and older were analyzed. Results About 44% of respondents indicated at least one feature motivated them to purchase more healthful foods. Top choices included in-store coupons or specials (20.1%), availability of convenient, ready-to-eat more healthful foods (18.8%), product labels or advertising on packages (15.2%), and labels or signs on shelves that highlighted more healthful options (14.6%). Frequent shoppers reported being motivated to purchase more healthful foods by in-store tastings/recipe demonstrations and coupons/specials more often than infrequent shoppers. Conclusions Enhancing the visibility and appeal of more healthful food items in grocery stores may help improve dietary choices in some populations but additional research is needed to identify the most effective strategies for interventions. PMID:26831484

Can radiomics features be reproducibly measured from CBCT images for patients with non-small cell lung cancer?

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

Fave, Xenia, E-mail: xjfave@mdanderson.org; Fried, David; Mackin, Dennis

Purpose: Increasing evidence suggests radiomics features extracted from computed tomography (CT) images may be useful in prognostic models for patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study was designed to determine whether such features can be reproducibly obtained from cone-beam CT (CBCT) images taken using medical Linac onboard-imaging systems in order to track them through treatment. Methods: Test-retest CBCT images of ten patients previously enrolled in a clinical trial were retrospectively obtained and used to determine the concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) for 68 different texture features. The volume dependence of each feature was also measured using the Spearman rankmore » correlation coefficient. Features with a high reproducibility (CCC > 0.9) that were not due to volume dependence in the patient test-retest set were further examined for their sensitivity to differences in imaging protocol, level of scatter, and amount of motion by using two phantoms. The first phantom was a texture phantom composed of rectangular cartridges to represent different textures. Features were measured from two cartridges, shredded rubber and dense cork, in this study. The texture phantom was scanned with 19 different CBCT imagers to establish the features’ interscanner variability. The effect of scatter on these features was studied by surrounding the same texture phantom with scattering material (rice and solid water). The effect of respiratory motion on these features was studied using a dynamic-motion thoracic phantom and a specially designed tumor texture insert of the shredded rubber material. The differences between scans acquired with different Linacs and protocols, varying amounts of scatter, and with different levels of motion were compared to the mean intrapatient difference from the test-retest image set. Results: Of the original 68 features, 37 had a CCC >0.9 that was not due to volume dependence. When the Linac manufacturer and imaging protocol were kept consistent, 4–13 of these 37 features passed our criteria for reproducibility more than 50% of the time, depending on the manufacturer-protocol combination. Almost all of the features changed substantially when scatter material was added around the phantom. For the dense cork, 23 features passed in the thoracic scans and 11 features passed in the head scans when the differences between one and two layers of scatter were compared. Using the same test for the shredded rubber, five features passed the thoracic scans and eight features passed the head scans. Motion substantially impacted the reproducibility of the features. With 4 mm of motion, 12 features from the entire volume and 14 features from the center slice measurements were reproducible. With 6–8 mm of motion, three features (Laplacian of Gaussian filtered kurtosis, gray-level nonuniformity, and entropy), from the entire volume and seven features (coarseness, high gray-level run emphasis, gray-level nonuniformity, sum-average, information measure correlation, scaled mean, and entropy) from the center-slice measurements were considered reproducible. Conclusions: Some radiomics features are robust to the noise and poor image quality of CBCT images when the imaging protocol is consistent, relative changes in the features are used, and patients are limited to those with less than 1 cm of motion.« less

Spatial organization of astrocytes in ferret visual cortex

PubMed Central

López‐Hidalgo, Mónica; Hoover, Walter B.

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Astrocytes form an intricate partnership with neural circuits to influence numerous cellular and synaptic processes. One prominent organizational feature of astrocytes is the “tiling” of the brain with non‐overlapping territories. There are some documented species and brain region–specific astrocyte specializations, but the extent of astrocyte diversity and circuit specificity are still unknown. We quantitatively defined the rules that govern the spatial arrangement of astrocyte somata and territory overlap in ferret visual cortex using a combination of in vivo two‐photon imaging, morphological reconstruction, immunostaining, and model simulations. We found that ferret astrocytes share, on average, half of their territory with other astrocytes. However, a specific class of astrocytes, abundant in thalamo‐recipient cortical layers (“kissing” astrocytes), overlap markedly less. Together, these results demonstrate novel features of astrocyte organization indicating that different classes of astrocytes are arranged in a circuit‐specific manner and that tiling does not apply universally across brain regions and species. J. Comp. Neurol. 524:3561–3576, 2016. © 2016 The Authors The Journal of Comparative Neurology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:27072916

Foot Structure in Boys with Down Syndrome

PubMed Central

Nowak, Krzysztof; Omorczyk, Jarosław; Ambroży, Tadeusz; Nosiadek, Leszek

2017-01-01

Introduction and Aim Down syndrome (DS) is associated with numerous developmental abnormalities, some of which cause dysfunctions of the posture and the locomotor system. The analysis of selected features of the foot structure in boys with DS versus their peers without developmental disorders is done. Materials and Methods The podoscopic examination was performed on 30 boys with DS aged 14-15 years. A control group consisted of 30 age- and gender-matched peers without DS. Results The feet of boys with DS are flatter compared to their healthy peers. The hallux valgus angle is not the most important feature differentiating the shape of the foot in the boys with DS and their healthy peers. In terms of the V toe setting, healthy boys had poorer results. Conclusions Specialized therapeutic treatment in individuals with DS should involve exercises to increase the muscle strength around the foot joints, enhancing the stabilization in the joints and proprioception. Introducing orthotics and proper footwear is also important. It is also necessary to monitor the state of the foot in order to modify undertaken therapies. PMID:28904967

Intelligent trend analysis for a solar thermal energy collector field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juuso, E. K.

2018-03-01

Solar thermal power plants collect available solar energy in a usable form at a temperature range which is adapted to the irradiation levels and seasonal variations. Solar energy can be collected only when the irradiation is high enough to produce the required temperatures. During the operation, a trade-off of the temperature and the flow is needed to achieve a good level for the collected power. The scaling approach brings temporal analysis to all measurements and features: trend indices are calculated by comparing the averages in the long and short time windows, a weighted sum of the trend index and its derivative detects the trend episodes and severity of the trend is estimated by including also the variable level in the sum. The trend index, trend episodes and especially, the deviation index reveal early evolving changes in the operating conditions, including cloudiness and load disturbances. The solution is highly compact: all variables, features and indices are transformed to the range [-2, 2] and represented in natural language which is important in integrating data-driven solutions with domain expertise. The special situations detected during the test campaigns are explained well.

A simulation of the OMEGA/Mars Express observations: Analysis of the atmospheric contribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melchiorri, R.; Drossart, P.; Fouchet, T.; Bézard, B.; Forget, F.; Gendrin, A.; Bibring, J. P.; Manaud, N.; OMEGA Team; Berthé, M.; Bibring, J.-P.; Langevin, Y.; Forni, O.; Gendrin, A.; Gondet, B.; Manaud, N.; Poulet, F.; Poulleau, G.; Soufflot, A.; Mangold, N.; Bonello, G.; Forget, F.; Bezard, B.; Combes, M.; Drossart, P.; Encrenaz, T.; Fouchet, T.; Melchiorri, R.; Erard, S.; Bellucci, G.; Altieri, F.; Formisano, V.; Fonti, S.; Capaccioni, F.; Cerroni, P.; Coradini, A.; Kottsov, V.; Ignatiev, N.; Moroz, V.; Titov, D.; Zasova, L.; Pinet, P.; Schmitt, B.; Sotin, C.; Hauber, E.; Hoffmann, H.; Jaumann, R.; Keller, U.; Arvidson, R.; Mustard, J.; Duxbary, T.

2006-08-01

Spectral images of Mars obtained by the Mars Express/OMEGA experiment in the near infrared are the result of a complex combination of atmospheric, aerosol and ground features. Retrieving the atmospheric information from the data is important, not only to decorrelate mineralogical against atmospheric features, but also to retrieve the atmospheric variability. Once the illumination conditions have been taken into account, the main source of variation on the CO2 absorption is due to the altitude of the surface, which governs atmospheric pressure variation by more than an order of magnitude between the summit of Olympus Mons down to the bottom of Valles Marineris. In this article we present a simplified atmospheric spectral model without scattering, specially developed for the OMEGA observations, which is used to retrieve the local topography through the analysis of the 2.0μmCO2 band. OMEGA atmospheric observations increase the horizontal resolution compared to MOLA altimetry measurements, and therefore complement the mineralogical studies from the same instrument. Finally, residual variations of the pressure can be related to atmospheric structure variation.

Representation of DNA sequences in genetic codon context with applications in exon and intron prediction.

PubMed

Yin, Changchuan

2015-04-01

To apply digital signal processing (DSP) methods to analyze DNA sequences, the sequences first must be specially mapped into numerical sequences. Thus, effective numerical mappings of DNA sequences play key roles in the effectiveness of DSP-based methods such as exon prediction. Despite numerous mappings of symbolic DNA sequences to numerical series, the existing mapping methods do not include the genetic coding features of DNA sequences. We present a novel numerical representation of DNA sequences using genetic codon context (GCC) in which the numerical values are optimized by simulation annealing to maximize the 3-periodicity signal to noise ratio (SNR). The optimized GCC representation is then applied in exon and intron prediction by Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) approach. The results show the GCC method enhances the SNR values of exon sequences and thus increases the accuracy of predicting protein coding regions in genomes compared with the commonly used 4D binary representation. In addition, this study offers a novel way to reveal specific features of DNA sequences by optimizing numerical mappings of symbolic DNA sequences.

The evolution of neocortex in primates

PubMed Central

Kaas, Jon H.

2013-01-01

We can learn about the evolution of neocortex in primates through comparative studies of cortical organization in primates and those mammals that are the closest living relatives of primates, in conjunction with brain features revealed by the skull endocasts of fossil archaic primates. Such studies suggest that early primates had acquired a number of features of neocortex that now distinguish modern primates. Most notably, early primates had an array of new visual areas, and those visual areas widely shared with other mammals had been modified. Posterior parietal cortex was greatly expanded with sensorimotor modules for reaching, grasping, and personal defense. Motor cortex had become more specialized for hand use, and the functions of primary motor cortex were enhanced by the addition and development of premotor and cingulate motor areas. Cortical architecture became more varied, and cortical neuron populations became denser overall than in nonprimate ancestors. Primary visual cortex had the densest population of neurons, and this became more pronounced in the anthropoid radiation. Within the primate clade, considerable variability in cortical size, numbers of areas, and architecture evolved. PMID:22230624

The evolution of neocortex in primates.

PubMed

Kaas, Jon H

2012-01-01

We can learn about the evolution of neocortex in primates through comparative studies of cortical organization in primates and those mammals that are the closest living relatives of primates, in conjunction with brain features revealed by the skull endocasts of fossil archaic primates. Such studies suggest that early primates had acquired a number of features of neocortex that now distinguish modern primates. Most notably, early primates had an array of new visual areas, and those visual areas widely shared with other mammals had been modified. Posterior parietal cortex was greatly expanded with sensorimotor modules for reaching, grasping, and personal defense. Motor cortex had become more specialized for hand use, and the functions of primary motor cortex were enhanced by the addition and development of premotor and cingulate motor areas. Cortical architecture became more varied, and cortical neuron populations became denser overall than in nonprimate ancestors. Primary visual cortex had the densest population of neurons, and this became more pronounced in the anthropoid radiation. Within the primate clade, considerable variability in cortical size, numbers of areas, and architecture evolved. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Unique Features of Fish Immune Repertoires: Particularities of Adaptive Immunity Within the Largest Group of Vertebrates

PubMed Central

Sunyer, Oriol J.

2016-01-01

Fishes (i.e., teleost fishes) are the largest group of vertebrates. Although their immune system is based on the fundamental receptors, pathways, and cell types found in all groups of vertebrates, fishes show a diversity of particular features that challenge some classical concepts of immunology. In this chapter, we discuss the particularities of fish immune repertoires from a comparative perspective. We examine how allelic exclusion can be achieved when multiple Ig loci are present, how isotypic diversity and functional specificity impact clonal complexity, how loss of the MHC class II molecules affects the cooperation between T and B cells, and how deep sequencing technologies bring new insights about somatic hypermutation in the absence of germinal centers. The unique coexistence of two distinct B-cell lineages respectively specialized in systemic and mucosal responses is also discussed. Finally, we try to show that the diverse adaptations of immune repertoires in teleosts can help in understanding how somatic adaptive mechanisms of immunity evolved in parallel in different lineages across vertebrates. PMID:26537384

Sequence-based predictive modeling to identify cancerlectins

PubMed Central

Lai, Hong-Yan; Chen, Xin-Xin; Chen, Wei; Tang, Hua; Lin, Hao

2017-01-01

Lectins are a diverse type of glycoproteins or carbohydrate-binding proteins that have a wide distribution to various species. They can specially identify and exclusively bind to a certain kind of saccharide groups. Cancerlectins are a group of lectins that are closely related to cancer and play a major role in the initiation, survival, growth, metastasis and spread of tumor. Several computational methods have emerged to discriminate cancerlectins from non-cancerlectins, which promote the study on pathogenic mechanisms and clinical treatment of cancer. However, the predictive accuracies of most of these techniques are very limited. In this work, by constructing a benchmark dataset based on the CancerLectinDB database, a new amino acid sequence-based strategy for feature description was developed, and then the binomial distribution was applied to screen the optimal feature set. Ultimately, an SVM-based predictor was performed to distinguish cancerlectins from non-cancerlectins, and achieved an accuracy of 77.48% with AUC of 85.52% in jackknife cross-validation. The results revealed that our prediction model could perform better comparing with published predictive tools. PMID:28423655

[Spectral navigation technology and its application in positioning the fruits of fruit trees].

PubMed

Yu, Xiao-Lei; Zhao, Zhi-Min

2010-03-01

An innovative technology of spectral navigation is presented in the present paper. This new method adopts reflectance spectra of fruits, leaves and branches as one of the key navigation parameters and positions the fruits of fruit trees relying on the diversity of spectral characteristics. The research results show that the distinct smoothness as effect is available in the spectrum of leaves of fruit trees. On the other hand, gradual increasing as the trend is an important feature in the spectrum of branches of fruit trees while the spectrum of fruit fluctuates. In addition, the peak diversity of reflectance rate between fruits and leaves of fruit trees is reached at 850 nm of wavelength. So the limit value can be designed at this wavelength in order to distinguish fruits and leaves. The method introduced here can not only quickly distinguish fruits, leaves and branches, but also avoid the effects of surroundings. Compared with the traditional navigation systems based on machine vision, there are still some special and unique features in the field of positioning the fruits of fruit trees using spectral navigation technology.

College Drinking - Changing the Culture

MedlinePlus

... Out More about college alcohol policies College Drinking - Changing the Culture This is your one-stop resource for comprehensive ... Help Read More about special features College Drinking - Changing the Culture This is your one-stop resource for comprehensive ...

Software Reviews.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Science Software Quarterly, 1984

1984-01-01

Provides extensive reviews of computer software, examining documentation, ease of use, performance, error handling, special features, and system requirements. Includes statistics, problem-solving (TK Solver), label printing, database management, experimental psychology, Encyclopedia Britannica biology, and DNA-sequencing programs. A program for…

Class Outdoors in the District of Columbia

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Specially-designed outdoor education areas surrounded by rain gardens and other green features have been added to the grounds of three District of Columbia schools, providing students with hands-on learning experiences while reducing stormwater pollution.

Energy Use in Manufacturing

EIA Publications

2006-01-01

This report addresses both manufacturing energy consumption and characteristics of the manufacturing economy related to energy consumption. In addition, special sections on fuel switching capacity and energy-management activities between 1998 and 2002 are also featured in this report.

National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center

MedlinePlus

... the Organizations Database Center for Oral Health Systems Integration and Improvement (COHSII) COHSII is a consortium promoting ... to e-mail lists Featured Resources Consensus Statement Integration Framework Bright Futures Pocket Guide Consumer Materials Special ...

A Detailed Comparison of Multidimensional Boltzmann Neutrino Transport Methods in Core-collapse Supernovae

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

Richers, Sherwood; Nagakura, Hiroki; Ott, Christian D.

The mechanism driving core-collapse supernovae is sensitive to the interplay between matter and neutrino radiation. However, neutrino radiation transport is very difficult to simulate, and several radiation transport methods of varying levels of approximation are available. We carefully compare for the first time in multiple spatial dimensions the discrete ordinates (DO) code of Nagakura, Yamada, and Sumiyoshi and the Monte Carlo (MC) code Sedonu, under the assumptions of a static fluid background, flat spacetime, elastic scattering, and full special relativity. We find remarkably good agreement in all spectral, angular, and fluid interaction quantities, lending confidence to both methods. The DOmore » method excels in determining the heating and cooling rates in the optically thick region. The MC method predicts sharper angular features due to the effectively infinite angular resolution, but struggles to drive down noise in quantities where subtractive cancellation is prevalent, such as the net gain in the protoneutron star and off-diagonal components of the Eddington tensor. We also find that errors in the angular moments of the distribution functions induced by neglecting velocity dependence are subdominant to those from limited momentum-space resolution. We briefly compare directly computed second angular moments to those predicted by popular algebraic two-moment closures, and we find that the errors from the approximate closures are comparable to the difference between the DO and MC methods. Included in this work is an improved Sedonu code, which now implements a fully special relativistic, time-independent version of the grid-agnostic MC random walk approximation.« less

A Detailed Comparison of Multidimensional Boltzmann Neutrino Transport Methods in Core-collapse Supernovae

DOE PAGES

Richers, Sherwood; Nagakura, Hiroki; Ott, Christian D.; ...

2017-10-03

The mechanism driving core-collapse supernovae is sensitive to the interplay between matter and neutrino radiation. However, neutrino radiation transport is very difficult to simulate, and several radiation transport methods of varying levels of approximation are available. In this paper, we carefully compare for the first time in multiple spatial dimensions the discrete ordinates (DO) code of Nagakura, Yamada, and Sumiyoshi and the Monte Carlo (MC) code Sedonu, under the assumptions of a static fluid background, flat spacetime, elastic scattering, and full special relativity. We find remarkably good agreement in all spectral, angular, and fluid interaction quantities, lending confidence to bothmore » methods. The DO method excels in determining the heating and cooling rates in the optically thick region. The MC method predicts sharper angular features due to the effectively infinite angular resolution, but struggles to drive down noise in quantities where subtractive cancellation is prevalent, such as the net gain in the protoneutron star and off-diagonal components of the Eddington tensor. We also find that errors in the angular moments of the distribution functions induced by neglecting velocity dependence are subdominant to those from limited momentum-space resolution. We briefly compare directly computed second angular moments to those predicted by popular algebraic two-moment closures, and we find that the errors from the approximate closures are comparable to the difference between the DO and MC methods. Finally, included in this work is an improved Sedonu code, which now implements a fully special relativistic, time-independent version of the grid-agnostic MC random walk approximation.« less

A Detailed Comparison of Multidimensional Boltzmann Neutrino Transport Methods in Core-collapse Supernovae

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

Richers, Sherwood; Nagakura, Hiroki; Ott, Christian D.

The mechanism driving core-collapse supernovae is sensitive to the interplay between matter and neutrino radiation. However, neutrino radiation transport is very difficult to simulate, and several radiation transport methods of varying levels of approximation are available. In this paper, we carefully compare for the first time in multiple spatial dimensions the discrete ordinates (DO) code of Nagakura, Yamada, and Sumiyoshi and the Monte Carlo (MC) code Sedonu, under the assumptions of a static fluid background, flat spacetime, elastic scattering, and full special relativity. We find remarkably good agreement in all spectral, angular, and fluid interaction quantities, lending confidence to bothmore » methods. The DO method excels in determining the heating and cooling rates in the optically thick region. The MC method predicts sharper angular features due to the effectively infinite angular resolution, but struggles to drive down noise in quantities where subtractive cancellation is prevalent, such as the net gain in the protoneutron star and off-diagonal components of the Eddington tensor. We also find that errors in the angular moments of the distribution functions induced by neglecting velocity dependence are subdominant to those from limited momentum-space resolution. We briefly compare directly computed second angular moments to those predicted by popular algebraic two-moment closures, and we find that the errors from the approximate closures are comparable to the difference between the DO and MC methods. Finally, included in this work is an improved Sedonu code, which now implements a fully special relativistic, time-independent version of the grid-agnostic MC random walk approximation.« less

A Detailed Comparison of Multidimensional Boltzmann Neutrino Transport Methods in Core-collapse Supernovae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richers, Sherwood; Nagakura, Hiroki; Ott, Christian D.; Dolence, Joshua; Sumiyoshi, Kohsuke; Yamada, Shoichi

2017-10-01

The mechanism driving core-collapse supernovae is sensitive to the interplay between matter and neutrino radiation. However, neutrino radiation transport is very difficult to simulate, and several radiation transport methods of varying levels of approximation are available. We carefully compare for the first time in multiple spatial dimensions the discrete ordinates (DO) code of Nagakura, Yamada, and Sumiyoshi and the Monte Carlo (MC) code Sedonu, under the assumptions of a static fluid background, flat spacetime, elastic scattering, and full special relativity. We find remarkably good agreement in all spectral, angular, and fluid interaction quantities, lending confidence to both methods. The DO method excels in determining the heating and cooling rates in the optically thick region. The MC method predicts sharper angular features due to the effectively infinite angular resolution, but struggles to drive down noise in quantities where subtractive cancellation is prevalent, such as the net gain in the protoneutron star and off-diagonal components of the Eddington tensor. We also find that errors in the angular moments of the distribution functions induced by neglecting velocity dependence are subdominant to those from limited momentum-space resolution. We briefly compare directly computed second angular moments to those predicted by popular algebraic two-moment closures, and we find that the errors from the approximate closures are comparable to the difference between the DO and MC methods. Included in this work is an improved Sedonu code, which now implements a fully special relativistic, time-independent version of the grid-agnostic MC random walk approximation.

Black-hole production at LHC: Special features, problems, and expectations

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

Savina, M. V., E-mail: savina@cern.ch

2011-03-15

A brief survey of the present-day status of the problem of multidimensional-black-hole production at accelerators according to models featuring large extra dimensions is given. The respective production cross section and the Hawking temperature and decay rate are estimated versus model parameters. Possible flaws and assumptions whose accurate inclusion can reduce significantly the probability of blackhole production at accelerators in relation to earlier optimistic estimates are also discussed.

Relay protection features of frequency-adjustable electric drive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuprienko, V. V.

2018-03-01

The features of relay protection of high-voltage electric motors in composition of the frequency-adjustable electric drive are considered in the article. The influence of frequency converters on the stability of the operation of various types of relay protection used on electric motors is noted. Variants of circuits for connecting relay protection devices are suggested. The need to develop special relay protection devices for a frequency-adjustable electric drive is substantiated.

Automated Camera Array Fine Calibration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clouse, Daniel; Padgett, Curtis; Ansar, Adnan; Cheng, Yang

2008-01-01

Using aerial imagery, the JPL FineCalibration (JPL FineCal) software automatically tunes a set of existing CAHVOR camera models for an array of cameras. The software finds matching features in the overlap region between images from adjacent cameras, and uses these features to refine the camera models. It is not necessary to take special imagery of a known target and no surveying is required. JPL FineCal was developed for use with an aerial, persistent surveillance platform.

Special Education in Swedish and Finnish Schools: Seeing the Forest or the Trees?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Takala, Marjatta; Ahl, Astrid

2014-01-01

The purpose of this research was to study the content of the work of two special education professions in Sweden, special teachers and special pedagogues. In addition, we compare their work to the work of Finnish special teachers. The Swedish participants were 74 special educators: 27 special teachers and 47 special pedagogues. The Finnish data…

AMSAHTS 1990: Advances in Materials Science and Applications of High Temperature Superconductors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bennett, Larry H. (Editor); Flom, Yury (Editor); Moorjani, Kishin (Editor)

1991-01-01

This publication is comprised of abstracts for oral and poster presentations scheduled for AMSAHTS '90. The conference focused on understanding high temperature superconductivity with special emphasis on materials issues and applications. AMSAHTS 90, highlighted the state of the art in fundamental understanding of the nature of high-Tc superconductivity (HTSC) as well as the chemistry, structure, properties, processing and stability of HTSC oxides. As a special feature of the conference, space applications of HTSC were discussed by NASA and Navy specialists.

[Life-cycles, psychopathology and suicidal behaviour].

PubMed

Osváth, Péter

2012-12-01

According to modern psychological theories the human life implies continuous development, the efficient solution of age-specific problems is necessary to the successful transition of age-periods. The phases of transition are very vulnerable against the accidental stressors and negative life-events. Thus the problem-solving capacity may run out, which impairs chance of the successful coping with stressful events. It may result in some negative consequences, such as different psychopathological symptoms (depression, anxiety, psychosis) or even suicidal behaviour. For that reason we have to pay special attention to the symptoms of psychological crisis and the presuicidal syndrome. In certain life-cycle transitions (such as adolescent, middle or elderly age) the personality has special vulnerability to the development of psychological and psychopathological problems. In this article the most important features of life-cycles and psychopathological symptoms are reviewed. The developmental and age-specific characteristics have special importance in understanding the background of the actual psychological crisis and improving the efficacy of the treatment. Using the complex bio-psycho-socio-spiritual approach not only the actual psychopatological problems, but the individual psychological features can be recognised. Thus the effective treatment relieves not only the actual symptoms, but will increase the chance for solving further crises.

The Study of Philosophy in Innovative Power Engineering Post-graduate Course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sokolova, J. V.

2017-11-01

Training of highly qualified personnel for the innovative high-tech fields of power engineering is one of the most important tasks of modern education. A number of special features of modern power engineering necessitate not only a highly specialized training but a wider approach in teaching postgraduate students of this field. These special features include a high degree of integration of science, industry, economic and social spheres, and the breadth of interdisciplinary connections in high-tech industries. The postgraduate philosophical training plays an important role in the educational process. The breadth of the problem field and the universality of philosophical knowledge reveal the methods and mechanisms of integration of such sub-disciplines that have significant methodological and structural differences: science, logical-mathematical, socio-economic, technological and human knowledge. Appeal to the philosophy at the stage of postgraduate training has a number of reasons. First of all, it is aimed at integrating of the specific content of different areas of knowledge into a holistic worldview. Secondly, it contributes in developing a critical attitude towards reality and science. What is more, the study of philosophy helps young researches to acquire the definition of their ideological position.

Human-like, population-level specialization in the manufacture of pandanus tools by New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides.

PubMed Central

Hunt, G R

2000-01-01

The main way of gaining insight into the behaviour and neurological faculties of our early ancestors is to study artefactual evidence for the making and use of tools, but this places severe constraints on what knowledge can be obtained. New Caledonian crows, however, offer a potential analogous model system for learning about these difficult-to-establish aspects of prehistoric humans. I found new evidence of human-like specialization in crows' manufacture of hook tools from pandanus leaves: functional lateralization or 'handedness' and the shaping of these tools to a rule system. These population-level features are unprecedented in the tool behaviour of free-living non-humans and provide the first demonstration that a population bias for handedness in tool-making and the shaping of tools to rule systems are not concomitant with symbolic thought and language. It is unknown how crows obtain their tool behaviour. Nevertheless, at the least they can be studied in order to learn about the neuropsychology associated with early specialized and/or advanced population features in tool-making such as hook use, handedness and the shaping of tools to rule systems. PMID:10722223

The pollination biology of a pavement plain: pollinator visitation patterns.

PubMed

O'Brien, Mary H

1980-01-01

The pollination biology of the 20 plant species of a treeless, pavement plain in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California was studied throughout one flowering season.Several patterns of pollinator activity recorded during the season underline the necessity for noting the activity of all insect pollinators whether specialized, non-specialized, regular, or occasional: 1) Occasional insect visitors were a feature of the visitation to nine of the twelve entomophilous plant species and were the sole pollinators for three of these twelve species. 2) The eight entomophilous plant species which had open, generalized flower morphologies received the heaviest pollinator visitation, while three of the four entomophilous species with specialized flower morphologies received little visitation. 3) Most regular flower visitors, whether bees, flies, or wasps, appeared to be similar with respect to number of plant species visited regularly, purity of pollen load, length of residence and localization of activity on the site. The question is raised as to whether such similarity of behavior as pollen vectors is a function of the low plant diversity or a feature commonly found when the pollen loads and behavior of different pollinator types are actually monitored.

Design and adaptation of a novel supercritical extraction facility for operation in a glove box for recovery of radioactive elements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, V. Suresh; Kumar, R.; Sivaraman, N.; Ravisankar, G.; Vasudeva Rao, P. R.

2010-09-01

The design and development of a novel supercritical extraction experimental facility adapted for safe operation in a glove box for the recovery of radioactive elements from waste is described. The apparatus incorporates a high pressure extraction vessel, reciprocating pumps for delivering supercritical fluid and reagent, a back pressure regulator, and a collection chamber. All these components of the system have been specially designed for glove box adaptation and made modular to facilitate their replacement. Confinement of these materials must be ensured in a glove box to protect the operator and prevent contamination to the work area. Since handling of radioactive materials under high pressure (30 MPa) and temperature (up to 333 K) is involved in this process, the apparatus needs elaborate safety features in the design of the equipment, as well as modification of a standard glove box to accommodate the system. As a special safety feature to contain accidental leakage of carbon dioxide from the extraction vessel, a safety vessel has been specially designed and placed inside the glove box. The extraction vessel was enclosed in the safety vessel. The safety vessel was also incorporated with pressure sensing and controlling device.

On 3-D inelastic analysis methods for hot section components. Volume 1: Special finite element models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nakazawa, S.

1987-01-01

This Annual Status Report presents the results of work performed during the third year of the 3-D Inelastic Analysis Methods for Hot Section Components program (NASA Contract NAS3-23697). The objective of the program is to produce a series of new computer codes that permit more accurate and efficient three-dimensional analysis of selected hot section components, i.e., combustor liners, turbine blades, and turbine vanes. The computer codes embody a progression of mathematical models and are streamlined to take advantage of geometrical features, loading conditions, and forms of material response that distinguish each group of selected components. This report is presented in two volumes. Volume 1 describes effort performed under Task 4B, Special Finite Element Special Function Models, while Volume 2 concentrates on Task 4C, Advanced Special Functions Models.

Mapping Queer Bioethics: Space, Place, and Locality.

PubMed

Wahlert, Lance

2016-01-01

This article, which introduces the special issue of the Journal of Homosexuality on "Mapping Queer Bioethics," begins by offering an overview of the analytical scope of the issue. Specifically, the first half of this essay raises critical questions central to the concept of a space-related queer bioethics, such as: How do we appreciate and understand the special needs of queer parties given the constraints of location, space, and geography? The second half of this article describes each feature article in the issue, as well as the subsequent special sections on the ethics of reading literal, health-related maps ("Cartographies") and scrutinizing the history of this journal as concerns LGBT health ("Mapping the Journal of Homosexuality").

Documentation Supporting D.C. Water's Request for Reimbursement After the 2009 Presidential Inauguration

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

DC Water located in Washington, DC incurred costs for activities related to the Presidential Inauguration in January 2009. Support included the purchase and installation of special manhole covers with security features.

ACE3 Draft Indicators: Special Features

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The page information was provided by EPA in conjunction with the opportunity for public comment on the draft indicators for ACE3, which ran from March 8 – April 21, 2011. The public comment period is now closed.

Stuttering-Psycholinguistic Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hategan, Carolina Bodea; Anca, Maria; Prihoi, Lacramioara

2012-01-01

This research promotes psycholinguistic paradigm, it focusing in delimitating several specific particularities in stuttering pathology. Structural approach, on language sides proves both the recurrent aspects found within specialized national and international literature and the psycholinguistic approaches dependence on the features of the…

Special Feature: Teaching about High Tech.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kopf, Michael; And Others

1992-01-01

Includes four articles: "Virtual Reality" (Kopf), description of its uses in computer-assisted design, architecture, and technical training; "SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers) Robotics Contest Opens Doors to Future" (Wagner); "Superconductivity" (Canady), description of classroom demonstrations and experiments;…

Growing Up Gifted in the Soviet Union.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, Robert E.

1987-01-01

A review of the educational program for gifted students in the Soviet Union discusses student responsibilities, program admission, and specialized schools featuring foreign languages, mathematics and physics, music, ballet and arts, sports, and "little academics" (advanced studies). (CB)

77 FR 68102 - Programs and Research Projects Affecting the Arctic; 99th Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-15

..., filing of petitions and applications and agency #0;statements of organization and functions are examples... planning to attend who requires special accessibility features and/or auxiliary aids, such as sign language...

Introduction: "Suffering Sappho!": Lesbian content and queer female characters in comics.

PubMed

Abate, Michelle Ann; Grice, Karly Marie; Stamper, Christine N

2018-04-25

Comics have been an important locus of queer female identity, community, and politics for generations. Whether taking the form of newspaper strips, comic books, or graphic novels and memoirs, the medium has a long history of featuring female same-sex attraction, relationships, and identity. This special issue explores the past place, current presence, and possible future status of lesbianism in comics. It features essays about cartoonists such as Jennifer Camper, characters such as Wonder Woman, and titles such as Lumberjanes. This special issue also includes a roundtable that examines underrepresented identities in lesbian comics. These pieces address subjects ranging from the depiction of a Latina lesbian protagonist in AMERICA: The Life and Times of America Chavez and the debut of the first lead Black lesbian female superheroine in Cyberzone to the presentation of queer women in graphic novels from South Asia and the experience of re-reading Hothead Paisan in the age of Trump.

Special features of high-speed interaction of supercavitating solids in water

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

Ishchenko, Aleksandr, E-mail: ichan@niipmm.tsu.ru; Afanas’eva, Svetlana, E-mail: s.a.afanasyeva@mail.ru; Burkin, Viktor, E-mail: v.v.burkin@mail.ru

Special features of material behavior of a supercavitating projectile are investigated at various initial velocities of entering water on the basis of the developed stress-strain state model with possibility of destruction of solids when moving in water and interacting with various underwater barriers with the use of consistent methodological approach of mechanics of continuous media. The calculation-experimental method was used to study the modes of motion of supercavitating projectiles at sub- and supersonic velocities in water medium after acceleration in the barrelled accelerator, as well as their interaction with barriers. Issues of stabilization of the supercavitating projectile on the initialmore » flight path in water were studied. Microphotographs of state of solids made of various materials, before and after interaction with water, at subsonic and supersonic velocities were presented. Supersonic velocity of the supercavitating projectile motion in water of 1590 m/s was recorded.« less

Special features of high-speed interaction of supercavitating solids in water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishchenko, Aleksandr; Akinshin, Ruslan; Afanas'eva, Svetlana; Borisenkov, Igor; Burkin, Viktor; Diachkovskii, Aleksei; Korolkov, Leonid; Moiseev, Dmitrii; Khabibullin, Marat

2016-01-01

Special features of material behavior of a supercavitating projectile are investigated at various initial velocities of entering water on the basis of the developed stress-strain state model with possibility of destruction of solids when moving in water and interacting with various underwater barriers with the use of consistent methodological approach of mechanics of continuous media. The calculation-experimental method was used to study the modes of motion of supercavitating projectiles at sub- and supersonic velocities in water medium after acceleration in the barrelled accelerator, as well as their interaction with barriers. Issues of stabilization of the supercavitating projectile on the initial flight path in water were studied. Microphotographs of state of solids made of various materials, before and after interaction with water, at subsonic and supersonic velocities were presented. Supersonic velocity of the supercavitating projectile motion in water of 1590 m/s was recorded.

Advanced Russian Mission Laplace-P to Study the Planetary System of Jupiter: Scientific Goals, Objectives, Special Features and Mission Profile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martynov, M. B.; Merkulov, P. V.; Lomakin, I. V.; Vyatlev, P. A.; Simonov, A. V.; Leun, E. V.; Barabanov, A. A.; Nasyrov, A. F.

2017-12-01

The advanced Russian project Laplace-P is aimed at developing and launching two scientific spacecraft (SC)— Laplace-P1 ( LP1 SC) and Laplace-P2 ( LP2 SC)—designed for remote and in-situ studies of the system of Jupiter and its moon Ganymede. The LP1 and LP2 spacecraft carry an orbiter and a lander onboard, respectively. One of the orbiter's objectives is to map the surface of Ganymede from the artificial satellite's orbit and to acquire the data for the landing site selection. The main objective of the lander is to carry out in-situ investigations of Ganymede's surface. The paper describes the scientific goals and objectives of the mission, its special features, and the LP1 and LP2 mission profiles during all of the phases—from the launch to the landing on the surface of Ganymede.

Obtaining environmental measures to facilitate vertebrate habitat modeling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Karl, J.W.; Wright, N.M.; Heglund, P.J.; Scott, J.M.

1999-01-01

Published literature generally lacks habitat information needed to adequately model the habitats of most wildlife species at large scales (>1:100,000). We searched in primary and secondary literature for occurrence of several potentially useful habitat measures for 20 species of interest to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. We found adequate information for modeling only the habitats of certain game species and species of special interest. We suggest that many more researchers could collect simple habitat information regarding vegetation composition and structure, topographic features, soils, temperature, and distance to special landscape features such that current research expenses would not be increased significantly. We recommend that habitat data be consistently reported in peer-reviewed literature or deposited into a central data repository. This will not only help fill the gaps in our current knowledge of wildlife but also place it in a format that is readily accessible by the scientific community.

Limits of Generalization between Categories and Implications for Theories of Category Specificity

PubMed Central

Bukach, Cindy M.; Phillips, W. Stewart; Gauthier, Isabel

2010-01-01

Both domain-specific and expertise accounts of category specialization assume that generalization occurs within a domain but not between domains. Yet it is often difficult to define the boundaries and critical features of object domains. Differences in how categories are defined make it difficult to adjudicate between accounts of category specificity and may lead to contradictory results. For example, evidence for whether car experts recruit the fusiform face area is mixed and this inconsistency may be due to the inclusion of antique cars in one of the studies. The current study tested the generalization of expertise from modern to antique cars and found that modern car experts showed expert discrimination and holistic processing of modern cars, but not antique cars. These findings suggest that the neural specialization underlying perceptual expertise is highly specific and may not generalize to distinct subclasses, even when they share some degree of perceptual and conceptual features. PMID:20952784

ShelXle: a Qt graphical user interface for SHELXL.

PubMed

Hübschle, Christian B; Sheldrick, George M; Dittrich, Birger

2011-12-01

ShelXle is a graphical user interface for SHELXL [Sheldrick, G. M. (2008). Acta Cryst. A64, 112-122], currently the most widely used program for small-molecule structure refinement. It combines an editor with syntax highlighting for the SHELXL-associated .ins (input) and .res (output) files with an interactive graphical display for visualization of a three-dimensional structure including the electron density (F(o)) and difference density (F(o)-F(c)) maps. Special features of ShelXle include intuitive atom (re-)naming, a strongly coupled editor, structure visualization in various mono and stereo modes, and a novel way of displaying disorder extending over special positions. ShelXle is completely compatible with all features of SHELXL and is written entirely in C++ using the Qt4 and FFTW libraries. It is available at no cost for Windows, Linux and Mac-OS X and as source code.

Comparative Study on Inclusive and Special Education Curricula in Hungary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gita, Szilvia; Bognar, Jozsef; Kalbli, Katalin; Dorogi, Laszlo

2008-01-01

Study aim: To compare the National Core Curriculum (NCC) and the special education curriculum regarding how much they are suitable for children with disabilities in the field of physical education and sports. Material and methods: Content analysis of Hungarian NCC and of 5 special schools curricula was employed to obtain information on specific…

Features of the Paired Soliton Interactions Within the Framework of the Gardner Equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shurgalina, E. G.

2018-02-01

We study the dynamics of the two-soliton interaction within the framework of a completely integrable model, namely, the Gardner equation with negative cubic nonlinearity, which admits the existence of a limiting soliton. The features of the soliton interaction with participation of a thick soliton are demonstrated. Special attention is paid to the nonlinear-interaction influence on the wave-field moments, which determine the skewness and the kurtosis in the theory of turbulence.

Meteoroid and debris special investigation group data acquisition procedures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

See, Thomas H.; Allbrooks, Martha K.; Atkinson, Dale R.; Sapp, Clyde A.; Simon, Charles G.; Zolensky, Mike E.

1992-01-01

The entire LDEF spacecraft was examined by M&D SIG for impact (i.e., craters greater than or = 0.5 mm and penetrations greater than or = 0.3 mm in diameter) and related features (e.g., debris, secondaries). During the various detailed surveys conducted at NASA Kennedy, approx. 5,000 impact related features were photodocumented, and their locations measured and recorded; an additional approx. 30,000 smaller features were counted. The equipment and techniques used by the M&D SIG permitted the determination and recording of the locations and diameters of the 5,000 imaged features. A variety of experimental and LDEF structural hardware was acquired by the M&D SIG and is presently being examined and curated at NASA Johnson.

Morphological, nutritional and chemical description of "Vatikiotiko", an onion local landrace from Greece.

PubMed

Petropoulos, Spyridon A; Fernandes, Ângela; Barros, Lillian; Ferreira, Isabel C F R; Ntatsi, Georgia

2015-09-01

"Vatikiotiko" is an onion local landrace from Greece with special quality features, such as strong and pungent taste and storability. In this study, we tried for the first time to describe this landrace and record its morphological traits and nutritional value in comparison with commercially cultivated genotypes ("Creamgold", "Red Cross F1" and "Sivan F1"). Nutritional value of "Vatikiotiko" was higher than commercial genotypes, whereas total sugars, fructose and glucose content were lower in "Vatikiotiko" and "Creamgold" onions. Fatty acids composed mostly from polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and α-linolenic acid), whereas for "Vatikiotiko" saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids were detected in equal amounts (29.79% and 30.60%, respectively). "Vatikiotiko" and "Creamgold" had low antioxidant activity (DPPH radical scavenging activity), especially when comparing with "Sivan F1" and "Red Cross F1", whereas no flavonoids were detected in "Vatikiotiko". The overview of "Vatikiotiko" landrace supported its special character regarding its nutritional value (sugar content, mineral composition and fatty acids profile) and the necessity to revalorize and protect its traditional culture. The potential of introducing it as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) product has also been discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Target dependence of orientation and direction selectivity of corticocortical projection neurons in the mouse V1

PubMed Central

Matsui, Teppei; Ohki, Kenichi

2013-01-01

Higher order visual areas that receive input from the primary visual cortex (V1) are specialized for the processing of distinct features of visual information. However, it is still incompletely understood how this functional specialization is acquired. Here we used in vivo two photon calcium imaging in the mouse visual cortex to investigate whether this functional distinction exists at as early as the level of projections from V1 to two higher order visual areas, AL and LM. Specifically, we examined whether sharpness of orientation and direction selectivity and optimal spatial and temporal frequency of projection neurons from V1 to higher order visual areas match with that of target areas. We found that the V1 input to higher order visual areas were indeed functionally distinct: AL preferentially received inputs from V1 that were more orientation and direction selective and tuned for lower spatial frequency compared to projection of V1 to LM, consistent with functional differences between AL and LM. The present findings suggest that selective projections from V1 to higher order visual areas initiates parallel processing of sensory information in the visual cortical network. PMID:24068987

Crossing borders: High school science teachers learning to teach the specialized language of science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patrick, Jennifer Drake

The highly specialized language of science is both challenging and alienating to adolescent readers. This study investigated how secondary science teachers learn to teach the specialized language of science in their classrooms. Three research questions guided this study: (a) what do science teachers know about teaching reading in science? (b) what understanding about the unique language demands of science reading do they construct through professional development? and (c) how do they integrate what they have learned about these specialized features of science language into their teaching practices? This study investigated the experience of seven secondary science teachers as they participated in a professional development program designed to teach them about the specialized language of science. Data sources included participant interviews, audio-taped professional development sessions, field notes from classroom observations, and a prior knowledge survey. Results from this study suggest that science teachers (a) were excited to learn about disciplinary reading practices, (b) developed an emergent awareness of the specialized features of science language and the various genres of science writing, and (c) recognized that the challenges of science reading goes beyond vocabulary. These teachers' efforts to understand and address the language of science in their teaching practices were undermined by their lack of basic knowledge of grammar, availability of time and resources, their prior knowledge and experiences, existing curriculum, and school structure. This study contributes to our understanding of how secondary science teachers learn about disciplinary literacy and apply that knowledge in their classroom instruction. It has important implications for literacy educators and science educators who are interested in using language and literacy practices in the service of science teaching and learning. (Full text of this dissertation may be available via the University of Florida Libraries web site. Please check http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/etd.html)

Safety and General Considerations for the Use of Antibodies in Infectious Diseases.

PubMed

Hey, Adam Seidelin

2017-01-01

Monocolonal antibodies are valuable potential new tools for meeting unmet needs in treating infectious dieseases and to provide alternatives and supplements to antibiotics in these times of growing resistance. Especially when considering the ability to screen for antibodies reacting to very diverse target antigens and the ability to design and engineer them to work specifically to hit and overcome their strategies, like toxins and their hiding in specific cells to evade the immuneresponse and their special features enabling killing of the infectious agents and or the cells harbouring them. Antibodies are generally very safe and adverse effects of treatments with therapeutic antibodies are usually related to exaggeration of the intended pharmacology. In this chapter general safety considerations for the use of antibodies is reviewed and the general procedures for nonclinical testing to support their clinical development. Special considerations for anti-infective mAb treatments are provided including the special features that makes nonclinical safety programs for anti-infective mAbs much more simple and restricted. However at a cost since only limited information for clinical safety and modeling can be derived from such programs. Then strategies for optimally designing antibodies are discussed including the use of combination of antibodies. Finally ways to facilitate development of more than the currently only three approved mAb based treatments are discussed with a special focus on high costs and high price and how collaboration and new strategies for development in emerging markets can be a driver for this.

Impact of HIV-specialized pharmacies on adherence to medications for comorbid conditions.

PubMed

DuChane, Janeen; Clark, Bobby; Hou, John; Fitzner, Karen; Pietrandoni, Glen; Duncan, Ian

2014-01-01

To determine if patients using human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-specialized pharmacies have greater adherence to drugs used to treat comorbid conditions and HIV compared with patients who use traditional pharmacies. Retrospective cohort study, with patients' propensity matched based on pharmacy use: HIV-specialized versus traditional. Nationwide pharmacy chain. Adult patients who filled at least two prescriptions for an antiretroviral therapy (ART). Patients also needed to have at least two prescriptions for an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) or a statin for analyses examining comorbid conditions. Proportion of days covered (PDC). The adherence analyses for ART, ACE inhibitors/ARBs, and statins included 14,278, 1,484, and 1,372 pairs, respectively. The mean PDC for ART patients using HIV-specialized pharmacies was higher than that for patients using traditional pharmacies (86.20% vs. 81.87%; P <0.0001). Patients taking ACE inhibitors/ARBs in the specialized group also had a higher mean PDC compared with patients in the traditional group (82.61 vs. 79.66; P = 0.0002), as did specialized pharmacy users in the statin group (83.77 vs. 81.29; P = 0.0009). HIV patients managed by an HIV-specialized pharmacy have significantly higher adherence to medication for comorbid conditions compared with patients using traditional pharmacies. Patients of HIV-specialized pharmacies also have significantly higher adherence to ART compared with peers using traditional pharmacies.

Two-Stage Approach to Image Classification by Deep Neural Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ososkov, Gennady; Goncharov, Pavel

2018-02-01

The paper demonstrates the advantages of the deep learning networks over the ordinary neural networks on their comparative applications to image classifying. An autoassociative neural network is used as a standalone autoencoder for prior extraction of the most informative features of the input data for neural networks to be compared further as classifiers. The main efforts to deal with deep learning networks are spent for a quite painstaking work of optimizing the structures of those networks and their components, as activation functions, weights, as well as the procedures of minimizing their loss function to improve their performances and speed up their learning time. It is also shown that the deep autoencoders develop the remarkable ability for denoising images after being specially trained. Convolutional Neural Networks are also used to solve a quite actual problem of protein genetics on the example of the durum wheat classification. Results of our comparative study demonstrate the undoubted advantage of the deep networks, as well as the denoising power of the autoencoders. In our work we use both GPU and cloud services to speed up the calculations.

Perceived differences between chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and human (Homo sapiens) facial expressions are related to emotional interpretation.

PubMed

Waller, Bridget M; Bard, Kim A; Vick, Sarah-Jane; Smith Pasqualini, Marcia C

2007-11-01

Human face perception is a finely tuned, specialized process. When comparing faces between species, therefore, it is essential to consider how people make these observational judgments. Comparing facial expressions may be particularly problematic, given that people tend to consider them categorically as emotional signals, which may affect how accurately specific details are processed. The bared-teeth display (BT), observed in most primates, has been proposed as a homologue of the human smile (J. A. R. A. M. van Hooff, 1972). In this study, judgments of similarity between BT displays of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and human smiles varied in relation to perceived emotional valence. When a chimpanzee BT was interpreted as fearful, observers tended to underestimate the magnitude of the relationship between certain features (the extent of lip corner raise) and human smiles. These judgments may reflect the combined effects of categorical emotional perception, configural face processing, and perceptual organization in mental imagery and may demonstrate the advantages of using standardized observational methods in comparative facial expression research. Copyright 2007 APA.

On the evolution of intergenerational division of labor, menopause and transfers among adults and offspring

PubMed Central

Cyrus Chu, C.Y.; Lee, Ronald D.

2013-01-01

We explain how upward transfers from adult children to their elderly parents might evolve as an interrelated feature of a deepening intergenerational division of labor. Humans have a particularly long period of juvenile dependence requiring both food and care time provided mainly by younger and older adults. We suggest that the division of labor evolves to exploit comparative advantage between young and old adults in fertility, childcare and foraging. Eventually the evolving division of labor reaches a limit when the grandmother's fertility reaches zero (menopause). Continuing, it may hit another limit when the grandmother's foraging time has been reduced to her subsistence needs. Further specialization can occur only with food transfers to the grandmother, enabling her to reduce her foraging time to concentrate on additional childcare. We prove that this outcome can arise only after menopause has evolved. We describe the conditions necessary for both group selection (comparative steady state reproductive fitness) and individual selection (successful invasion by a mutation), and interpret these conditions in terms of comparative advantages. PMID:23648187

A new Hessian - based approach for segmentation of CT porous media images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Timofey, Sizonenko; Marina, Karsanina; Dina, Gilyazetdinova; Kirill, Gerke

2017-04-01

Hessian matrix based methods are widely used in image analysis for features detection, e.g., detection of blobs, corners and edges. Hessian matrix of the imageis the matrix of 2nd order derivate around selected voxel. Most significant features give highest values of Hessian transform and lowest values are located at smoother parts of the image. Majority of conventional segmentation techniques can segment out cracks, fractures and other inhomogeneities in soils and rocks only if the rest of the image is significantly "oversigmented". To avoid this disadvantage, we propose to enhance greyscale values of voxels belonging to such specific inhomogeneities on X-ray microtomography scans. We have developed and implemented in code a two-step approach to attack the aforementioned problem. During the first step we apply a filter that enhances the image and makes outstanding features more sharply defined. During the second step we apply Hessian filter based segmentation. The values of voxels on the image to be segmented are calculated in conjunction with the values of other voxels within prescribed region. Contribution from each voxel within such region is computed by weighting according to the local Hessian matrix value. We call this approach as Hessian windowed segmentation. Hessian windowed segmentation has been tested on different porous media X-ray microtomography images, including soil, sandstones, carbonates and shales. We also compared this new method against others widely used methods such as kriging, Markov random field, converging active contours and region grow. We show that our approach is more accurate in regions containing special features such as small cracks, fractures, elongated inhomogeneities and other features with low contrast related to the background solid phase. Moreover, Hessian windowed segmentation outperforms some of these methods in computational efficiency. We further test our segmentation technique by computing permeability of segmented images and comparing them against laboratory based measurements. This work was partially supported by RFBR grant 15-34-20989 (X-ray tomography and image fusion) and RSF grant 14-17-00658 (image segmentation and pore-scale modelling).

Fifteen year performance review of Michigan's European concrete pavement.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-02-01

In 1993, a special pavement demonstration project was constructed in Detroit on NB I-75 to evaluate the design features of some highly acclaimed European rigid pavements. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Federal Highway Admini...

Twenty year performance review of Michigan's European concrete pavement.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-10-01

In 1993, a special pavement demonstration project was constructed in Detroit on NB I-75 to evaluate the design features of some highly acclaimed European rigid pavements. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Federal Highway Admini...

Imaging and applied optics: introduction to the feature issue.

PubMed

Zalevsky, Zeev; Arnison, Matthew R; Javidi, Bahram; Testorf, Markus

2018-03-01

This special issue of Applied Optics contains selected papers from OSA's Imaging Congress with particular emphasis on work from mathematics in imaging, computational optical sensing and imaging, imaging systems and applications, and 3D image acquisition and display.

NASA Tech Briefs, February 1989. Volume 13, No. 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1989-01-01

This issue contains a special feature on shaping the future with Ceramics. Other topics include: Electronic Components & and Circuits. Electronic Systems, Physical Sciences, Materials, Computer Programs, Mechanics, Machinery, Fabrication Technology, Mathematics and Information Sciences, and Life Sciences,

Woodworking Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

San Diego State Coll., CA. Dept. of Industrial Arts.

Six teaching units which were developed by the 24 institute participants are given. "Wood Identification and Chemistry" covers the physical properties and structural features of hardwoods and softwoods. "Seasoning" explains air drying, kiln drying, and seven special lumber seasoning processes. "Research on Laminates"…

Water/Ice Heat Sink With Quick-Connect Couplings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lomax, Curtis; Webbon, Bruce

1996-01-01

Report presents additional detailed information on apparatus described in "Direct-Interface, Fusible Heat Sink" (ARC-11920). Describes entire apparatus, with special emphasis on features of quick-disconnect couplings governing flow of water under various operating conditions and plumbing configuration.

Special Feature: Automotive Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagner, Margaret; And Others

1993-01-01

Includes "National Trouble Shooting Contest--Training Technicians, Not Mechanics" (Wagner); "Front Wheel Drive on a Small Scale" (Waggoner); "Air Bags in Hit and Run on Rack and Pinion Technicians" (Collard); and "Future Technology--A Blind Spot Detector for Highway Driving" (Zoghi, Bellubi). (JOW)

Clinical predictors and outcome of metabolic acidosis in under-five children admitted to an urban hospital in Bangladesh with diarrhea and pneumonia.

PubMed

Chisti, Mohammod J; Ahmed, Tahmeed; Ashraf, Hasan; Faruque, A S G; Bardhan, Pradip K; Dey, Sanjoy Kumer; Huq, Sayeeda; Das, Sumon Kumar; Salam, Mohammed A

2012-01-01

Clinical features of metabolic acidosis and pneumonia frequently overlap in young diarrheal children, resulting in differentiation from each other very difficult. However, there is no published data on the predictors of metabolic acidosis in diarrheal children also having pneumonia. Our objective was to evaluate clinical predictors of metabolic acidosis in under-five diarrheal children with radiological pneumonia, and their outcome. We prospectively enrolled all under-five children (n = 164) admitted to the Special Care Ward (SCW) of the Dhaka Hospital of icddr, b between September and December 2007 with diarrhea and radiological pneumonia who also had their total serum carbon-dioxide estimated. We compared the clinical features and outcome of children with radiological pneumonia and diarrhea with (n = 98) and without metabolic acidosis (n = 66). Children with metabolic acidosis more often had higher case-fatality (16% vs. 5%, p = 0.039) compared to those without metabolic acidosis on admission. In logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for potential confounders such as age of the patient, fever on admission, and severe wasting, the independent predictors of metabolic acidosis in under-five diarrheal children having pneumonia were clinical dehydration (OR 3.57, 95% CI 1.62-7.89, p = 0.002), and low systolic blood pressure even after full rehydration (OR 1.02, 95% CI 1.01-1.04, p = 0.005). Proportions of children with cough, respiratory rate/minute, lower chest wall indrawing, nasal flaring, head nodding, grunting respiration, and cyanosis were comparable (p>0.05) among the groups. Under-five diarrheal children with radiological pneumonia having metabolic acidosis had frequent fatal outcome than those without acidosis. Clinical dehydration and persistent systolic hypotension even after adequate rehydration were independent clinical predictors of metabolic acidosis among the children. However, metabolic acidosis in young diarrheal children had no impact on the diagnostic clinical features of radiological pneumonia which underscores the importance of early initiation of appropriate antibiotics to combat morbidity and deaths in such population.

Permafrost features on Earth and Mars: Similarities, differences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Joens, H. P.

1985-01-01

Typical permafrost features on Earth are polygonal structures, pingos and soli-/gelifluxion features. In areas around the poles and in mountain ranges the precipitation accumulates to inland ice or ice streams. On Mars the same features were identified: polygonal features cover the larger part of the northern lowlands indicating probably an ice wedge-/sand wedge system or desiccation cracks. These features indicate the extend of large mud accumulations which seem to be related to large outflow events of the chaotic terrains. The shore line of this mud accumulation is indicated by a special set of relief types. In some areas large pingo-like hills were identified. In the vicinity of the largest martian volcano, Olympus Mons, the melting of underlying permafrost and/or ground ice led to the downslope sliding of large parts of the primary shield which formed the aureole around Olympus Mons. Glacier-like features are identified along the escarpment which separates the Southern Uplands from the Northern Lowlands.

Virtual environments special needs and evaluative methods.

PubMed

Brown, D J; Standen, P J; Cobb, S V

1998-01-01

This paper presents an overview of the development of the Learning in Virtual Environments programme (LIVE), carried out in special education over the last four years. It is more precisely a project chronology, so that the reader can sense the historical development of the programme rather than giving emphasis to any one particular feature or breakthrough, which are covered in other papers and available through the authors. The project conception in a special school in Nottingham is followed by a description of the development of experiential and communicational virtual learning environments. These are followed, in turn, by the results of our testing programmes which show that experience gained in a virtual environment can transfer to the real world and that their use can encourage self-directed activity in students with severe learning difficulties. Also included is a discussion of the role of virtual learning environments (VLEs) in special education and of its attributes in the context of contemporary educational theory.

[Diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in special habitats: a review].

PubMed

Li, Su-Mei; Wang, Yin-Qiao; Liu, Run-Jin

2013-11-01

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are one of the important components in ecosystems, which not only have the diversity in genetics, species composition, and function, but also have the diversity in distribution and habitat. AMF infect plant root, form mycorrhiza, and nourish as obligate biotroph symbiont, with strong ecological adaptability. They not only distribute in forest, prairie, and farm land, but also distribute in the special habitats with less plant species diversity, such as commercial greenhouse soil, saline-alkali soil, mining pollution land, petroleum-contaminated land, pesticide-polluted soil, desert, dry land, wetland, marsh, plateau, volcanic, cooler, and arctic tundra, composing a unique community structure and playing an important irreplaceable role in the physiological and ecological functions. This paper summarized the species diversity and mycorrhizal morphological features of AMF in special habitats, aimed to provide essential information for the further studies on the AMF in these special habitats and extreme environments.

The chromium doping of Ni{sub 3}Fe alloy and restructuring of grain boundary ensemble at the phase transition A1→L1{sub 2}

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

Perevalova, Olga; Konovalova, Elena, E-mail: knv123@yandex.ru; Koneva, Nina

2016-01-15

The grain boundary structure of the Ni{sub 3}(Fe,Cr) alloy is studied in states with a short and long-range order formed at the phase transition A1→L1{sub 2}. It is found that the new boundaries of general and special types are formed during an ordering annealing, wherein the special boundaries share increases. The spectrum of special boundaries is changed due to decreasing of ∑3 boundary share. It leads to weakening of the texture in the alloy with atomic long-range order. The features of change of the special boundaries spectrum at the phase transition A1→L1{sub 2} in the Ni{sub 3}(Fe,Cr) alloy are determinedmore » by decreasing of the stacking fault energy and the atomic mean square displacement at the chromium doping.« less

An expanded set of brown dwarf and very low mass star models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burrows, A.; Hubbard, W. B.; Saumon, D.; Lunine, J. I.

1993-01-01

We present in this paper updated and improved theoretical models of brown dwarfs and late M dwarfs. The evolution and characteristics of objects between 0.01 and 0.2 solar mass are exhaustively investigated and special emphasis is placed on their properties at early ages. The dependence on the helium fraction, deuterium fraction, and metallicity of the masses, effective temperature and luminosities at the edge of the hydrogen main sequence are calculated. We derive luminosity functions for representative mass functions and compare our predictions to recent cluster data. We show that there are distinctive features in the theoretical luminosity functions that can serve as diagnostics of brown dwarf physics. A zero-metallicity model is presented as a bound to or approximation of a putative extreme halo population.

A 3D ultrasound scanner: real time filtering and rendering algorithms.

PubMed

Cifarelli, D; Ruggiero, C; Brusacà, M; Mazzarella, M

1997-01-01

The work described here has been carried out within a collaborative project between DIST and ESAOTE BIOMEDICA aiming to set up a new ultrasonic scanner performing 3D reconstruction. A system is being set up to process and display 3D ultrasonic data in a fast, economical and user friendly way to help the physician during diagnosis. A comparison is presented among several algorithms for digital filtering, data segmentation and rendering for real time, PC based, three-dimensional reconstruction from B-mode ultrasonic biomedical images. Several algorithms for digital filtering have been compared as relates to processing time and to final image quality. Three-dimensional data segmentation techniques and rendering has been carried out with special reference to user friendly features for foreseeable applications and reconstruction speed.

A study of the tolerance block approach to special stratification. [winter wheat in Kansas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Richardson, W. (Principal Investigator)

1979-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Twelve winter wheat LACIE segments in Kansas were used to compare the performance of three clustering methods: (1) BCLUST, which uses a spectral distance function to accumulate clusters; (2) blocks-alone, which divides spectral space into equally populated blocks; and (3) block-seeds, which uses spectral means of blocks-alone as seeds for accumulating distance-type clusters. Both BCLUST and block-seeds performed equally well and outperformed blocks-alone significantly. Their average variance ratio of about 0.5 showed imperfect separation of wheat from non-wheat. This result points to the need to explore the achievable crop separability in the spectral/temporal domain, and suggest evaluating derived features rather than data channels as a means to achieve purer spectral strata.

Heat transfer technology for internal passages of air-cooled blades for heavy-duty gas turbines.

PubMed

Weigand, B; Semmler, K; von Wolfersdorf, J

2001-05-01

The present review paper, although far from being complete, aims to give an overview about the present state of the art in the field of heat transfer technology for internal cooling of gas turbine blades. After showing some typical modern cooled blades, the different methods to enhance heat transfer in the internal passages of air-cooled blades are discussed. The complicated flows occurring in bends are described in detail, because of their increasing importance for modern cooling designs. A short review about testing of cooling design elements is given, showing the interaction of the different cooling features as well. The special focus of the present review has been put on the cooling of blades for heavy-duty gas turbines, which show several differences compared to aero-engine blades.

Thrust imbalance of solid rocket motor pairs on Space Shuttle flights

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foster, W. A., Jr.; Shu, P. H.; Sforzini, R. H.

1986-01-01

This analysis extends the investigation presented at the 17th Joint Propulsion Conference in 1981 to include fifteen sets of Space Shuttle flight data. The previous report dealt only with static test data and the first flight pair. The objective is to compare the authors' previous theoretical analysis of thrust imbalance with actual Space Shuttle performance. The theoretical prediction method, which involves a Monte Carlo technique, is reviewed briefly as are salient features of the flight instrumentation system and the statistical analysis. A scheme for smoothing flight data is discussed. The effects of changes in design parameters are discussed with special emphasis on the filament wound motor case being developed to replace the steel case. Good agreement between the predictions and the flight data is demonstrated.

Competing regression models for longitudinal data.

PubMed

Alencar, Airlane P; Singer, Julio M; Rocha, Francisco Marcelo M

2012-03-01

The choice of an appropriate family of linear models for the analysis of longitudinal data is often a matter of concern for practitioners. To attenuate such difficulties, we discuss some issues that emerge when analyzing this type of data via a practical example involving pretest-posttest longitudinal data. In particular, we consider log-normal linear mixed models (LNLMM), generalized linear mixed models (GLMM), and models based on generalized estimating equations (GEE). We show how some special features of the data, like a nonconstant coefficient of variation, may be handled in the three approaches and evaluate their performance with respect to the magnitude of standard errors of interpretable and comparable parameters. We also show how different diagnostic tools may be employed to identify outliers and comment on available software. We conclude by noting that the results are similar, but that GEE-based models may be preferable when the goal is to compare the marginal expected responses. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Geographical differences in the distribution of malignant tumours*

PubMed Central

Chaklin, A. V.

1962-01-01

Malignant tumours are encountered among all races and in every type of geographical zone, but there are marked differences in different areas in the prevalence of particular forms of tumour—differences that are to a greater or lesser extent dependent on factors such as the climate and geography of the region and the habits, customs and occupations of the people. The study of these factors in relation to the occurrence of malignant tumours is of great importance in reaching an understanding of the etiology of tumours in man. In this paper the author discusses the many problems involved in the study of regional features in the prevalence of malignant tumours, with special reference to the difficulties of ensuring comparability of the data from widely differing regions and population groups. He concludes the paper with a review of some known facts regarding the distribution of malignant tumours at various sites in which he compares data obtained in surveys in the USSR with those obtained in other countries. PMID:14019866

Expression of Immunoglobulin Receptors with Distinctive Features Indicating Antigen Selection by Marginal Zone B Cells from Human Spleen

PubMed Central

Colombo, Monica; Cutrona, Giovanna; Reverberi, Daniele; Bruno, Silvia; Ghiotto, Fabio; Tenca, Claudya; Stamatopoulos, Kostas; Hadzidimitriou, Anastasia; Ceccarelli, Jenny; Salvi, Sandra; Boccardo, Simona; Calevo, Maria Grazia; De Santanna, Amleto; Truini, Mauro; Fais, Franco; Ferrarini, Manlio

2013-01-01

Marginal zone (MZ) B cells, identified as surface (s)IgMhighsIgDlowCD23low/−CD21+CD38− B cells, were purified from human spleens, and the features of their V(D)J gene rearrangements were investigated and compared with those of germinal center (GC), follicular mantle (FM) and switched memory (SM) B cells. Most MZ B cells were CD27+ and exhibited somatic hypermutations (SHM), although to a lower extent than SM B cells. Moreover, among MZ B-cell rearrangements, recurrent sequences were observed, some of which displayed intraclonal diversification. The same diversifying sequences were detected in very low numbers in GC and FM B cells and only when a highly sensitive, gene-specific polymerase chain reaction was used. This result indicates that MZ B cells could expand and diversify in situ and also suggested the presence of a number of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID)-expressing B cells in the MZ. The notion of antigen-driven expansion/selection in situ is further supported by the VH CDR3 features of MZ B cells with highly conserved amino acids at specific positions and by the finding of shared (“stereotyped”) sequences in two different spleens. Collectively, the data are consistent with the notion that MZ B cells are a special subset selected by in situ antigenic stimuli. PMID:23877718

Special Features of Structure Formation in an Explosion-Welded Magnesium-Aluminum Composite Under Deformation and Subsequent Heat Treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gurevich, L. M.; Arisova, V. N.; Trykov, Yu. P.; Ponomareva, I. A.; Trudov, A. F.

2016-07-01

The effect of bending deformation and subsequent heat treatment on the variation of microhardness and structure of explosion-welded magnesium-aluminum layered composite material MA2-1 - AD1 is studied.

Working with Volunteers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowland, Virginia; And Others

1990-01-01

This special section features research concluding that volunteers find the time because they believe they have more time to help (Rowland); an extension program using volunteer master teachers (Feather); use of volunteer marketing professionals (Fromer); retaining volunteers through leadership training (Balliette, Smith); "problem" volunteers and…

A Modern Approach to College Analytical Chemistry.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neman, R. L.

1983-01-01

Describes a course which emphasizes all facets of analytical chemistry, including sampling, preparation, interference removal, selection of methodology, measurement of a property, and calculation/interpretation of results. Includes special course features (such as cooperative agreement with an environmental protection center) and course…

Music as Basic Schooling for the Brain.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Frank R.

1985-01-01

A strong case can be made for inclusion of music in any general curriculum because of some special features of the human brain and the muscular system to which it is bonded. Music can help us fulfill our biological heritage. (RM)

The Beauty and Biology of Pollen.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clay-Poole, Scott T.; Slesnick, Irwin L.

1983-01-01

Describes: basic features of pollen grains (shapes, apertures, layering of wall, exine sculpturing); strategies for pollination (anemophily--wind transported, zoophily--animal transported); and the structures specialized for each process. Gives instructions for using scanning electron microscope photographs and for collecting, identifying, and…

Report Nation March 2015 QandA

Cancer.gov

This report provides a yearly update of cancer incidence (new cases) and mortality (death) rates, and trends in these rates in the United States. The special feature section of this year’s report highlights the incidence of breast cancer subtypes by race,

Feature: Special Needs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flores, Miguel R.; And Others

1993-01-01

Includes "Filling in the Cracks" (Flores) about an intarsia class for at-risk students; "Closing the Gap--Women in Technology" (Husher) about summer camps for junior high girls; "Work Force of the Future--Multi-Ethnic, Multicultural" (Hall) about vocational education for culturally diverse students;…

Exploratory study of partial isolation of highway bridges.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-01-01

A special class of seismically isolated bridges shares a common feature in that both ends of the superstructure are restrained and isolators over the columns of bridge uncouple the superstructure from the ground motions. They are defined as partial i...

Project Flagship.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

State Univ. of New York, Buffalo. Coll. at Buffalo.

Project Flagship, the 1974 Distinguished Achievement Awards entry from State University College at Buffalo, New York, is a competency-based teacher education model using laboratory instruction. The special features of this model include a) stated objectives and criteria for evaluation, b) individualized instruction, c) individualized learning…

Accuracy of gap analysis habitat models in predicting physical features for wildlife-habitat associations in the southwest U.S.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Boykin, K.G.; Thompson, B.C.; Propeck-Gray, S.

2010-01-01

Despite widespread and long-standing efforts to model wildlife-habitat associations using remotely sensed and other spatially explicit data, there are relatively few evaluations of the performance of variables included in predictive models relative to actual features on the landscape. As part of the National Gap Analysis Program, we specifically examined physical site features at randomly selected sample locations in the Southwestern U.S. to assess degree of concordance with predicted features used in modeling vertebrate habitat distribution. Our analysis considered hypotheses about relative accuracy with respect to 30 vertebrate species selected to represent the spectrum of habitat generalist to specialist and categorization of site by relative degree of conservation emphasis accorded to the site. Overall comparison of 19 variables observed at 382 sample sites indicated ???60% concordance for 12 variables. Directly measured or observed variables (slope, soil composition, rock outcrop) generally displayed high concordance, while variables that required judgments regarding descriptive categories (aspect, ecological system, landform) were less concordant. There were no differences detected in concordance among taxa groups, degree of specialization or generalization of selected taxa, or land conservation categorization of sample sites with respect to all sites. We found no support for the hypothesis that accuracy of habitat models is inversely related to degree of taxa specialization when model features for a habitat specialist could be more difficult to represent spatially. Likewise, we did not find support for the hypothesis that physical features will be predicted with higher accuracy on lands with greater dedication to biodiversity conservation than on other lands because of relative differences regarding available information. Accuracy generally was similar (>60%) to that observed for land cover mapping at the ecological system level. These patterns demonstrate resilience of gap analysis deductive model processes to the type of remotely sensed or interpreted data used in habitat feature predictions. ?? 2010 Elsevier B.V.

[The peculiar features of the sidewise collision involving a pedestrian and an automobile moving in the reverse gear along an arc of a circle].

PubMed

Leonov, S V; Pinchuk, P V; Shakir'janova, Ju P

This article was designed to report the results of the analysis of the consequences of a real case of the sidewise collision and run-over involving a pedestrian and an automobile moving in the reverse gear along an arc of a circle. Special attention was given to the mechanism behind the collision, its peculiar features, and characteristic damages inflicted to the pedestrian's body and clothes.

Special Features of the Structure of Single-Crystal Refractory Nickel Alloy Under Directed Crystallization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bondarenko, Yu. A.; Echin, A. B.; Surova, V. A.; Kolodyazhnyi, M. Yu.

2017-05-01

The effect of the conditions of directed crystallization (the temperature gradient and the crystallization rate) on the dendrite spacing, on the size of the particles of the hardening γ'-phase in the arms and arm spaces of the dendrites, on the volume fraction and size of the pores, on the size of the particles of the eutectic γ/γ'-phase, and on the features of dendritic segregation in a single-crystal castable refractory alloy is studied.

Test probe for surface mounted leadless chip carrier

DOEpatents

Meyer, Kerry L.; Topolewski, John

1989-05-23

A test probe for a surface mounted leadless chip carrier is disclosed. The probed includes specially designed connector pins which allow size reductions in the probe. A thermoplastic housing provides spring action to ensure good mechanical and electrical contact between the pins and the contact strips of a leadless chip carrier. Other features include flexible wires molded into the housing and two different types of pins alternately placed in the housing. These features allow fabrication of a smaller and simpler test probe.

Test probe for surface mounted leadless chip carrier

DOEpatents

Meyer, K.L.; Topolewski, J.

1987-10-02

A test probe for a surface mounted leadless chip carrier is disclosed. The probe includes specially designed connector pins which allow size reductions in the probe. A thermoplastic housing provides spring action to ensure good mechanical and electrical contact between the pins and the contact strips of a leadless chip carrier. Other features include flexible wires molded into the housing and two different types of pins alternately placed in the housing. These features allow fabrication of a smaller and simpler test probe. 1 fig.

A variant of special relativity and long-distance astronomy.

PubMed

Segal, I E

1974-03-01

THE REDSHIFT, MICROWAVE BACKGROUND, AND OTHER OBSERVABLE ASTRONOMICAL FEATURES ARE DEDUCED FROM TWO THEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS: (1) global space-time is a certain variant of Minkowski space, locally indistinguishable in causality and covariance features but globally admitting the full conformal group as symmetries although having a spherical space component; (2) the true energy operator corresponds to a certain generator of this group which is not globally scale-covariant, whereas laboratory frequency measurements are inevitably such and correspond to the conventional energy operator [unk]/i[unk]/[unk]t.

Image 100 procedures manual development: Applications system library definition and Image 100 software definition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guseman, L. F., Jr.; Decell, H. P., Jr.

1975-01-01

An outline for an Image 100 procedures manual for Earth Resources Program image analysis was developed which sets forth guidelines that provide a basis for the preparation and updating of an Image 100 Procedures Manual. The scope of the outline was limited to definition of general features of a procedures manual together with special features of an interactive system. Computer programs were identified which should be implemented as part of an applications oriented library for the system.

Investigation of the Usability of Computerized Critical Care Information Systems in Germany.

PubMed

von Dincklage, Falk; Suchodolski, Klaudiusz; Lichtner, Gregor; Friesdorf, Wolfgang; Podtschaske, Beatrice; Ragaller, Maximilian

2017-01-01

The term "usability" describes how effectively, efficiently, and with what level of user satisfaction an information system can be used to accomplish specific goals. Computerized critical care information systems (CCISs) with high usability increase quality of care and staff satisfaction, while reducing medication errors. Conversely, systems lacking usability can interrupt clinical workflow, facilitate errors, and increase charting time. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare usability across CCIS currently used in Germany. In this study, German intensive care unit (ICU) nurses and physicians completed a specialized, previously validated, web-based questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed CCIS usability based on three rating models: an overall rating of the systems, a model rating technical usability, and a model rating task-specific usability. We analyzed results from 535 survey participants and compared eight different CCIS commonly used in Germany. Our results showed that usability strongly differs across the compared systems. The system ICUData had the best overall rating and technical usability, followed by the platforms ICM and MetaVision. The same three systems performed best in the rating of task-specific usability without significant differences between each other. Across all systems, overall ratings were more dependent on ease-of-use aspects than on aspects of utility/functionality, and the general scope of the functions offered was rated better than how well the functions are realized. Our results suggest that manufacturers should shift some of their effort away from the development of new features and focus more on improving the ease-of-use and quality of existing features.

Quantum Teleportation and Grover's Algorithm Without the Wavefunction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niestegge, Gerd

2017-02-01

In the same way as the quantum no-cloning theorem and quantum key distribution in two preceding papers, entanglement-assisted quantum teleportation and Grover's search algorithm are generalized by transferring them to an abstract setting, including usual quantum mechanics as a special case. This again shows that a much more general and abstract access to these quantum mechanical features is possible than commonly thought. A non-classical extension of conditional probability and, particularly, a very special type of state-independent conditional probability are used instead of Hilbert spaces and wavefunctions.

AMSAHTS 1990: Advances in Materials Science and Applications of High Temperature Superconductors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flom, Yury (Editor)

1990-01-01

This publication is comprised of abstracts for oral and poster presentations scheduled for AMSAHTS '90. The conference will focus on understanding high-temperature superconductivity with special emphases on materials issues and applications. AMSAHTS '90, will highlight the state of the art in fundamental understanding of the nature of high-Tc superconductivity (HTSC) as well as the chemistry, structure, properties, processing and stability of HTSC oxides. As a special feature of the conference, space applications of HTSC will be discussed by NASA and Navy specialists.

[Criterion of dental treatment for the disabled].

PubMed

Huchun, Wan; Zheng, Yang; Hongkun, Wu; Jianguo, Liu; Jin, Zhao; Xiaoping, Ji; Lin, Zhu; Deqin, Yang; Xuedong, Zhou

2017-08-01

The number of disabled persons increases in the course of human life and in the aging population. The high prevalence, low treatment rate, long therapy period, and sophisticated procedures prevent most of disabled individuals from availing dental services. Moreover, special dental institutions for the disabled are insufficient, and a certain treatment standard is commonly not complied. This study performed analysis and evaluation, including treatment features, pretreatment procedures, patient communication, treatment factors, and treatment standards to provide a targeted solution for the special requirements of the oral therapy for disabled patients.

A weak Galerkin generalized multiscale finite element method

DOE PAGES

Mu, Lin; Wang, Junping; Ye, Xiu

2016-03-31

In this study, we propose a general framework for weak Galerkin generalized multiscale (WG-GMS) finite element method for the elliptic problems with rapidly oscillating or high contrast coefficients. This general WG-GMS method features in high order accuracy on general meshes and can work with multiscale basis derived by different numerical schemes. A special case is studied under this WG-GMS framework in which the multiscale basis functions are obtained by solving local problem with the weak Galerkin finite element method. Convergence analysis and numerical experiments are obtained for the special case.

A weak Galerkin generalized multiscale finite element method

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

Mu, Lin; Wang, Junping; Ye, Xiu

In this study, we propose a general framework for weak Galerkin generalized multiscale (WG-GMS) finite element method for the elliptic problems with rapidly oscillating or high contrast coefficients. This general WG-GMS method features in high order accuracy on general meshes and can work with multiscale basis derived by different numerical schemes. A special case is studied under this WG-GMS framework in which the multiscale basis functions are obtained by solving local problem with the weak Galerkin finite element method. Convergence analysis and numerical experiments are obtained for the special case.

Introduction to chemistry and applications in nature of mass independent isotope effects special feature.

PubMed

Thiemens, Mark H

2013-10-29

Stable isotope ratio variations are regulated by physical and chemical laws. These rules depend on a relation with mass differences between isotopes. New classes of isotope variation effects that deviate from mass dependent laws, termed mass independent isotope effects, were discovered in 1983 and have a wide range of applications in basic chemistry and nature. In this special edition, new applications of these effects to physical chemistry, solar system origin models, terrestrial atmospheric and biogenic evolution, polar paleo climatology, snowball earth geology, and present day atmospheric sciences are presented.

Automated identification of diagnosis and co-morbidity in clinical records.

PubMed

Cano, C; Blanco, A; Peshkin, L

2009-01-01

Automated understanding of clinical records is a challenging task involving various legal and technical difficulties. Clinical free text is inherently redundant, unstructured, and full of acronyms, abbreviations and domain-specific language which make it challenging to mine automatically. There is much effort in the field focused on creating specialized ontology, lexicons and heuristics based on expert knowledge of the domain. However, ad-hoc solutions poorly generalize across diseases or diagnoses. This paper presents a successful approach for a rapid prototyping of a diagnosis classifier based on a popular computational linguistics platform. The corpus consists of several hundred of full length discharge summaries provided by Partners Healthcare. The goal is to identify a diagnosis and assign co-morbidi-ty. Our approach is based on the rapid implementation of a logistic regression classifier using an existing toolkit: LingPipe (http://alias-i.com/lingpipe). We implement and compare three different classifiers. The baseline approach uses character 5-grams as features. The second approach uses a bag-of-words representation enriched with a small additional set of features. The third approach reduces a feature set to the most informative features according to the information content. The proposed systems achieve high performance (average F-micro 0.92) for the task. We discuss the relative merit of the three classifiers. Supplementary material with detailed results is available at: http:// decsai.ugr.es/~ccano/LR/supplementary_ material/ We show that our methodology for rapid prototyping of a domain-unaware system is effective for building an accurate classifier for clinical records.

Spectrum of mucocutaneous manifestations in 277 patients with joint hypermobility syndrome/Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, hypermobility type.

PubMed

Castori, Marco; Dordoni, Chiara; Morlino, Silvia; Sperduti, Isabella; Ritelli, Marco; Valiante, Michele; Chiarelli, Nicola; Zanca, Arianna; Celletti, Claudia; Venturini, Marina; Camerota, Filippo; Calzavara-Pinton, Piergiacomo; Grammatico, Paola; Colombi, Marina

2015-03-01

Cutaneous manifestations are a diagnostic criterion of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, hypermobility type (EDS-HT) and joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS). These two conditions, originally considered different disorders, are now accepted as clinically indistinguishable and often segregate as a single-familial trait. EDS-HT and JHS are still exclusion diagnoses not supported by any specific laboratory test. Accuracy of clinical diagnosis is, therefore, crucial for appropriate patients' classification and management, but it is actually hampered by the low consistency of many applied criteria including the cutaneous one. We report on mucocutaneous findings in 277 patients with JHS/EDS-HT with both sexes and various ages. Sixteen objective and five anamnestic items were selected and ascertained in two specialized outpatient clinics. Feature rates were compared by sex and age by a series of statistical tools. Data were also used for a multivariate correspondence analysis with the attempt to identify non-causal associations of features depicting recognizable phenotypic clusters. Our findings identified a few differences between sexes and thus indicated an attenuated sexual dimorphism for mucocutaneous features in JHS/EDS-HT. Ten features showed significantly distinct rates at different ages and this evidence corroborated the concept of an evolving phenotype in JHS/EDS-HT also affecting the skin. Multivariate correspondence analysis identified three relatively discrete phenotypic profiles, which may represent the cutaneous counterparts of the three disease phases previously proposed for JHS/EDS-HT. These findings could be used for revising the cutaneous criterion in a future consensus for the clinical diagnosis of JHS/EDS-HT. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Comparative Outcomes of Two Instructional Models for Students with Learning Disabilities: Inclusion with Co-Teaching and Solo-Taught Special Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tremblay, Philippe

2013-01-01

We compared two instructional models (co-teaching inclusion and solo-taught special education) for students with learning disabilities (LD) with regard to their effect on academic achievement and class attendance. Twelve inclusive classes (experimental group) and 13 special education classes (control group) participated in the study. In grade 1,…

Overview of the Publications From the Anthroposophic Medicine Outcomes Study (AMOS): A Whole System Evaluation Study

PubMed Central

Kiene, Helmut; Ziegler, Renatus; Tröger, Wilfried; Meinecke, Christoph; Schnürer, Christof; Vögler, Hendrik; Glockmann, Anja; Kienle, Gunver Sophia

2014-01-01

Anthroposophic medicine is a physician-provided complementary therapy system that was founded by Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman. Anthroposophic therapy includes special medicinal products, artistic therapies, eurythmy movement exercises, and special physical therapies. The Anthroposophic Medicine Outcomes Study (AMOS) was a prospective observational multicenter study of 1631 outpatients starting anthroposophic therapy for anxiety disorders, asthma, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, low back pain, migraine, and other chronic indications under routine conditions in Germany. AMOS incorporated two features proposed for the evaluation of integrative therapy systems: (1) a sequential approach, starting with the whole therapy system (use, safety, outcomes, perceived benefit), addressing comparative effectiveness and proceeding to the major system components (physician counseling, anthroposophic medicinal products, art therapy, eurythmy therapy, rhythmical massage therapy) and (2) a mix of different research methods to build an information synthesis, including pre-post analyses, prospective comparative analyses, economic analyses, and safety analyses of individual patient data. AMOS fostered two methodological innovations for the analysis of single-arm therapy studies (combined bias suppression, systematic outcome comparison with corresponding cohorts in other studies) and the first depression cost analysis worldwide comparing primary care patients treated for depression vs depressed patients treated for another disorder vs nondepressed patients. A total of 21 peer-reviewed publications from AMOS have resulted. This article provides an overview of the main research questions, methods, and findings from these publications: anthroposophic treatment was safe and was associated with clinically relevant improvements in symptoms and quality of life without cost increase; improvements were found in all age, diagnosis, and therapy modality groups and were retained at 48-month follow-up; nonrespondent bias, natural recovery, regression to the mean, and adjunctive therapies together could explain a maximum of 37% of the improvement. PMID:24753995

Overview of the Publications From the Anthroposophic Medicine Outcomes Study (AMOS): A Whole System Evaluation Study.

PubMed

Hamre, Harald Johan; Kiene, Helmut; Ziegler, Renatus; Tröger, Wilfried; Meinecke, Christoph; Schnürer, Christof; Vögler, Hendrik; Glockmann, Anja; Kienle, Gunver Sophia

2014-01-01

Anthroposophic medicine is a physician-provided complementary therapy system that was founded by Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman. Anthroposophic therapy includes special medicinal products, artistic therapies, eurythmy movement exercises, and special physical therapies. The Anthroposophic Medicine Outcomes Study (AMOS) was a prospective observational multicenter study of 1631 outpatients starting anthroposophic therapy for anxiety disorders, asthma, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, low back pain, migraine, and other chronic indications under routine conditions in Germany. AMOS INCORPORATED TWO FEATURES PROPOSED FOR THE EVALUATION OF INTEGRATIVE THERAPY SYSTEMS: (1) a sequential approach, starting with the whole therapy system (use, safety, outcomes, perceived benefit), addressing comparative effectiveness and proceeding to the major system components (physician counseling, anthroposophic medicinal products, art therapy, eurythmy therapy, rhythmical massage therapy) and (2) a mix of different research methods to build an information synthesis, including pre-post analyses, prospective comparative analyses, economic analyses, and safety analyses of individual patient data. AMOS fostered two methodological innovations for the analysis of single-arm therapy studies (combined bias suppression, systematic outcome comparison with corresponding cohorts in other studies) and the first depression cost analysis worldwide comparing primary care patients treated for depression vs depressed patients treated for another disorder vs nondepressed patients. A total of 21 peer-reviewed publications from AMOS have resulted. This article provides an overview of the main research questions, methods, and findings from these publications: anthroposophic treatment was safe and was associated with clinically relevant improvements in symptoms and quality of life without cost increase; improvements were found in all age, diagnosis, and therapy modality groups and were retained at 48-month follow-up; nonrespondent bias, natural recovery, regression to the mean, and adjunctive therapies together could explain a maximum of 37% of the improvement.

Dynamic Integration of Task-Relevant Visual Features in Posterior Parietal Cortex

PubMed Central

Freedman, David J.

2014-01-01

Summary The primate visual system consists of multiple hierarchically organized cortical areas, each specialized for processing distinct aspects of the visual scene. For example, color and form are encoded in ventral pathway areas such as V4 and inferior temporal cortex, while motion is preferentially processed in dorsal pathway areas such as the middle temporal area. Such representations often need to be integrated perceptually to solve tasks which depend on multiple features. We tested the hypothesis that the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) integrates disparate task-relevant visual features by recording from LIP neurons in monkeys trained to identify target stimuli composed of conjunctions of color and motion features. We show that LIP neurons exhibit integrative representations of both color and motion features when they are task relevant, and task-dependent shifts of both direction and color tuning. This suggests that LIP plays a role in flexibly integrating task-relevant sensory signals. PMID:25199703

Special Issue on Expert Systems for Department of Defense Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahlers, Robert H., Ed.; And Others

1986-01-01

Features articles on topics related to use of expert systems for training: machine intelligence effectiveness in military systems applications; automated maneuvering board training system; intelligent tutoring system for electronic troubleshooting; technology development for intelligent maintenance advisors; design of intelligent computer assisted…

La Carta Mentale D"Italia in Alunni Di Scuola Media.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Genzo, Carlo

1992-01-01

Shows and discusses the results of a test on the "mental representations" of Italy in pupils (11-14 years) living in different Italian towns. The results reveal some common psycho-special features that are independent of the dwelling localities. (Author)

The Library and Museum for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sperber, Ann

1972-01-01

The Lincoln Center Library offers a variety of services, including circulating collections, art galleries, a bookstore, free movies, a children's room, special exhibits, and a small, neat auditorium that features everything from community drama to film retrospectives. (Author/NH)

First Look: TRADEMARKSCAN Database.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernald, Anne Conway; Davidson, Alan B.

1984-01-01

Describes database produced by Thomson and Thomson and available on Dialog which contains over 700,000 records representing all active federal trademark registrations and applications for registrations filed in United States Patent and Trademark Office. A typical record, special features, database applications, learning to use TRADEMARKSCAN, and…

Aerospace Resources for Science and Technology Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maley, Donald, Ed.; Smith, Kenneth L., Ed.

This publication on Aerospace Programs is a special edition of "Technology Education" featuring descriptions of 15 select aerospace education programs from diverse localities spanning the full range of instructional levels. Following introductory material, the monograph contains the following largely unedited program descriptions: (1)…

A Course for Engineering and Science Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Companion, A.; Schug, K.

1973-01-01

Discusses the features of a course which emphasizes training of scientists and engineers with broad interdisciplinary knowledge in addition to those with a highly specialized professional preparation. Included is a list of books relating to applications of materials science concepts in general chemistry. (CC)

Proceedings of the 2003 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium

Treesearch

James, comp., ed. Murdy; ed. comp.

2004-01-01

Contains articles presented at the 2003 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Contents cover planning issues, communications and information, management presentations, service quality and outdoor recreation, recreation behavior, founders? forum, featured posters, tourism and the community, specialized recreation, recreation and the community, management issues in...

10 CFR 75.10 - Facility information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... features of the facility relating to material accounting, containment, and surveillance; (4) A description of the existing and proposed procedures at the facility for nuclear material accounting and control, with special reference to material balance areas established by the licensee, measurement of flow, and...