Barriers and benefits associated with nurses information seeking related to patient education needs on clinical nursing units.

PubMed

Jones, Josette; Schilling, Katherine; Pesut, Daniel

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to answer the following two questions: What are clinical nurses' rationales for their approaches to finding patient educational materials on the web? What are perceived barriers and benefits associated with the use of web-based information resources for patient education in the context of nursing clinical practice?Over 179 individual data units were analyzed to understand clinical nurses' rationales for their approaches to find patient educational materials on the web. Rationales were defined as those underlying catalysts or activators leading to an information need. Analyses found that the primary reasons why clinical nurses conducted web-based information searches included direct patient requests ( 9 requests), colleague requests (6 requests), building patient materials collections (4), patients' family requests (3), routine teaching (1), personal development (1), or staff development (1). From these data, four broad themes emerged: professional reasons, personal reasons, technology reasons, and organization reasons for selecting information resources. Content analysis identified 306 individual data units representing either 'benefits' (178 units) or 'barriers' (128) to the nurses' use of web resources for on-unit patient care. Inter-rater reliability was assessed and found to be excellent (r = 0.943 to 0.961). The primary themes that emerged as barriers to the used of web-based resources included: 1) time requirements to perform a search, 2) nurses' experience and knowledge about the resources or required technology, 3) specific characteristics of individuals electronic information resources, and 4) organizational procedures and policies. Three primary themes that represented the benefits of using web-based resources were also identified: 1) past experiences and knowledge of a specific resource or the required technologies, 2) availability and accessibility on the unit, and 3) specific characteristics of individual information tool. In many cases, nurses commented on specific characteristics or features of favorite information resources. Favorite sites included a variety or reputable health care organizations that displayed context in text, audio, and/or video. In addition such sites were described as easy-to read and provided content related to patient-focused information or specific content such as toll free telephone contact numbers.Information searching is the interaction between and among information users and computer-based information systems. Information seeking is becoming an important part of the knowledge work of nurses. Information seeking and searching intersects with the field of human computer interaction (HCI), which focuses on all aspects of human, and computer interactions. Users of an information system are understood as "actors" in situations, with a set of skills and shared practices based on work experiences with others. Designing better tools and developing information searching strategies that support, extend, and transform practices, begins by asking: Who are the users? What are the tasks? What is the interplay between the technology and the organization of the task? This study contributes fundamental data and information about the rationales nurses use in information seeking tasks. In addition it provides empirical evidences regarding barriers and benefits of information seeking in the context of patient education needs in inpatient clinical settings.

Progress in the development of paper-based diagnostics for low-resource point-of-care settings

PubMed Central

Byrnes, Samantha; Thiessen, Gregory; Fu, Elain

2014-01-01

This Review focuses on recent work in the field of paper microfluidics that specifically addresses the goal of translating the multistep processes that are characteristic of gold-standard laboratory tests to low-resource point-of-care settings. A major challenge is to implement multistep processes with the robust fluid control required to achieve the necessary sensitivity and specificity of a given application in a user-friendly package that minimizes equipment. We review key work in the areas of fluidic controls for automation in paper-based devices, readout methods that minimize dedicated equipment, and power and heating methods that are compatible with low-resource point-of-care settings. We also highlight a focused set of recent applications and discuss future challenges. PMID:24256361

36 CFR 219.27 - Special designations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... National Forest System Land and Resource Management Planning Special Considerations § 219.27 Special... areas within the National Forest System that are identified for their unique or special characteristics... and may have specific requirements for their management. (b) Wilderness area reviews. Unless federal...

Allocating scarce medical resources to the overweight.

PubMed

Furnham, Adrian; Loganathan, Niroosha; McClelland, Alastair

2010-01-01

A programmatic research effort investigated how lay people weigh information on hypothetical patients when making decisions regarding the allocation of scarce medical resources. This study is partly replicative and partly innovative, and looks particularly at whether overweight patients would be discriminated against in allocating resources. This study aims to determine the importance given to specific patient characteristics when lay participants are asked to allocate scarce medical resources. In all, 156 British adults (82 males, 73 females), aged 19 to 84 years, took part. There were few students. Participants completed a questionnaire requiring them to rank 16 hypothetical patients for access to a kidney dialysis machine.The demographic information presented regarding each hypothetical patient differed on four dimensions: gender, weight, mental health, and religiousness. There were significant main effects for gender, weight, and mental health; females, patients of normal weight, and the mentally well were ranked the highest priority for access to a kidney dialysis machine. Participants discriminated most regarding the weight of hypothetical patients. Different patient characteristics, unrelated to medical prognoses, particularly being overweight, may have an impact on decisions regarding the use of scarce medical resources.

Animal movement in the absence of predation: environmental drivers of movement strategies in a partial migration system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bastille-Rousseau, Guillaume; Gibbs, James P.; Yackulic, Charles B.; Frair, Jacqueline L.; Cabrera, Fredy; Rousseau, Louis-Philippe

2016-01-01

Animal movement strategies including migration, dispersal, nomadism, and residency are shaped by broad-scale spatial-temporal structuring of the environment, including factors such as the degrees of spatial variation, seasonality and inter-annual predictability. Animal movement strategies, in turn, interact with the characteristics of individuals and the local distribution of resources to determine local patterns of resource selection with complex and poorly understood implications for animal fitness. Here we present a multi-scale investigation of animal movement strategies and resource selection. We consider the degree to which spatial variation, seasonality, and inter-annual predictability in resources drive migration patterns among different taxa and how movement strategies in turn shape local resource selection patterns. We focus on adult Galapagos giant tortoises Chelonoidis spp. as a model system since they display many movement strategies and evolved in the absence of predators of adults. Specifically, our analysis is based on 63 individuals among four taxa tracked on three islands over six years and almost 106 tortoise re-locations. Tortoises displayed a continuum of movement strategies from migration to sedentarism that were linked to the spatio-temporal scale and predictability of resource distributions. Movement strategies shaped patterns of resource selection. Specifically, migratory individuals displayed stronger selection toward areas where resources were more predictable among years than did non-migratory individuals, which indicates a selective advantage for migrants in seasonally structured, more predictable environments. Our analytical framework combines large-scale predictions for movement strategies, based on environmental structuring, with finer-scale analysis of space-use. Integrating different organizational levels of analysis provides a deeper understanding of the eco-evolutionary dynamics at play in the emergence and maintenance of migration and the critical role of resource predictability. Our results highlight that assessing the potential benefits of differential behavioral responses first requires an understanding of the interactions among movement strategies, resource selection and individual characteristics.

Integrated Medical Model (IMM) Optimization Version 4.0 Functional Improvements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arellano, John; Young, M.; Boley, L.; Garcia, Y.; Saile, L.; Walton, M.; Kerstman, E.; Reyes, D.; Goodenow, D. A.; Myers, J. G.

2016-01-01

The IMMs ability to assess mission outcome risk levels relative to available resources provides a unique capability to provide guidance on optimal operational medical kit and vehicle resources. Post-processing optimization allows IMM to optimize essential resources to improve a specific model outcome such as maximization of the Crew Health Index (CHI), or minimization of the probability of evacuation (EVAC) or the loss of crew life (LOCL). Mass and or volume constrain the optimized resource set. The IMMs probabilistic simulation uses input data on one hundred medical conditions to simulate medical events that may occur in spaceflight, the resources required to treat those events, and the resulting impact to the mission based on specific crew and mission characteristics. Because IMM version 4.0 provides for partial treatment for medical events, IMM Optimization 4.0 scores resources at the individual resource unit increment level as opposed to the full condition-specific treatment set level, as done in version 3.0. This allows the inclusion of as many resources as possible in the event that an entire set of resources called out for treatment cannot satisfy the constraints. IMM Optimization version 4.0 adds capabilities that increase efficiency by creating multiple resource sets based on differing constraints and priorities, CHI, EVAC, or LOCL. It also provides sets of resources that improve mission-related IMM v4.0 outputs with improved performance compared to the prior optimization. The new optimization represents much improved fidelity that will improve the utility of the IMM 4.0 for decision support.

Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) Questions and Answers

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

eGRID is a comprehensive source of data on the environmental characteristics of almost all electric power generated in the United States. eGRID is based on available plant-specific data for all U.S. electricity generating plants that report data.

Technological Change and HRD. Symposium.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

2002

This document contains three papers from a symposium on technological change and human resource development. "New Technologies, Cognitive Demands, and the Implications for Learning Theory" (Richard J. Torraco) identifies four specific characteristics of the tasks involved in using new technologies (contingent versus deterministic tasks,…

43 CFR 3900.5 - Information collection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR RANGE MANAGEMENT (4000) OIL SHALE MANAGEMENT-GENERAL Oil Shale... information. (b) Respondents are oil shale lessees and operators. The requirement to respond to the... extent and specific characteristics of the Federal oil shale resource. The BLM will use the information...

Issues in Planning and Implementing National Literacy Programmes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carron, G., Ed.; Bordia, A., Ed.

The following papers were produced by participants and resource persons on specific issues of planning, management and implementation of literacy and post-literacy strategies: "People's Participation and Mobilization: Characteristics of the Literacy Campaigns in China" (Yanwei); "Strategies for Mobilization and Participation of…

Depth-specific Analyses of the Lake Superior Food Web

EPA Science Inventory

Characteristics of large, deep aquatic systems include depth gradients in community composition, in the quality and distribution of food resources, and in the strategies that organisms use to obtain their nutrition. In Lake Superior, nearshore communities that rely upon a combina...

Tackling the Phenomenon of Elder Abuse in Italy: A Review of Existing Legislation and Policies as a Learning Resource

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melchiorre, Maria Gabriella; Chiatti, Carlos; Lamura, Giovanni

2012-01-01

In Italy, data and information on prevalence and characteristics of elder abuse are very limited, and a specific legal and policy framework is lacking. Some articles of the Penal Code refer to the larger context of violence against disadvantaged groups, and some general support services not specifically dedicated to this issue are managed by local…

Societal individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance as cultural moderators of relationships between job resources and strain.

PubMed

Jang, Seulki; Shen, Winny; Allen, Tammy D; Zhang, Haiyan

2018-05-01

The job demands-resources model is a dominant theoretical framework that describes the influence of job demands and job resources on employee strain. Recent research has highlighted that the effects of job demands on strain vary across cultures, but similar work has not explored whether this is true for job resources. Given that societal characteristics can influence individuals' cognitive structures and, to a lesser extent, values in a culture, we address this gap in the literature and argue that individuals' strain in reaction to job resources may differ across cultures. Specifically, we theorize that the societal cultural dimensions of individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance shape individual-level job resource-strain relationships, as they dictate which types of resources (i.e., individual vs. group preference-oriented and uncertainty-reducing vs. not) are more likely to be valued, used, or effective in combating strain within a culture. Results revealed that societal individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance independently moderated the relationships between certain job resources (i.e., job control, participation in decision making, and clear goals and performance feedback) and strain (i.e., job satisfaction and turnover intentions). This study expands our understanding of the cross-cultural specificity versus generalizability of the job demands-resources model.

Assessing Method to Identifying Water Resilience Against Natural and Climate Change Hazards.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amril, Rofi; Maryono

2018-02-01

A geographic region may become vulnerable toward water resources in a variety of ways. Common issues arise when man-made infrastructure such as housing, industrial, agriculture and other spatial land use policy implementation exceeds more than desired level. Vulnerability of a region due to water resources could be interpreted as the inability of the region to sustaining economic and social activity associated to socio-economic water availability. This study assess four aspects of water resilience: water quantity, water distribution, water quality, and water requirements. Literature review then followed by interview with academic expert used as method of study. This study found that four aspect of water vulnerability mostly have been applied to asses water resource vulnerability. Each aspect have a specific characteristic and could be define more specific and detail indicator according to the local content.

Depth-specific Analyses of the Lake Superior Food Web, oral presentation

EPA Science Inventory

Characteristics of large, deep aquatic systems include depth gradients in community composition, in the quality and distribution of food resources, and in the strategies that organisms use to obtain their nutrition. In Lake Superior, nearshore communities that rely upon a combina...

SHARING EDUCATIONAL SERVICES.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Catskill Area Project in Small School Design, Oneonta, NY.

SHARED SERVICES, A COOPERATIVE SCHOOL RESOURCE PROGRAM, IS DEFINED IN DETAIL. INCLUDED IS A DISCUSSION OF THEIR NEED, ADVANTAGES, GROWTH, DESIGN, AND OPERATION. SPECIFIC PROCEDURES FOR OBTAINING STATE AID IN SHARED SERVICES, EFFECTS OF SHARED SERVICES ON THE SCHOOL, AND HINTS CONCERNING SHARED SERVICES ARE DESCRIBED. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SMALL…

Methods and Materials for Teaching the Gifted.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karnes, Frances A., Ed.; Bean, Suzanne M., Ed.

This book is designed to provide strategies and resources for differentiating the instruction of gifted learners. It addresses characteristics and needs of gifted learners, instructional planning and evaluation, strategies for best practices, and supporting and enhancing gifted programs. Specific chapters include: (1) "Gifted and Talented…

Societal individualism–collectivism and uncertainty avoidance as cultural moderators of relationships between job resources and strain

PubMed Central

Shen, Winny; Allen, Tammy D.; Zhang, Haiyan

2017-01-01

Summary The job demands–resources model is a dominant theoretical framework that describes the influence of job demands and job resources on employee strain. Recent research has highlighted that the effects of job demands on strain vary across cultures, but similar work has not explored whether this is true for job resources. Given that societal characteristics can influence individuals' cognitive structures and, to a lesser extent, values in a culture, we address this gap in the literature and argue that individuals' strain in reaction to job resources may differ across cultures. Specifically, we theorize that the societal cultural dimensions of individualism–collectivism and uncertainty avoidance shape individual‐level job resource–strain relationships, as they dictate which types of resources (i.e., individual vs. group preference‐oriented and uncertainty‐reducing vs. not) are more likely to be valued, used, or effective in combating strain within a culture. Results revealed that societal individualism–collectivism and uncertainty avoidance independently moderated the relationships between certain job resources (i.e., job control, participation in decision making, and clear goals and performance feedback) and strain (i.e., job satisfaction and turnover intentions). This study expands our understanding of the cross‐cultural specificity versus generalizability of the job demands–resources model. PMID:29780207

The Integrated Medical Model: A Probabilistic Simulation Model for Predicting In-Flight Medical Risks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keenan, Alexandra; Young, Millennia; Saile, Lynn; Boley, Lynn; Walton, Marlei; Kerstman, Eric; Shah, Ronak; Goodenow, Debra A.; Myers, Jerry G.

2015-01-01

The Integrated Medical Model (IMM) is a probabilistic model that uses simulation to predict mission medical risk. Given a specific mission and crew scenario, medical events are simulated using Monte Carlo methodology to provide estimates of resource utilization, probability of evacuation, probability of loss of crew, and the amount of mission time lost due to illness. Mission and crew scenarios are defined by mission length, extravehicular activity (EVA) schedule, and crew characteristics including: sex, coronary artery calcium score, contacts, dental crowns, history of abdominal surgery, and EVA eligibility. The Integrated Medical Evidence Database (iMED) houses the model inputs for one hundred medical conditions using in-flight, analog, and terrestrial medical data. Inputs include incidence, event durations, resource utilization, and crew functional impairment. Severity of conditions is addressed by defining statistical distributions on the dichotomized best and worst-case scenarios for each condition. The outcome distributions for conditions are bounded by the treatment extremes of the fully treated scenario in which all required resources are available and the untreated scenario in which no required resources are available. Upon occurrence of a simulated medical event, treatment availability is assessed, and outcomes are generated depending on the status of the affected crewmember at the time of onset, including any pre-existing functional impairments or ongoing treatment of concurrent conditions. The main IMM outcomes, including probability of evacuation and loss of crew life, time lost due to medical events, and resource utilization, are useful in informing mission planning decisions. To date, the IMM has been used to assess mission-specific risks with and without certain crewmember characteristics, to determine the impact of eliminating certain resources from the mission medical kit, and to design medical kits that maximally benefit crew health while meeting mass and volume constraints.

The Integrated Medical Model: A Probabilistic Simulation Model Predicting In-Flight Medical Risks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keenan, Alexandra; Young, Millennia; Saile, Lynn; Boley, Lynn; Walton, Marlei; Kerstman, Eric; Shah, Ronak; Goodenow, Debra A.; Myers, Jerry G., Jr.

2015-01-01

The Integrated Medical Model (IMM) is a probabilistic model that uses simulation to predict mission medical risk. Given a specific mission and crew scenario, medical events are simulated using Monte Carlo methodology to provide estimates of resource utilization, probability of evacuation, probability of loss of crew, and the amount of mission time lost due to illness. Mission and crew scenarios are defined by mission length, extravehicular activity (EVA) schedule, and crew characteristics including: sex, coronary artery calcium score, contacts, dental crowns, history of abdominal surgery, and EVA eligibility. The Integrated Medical Evidence Database (iMED) houses the model inputs for one hundred medical conditions using in-flight, analog, and terrestrial medical data. Inputs include incidence, event durations, resource utilization, and crew functional impairment. Severity of conditions is addressed by defining statistical distributions on the dichotomized best and worst-case scenarios for each condition. The outcome distributions for conditions are bounded by the treatment extremes of the fully treated scenario in which all required resources are available and the untreated scenario in which no required resources are available. Upon occurrence of a simulated medical event, treatment availability is assessed, and outcomes are generated depending on the status of the affected crewmember at the time of onset, including any pre-existing functional impairments or ongoing treatment of concurrent conditions. The main IMM outcomes, including probability of evacuation and loss of crew life, time lost due to medical events, and resource utilization, are useful in informing mission planning decisions. To date, the IMM has been used to assess mission-specific risks with and without certain crewmember characteristics, to determine the impact of eliminating certain resources from the mission medical kit, and to design medical kits that maximally benefit crew health while meeting mass and volume constraints.

Personal Growth and the Transition to Grandfatherhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taubman-Ben-Ari, Orit; Findler, Liora; Shlomo, Shirley Ben

2012-01-01

The study examined personal growth among new grandfathers (n = 101, age 45-67), 2 to 24 months after the birth of their first grandchild. Specifically, it investigated the contribution of internal resources (self-esteem), perceived characteristics of the situation (grandparenthood distress and cognitive appraisals of threat, challenge, and…

30 CFR 35.12 - Changes after certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Changes after certification. 35.12 Section 35..., AND APPROVAL OF MINING PRODUCTS FIRE-RESISTANT HYDRAULIC FLUIDS General Provisions § 35.12 Changes after certification. If an applicant desires to change any specification or characteristic of a...

Research about Memory Detection Based on the Embedded Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Hao; Chu, Jian

As is known to us all, the resources of memory detection of the embedded systems are very limited. Taking the Linux-based embedded arm as platform, this article puts forward two efficient memory detection technologies according to the characteristics of the embedded software. Especially for the programs which need specific libraries, the article puts forwards portable memory detection methods to help program designers to reduce human errors,improve programming quality and therefore make better use of the valuable embedded memory resource.

Government information resource catalog and its service system realization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gui, Sheng; Li, Lin; Wang, Hong; Peng, Zifeng

2007-06-01

During the process of informatization, there produces a great deal of information resources. In order to manage these information resources and use them to serve the management of business, government decision and public life, it is necessary to establish a transparent and dynamic information resource catalog and its service system. This paper takes the land-house management information resource for example. Aim at the characteristics of this kind of information, this paper does classification, identification and description of land-house information in an uniform specification and method, establishes land-house information resource catalog classification system&, metadata standard, identification standard and land-house thematic thesaurus, and in the internet environment, user can search and get their interested information conveniently. Moreover, under the network environment, to achieve speedy positioning, inquiring, exploring and acquiring various types of land-house management information; and satisfy the needs of sharing, exchanging, application and maintenance of land-house management information resources.

College Students’ Preferences for Health Care Providers when Accessing Sexual Health Resources

PubMed Central

Garcia, Carolyn M.; Lechner, Kate E.; Frerich, Ellen A.; Lust, Katherine A.; Eisenberg, Marla E.

2017-01-01

Objective Many emerging adults (18–25 year olds) report unmet health needs and disproportionately experience problems such as sexually transmitted infections. This study was conducted to examine college students’ perceptions of health care providers, specifically in the context of accessing sexual health resources. Design and Sample Students (N=52) were recruited from five diverse colleges in one state to participate in a one-to-one interview that involved walking and virtually exploring resources on and near campus. Interviews were conducted from May to November 2010. Results Inductive qualitative analysis yielded six themes summarizing students’ perceptions of provider characteristics, health care resources, the role of their peers, and students’ suggestions for strengthening health care services. Importantly, students consider a variety of staff—and their student peers—to be resources for sexual health information and services. Conclusions Findings emphasize the importance of collaboration between health service staff and broader campus staff because students often turn to campus staff initially. Post-secondary students welcome opportunities to know a provider through interactive websites that include details about providers on campus; their decisions to seek sexual health care services are influenced by their perceptions of providers’ characteristics and interpersonal skills. PMID:25159532

College students' preferences for health care providers when accessing sexual health resources.

PubMed

Garcia, Carolyn M; Lechner, Kate E; Frerich, Ellen A; Lust, Katherine A; Eisenberg, Marla E

2014-01-01

Many emerging adults (18-25 year olds) report unmet health needs and disproportionately experience problems such as sexually transmitted infections. This study was conducted to examine college students' perceptions of health care providers, specifically in the context of accessing sexual health resources. Students (N = 52) were recruited from five diverse colleges in one state to participate in a one-to-one interview that involved walking and virtually exploring resources on and near campus. Interviews were conducted from May to November 2010. Open-ended one-to-one interview questions. Inductive qualitative analysis yielded six themes summarizing students' perceptions of provider characteristics, health care resources, the role of their peers, and students' suggestions for strengthening health care services. Importantly, students consider a variety of staff-and their student peers-to be resources for sexual health information and services. Findings emphasize the importance of collaboration between health service staff and broader campus staff because students often turn to campus staff initially. Postsecondary students welcome opportunities to know a provider through interactive websites that include details about providers on campus; their decisions to seek sexual health care services are influenced by their perceptions of providers' characteristics and interpersonal skills. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

36 CFR 219.7 - New plan development or plan revision.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... importance of various physical, biological, social, cultural, and historic resources on the plan area (§ 219... desired condition is a description of specific social, economic, and/or ecological characteristics of the... intent, other than desired conditions, usually related to process or interaction with the public. Goals...

36 CFR 219.7 - New plan development or plan revision.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... importance of various physical, biological, social, cultural, and historic resources on the plan area (§ 219... desired condition is a description of specific social, economic, and/or ecological characteristics of the... intent, other than desired conditions, usually related to process or interaction with the public. Goals...

36 CFR 219.7 - New plan development or plan revision.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... importance of various physical, biological, social, cultural, and historic resources on the plan area (§ 219... desired condition is a description of specific social, economic, and/or ecological characteristics of the... intent, other than desired conditions, usually related to process or interaction with the public. Goals...

Research on Higher Education: A U.S. Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toombs, William

Characteristics of U.S. higher education are identified, along with the structural features that influence the nature of research, specific research topics, and the locations of research activities. This information was obtained from several sources, including the Educational Resources Information Center database for the years 1981 and 1982, the…

Students with Learning Disabilities and Challenging Behaviors in Jordan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abu-Hamour, Bashir

2014-01-01

This paper reports the findings of a study which aimed to explore the learning and behavioral characteristics of students with Learning Disabilities (LDs) in Jordan. Specifically, variables that related to challenging behaviors, school's type, and gender differences were investigated. Four resource room teachers in public and private schools were…

Scalability Assessments for the Malicious Activity Simulation Tool (MAST)

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

the scalability characteristics of MAST. Specifically, we show that an exponential increase in clients using the MAST software does not impact...an exponential increase in clients using the MAST software does not impact network and system resources significantly. Additionally, we...31 1. Hardware .....................................31 2. Software .....................................32 3. Common PC

[Location information acquisition and sharing application design in national census of Chinese medicine resources].

PubMed

Zhang, Xiao-Bo; Li, Meng; Wang, Hui; Guo, Lan-Ping; Huang, Lu-Qi

2017-11-01

In literature, there are many information on the distribution of Chinese herbal medicine. Limited by the technical methods, the origin of Chinese herbal medicine or distribution of information in ancient literature were described roughly. It is one of the main objectives of the national census of Chinese medicine resources, which is the background information of the types and distribution of Chinese medicine resources in the region. According to the national Chinese medicine resource census technical specifications and pilot work experience, census team with "3S" technology, computer network technology, digital camera technology and other modern technology methods, can effectively collect the location information of traditional Chinese medicine resources. Detailed and specific location information, such as regional differences in resource endowment and similarity, biological characteristics and spatial distribution, the Chinese medicine resource census data access to the accuracy and objectivity evaluation work, provide technical support and data support. With the support of spatial information technology, based on location information, statistical summary and sharing of multi-source census data can be realized. The integration of traditional Chinese medicine resources and related basic data can be a spatial integration, aggregation and management of massive data, which can help for the scientific rules data mining of traditional Chinese medicine resources from the overall level and fully reveal its scientific connotation. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Species-specific variation in nesting and postfledging resource selection for two forest breeding migrant songbirds.

PubMed

Jenkins, Julianna M A; Thompson, Frank R; Faaborg, John

2017-01-01

Habitat selection is a fundamental component of community ecology, population ecology, and evolutionary biology and can be especially important to species with complex annual habitat requirements, such as migratory birds. Resource preferences on the breeding grounds may change during the postfledging period for migrant songbirds, however, the degree to which selection changes, timing of change, and whether all or only a few species alter their resource use is unclear. We compared resource selection for nest sites and resource selection by postfledging juvenile ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla) and Acadian flycatchers (Empidonax virescens) followed with radio telemetry in Missouri mature forest fragments from 2012-2015. We used Bayesian discrete choice modeling to evaluate support for local vegetation characteristics on the probability of selection for nest sites and locations utilized by different ages of postfledging juveniles. Patterns of resource selection variation were species-specific. Resource selection models indicated that Acadian flycatcher habitat selection criteria were similar for nesting and dependent postfledging juveniles and selection criteria diverged when juveniles became independent from adults. After independence, flycatcher resource selection was more associated with understory foliage density. Ovenbirds differed in selection criteria between the nesting and postfledging periods. Fledgling ovenbirds selected areas with higher densities of understory structure compared to nest sites, and the effect of foliage density on selection increased as juveniles aged and gained independence. The differences observed between two sympatric forest nesting species, in both the timing and degree of change in resource selection criteria over the course of the breeding season, illustrates the importance of considering species-specific traits and postfledging requirements when developing conservation efforts, especially when foraging guilds or prey bases differ. We recommend that postfledging habitat selection be considered in future conservation efforts dealing with Neotropical migrants and other forest breeding songbirds.

Environmental analysis of geopressured-geothermal prospect areas, De Witt and Colorado counties, Texas. Final report, March 1 - August 31, 1979

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

Gustavson, T.C.; Reeder, F.S.; Badger, E.A.

Information collected and analyzed for a preliminary environmental analysis of geopressured geothermal prospect areas in Colorado and DeWitt Counties, Texas is presented. Specific environmental concerns for each geopressured geothermal prospect area are identified and discussed. Approximately 218 km/sup 2/(85 mi/sup 2/) were studied in the vicinity of each prospect area to: (1) conduct an environmental analysis to identify more and less suited areas for geopressured test wells; and (2) provide an environmental data base for future development of geopressured geothermal energy resources. A series of maps and tables are included to illustrate environmental characteristics including: geology, water resources, soils, currentmore » land use, vegetation, wildlife, and meteorological characteristics, and additional relevant information on cultural resources, power- and pipelines, and regulatory agencies. A series of transparent overlays at the scale of the original mapping has also been produced for the purposes of identifying and ranking areas of potential conflict between geopressured geothermal development and environmental characteristics. The methodology for ranking suitability of areas within the two prospect areas is discussed in the appendix. (MHR)« less

[Traightened on Chinese endemic seed plant species of medicine plants used in Tibetan medicine].

PubMed

Zhou, Hua-rong; Mu, Ze-jing; Du, Xiao-lang; He, Jun-wei; Cao, Lan; Zhong, Guo-yue

2015-09-01

This paper is in order to discussion with the composition and characteristics of Tibetan medicine plant resources, and promote the reasonable protection and utilization of the resources of Tibetan materia medica. Statistical analysis of species, distributions, and others of Chinese endemic seed plant from Tibetan medicine plants and usually used in the clinic of Tibetan medicine. The results showed that there are 523 species (25%) of Chinese endemic seed plant, belonging to 65 families and 162 genera, in about 2 000 varieties of Tibetan medicine plants recorded in relevant literatures. There are 180 Chinese endemic seed plant species (28%) belonging to 42 families and 72 genera from 625 medicine plants usually used in the clinic of Tibetan medicine. Specifically, the most of these Chinese endemic seed plant species are characteristic crude drug used in Tibetan medicine, and mainly or only distributed in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. And a few species of them were intersected with traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) and other ethnic medicines. In addition, about 10% are listed in China Species Red List. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the most abundant areas of Areal-types of the Chinese endemic seed plant. This is the biological and ecological reason formation the characteristics of Tibetan medicine plant resources. Therefore, strengthen the research of Chinese endemic seed plants used in Tibetan medicine is great significance for the reasonable protection and utilization of Tibetan medicine plant resources.

Adolescent bariatric surgery program characteristics: the Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS) study experience.

PubMed

Michalsky, Marc P; Inge, Thomas H; Teich, Steven; Eneli, Ihuoma; Miller, Rosemary; Brandt, Mary L; Helmrath, Michael; Harmon, Carroll M; Zeller, Meg H; Jenkins, Todd M; Courcoulas, Anita; Buncher, Ralph C

2014-02-01

The number of adolescents undergoing weight loss surgery (WLS) has increased in response to the increasing prevalence of severe childhood obesity. Adolescents undergoing WLS require unique support, which may differ from adult programs. The aim of this study was to describe institutional and programmatic characteristics of centers participating in Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS), a prospective study investigating safety and efficacy of adolescent WLS. Data were obtained from the Teen-LABS database, and site survey completed by Teen-LABS investigators. The survey queried (1) institutional characteristics, (2) multidisciplinary team composition, (3) clinical program characteristics, and (4) clinical research infrastructure. All centers had extensive multidisciplinary involvement in the assessment, pre-operative education, and post-operative management of adolescents undergoing WLS. Eligibility criteria and pre-operative clinical and diagnostic evaluations were similar between programs. All programs have well-developed clinical research infrastructure, use adolescent-specific educational resources, and maintain specialty equipment, including high weight capacity diagnostic imaging equipment. The composition of clinical team and institutional resources is consistent with current clinical practice guidelines. These characteristics, coupled with dedicated research staff, have facilitated enrollment of 242 participants into Teen-LABS. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Adolescent Bariatric Surgery Program Characteristics: The Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS) Study Experience

PubMed Central

Michalsky, M.P.; Inge, T.H.; Teich, S.; Eneli, I.; Miller, R.; Brandt, M.L.; Helmrath, M.; Harmon, C.M.; Zeller, M.H.; Jenkins, T.M.; Courcoulas, A.; Buncher, C.R.

2013-01-01

Background The number of adolescents undergoing weight loss surgery (WLS) has increased in response to the increasing prevalence of severe childhood obesity. Adolescents undergoing WLS require unique support, which may differ from adult programs. The aim of this study was to describe institutional and programmatic characteristics of centers participating in Teen-Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS), a prospective study investigating safety and efficacy of adolescent WLS. Methods Data were obtained from the Teen-LABS database and site survey completed by Teen-LABS investigators. The survey queried (1) institutional characteristics, (2) multidisciplinary team composition, (3) clinical program characteristics, and (4) clinical research infrastructure. Results All centers had extensive multidisciplinary involvement in the assessment, preoperative education and post-operative management of adolescents undergoing WLS. Eligibility criteria, pre-operative clinical and diagnostic evaluations were similar between programs. All programs have well developed clinical research infrastructure, use adolescent-specific educational resources, and maintain specialty equipment, including high weight capacity diagnostic imaging equipment. Conclusions The composition of clinical team and institutional resources are consistent with current clinical practice guidelines. These characteristics, coupled with dedicated research staff, have facilitated enrollment of 242 participants into Teen-LABS. PMID:24491361

Work-family spillover among Japanese dual-earner couples: a large community-based study.

PubMed

Shimada, Kyoko; Shimazu, Akihito; Bakker, Arnold B; Demerouti, Evangelia; Kawakami, Norito

2010-01-01

To examine the effects of multiple types of work-family spillover (work-to-family negative spillover, WFNS; family-to-work negative spillover, FWNS; and work-family positive spillover, WFPS) on psychological distress among Japanese dual-earner couples with preschool children. 2,346 parents completed questionnaires measuring work-family spillover, work- and family-specific variables (i.e., job demands and resources, family demands and resources), and psychological distress. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted by entering demographic characteristics (gender, age, age of the youngest child, and job contract) in step 1, job demands and resources in step 2, family demands and resources in step 3, work-family spillover in step 4, and three two-way interactions between types of work-family spillover and gender in the final step. Both WFNS and FWNS were positively related to psychological distress after controlling for demographic characteristics and domain specific variables (i.e. job and family demands/resources), and FWNS (β=0.26) had a stronger relation with psychological distress than WFNS (β=0.16). Although WFPS was significantly and negatively related to psychological distress, the relationship was weak (β=-0.05). In addition, two-way interactions of WFNS and FWNS with gender were found; the impact of both WFNS and FWNS on psychological distress is stronger for females than for males. No significant interaction effect was observed between WFPS and gender. In this study of Japanese dual-earner couples with preschool children, work-family negative spillover had a stronger relationship with psychological distress than positive spillover. Gender had a moderating effect on the relationship between negative spillover and psychological distress.

Base-flow characteristics of streams in the Valley and Ridge, the Blue Ridge, and the Piedmont physiographic provinces of Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nelms, David L.; Harlow, George E.; Hayes, Donald C.

1997-01-01

Growth within the Valley and Ridge, Blue Ridge, and Piedmont physiographic provinces of Virginia has focused concern about allocation of surface-water flow and increased demands on the ground-water resources. Potential surface-water yield was determined from statistical analysis of base-flow characteristics of streams. Base-flow characteristics also may provide a relative indication of the potential ground-water yield for areas that lack sufficient specific capacity or will-yield data; however, other factors need to be considered, such as geologic structure, lithology, precipitation, relief, and the degree of hydraulic interconnection between the regolith and bedrock.

A framework for evaluating and designing citizen science programs for natural resources monitoring.

PubMed

Chase, Sarah K; Levine, Arielle

2016-06-01

We present a framework of resource characteristics critical to the design and assessment of citizen science programs that monitor natural resources. To develop the framework we reviewed 52 citizen science programs that monitored a wide range of resources and provided insights into what resource characteristics are most conducive to developing citizen science programs and how resource characteristics may constrain the use or growth of these programs. We focused on 4 types of resource characteristics: biophysical and geographical, management and monitoring, public awareness and knowledge, and social and cultural characteristics. We applied the framework to 2 programs, the Tucson (U.S.A.) Bird Count and the Maui (U.S.A.) Great Whale Count. We found that resource characteristics such as accessibility, diverse institutional involvement in resource management, and social or cultural importance of the resource affected program endurance and success. However, the relative influence of each characteristic was in turn affected by goals of the citizen science programs. Although the goals of public engagement and education sometimes complimented the goal of collecting reliable data, in many cases trade-offs must be made between these 2 goals. Program goals and priorities ultimately dictate the design of citizen science programs, but for a program to endure and successfully meet its goals, program managers must consider the diverse ways that the nature of the resource being monitored influences public participation in monitoring. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

The Associations between Loss and Posttraumatic Stress and Depressive Symptoms Following Hurricane Ike

PubMed Central

Paul, Lisa A.; Price, Matthew; Gros, Daniel F.; Gros, Kirstin Stauffacher; McCauley, Jenna L.; Resnick, Heidi S.; Acierno, Ron; Ruggiero, Kenneth J.

2013-01-01

Disasters can have wide-ranging effects on individuals and their communities. Loss of specific resources (e.g., household contents, job) following a disaster has not been well studied, despite the implications for preparedness efforts and post-disaster interventions. The present study used random-digit-dial methodology to recruit hurricane-affected adults from Galveston and Chambers, TX, counties one year after Hurricane Ike. Data from 1,249 survivors were analyzed to identify predictors of distress, including specific resource losses. Variables that were significantly associated with PTSD symptoms included sustained losses, hurricane exposure and socio-demographic characteristics; similar results were obtained for depressive symptoms. Together, these findings suggest risk factors that may be associated with the development of post-hurricane distress that can inform preparedness efforts and post-hurricane interventions. PMID:23852826

Characteristic Features of Innovation Project Management Aimed at University Human Resource Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalimullin, Aydar M.; Yungblud, Valery T.; Khodyreva, Elena A.

2016-01-01

The relevance of the studied issue is based on the need to develop theoretical approaches to project management at a higher educational institution taking into consideration the specifics of the subject area of the projects that ensure finding the "growth points" and addressing the long-term objectives of a university in the field of…

Quality Assurance in Victorian Schools: An Approach to School Improvement. The School Review Program in Victoria, Australia: An Evaluation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fearnside, Rob

The Victorian school accountability framework is designed specifically for Victorian public schooling in the 1990s. These schools have three chief characteristics: (1) a high level of school autonomy in operational decisions about research allocation, human-resource management, and staff selection; (2) a common framework for curriculum and…

The National Council on Crime and Delinquency NewGate Resource Center. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herron, Rex; Muir, John

The origin and development of Project NewGate are described from 1971-74. (The project presents a model program of higher education for incarcerated offenders, consisting of the in-prison phase, transitional phase, and release phase.) Specific project characteristics are discussed and include a 4-year academic program for prison inmates; an…

Understanding and Managing Learning Disabilities in Adults. Professional Practices in Adult Education and Human Resource Development Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Dale R.

This book reviews learning disabilities (LD) in adults and makes suggestions for helping adults cope with these disabilities. Each chapter covers a type of learning disability or related syndrome or explains characteristics of the brain. Chapter 1 explains several types of specific learning disabilities that make classroom performance difficult…

Marine and Maritime Sector Skills Shortages in the South West of England: Developing Regional Training Provision

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beer, Julian; Meethan, Kevin

2007-01-01

Clustering theory assumes that companies gravitate towards each other on the basis of locally and regionally specific resources and supply chain characteristics, which lead in turn to innovation and high-value economic development. In line with such thinking, UK government policy has devolved certain functions to regional development agencies such…

Identifying and Supporting English Learner Students with Learning Disabilities: Key Issues in the Literature and State Practice. REL 2015-086

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burr, Elizabeth; Haas, Eric; Ferriere, Karen

2015-01-01

While the literature on learning disabilities and on second-language acquisition is relatively extensive within the field of education, less is known about the specific characteristics and representation of English learner students with learning disabilities. Because there are no definitive resources and processes for identifying and determining…

National-Level Wetland Policy Specificity and Goals Vary According to Political and Economic Indicators.

PubMed

Peimer, Alex W; Krzywicka, Adrianna E; Cohen, Dora B; Van den Bosch, Kyle; Buxton, Valerie L; Stevenson, Natalie A; Matthews, Jeffrey W

2017-01-01

Growing recognition of the importance of wetlands to human and ecosystem well-being has led countries worldwide to implement wetland protection policies. Different countries have taken different approaches to wetland protection by implementing various policies, including territorial exclusion, market-based offsetting, and incentive programs for land users. Our objective was to describe the relationship between components of national-level wetland protection policies and national characteristics, including natural resource, economic, social, and political factors. We compiled data on the wetland policies of all 193 countries recognized by the U.N. and described the relationships among wetland policy goals and wetland protection mechanisms using non-metric multidimensional scaling. The first non-metric multidimensional scaling axis strongly correlated with whether a country had a wetland-specific environmental policy in place. Adoption of a comprehensive, wetland-specific policy was positively associated with degree of democracy and a commitment to establishing protected areas. The second non-metric multidimensional scaling axis defined a continuum of policy goals and mechanisms by which wetlands are protected, with goals to protect wetland ecosystem services on one end of the spectrum and goals to protect biodiversity on the other. Goals for protecting ecosystem services were frequently cited in policy documents of countries with agriculture-based economies, whereas goals associated with wetland biodiversity tended to be associated with tourism-based economies. We argue that the components of a country's wetland policies reflect national-level resource and economic characteristics. Understanding the relationship between the type of wetland policy countries adopt and national-level characteristics is critical for international efforts to protect wetlands.

National-Level Wetland Policy Specificity and Goals Vary According to Political and Economic Indicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peimer, Alex W.; Krzywicka, Adrianna E.; Cohen, Dora B.; Van den Bosch, Kyle; Buxton, Valerie L.; Stevenson, Natalie A.; Matthews, Jeffrey W.

2017-01-01

Growing recognition of the importance of wetlands to human and ecosystem well-being has led countries worldwide to implement wetland protection policies. Different countries have taken different approaches to wetland protection by implementing various policies, including territorial exclusion, market-based offsetting, and incentive programs for land users. Our objective was to describe the relationship between components of national-level wetland protection policies and national characteristics, including natural resource, economic, social, and political factors. We compiled data on the wetland policies of all 193 countries recognized by the U.N. and described the relationships among wetland policy goals and wetland protection mechanisms using non-metric multidimensional scaling. The first non-metric multidimensional scaling axis strongly correlated with whether a country had a wetland-specific environmental policy in place. Adoption of a comprehensive, wetland-specific policy was positively associated with degree of democracy and a commitment to establishing protected areas. The second non-metric multidimensional scaling axis defined a continuum of policy goals and mechanisms by which wetlands are protected, with goals to protect wetland ecosystem services on one end of the spectrum and goals to protect biodiversity on the other. Goals for protecting ecosystem services were frequently cited in policy documents of countries with agriculture-based economies, whereas goals associated with wetland biodiversity tended to be associated with tourism-based economies. We argue that the components of a country's wetland policies reflect national-level resource and economic characteristics. Understanding the relationship between the type of wetland policy countries adopt and national-level characteristics is critical for international efforts to protect wetlands.

Teaching About the Epistemology of Science in Upper Secondary Schools: An Analysis of Teachers' Classroom Talk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryder, Jim; Leach, John

2008-02-01

We begin by drawing upon the available literature to identify four characteristics of teacher talk likely to support student learning about the epistemology of science: making appropriate statements about the epistemology of science in the classroom, linking the epistemology of science with specific science concepts, stating and justifying learning aims, and working with students’ ideas. These characteristics are then used in an analysis of the classroom talk of seven teachers as they use published resources for teaching about the epistemology of science for the first time. By focusing on teachers’ initial classroom experiences of using these published resources we identify feasible starting points for professional development activities likely to support these teachers in developing their expertise in this challenging area of teaching. Lessons focused on a specific aspect of the epistemology of science (the development of theoretical models) contextualised within two content areas: electromagnetism and cell membrane structure. Our analysis shows that none of these teachers made clearly inappropriate statements about the epistemology of science in the classroom. However, expertise related to the remaining three characteristics of teacher talk varied between teachers. For example, some teachers used a range of approaches to working with students’ ideas during whole class talk (e.g. asking students to justify their ideas and challenging students’ views) whereas for other teachers students’ ideas were not a strong feature of classroom discourse.

Predictors of host specificity among behavior-manipulating parasites.

PubMed

Fredensborg, B L

2014-07-01

A trade-off between resource-specialization and the breadth of the ecological niche is one of the most fundamental biological characteristics. A true generalist (Jack-of-all-trades) displays a broad ecological niche with little resource specialization while the opposite is true for a resource-specialist that has a restricted ecological niche that it masters. Parasites that manipulate hosts' behavior are often thought to represent resource-specialists based on a few spectacular examples of manipulation of the host's behavior. However, the determinants of which, and how many, hosts a manipulating parasite can exploit (i.e., niche breadth) are basically unknown. Here, I present an analysis based on published records of the use of hosts by 67 species from 38 genera of helminths inducing parasite increased trophic transmission, a widespread strategy of parasites that has been reported from many taxa of parasites and hosts. Using individual and multivariate analyses, I examined the effect of the host's and parasite's taxonomy, location of the parasite in the host, type of behavioral change, and the effect of debilitation on host-specificity, measured as the mean taxonomic relatedness of hosts that a parasite can manipulate. Host-specificity varied substantially across taxa suggesting great variation in the level of resource-specialization among manipulating parasites. Location of the parasite, level of debilitation, and type of host were all significant predictors of host-specificity. More specifically, hosts' behavioral modification that involves interaction with the central nervous system presumably restricts parasites to more closely related hosts than does manipulation of the host's behavior via debilitation of the host's physiology. The results of the analysis suggest that phylogenetic relatedness of hosts is a useful measure of host-specificity in comparative studies of the complexity of interactions taking place between manipulating parasites and their hosts. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration interdisciplinary studies in space technology at the University of Kansas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barr, B. G.

1974-01-01

A broad range of research projects contained in a cooperative space technology program at the University of Kansas are reported as they relate to the following three areas of interdisciplinary interest: (1) remote sensing of earth resources; (2) stability and control of light and general aviation aircraft; and (3) the vibrational response characteristics of aeronautical and space vehicles. Details of specific research efforts are given under their appropriate departments, among which are aerospace engineering, chemical and petroleum engineering, environmental health, water resources, the remote sensing laboratory, and geoscience applications studies.

Geothermal resources in Oregon: site data base and development status

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

Justus, D.L.

An inventory of resources based on available information is presented. Potential for utilization and the legal and institutional environment in which development is likely to occur were also considered. Sites selected for this investigation include the 13 identified KGRA's, one PGRA which was chosen because of substantial local interest expressed in favor of development, and one major geologic fault zone which shows indications of high potential. Each chapter represents a planning region and is introduced by a regional overview of the physical setting followed by a narrative summary statement of the specific resource location and characteristics, existing utilization and potentialmore » end-uses for future development. Detailed site information in the form of data sheets follows each narrative. (MHR)« less

Human resource management practices in a medical complex in the Eastern Cape, South Africa: assessing their impact on the retention of doctors.

PubMed

Longmore, Bruce; Ronnie, Linda

2014-03-26

Human resource management (HRM) practices have the potential to influence the retention of doctors in the public health sector. To explore the key human resource (HR) practices affecting doctors in a medical complex in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. We used an open-ended questionnaire to gather data from 75 doctors in this setting. The most important HR practices were paying salaries on time and accurately, the management of documentation, communication, HR staff showing that they respected and valued the doctors, and reimbursement for conferences and special leave requests. All these practices were judged to be poorly administered. Essential HR characteristics were ranked in the following order: task competence of HR staff, accountability, general HR efficiency, occupation-specific dispensation adjustments and performance management and development system efficiency, and availability of HR staff. All these characteristics were judged to be poor. HRM practices in this Eastern Cape medical complex were inadequate and a source of frustration. This lack of efficiency could lead to further problems with regard to retaining doctors in public sector service.

Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: Denver Basin, Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska: Chapter G in Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Drake II, Ronald M.; Brennan, Sean T.; Covault, Jacob A.; Blondes, Madalyn S.; Freeman, P.A.; Cahan, Steven M.; DeVera, Christina A.; Lohr, Celeste D.

2014-01-01

This is a report about the geologic characteristics of five storage assessment units (SAUs) within the Denver Basin of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. These SAUs are Cretaceous in age and include (1) the Plainview and Lytle Formations, (2) the Muddy Sandstone, (3) the Greenhorn Limestone, (4) the Niobrara Formation and Codell Sandstone, and (5) the Terry and Hygiene Sandstone Members. The described characteristics, as specified in the methodology, affect the potential carbon dioxide storage resource in the SAUs. The specific geologic and petrophysical properties of interest include depth to the top of the storage formation, average thickness, net-porous thickness, porosity, permeability, groundwater quality, and the area of structural reservoir traps. Descriptions of the SAU boundaries and the overlying sealing units are also included. Assessment results are not contained in this report; however, the geologic information included here will be used to calculate a statistical Monte Carlo-based distribution of potential storage volume in the SAUs.

Mental health, suicidal ideation, and related factors among workers from medium-sized business establishments in northern Japan: comparative study of sex differences.

PubMed

Takusari, Eri; Suzuki, Mitsuru; Nakamura, Hikaru; Otsuka, Kotaro

2011-01-01

A questionnaire survey was conducted among 3,233 workers (2,442 males and 791 females) from 17 medium-sized business establishments in northern Japan with respect to GHQ-12 score, suicidal ideation, sociodemographic characteristics, work-associated factors, and attitude toward mental health resources. Sex differences were assessed for each questionnaire item, and logistic regression analyses were performed separately for males and females. Significant correlations between common mental disorder (CMD: GHQ-12 score≥3) and the following factors were found for both sexes: short sleep, irregular working schedule, working in specific businesses, and attitude toward mental health resources. Associations between CMD and excess workload were significant only in male workers. While correlations between suicidal ideation and demand for mental health resources were observed in both sexes, significant correlations were observed between suicidal ideation and use of mental health resources for female workers alone. These results suggest that screening of a high-risk population and provision of mental health resources contribute to suicide prevention as a part of mental health promotion measures in medium-sized business establishments. They also suggest the need for identification of business/job type-specific stressors while considering sex differences in lifestyle factors, working environment, and help-seeking behavior.

Degeneracy-Driven Self-Structuring Dynamics in Selective Repertoires

PubMed Central

Atamas, Sergei P.; Bell, Jonathan

2013-01-01

Numerous biological interactions, such as interactions between T cell receptors or antibodies with antigens, interactions between enzymes and substrates, or interactions between predators and prey are often not strictly specific. In such less specific, or “sloppy,” systems, referred to here as degenerate systems, a given unit of a diverse resource (antigens, enzymatic substrates, prey) is at risk of being recognized and consumed by multiple consumers (lymphocytes, enzymes, predators). In this study, we model generalized degenerate consumer-resource systems of Lotka–Volterra and Verhulst types. In the degenerate systems of Lotka–Volterra, there is a continuum of types of consumer and resource based on variation of a single trait (characteristic, or preference). The consumers experience competition for a continuum of resource types. This non-local interaction system is modeled with partial differential-integral equations and shows spontaneous self-structuring of the consumer population that depends on the degree of interaction degeneracy between resource and consumer, but does not mirror the distribution of resource. We also show that the classical Verhulst (i.e. logistic) single population model can be generalized to a degenerate model, which shows qualitative behavior similar to that in the degenerate Lotka–Volterra model. These results provide better insight into the dynamics of selective systems in biology, suggesting that adaptation of degenerate repertoires is not a simple “mirroring” of the environment by the “fittest” elements of population. PMID:19337776

Degeneracy-driven self-structuring dynamics in selective repertoires.

PubMed

Atamas, Sergei P; Bell, Jonathan

2009-08-01

Numerous biological interactions, such as interactions between T cell receptors or antibodies with antigens, interactions between enzymes and substrates, or interactions between predators and prey are often not strictly specific. In such less specific, or "sloppy," systems, referred to here as degenerate systems, a given unit of a diverse resource (antigens, enzymatic substrates, prey) is at risk of being recognized and consumed by multiple consumers (lymphocytes, enzymes, predators). In this study, we model generalized degenerate consumer-resource systems of Lotka-Volterra and Verhulst types. In the degenerate systems of Lotka-Volterra, there is a continuum of types of consumer and resource based on variation of a single trait (characteristic, or preference). The consumers experience competition for a continuum of resource types. This non-local interaction system is modeled with partial differential-integral equations and shows spontaneous self-structuring of the consumer population that depends on the degree of interaction degeneracy between resource and consumer, but does not mirror the distribution of resource. We also show that the classical Verhulst (i.e. logistic) single population model can be generalized to a degenerate model, which shows qualitative behavior similar to that in the degenerate Lotka-Volterra model. These results provide better insight into the dynamics of selective systems in biology, suggesting that adaptation of degenerate repertoires is not a simple "mirroring" of the environment by the "fittest" elements of population.

Vulnerability assessment of water resources - Translating a theoretical concept to an operational framework using systems thinking approach in a changing climate: Case study in Ogallala Aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anandhi, Aavudai; Kannan, Narayanan

2018-02-01

Water is an essential natural resource. Among many stressors, altered climate is exerting pressure on water resource systems, increasing its demand and creating a need for vulnerability assessments. The overall objective of this study was to develop a novel tool that can translate a theoretical concept (vulnerability of water resources (VWR)) to an operational framework mainly under altered temperature and precipitation, as well as for population change (smaller extent). The developed tool had three stages and utilized a novel systems thinking approach. Stage-1: Translating theoretical concept to characteristics identified from studies; Stage-2: Operationalizing characteristics to methodology in VWR; Stage-3: Utilizing the methodology for development of a conceptual modeling tool for VWR: WR-VISTA (Water Resource Vulnerability assessment conceptual model using Indicators selected by System's Thinking Approach). The specific novelties were: 1) The important characteristics in VWR were identified in Stage-1 (target system, system components, scale, level of detail, data source, frameworks, and indicator); 2) WR-VISTA combined two vulnerability assessments frameworks: the European's Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response framework (DPSIR) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's framework (IPCC's); and 3) used systems thinking approaches in VWR for indicator selection. The developed application was demonstrated in Kansas (overlying the High Plains region/Ogallala Aquifer, considered the "breadbasket of the world"), using 26 indicators with intermediate level of detail. Our results indicate that the western part of the state is vulnerable from agricultural water use and the eastern part from urban water use. The developed tool can be easily replicated to other regions within and outside the US.

Are pathogenic bacteria just looking for food? Metabolism and microbial pathogenesis

PubMed Central

Rohmer, Laurence; Hocquet, Didier; Miller, Samuel I.

2011-01-01

It is interesting to speculate that the evolutionary drive of microbes to develop pathogenic characteristics was to access the nutrient resources that animals provided. Environments in animals that pathogens colonize have also driven the evolution of new bacterial characteristics to maximize these new nutritional opportunities. This review focuses on genomic and functional aspects of pathogen metabolism that allow efficient utilization of nutrient resources provided by animals. Similar to genes encoding specific virulence traits, some genes encoding metabolic functions have been horizontally acquired by pathogens to provide a selective advantage in host tissues. Selective advantage in host tissues can also be gained in some circumstances by loss of function due to mutations that alter metabolic capabilities. Greater understanding of bacterial metabolism within host tissues should be important for increased understanding of host-pathogen interactions and the development of future therapeutic strategies. PMID:21600774

Relationships between common forest metrics and realized impacts of Hurricane Katrina on forest resources in Mississippi

Treesearch

Sonja N. Oswalt; Christopher M. Oswalt

2008-01-01

This paper compares and contrasts hurricane-related damage recorded across the Mississippi landscape in the 2 years following Katrina with initial damage assessments based on modeled parameters by the USDA Forest Service. Logistic and multiple regressions are used to evaluate the influence of stand characteristics on tree damage probability. Specifically, this paper...

Online Resource Sharing II. A Comparison of: OCLC, Incorporated, Research Libraries Information Network, and Washington Library Network.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobs, Mary Ellen; And Others

This comparative study of three major online bibliographic systems is designed to provide assistance to library administrators in the assessment of the potential impact of such systems upon the operations of their libraries. A side by side arrangement of the text allows an overview of any specific characteristic under consideration. These…

Inputs requested from earth resources remote sensing data users regarding LANDSAT-C mission requirements and data needs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

Inputs from prospective LANDSAT-C data users are requested to aid NASA in defining LANDSAT-C mission and data requirements and in making decisions regarding the scheduling of satellite operations and ground data processing operations. Design specifications, multispectral band scanner performance characteristics, satellite schedule operations, and types of available data products are briefly described.

Evaluating shrub-associated spatial patterns of soil properties in a shrub-steppe ecosystem using multiple-variable geostatistics

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

Halvorson, J.J.; Smith, J.L.; Bolton, H. Jr.

1995-09-01

Geostatistics are often calculated for a single variable at a time, even though many natural phenomena are functions of several variables. The objective of this work was to demonstrate a nonparametric approach for assessing the spatial characteristics of multiple-variable phenomena. Specifically, we analyzed the spatial characteristics of resource islands in the soil under big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentala Nutt.), a dominant shrub in the intermountain western USA. For our example, we defined resource islands as a function of six soil variables representing concentrations of soil resources, populations of microorganisms, and soil microbial physiological variables. By collectively evaluating the indicator transformations ofmore » these individual variables, we created a new data set, termed a multiple-variable indicator transform or MVIT. Alternate MVITs were obtained by varying the selection criteria. Each MVIT was analyzed with variography to characterize spatial continuity, and with indicator kriging to predict the combined probability of their occurrence at unsampled locations in the landscape. Simple graphical analysis and variography demonstrated spatial dependence for all individual soil variables. Maps derived from ordinary kriging of MVITs suggested that the combined probabilities for encountering zones of above-median resources were greatest near big sagebrush. 51 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.« less

Successful aging in Spanish older adults: the role of psychosocial resources.

PubMed

Dumitrache, Cristina G; Rubio, Laura; Cordón-Pozo, Eulogio

2018-05-25

ABSTRACTBackground:Psychological and social resources such as extraversion, optimism, social support, or social networks contribute to adaptation and to successful aging. Building on assumptions derived from successful aging and from the developmental adaptation models, this study aims to analyze the joint impact of different psychosocial resources, such as personality, social relations, health, and socio-demographic characteristics on life satisfaction in a group of people aged 65 years-old and older from Spain. A cross-sectional survey using non-proportional quota sampling was carried out. The sample comprised 406 community-dwelling older adults (M = 74.88, SD = 6.75). In order to collect the data, face-to-face interviews were individually conducted. A structural equation model (SEM) was carried out using the PLS software. The results of the SEM model showed that, within this sample, psychosocial variables explain 47.4% of the variance in life satisfaction. Social relations and personality, specifically optimism, were strongly related with life satisfaction, while health status and socio-demographic characteristics were modestly associated with life satisfaction. Findings support the view that psychosocial resources are important for successful aging and therefore should be included in successful aging models. Furthermore, interventions aimed at fostering successful aging should take into account the role of psychosocial variables.

Using Implicit Instructional Cues to Influence False Memory Induction.

PubMed

Cirelli, Laura K; Dickinson, Joël; Poirier, Marie

2015-10-01

Previous research has shown that explicit cues specific to the encoding process (endogenous) or characteristic of the stimuli themselves (exogenous) can be used to direct a reader's attentional resources towards either relational or item-specific information. By directing attention to relational information (and therefore away from item-specific information) the rate of false memory induction can be increased. The purpose of the current study was to investigate if a similar effect would be found by manipulating implicitly endogenous cues. An instructional manipulation was used to influence the perceptual action participants performed on word stimuli during the encoding of DRM list words. Results demonstrated that the instructional conditions that encouraged faster processing also led to an increased rate of false memory induction for semantically related words, supporting the hypothesis that attention was directed towards relational information. This finding supports the impoverished relational processing account of false memory induction. This supports the idea that implicitly endogenous cues, exogenous cues (like font) or explicitly endogenous cues (like training) can direct attentional resources during encoding.

Personal growth and the transition to grandfatherhood.

PubMed

Taubman-Ben-ari, Orit; Findler, Liora; Ben Shlomo, Shirley

2012-01-01

The study examined personal growth among new grandfathers (n = 101, age 45-67), 2 to 24 months after the birth of their first grandchild. Specifically, it investigated the contribution of internal resources (self-esteem), perceived characteristics of the situation (grandparenthood distress and cognitive appraisals of threat, challenge, and self-efficacy), and external resources (perceived marital relationship) to the experience of growth. Associations with several background variables, including age, education, health and economic status, grandchild's age, and frequency of grandfather-grandchild meetings, were also examined. The results showed that lower internal resources, a positive assessment of the situation, and lower education were most closely associated with a higher experience of growth in first-time grandfathers. The discussion relates to the uniqueness of focusing on grandfathers and the potential for personal growth in this new family role.

FIREX mission requirements document for renewable resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carsey, F.; Dixon, T.

1982-01-01

The initial experimental program and mission requirements for a satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system FIREX (Free-Flying Imaging Radar Experiment) for renewable resources is described. The spacecraft SAR is a C-band and L-band VV polarized system operating at two angles of incidence which is designated as a research instrument for crop identification, crop canopy condition assessments, soil moisture condition estimation, forestry type and condition assessments, snow water equivalent and snow wetness assessments, wetland and coastal land type identification and mapping, flood extent mapping, and assessment of drainage characteristics of watersheds for water resources applications. Specific mission design issues such as the preferred incidence angles for vegetation canopy measurements and the utility of a dual frequency (L and C-band) or dual polarization system as compared to the baseline system are addressed.

Structure, specificity, and evolution of insect guilds related to cones of conifers in Western Europe

Treesearch

Alain Roques

1991-01-01

Patchy and ephemeral resources, such as the cones of conifers, can be very useful in the study of plant-insect relationships. Studies of such relationships in forest entomology are typically complicated by the spatial and temporal characteristics of the host plants, which occur over vast areas and have lifespans of decades or even centuries. The reproductive structures...

Reconnaissance of chemical quality of surface water and fluvial sediment in the Price River Basin, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mundorff, J.C.

1972-01-01

This report on the quality of surface water in the Price River basin was prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights. The primary purpose of the reconnaissance on which this report is based was to obtain information about (1) the general chemical characteristics of surface water throughout the basin, (2) the effect of the natural environment and of present water use on these chemical characteristics, and (3) general characteristics of the sediment discharge of selected streams in the basin. A secondary objective was the definition of specific problem areas or reaches in which marked deterioration in water quality was evident.

Implementation of two new resource management information systems in Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kessell, Stephen R.; Good, Roger B.; Hopkins, Angas J. M.

1984-05-01

This paper describes the development and implementation of PREPLAN, A Pristine Environment Planning Language and Simulator, for two conservation areas in Australia, Kosciusko National Park (New South Wales) and Tutanning Nature Reserve (Western Australia). PREPLAN was derived from the North American gradient modeling systems and the Forest Planning Language and Simulator (FORPLAN), but includes unique characteristics not previously available. PREPLAN includes an integrated resource management data base, modules for predicting site-specific vegetation, fuels, animals, fire behavior, and fire effects, and an English language instruction set. PREPLAN was developed specifically to provide available information and understanding of ecosystems to managers in a readily accessible and usable form, and to provide the motivation to conduct additional required research projects. An evaluation of the system's advantages and limitations is presented, and the way the utilization of such systems is improving natural area decision making throughout Australia is discussed.

Engineering Inertial and Primary-Frequency Response for Distributed Energy Resources: Preprint

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

Dall-Anese, Emiliano; Zhao, Changhong; Guggilam, Swaroop

We propose a framework to engineer synthetic-inertia and droop-control parameters for distributed energy resources (DERs) so that the system frequency in a network composed of DERs and synchronous generators conforms to prescribed transient and steady-state performance specifications. Our approach is grounded in a second-order lumped-parameter model that captures the dynamics of synchronous generators and frequency-responsive DERs endowed with inertial and droop control. A key feature of this reduced-order model is that its parameters can be related to those of the originating higher-order dynamical model. This allows one to systematically design the DER inertial and droop-control coefficients leveraging classical frequency-domain responsemore » characteristics of second-order systems. Time-domain simulations validate the accuracy of the model-reduction method and demonstrate how DER controllers can be designed to meet steady-state-regulation and transient-performance specifications.« less

Engineering Inertial and Primary-Frequency Response for Distributed Energy Resources

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

Dall-Anese, Emiliano; Zhao, Changhong; Guggilam, Swaroop

We propose a framework to engineer synthetic-inertia and droop-control parameters for distributed energy resources (DERs) so that the system frequency in a network composed of DERs and synchronous generators conforms to prescribed transient and steady-state performance specifications. Our approach is grounded in a second-order lumped-parameter model that captures the dynamics of synchronous generators and frequency-responsive DERs endowed with inertial and droop control. A key feature of this reduced-order model is that its parameters can be related to those of the originating higherorder dynamical model. This allows one to systematically design the DER inertial and droop-control coefficients leveraging classical frequency-domain responsemore » characteristics of second-order systems. Time-domain simulations validate the accuracy of the model-reduction method and demonstrate how DER controllers can be designed to meet steady-state-regulation and transient-performance specifications.« less

The island rule: made to be broken?

PubMed Central

Meiri, Shai; Cooper, Natalie; Purvis, Andy

2007-01-01

The island rule is a hypothesis whereby small mammals evolve larger size on islands while large insular mammals dwarf. The rule is believed to emanate from small mammals growing larger to control more resources and enhance metabolic efficiency, while large mammals evolve smaller size to reduce resource requirements and increase reproductive output. We show that there is no evidence for the existence of the island rule when phylogenetic comparative methods are applied to a large, high-quality dataset. Rather, there are just a few clade-specific patterns: carnivores; heteromyid rodents; and artiodactyls typically evolve smaller size on islands whereas murid rodents usually grow larger. The island rule is probably an artefact of comparing distantly related groups showing clade-specific responses to insularity. Instead of a rule, size evolution on islands is likely to be governed by the biotic and abiotic characteristics of different islands, the biology of the species in question and contingency. PMID:17986433

Season-modulated responses of Neotropical bats to forest fragmentation.

PubMed

Ferreira, Diogo F; Rocha, Ricardo; López-Baucells, Adrià; Farneda, Fábio Z; Carreiras, João M B; Palmeirim, Jorge M; Meyer, Christoph F J

2017-06-01

Seasonality causes fluctuations in resource availability, affecting the presence and abundance of animal species. The impacts of these oscillations on wildlife populations can be exacerbated by habitat fragmentation. We assessed differences in bat species abundance between the wet and dry season in a fragmented landscape in the Central Amazon characterized by primary forest fragments embedded in a secondary forest matrix. We also evaluated whether the relative importance of local vegetation structure versus landscape characteristics (composition and configuration) in shaping bat abundance patterns varied between seasons. Our working hypotheses were that abundance responses are species as well as season specific, and that in the wet season, local vegetation structure is a stronger determinant of bat abundance than landscape-scale attributes. Generalized linear mixed-effects models in combination with hierarchical partitioning revealed that relationships between species abundances and local vegetation structure and landscape characteristics were both season specific and scale dependent. Overall, landscape characteristics were more important than local vegetation characteristics, suggesting that landscape structure is likely to play an even more important role in landscapes with higher fragment-matrix contrast. Responses varied between frugivores and animalivores. In the dry season, frugivores responded more to compositional metrics, whereas during the wet season, local and configurational metrics were more important. Animalivores showed similar patterns in both seasons, responding to the same group of metrics in both seasons. Differences in responses likely reflect seasonal differences in the phenology of flowering and fruiting between primary and secondary forests, which affected the foraging behavior and habitat use of bats. Management actions should encompass multiscale approaches to account for the idiosyncratic responses of species to seasonal variation in resource abundance and consequently to local and landscape scale attributes.

Predicting Ebola infection: A malaria-sensitive triage score for Ebola virus disease

PubMed Central

Okoni-Williams, Harry Henry; Suma, Mohamed; Mancuso, Brooke; Al-Dikhari, Ahmed; Faouzi, Mohamed

2017-01-01

Background The non-specific symptoms of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) pose a major problem to triage and isolation efforts at Ebola Treatment Centres (ETCs). Under the current triage protocol, half the patients allocated to high-risk “probable” wards were EVD(-): a misclassification speculated to predispose nosocomial EVD infection. A better understanding of the statistical relevance of individual triage symptoms is essential in resource-poor settings where rapid, laboratory-confirmed diagnostics are often unavailable. Methods/Principal findings This retrospective cohort study analyses the clinical characteristics of 566 patients admitted to the GOAL-Mathaska ETC in Sierra Leone. The diagnostic potential of each characteristic was assessed by multivariate analysis and incorporated into a statistically weighted predictive score, designed to detect EVD as well as discriminate malaria. Of the 566 patients, 28% were EVD(+) and 35% were malaria(+). Malaria was 2-fold more common in EVD(-) patients (p<0.05), and thus an important differential diagnosis. Univariate analyses comparing EVD(+) vs. EVD(-) and EVD(+)/malaria(-) vs. EVD(-)/malaria(+) cohorts revealed 7 characteristics with the highest odds for EVD infection, namely: reported sick-contact, conjunctivitis, diarrhoea, referral-time of 4–9 days, pyrexia, dysphagia and haemorrhage. Oppositely, myalgia was more predictive of EVD(-) or EVD(-)/malaria(+). Including these 8 characteristics in a triage score, we obtained an 89% ability to discriminate EVD(+) from either EVD(-) or EVD(-)/malaria(+). Conclusions/Significance This study proposes a highly predictive and easy-to-use triage tool, which stratifies the risk of EVD infection with 89% discriminative power for both EVD(-) and EVD(-)/malaria(+) differential diagnoses. Improved triage could preserve resources by identifying those in need of more specific differential diagnostics as well as bolster infection prevention/control measures by better compartmentalizing the risk of nosocomial infection. PMID:28231242

Predicting Ebola infection: A malaria-sensitive triage score for Ebola virus disease.

PubMed

Hartley, Mary-Anne; Young, Alyssa; Tran, Anh-Minh; Okoni-Williams, Harry Henry; Suma, Mohamed; Mancuso, Brooke; Al-Dikhari, Ahmed; Faouzi, Mohamed

2017-02-01

The non-specific symptoms of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) pose a major problem to triage and isolation efforts at Ebola Treatment Centres (ETCs). Under the current triage protocol, half the patients allocated to high-risk "probable" wards were EVD(-): a misclassification speculated to predispose nosocomial EVD infection. A better understanding of the statistical relevance of individual triage symptoms is essential in resource-poor settings where rapid, laboratory-confirmed diagnostics are often unavailable. This retrospective cohort study analyses the clinical characteristics of 566 patients admitted to the GOAL-Mathaska ETC in Sierra Leone. The diagnostic potential of each characteristic was assessed by multivariate analysis and incorporated into a statistically weighted predictive score, designed to detect EVD as well as discriminate malaria. Of the 566 patients, 28% were EVD(+) and 35% were malaria(+). Malaria was 2-fold more common in EVD(-) patients (p<0.05), and thus an important differential diagnosis. Univariate analyses comparing EVD(+) vs. EVD(-) and EVD(+)/malaria(-) vs. EVD(-)/malaria(+) cohorts revealed 7 characteristics with the highest odds for EVD infection, namely: reported sick-contact, conjunctivitis, diarrhoea, referral-time of 4-9 days, pyrexia, dysphagia and haemorrhage. Oppositely, myalgia was more predictive of EVD(-) or EVD(-)/malaria(+). Including these 8 characteristics in a triage score, we obtained an 89% ability to discriminate EVD(+) from either EVD(-) or EVD(-)/malaria(+). This study proposes a highly predictive and easy-to-use triage tool, which stratifies the risk of EVD infection with 89% discriminative power for both EVD(-) and EVD(-)/malaria(+) differential diagnoses. Improved triage could preserve resources by identifying those in need of more specific differential diagnostics as well as bolster infection prevention/control measures by better compartmentalizing the risk of nosocomial infection.

Trail resource impacts and an examination of alternative assessment techniques

USGS Publications Warehouse

Marion, J.L.; Leung, Y.-F.

2001-01-01

Trails are a primary recreation resource facility on which recreation activities are performed. They provide safe access to non-roaded areas, support recreational opportunities such as hiking, biking, and wildlife observation, and protect natural resources by concentrating visitor traffic on resistant treads. However, increasing recreational use, coupled with poorly designed and/or maintained trails, has led to a variety of resource impacts. Trail managers require objective information on trails and their conditions to monitor trends, direct trail maintenance efforts, and evaluate the need for visitor management and resource protection actions. This paper reviews trail impacts and different types of trail assessments, including inventory, maintenance, and condition assessment approaches. Two assessment methods, point sampling and problem assessment, are compared empirically from separate assessments of a 15-mile segment of the Appalachian Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Results indicate that point sampling and problem assessment methods yield distinctly different types of quantitative information. The point sampling method provides more accurate and precise measures of trail characteristics that are continuous or frequent (e.g., tread width or exposed soil). The problem assessment method is a preferred approach for monitoring trail characteristics that can be easily predefined or are infrequent (e.g., excessive width or secondary treads), particularly when information on the location of specific trail impact problems is needed. The advantages and limitations of these two assessment methods are examined in relation to various management and research information needs. The choice and utility of these assessment methods are also discussed.

Overview of Faculty Development Programs for Interprofessional Education.

PubMed

Ratka, Anna; Zorek, Joseph A; Meyer, Susan M

2017-06-01

Objectives. To describe characteristics of faculty development programs designed to facilitate interprofessional education, and to compile recommendations for development, delivery, and assessment of such faculty development programs. Methods. MEDLINE, CINAHL, ERIC, and Web of Science databases were searched using three keywords: faculty development, interprofessional education, and health professions. Articles meeting inclusion criteria were analyzed for emergent themes, including program design, delivery, participants, resources, and assessment. Results. Seventeen articles were identified for inclusion, yielding five characteristics of a successful program: institutional support; objectives and outcomes based on interprofessional competencies; focus on consensus-building and group facilitation skills; flexibility based on institution- and participant-specific characteristics; and incorporation of an assessment strategy. Conclusion. The themes and characteristics identified in this literature overview may support development of faculty development programs for interprofessional education. An advanced evidence base for interprofessional education faculty development programs is needed.

To live and die in L.A. County: neighborhood economic and social context and premature age-specific mortality rates among Latinos.

PubMed

Bjornstrom, Eileen

2011-01-01

This ecological study compares the utility of neighborhood economic, social, and co-ethnic concentration characteristics in explaining mortality among Latinos aged 25-64 due to all causes and heart disease in Los Angeles County from 2000 to 2004. Results indicate that local economic well-being and social resources are beneficial for both outcomes to varying degrees. Economic well-being is the strongest predictor of all-cause mortality rates among Latinos aged 25-64 and was the only characteristic that significantly predicted heart disease mortality among those aged 45-64. Among social resources, results indicate collective efficacy is comparatively more important for mortality in younger adults. Social interaction was associated with lower mortality but the effect was not significant for any outcome. Co-ethnic concentration was consistently associated with increased mortality, but only achieved significance for all-cause mortality in younger adults. This effect was mediated by neighborhood income. Though social resources appear to be beneficial to a lesser extent, results suggest policy should first aim to address income disparities across local communities. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Play-fairway analysis for geothermal resources and exploration risk in the Modoc Plateau region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Siler, Drew; Zhang, Yingqi; Spycher, Nicolas F.; Dobson, Patrick; McClain, James S.; Gasperikova, Erika; Zierenberg, Robert A.; Schiffman, Peter; Ferguson, Colin; Fowler, Andrew; Cantwell, Carolyn

2017-01-01

The region surrounding the Modoc Plateau, encompassing parts of northeastern California, southern Oregon, and northwestern Nevada, lies at an intersection between two tectonic provinces; the Basin and Range province and the Cascade volcanic arc. Both of these provinces have substantial geothermal resource base and resource potential. Geothermal systems with evidence of magmatic heat, associated with Cascade arc magmatism, typify the western side of the region. Systems on the eastern side of the region appear to be fault controlled with heat derived from high crustal heat flow, both of which are typical of the Basin and Range. As it has the potential to host Cascade arc-type geothermal resources, Basin and Range-type geothermal resources, and/or resources with characteristics of both provinces, and because there is relatively little current development, the Modoc Plateau region represents an intriguing potential for undiscovered geothermal resources. It remains unclear however, what specific set(s) of characteristics are diagnostic of Modoc-type geothermal systems and how or if those characteristics are distinct from Basin and Range-type or Cascade arc-type geothermal systems. In order to evaluate the potential for undiscovered geothermal resources in the Modoc area, we integrate a wide variety of existing data in order to evaluate geothermal resource potential and exploration risk utilizing ‘play-fairway’ analysis. We consider that the requisite parameters for hydrothermal circulation are: 1) heat that is sufficient to drive circulation, and 2) permeability that is sufficient to allow for fluid circulation in the subsurface. We synthesize data that indicate the extent and distribution of these parameters throughout the Modoc region. ‘Fuzzy logic’ is used to incorporate expert opinion into the utility of each dataset as an indicator of either heat or permeability, and thus geothermal favorability. The results identify several geothermal prospects, areas that are highly favorable for the occurrence of both heat and permeability. These are also areas where there is sufficient data coverage, quality, and consistency that the exploration risk is relatively low. These unknown, undeveloped, and under-developed prospects are well-suited for continued exploration efforts. The results also indicate to what degree the two ‘play-types,’ i.e. Cascade arc-type or Basin and Range-type, apply to each of the geothermal prospects, a useful guide in exploration efforts.

A resource-oriented architecture for a Geospatial Web

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazzetti, Paolo; Nativi, Stefano

2010-05-01

In this presentation we discuss some architectural issues on the design of an architecture for a Geospatial Web, that is an information system for sharing geospatial resources according to the Web paradigm. The success of the Web in building a multi-purpose information space, has raised questions about the possibility of adopting the same approach for systems dedicated to the sharing of more specific resources, such as the geospatial information, that is information characterized by spatial/temporal reference. To this aim an investigation on the nature of the Web and on the validity of its paradigm for geospatial resources is required. The Web was born in the early 90's to provide "a shared information space through which people and machines could communicate" [Berners-Lee 1996]. It was originally built around a small set of specifications (e.g. URI, HTTP, HTML, etc.); however, in the last two decades several other technologies and specifications have been introduced in order to extend its capabilities. Most of them (e.g. the SOAP family) actually aimed to transform the Web in a generic Distributed Computing Infrastructure. While these efforts were definitely successful enabling the adoption of service-oriented approaches for machine-to-machine interactions supporting complex business processes (e.g. for e-Government and e-Business applications), they do not fit in the original concept of the Web. In the year 2000, R. T. Fielding, one of the designers of the original Web specifications, proposes a new architectural style for distributed systems, called REST (Representational State Transfer), aiming to capture the fundamental characteristics of the Web as it was originally conceived [Fielding 2000]. In this view, the nature of the Web lies not so much in the technologies, as in the way they are used. Maintaining the Web architecture conform to the REST style would then assure the scalability, extensibility and low entry barrier of the original Web. On the contrary, systems using the same Web technologies and specifications but according to a different architectural style, despite their usefulness, should not be considered part of the Web. If the REST style captures the significant Web characteristics, then, in order to build a Geospatial Web it is necessary that its architecture satisfies all the REST constraints. One of them is of particular importance: the adoption of a Uniform Interface. It prescribes that all the geospatial resources must be accessed through the same interface; moreover according to the REST style this interface must satisfy four further constraints: a) identification of resources; b) manipulation of resources through representations; c) self-descriptive messages; and, d) hypermedia as the engine of application state. In the Web, the uniform interface provides basic operations which are meaningful for generic resources. They typically implement the CRUD pattern (Create-Retrieve-Update-Delete) which demonstrated to be flexible and powerful in several general-purpose contexts (e.g. filesystem management, SQL for database management systems, etc.). Restricting the scope to a subset of resources it would be possible to identify other generic actions which are meaningful for all of them. For example for geospatial resources, subsetting, resampling, interpolation and coordinate reference systems transformations functionalities are candidate functionalities for a uniform interface. However an investigation is needed to clarify the semantics of those actions for different resources, and consequently if they can really ascend the role of generic interface operation. Concerning the point a), (identification of resources), it is required that every resource addressable in the Geospatial Web has its own identifier (e.g. a URI). This allows to implement citation and re-use of resources, simply providing the URI. OPeNDAP and KVP encodings of OGC data access services specifications might provide a basis for it. Concerning point b) (manipulation of resources through representations), the Geospatial Web poses several issues. In fact, while the Web mainly handles semi-structured information, in the Geospatial Web the information is typically structured with several possible data models (e.g. point series, gridded coverages, trajectories, etc.) and encodings. A possibility would be to simplify the interchange formats, choosing to support a subset of data models and format(s). This is what actually the Web designers did choosing to define a common format for hypermedia (HTML), although the underlying protocol would be generic. Concerning point c), self-descriptive messages, the exchanged messages should describe themselves and their content. This would not be actually a major issue considering the effort put in recent years on geospatial metadata models and specifications. The point d), hypermedia as the engine of application state, is actually where the Geospatial Web would mainly differ from existing geospatial information sharing systems. In fact the existing systems typically adopt a service-oriented architecture, where applications are built as a single service or as a workflow of services. On the other hand, in the Geospatial Web, applications should be built following the path between interconnected resources. The link between resources should be made explicit as hyperlinks. The adoption of Semantic Web solutions would allow to define not only the existence of a link between two resources, but also the nature of the link. The implementation of a Geospatial Web would allow to build an information system with the same characteristics of the Web sharing its points-of-strength and weaknesses. The main advantages would be the following: • The user would interact with the Geospatial Web according to the well-known Web navigation paradigm. This would lower the barrier to the access to geospatial applications for non-specialists (e.g. the success of Google Maps and other Web mapping applications); • Successful Web and Web 2.0 applications - search engines, feeds, social network - could be integrated/replicated in the Geospatial Web; The main drawbacks would be the following: • The Uniform Interface simplifies the overall system architecture (e.g. no service registry, and service descriptors required), but moves the complexity to the data representation. Moreover since the interface must stay generic, it results really simple and therefore complex interactions would require several transfers. • In the geospatial domain one of the most valuable resources are processes (e.g. environmental models). How they can be modeled as resources accessed through the common interface is an open issue. Taking into account advantages and drawback it seems that a Geospatial Web would be useful, but its use would be limited to specific use-cases not covering all the possible applications. The Geospatial Web architecture could be partly based on existing specifications, while other aspects need investigation. References [Berners-Lee 1996] T. Berners-Lee, "WWW: Past, present, and future". IEEE Computer, 29(10), Oct. 1996, pp. 69-77. [Fielding 2000] Fielding, R. T. 2000. Architectural styles and the design of network-based software architectures. PhD Dissertation. Dept. of Information and Computer Science, University of California, Irvine

Ethnicity, work-related stress and subjective reports of health by migrant workers: a multi-dimensional model.

PubMed

Capasso, Roberto; Zurlo, Maria Clelia; Smith, Andrew P

2018-02-01

This study integrates different aspects of ethnicity and work-related stress dimensions (based on the Demands-Resources-Individual-Effects model, DRIVE [Mark, G. M., and A. P. Smith. 2008. "Stress Models: A Review and Suggested New Direction." In Occupational Health Psychology, edited by J. Houdmont and S. Leka, 111-144. Nottingham: Nottingham University Press]) and aims to test a multi-dimensional model that combines individual differences, ethnicity dimensions, work characteristics, and perceived job satisfaction/stress as independent variables in the prediction of subjectives reports of health by workers differing in ethnicity. A questionnaire consisting of the following sections was submitted to 900 workers in Southern Italy: for individual and cultural characteristics, coping strategies, personality behaviours, and acculturation strategies; for work characteristics, perceived job demands and job resources/rewards; for appraisals, perceived job stress/satisfaction and racial discrimination; for subjective reports of health, psychological disorders and general health. To test the reliability and construct validity of the extracted factors referred to all dimensions involved in the proposed model and logistic regression analyses to evaluate the main effects of the independent variables on the health outcomes were conducted. Principal component analysis (PCA) yielded seven factors for individual and cultural characteristics (emotional/relational coping, objective coping, Type A behaviour, negative affectivity, social inhibition, affirmation/maintenance culture, and search identity/adoption of the host culture); three factors for work characteristics (work demands, intrinsic/extrinsic rewards, and work resources); three factors for appraisals (perceived job satisfaction, perceived job stress, perceived racial discrimination) and three factors for subjective reports of health (interpersonal disorders, anxious-depressive disorders, and general health). Logistic regression analyses showed main effects of specific individual and cultural differences, work characteristics and perceived job satisfaction/stress on the risk of suffering health problems. The suggested model provides a strong framework that illustrates how psychosocial and individual variables can influence occupational health in multi-cultural workplaces.

Low-Flow Characteristics and Regionalization of Low-Flow Characteristics for Selected Streams in Arkansas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Funkhouser, Jaysson E.; Eng, Ken; Moix, Matthew W.

2008-01-01

Water use in Arkansas has increased dramatically in recent years. Since 1990, the use of water for all purposes except power generation has increased 53 percent (4,004 cubic feet per second in 1990 to 6,113 cubic feet per second in 2005). The biggest users are agriculture (90 percent), municipal water supply (4 percent) and industrial supply (2 percent). As the population of the State continues to grow, so does the demand for the State's water resources. The low-flow characteristics of a stream ultimately affect its utilization by humans. Specific information on the low-flow characteristics of streams is essential to State water-management agencies such as the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission when dealing with problems related to irrigation, municipal and industrial water supplies, fish and wildlife conservation, and dilution of waste. Low-flow frequency data are of particular value to management agencies responsible for the development and management of the State's water resources. This report contains the low-flow characteristics for 70 active continuous-streamflow record gaging stations, 59 inactive continuous-streamflow record stations, and 101 partial-record gaging stations. These characteristics are the annual 7-day, 10-year low flow and the annual 7-day, 2-year low flow, and the seasonal, bimonthly, and monthly 7-day, 10-year low flow for the 129 active and inactive continuous-streamflow record and 101 partial-record gaging stations. Low-flow characteristics were computed on the basis of streamflow data for the period of record through September 2005 for the continuous-streamflow record and partial-record streamflow gaging stations. The low-flow characteristics of these continuous- and partial-record streamflow gaging stations were utilized in a regional regression analysis to produce equations for estimating the annual, seasonal, bimonthly, and monthly (November through April) 7-day, 10-year low flows and the annual 7-day, 2-year low flow for ungaged streams in the western two-thirds of Arkansas.

Developing an institutional framework to incorporate ecosystem services into decision making-Proceedings of a workshop

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hogan, Dianna; Arthaud, Greg; Brookshire, David; Gunther, Tom; Pincetl, Stephanie; Shapiro, Carl; Van Horne, Bea

2011-01-01

The appropriate use of institutional structures, including markets, to integrate ecosystem services into decision making depends on the players and characteristics of the specific situation (such as stakeholders, the ecosystem, resources, and the political environment). Incorporating ecosystem service values into decisions requires consideration of place-based social, cultural, economic, and landscape characteristics and institutions. Thus, a single, prescribed solution will not work-various institutional strategies must be used in different situations. Market-based approaches require appropriate regulations, monitoring, and enforcement, depending on the situation and place. Further, market approaches will need to be coupled with nonmarket approaches into an integrated institutional framework.

Socioeconomic Differences in Use of Low-Value Cancer Screenings and Distributional Effects in Medicare.

PubMed

Xu, Wendy Yi; Jung, Jeah Kyoungrae

2017-10-01

Consuming low-value health care not only highlights inefficient resource use but also brings an important concern regarding the economics of disparities. We identify the relation of socioeconomic characteristics to the use of low-value cancer screenings in Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) settings, and quantify the amount subsidized from nonusers and taxpayers to users of these screenings. 2007-2013 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, Medicare FFS claims, and the Area Health Resource Files. Our sample included enrollees in FFS Part B for the entire calendar year. We excluded beneficiaries with a claims-documented or self-reported history of targeted cancers, or those enrolled in Medicaid or Medicare Advantage plans. We identified use of low-value Pap smears, mammograms, and prostate-specific antigen tests based on established algorithms, and estimated a logistic model with year dummies separately for each test. Secondary data analyses. We found a statistically significant positive association between privileged socioeconomic characteristics and use of low-value screenings. Having higher income and supplemental private insurance strongly predicted more net subsidies from Medicare. FFS enrollees who are better off in terms of sociodemographic characteristics receive greater subsidies from taxpayers for using low-value cancer screenings. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

The importance of scale-dependent ravine characteristics on breeding-site selection by the Burrowing Parrot, Cyanoliseus patagonus

PubMed Central

Rios, Rodrigo S.; Vargas-Rodriguez, Renzo; Novoa-Jerez, Jose-Enrique; Squeo, Francisco A.

2017-01-01

In birds, the environmental variables and intrinsic characteristics of the nest have important fitness consequences through its influence on the selection of nesting sites. However, the extent to which these variables interact with variables that operate at the landscape scale, and whether there is a hierarchy among the different scales that influences nest-site selection, is unknown. This interaction could be crucial in burrowing birds, which depend heavily on the availability of suitable nesting locations. One representative of this group is the burrowing parrot, Cyanoliseus patagonus that breeds on specific ravines and forms large breeding colonies. At a particular site, breeding aggregations require the concentration of adequate environmental elements for cavity nesting, which are provided by within ravine characteristics. Therefore, intrinsic ravine characteristics should be more important in determining nest site selection compared to landscape level characteristics. Here, we assess this hypothesis by comparing the importance of ravine characteristics operating at different scales on nest-site selection and their interrelation with reproductive success. We quantified 12 characteristics of 105 ravines in their reproductive habitat. For each ravine we quantified morphological variables, distance to resources and disturbance as well as nest number and egg production in order to compare selected and non-selected ravines and determine the interrelationship among variables in explaining ravine differences. In addition, the number of nests and egg production for each reproductive ravine was related to ravine characteristics to assess their relation to reproductive success. We found significant differences between non-reproductive and reproductive ravines in both intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics. The multidimensional environmental gradient of variation between ravines, however, shows that differences are mainly related to intrinsic morphological characteristics followed by extrinsic variables associated to human disturbance. Likewise, within reproductive ravines, intrinsic characteristics are more strongly related to the number of nests. The probability of producing eggs, however, was related only to distance to roads and human settlements. Patterns suggest that C. patagonus mainly selects nesting sites based on intrinsic morphological characteristics of ravines. Scale differences in the importance of ravine characteristics could be a consequence of the particular orography of the breeding habitat. The arrangement of resources is associated to the location of the gullies rather than to individual ravines, determining the spatial availability and disposition of resources and disturbances. Thus, nest selection is influenced by intrinsic characteristics that maximize the fitness of individuals. Scaling in nest-selection is discussed under an optimality approach that partitions patch selection based on foraging theory. PMID:28462019

Acquisition and evaluation of verb subcategorization resources for biomedicine.

PubMed

Rimell, Laura; Lippincott, Thomas; Verspoor, Karin; Johnson, Helen L; Korhonen, Anna

2013-04-01

Biomedical natural language processing (NLP) applications that have access to detailed resources about the linguistic characteristics of biomedical language demonstrate improved performance on tasks such as relation extraction and syntactic or semantic parsing. Such applications are important for transforming the growing unstructured information buried in the biomedical literature into structured, actionable information. In this paper, we address the creation of linguistic resources that capture how individual biomedical verbs behave. We specifically consider verb subcategorization, or the tendency of verbs to "select" co-occurrence with particular phrase types, which influences the interpretation of verbs and identification of verbal arguments in context. There are currently a limited number of biomedical resources containing information about subcategorization frames (SCFs), and these are the result of either labor-intensive manual collation, or automatic methods that use tools adapted to a single biomedical subdomain. Either method may result in resources that lack coverage. Moreover, the quality of existing verb SCF resources for biomedicine is unknown, due to a lack of available gold standards for evaluation. This paper presents three new resources related to verb subcategorization frames in biomedicine, and four experiments making use of the new resources. We present the first biomedical SCF gold standards, capturing two different but widely-used definitions of subcategorization, and a new SCF lexicon, BioCat, covering a large number of biomedical sub-domains. We evaluate the SCF acquisition methodologies for BioCat with respect to the gold standards, and compare the results with the accuracy of the only previously existing automatically-acquired SCF lexicon for biomedicine, the BioLexicon. Our results show that the BioLexicon has greater precision while BioCat has better coverage of SCFs. Finally, we explore the definition of subcategorization using these resources and its implications for biomedical NLP. All resources are made publicly available. The SCF resources we have evaluated still show considerably lower accuracy than that reported with general English lexicons, demonstrating the need for domain- and subdomain-specific SCF acquisition tools for biomedicine. Our new gold standards reveal major differences when annotators use the different definitions. Moreover, evaluation of BioCat yields major differences in accuracy depending on the gold standard, demonstrating that the definition of subcategorization adopted will have a direct impact on perceived system accuracy for specific tasks. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Intervention complexity--a conceptual framework to inform priority-setting in health.

PubMed Central

Gericke, Christian A.; Kurowski, Christoph; Ranson, M. Kent; Mills, Anne

2005-01-01

Health interventions vary substantially in the degree of effort required to implement them. To some extent this is apparent in their financial cost, but the nature and availability of non-financial resources is often of similar importance. In particular, human resource requirements are frequently a major constraint. We propose a conceptual framework for the analysis of interventions according to their degree of technical complexity; this complements the notion of institutional capacity in considering the feasibility of implementing an intervention. Interventions are categorized into four dimensions: characteristics of the basic intervention; characteristics of delivery; requirements on government capacity; and usage characteristics. The analysis of intervention complexity should lead to a better understanding of supply- and demand-side constraints to scaling up, indicate priorities for further research and development, and can point to potential areas for improvement of specific aspects of each intervention to close the gap between the complexity of an intervention and the capacity to implement it. The framework is illustrated using the examples of scaling up condom social marketing programmes, and the DOTS strategy for tuberculosis control in highly resource-constrained countries. The framework could be used as a tool for policy-makers, planners and programme managers when considering the expansion of existing projects or the introduction of new interventions. Intervention complexity thus complements the considerations of burden of disease, cost-effectiveness, affordability and political feasibility in health policy decision-making. Reducing the technical complexity of interventions will be crucial to meeting the health-related Millennium Development Goals. PMID:15868020

Intervention complexity--a conceptual framework to inform priority-setting in health.

PubMed

Gericke, Christian A; Kurowski, Christoph; Ranson, M Kent; Mills, Anne

2005-04-01

Health interventions vary substantially in the degree of effort required to implement them. To some extent this is apparent in their financial cost, but the nature and availability of non-financial resources is often of similar importance. In particular, human resource requirements are frequently a major constraint. We propose a conceptual framework for the analysis of interventions according to their degree of technical complexity; this complements the notion of institutional capacity in considering the feasibility of implementing an intervention. Interventions are categorized into four dimensions: characteristics of the basic intervention; characteristics of delivery; requirements on government capacity; and usage characteristics. The analysis of intervention complexity should lead to a better understanding of supply- and demand-side constraints to scaling up, indicate priorities for further research and development, and can point to potential areas for improvement of specific aspects of each intervention to close the gap between the complexity of an intervention and the capacity to implement it. The framework is illustrated using the examples of scaling up condom social marketing programmes, and the DOTS strategy for tuberculosis control in highly resource-constrained countries. The framework could be used as a tool for policy-makers, planners and programme managers when considering the expansion of existing projects or the introduction of new interventions. Intervention complexity thus complements the considerations of burden of disease, cost-effectiveness, affordability and political feasibility in health policy decision-making. Reducing the technical complexity of interventions will be crucial to meeting the health-related Millennium Development Goals.

Social network characteristics and resource access among formerly displaced households in Lira, Uganda.

PubMed

Obaa, Bernard B; Mazur, Robert E

2017-07-01

In rural African communities, the support of extended family, friends, and neighbours is essential in borrowing or leveraging land, labour, food, and money, especially at times of social and financial turmoil. Little is known, though, about the nature of the networks and the conditions under which they may generate greater support in post-conflict communities. This study, conducted in the Lira district of northern Uganda, examined the composition, proximity, and size of the networks that households utilise to gain access to resources during and after resettlement. Network structures with more kin and co-resident ties were found to offer greater resource access to households in post-conflict settings. Furthermore, there was a lack of meaningful linkages outside of a person's own village, especially with regard to households whose head has no or a low level of education. These findings enhance understanding of the specific role of relationships in social support for resource access among households in post-conflict communities. © 2017 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2017.

Overview of Faculty Development Programs for Interprofessional Education

PubMed Central

Zorek, Joseph A.; Meyer, Susan M.

2017-01-01

Objectives. To describe characteristics of faculty development programs designed to facilitate interprofessional education, and to compile recommendations for development, delivery, and assessment of such faculty development programs. Methods. MEDLINE, CINAHL, ERIC, and Web of Science databases were searched using three keywords: faculty development, interprofessional education, and health professions. Articles meeting inclusion criteria were analyzed for emergent themes, including program design, delivery, participants, resources, and assessment. Results. Seventeen articles were identified for inclusion, yielding five characteristics of a successful program: institutional support; objectives and outcomes based on interprofessional competencies; focus on consensus-building and group facilitation skills; flexibility based on institution- and participant-specific characteristics; and incorporation of an assessment strategy. Conclusion. The themes and characteristics identified in this literature overview may support development of faculty development programs for interprofessional education. An advanced evidence base for interprofessional education faculty development programs is needed. PMID:28720924

Environmental management zoning for coal mining in mainland China based on ecological and resources conditions.

PubMed

Geng, Haiqing; Chen, Fan; Wang, Zhiyuan; Liu, Jie; Xu, Weihua

2017-05-01

The purpose of this research is to establish an environmental management zoning for coal mining industry which is served as a basis for making environmental management policies. Based on the specific impacts of coal mining and regional characteristics of environment and resources, the ecological impact, water resources impact, and arable land impact are chose as the zoning indexes to construct the index system. The ecological sensitivity is graded into three levels of low, medium, and high according to analytical hierarchy processes and gray fixed weight clustering analysis, and the water resources sensitivity is divided into five levels of lower, low, medium, high, and higher according to the weighted sum of sub-indexes, while only the arable land sensitive zone was extracted on the basis of the ratio of arable land to the county or city. By combining the ecological sensitivity zoning and the water resources sensitive zoning and then overlapping the arable-sensitive areas, the mainland China is classified into six types of environmental management zones for coal mining except to the forbidden exploitation areas.

Study on new energy development planning and absorptive capability of Xinjiang in China considering resource characteristics and demand prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Hai; Miao, Xujuan; Liu, Jinpeng; Wu, Meng; Zhao, Xuehua

2018-02-01

Xinjiang, as the area where wind energy and solar energy resources are extremely rich, with good resource development characteristics, can provide a support for regional power development and supply protection. This paper systematically analyzes the new energy resource and development characteristics of Xinjiang and carries out the demand prediction and excavation of load characteristics of Xinjiang power market. Combing the development plan of new energy of Xinjiang and considering the construction of transmission channel, it analyzes the absorptive capability of new energy. It provides certain reference for the comprehensive planning of new energy development in Xinjiang and the improvement of absorptive capacity of new energy.

The Assistant for Specifying the Quality Software (ASQS) Operational Concept Document. Volume 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-09-01

Assistant in which the manager supplies system-specific characteristics and needs and the Assistant fills in the software quality concepts and methods. The...member(s) of the Computer Resources Working Group (CRWG) to aid in performing a software quality engineering study. Figure 3.4-1 outlines the...need to recovery from faults more likely than need _o provide alternative functions or interfaces), and more on Autcncmy - 27 - that Modularity

Trends and Patterns in Cultural Resource Significance: An Historical Perspective and Annotated Bibliography

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-04-01

to tracing historical trends in archaeological method and theory ). The literature sum- marized here is extensive and is not accessible widely to the...of new signifi- cance assessment models. The more specific objectives in undertaking this literary review and interpretive analysis of archaeological...method and theory characteristic of the ’New Archaeology’ of the late 1960s. Once these ideas had made their way into the early literature on

In-Hospital Resource Use and Medical Costs in the Last Year of Life by Mode of Death (From the HF-ACTION Randomized Controlled Trial)

PubMed Central

Reed, Shelby D.; Li, Yanhong; Dunlap, Mark E.; Kraus, William E.; Samsa, Gregory P.; Schulman, Kevin A.; Zile, Michael R.; Whellan, David J.

2012-01-01

Patterns of medical resource use near the end of life may differ across modes of death. We characterized patterns of inpatient resource use and direct costs for patients with HF who died of sudden cardiac death (SCD), HF, other cardiovascular causes, or noncardiovascular causes during the last year of life. Data were from a randomized trial exercise training in patients with HF. Mode of death was adjudicated by an end point committee. We used generalized estimating equations to compare hospitalizations, inpatient days, and inpatient costs incurred during the final year of life among patients who died of different causes, adjusting for clinical and treatment characteristics. Of 2331 patients enrolled in the trial, 231 died after at least 1 year of follow-up with an adjudicated mode of death, including 72 of SCD, 80 of HF, 34 of other cardiovascular causes, and 45 of noncardiovascular causes. Patients who died of SCD were younger, had less severe HF, and incurred fewer hospitalizations, fewer inpatient days, and lower inpatient costs than patients who died of other causes. After adjustment for patient characteristics, inpatient resource use varied by 2 to 4 times across modes of death, suggesting that cost-effectiveness analyses of interventions that reduce mortality from SCD compared with other causes should incorporate mode-specific end-of-life costs. In conclusion, resource use and associated medical costs in the last year of life differed markedly among patients with HF who experienced SCD and patients who died of other causes. PMID:22762718

Ego depletion impairs implicit learning.

PubMed

Thompson, Kelsey R; Sanchez, Daniel J; Wesley, Abigail H; Reber, Paul J

2014-01-01

Implicit skill learning occurs incidentally and without conscious awareness of what is learned. However, the rate and effectiveness of learning may still be affected by decreased availability of central processing resources. Dual-task experiments have generally found impairments in implicit learning, however, these studies have also shown that certain characteristics of the secondary task (e.g., timing) can complicate the interpretation of these results. To avoid this problem, the current experiments used a novel method to impose resource constraints prior to engaging in skill learning. Ego depletion theory states that humans possess a limited store of cognitive resources that, when depleted, results in deficits in self-regulation and cognitive control. In a first experiment, we used a standard ego depletion manipulation prior to performance of the Serial Interception Sequence Learning (SISL) task. Depleted participants exhibited poorer test performance than did non-depleted controls, indicating that reducing available executive resources may adversely affect implicit sequence learning, expression of sequence knowledge, or both. In a second experiment, depletion was administered either prior to or after training. Participants who reported higher levels of depletion before or after training again showed less sequence-specific knowledge on the post-training assessment. However, the results did not allow for clear separation of ego depletion effects on learning versus subsequent sequence-specific performance. These results indicate that performance on an implicitly learned sequence can be impaired by a reduction in executive resources, in spite of learning taking place outside of awareness and without conscious intent.

Ego Depletion Impairs Implicit Learning

PubMed Central

Thompson, Kelsey R.; Sanchez, Daniel J.; Wesley, Abigail H.; Reber, Paul J.

2014-01-01

Implicit skill learning occurs incidentally and without conscious awareness of what is learned. However, the rate and effectiveness of learning may still be affected by decreased availability of central processing resources. Dual-task experiments have generally found impairments in implicit learning, however, these studies have also shown that certain characteristics of the secondary task (e.g., timing) can complicate the interpretation of these results. To avoid this problem, the current experiments used a novel method to impose resource constraints prior to engaging in skill learning. Ego depletion theory states that humans possess a limited store of cognitive resources that, when depleted, results in deficits in self-regulation and cognitive control. In a first experiment, we used a standard ego depletion manipulation prior to performance of the Serial Interception Sequence Learning (SISL) task. Depleted participants exhibited poorer test performance than did non-depleted controls, indicating that reducing available executive resources may adversely affect implicit sequence learning, expression of sequence knowledge, or both. In a second experiment, depletion was administered either prior to or after training. Participants who reported higher levels of depletion before or after training again showed less sequence-specific knowledge on the post-training assessment. However, the results did not allow for clear separation of ego depletion effects on learning versus subsequent sequence-specific performance. These results indicate that performance on an implicitly learned sequence can be impaired by a reduction in executive resources, in spite of learning taking place outside of awareness and without conscious intent. PMID:25275517

Generation-specific incentives and disincentives for nurse faculty to remain employed.

PubMed

Tourangeau, Ann E; Wong, Matthew; Saari, Margaret; Patterson, Erin

2015-05-01

The aims of this paper are to: (1) describe work characteristics that nurse faculty report encourage them to remain in or leave their academic positions; and (2) determine if there are generational differences in work characteristics selected. Nurse faculty play key roles in preparing new nurses and graduate nurses. However, educational institutions are challenged to maintain full employment in faculty positions. A cross-sectional, descriptive survey design was employed. Ontario nurse faculty were asked to select, from a list, work characteristics that entice them to remain in or leave their faculty positions. Respondent data (n = 650) were collected using mailed surveys over four months in 2011. While preferred work characteristics differed across generations, the most frequently selected incentives enticing nurse faculty to stay were having: a supportive director/dean, reasonable workloads, supportive colleagues, adequate resources, manageable class sizes and work/life balance. The most frequently selected disincentives included: unmanageable workloads, unsupportive organizations, poor work environments, exposure to bullying, belittling and other types of incivility in the workplace and having an unsupportive director/dean. This research yields new and important knowledge about work characteristics that nurse faculty report shape their decisions to remain in or leave their current employment. Certain work characteristics were rated as important among all generations. Where similarities exist, broad strategies addressing work characteristics may effectively promote nurse faculty retention. However, where generational differences exist, retention-promoting strategies should target generation-specific preferences. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Mothers' marital adaptation following the birth of twins or singletons: empirical evidence and practical insights.

PubMed

Taubman-Ben-Ari, Orit; Findler, Liora; Bendet, Chaya; Stanger, Varda; Ben-Shlomo, Shirley; Kuint, Jacob

2008-08-01

Parenting twins is typically portrayed as more stressful than is parenting single children and, therefore, more of a strain on the marital relationship. With this in mind, the present study examined the contribution of infant characteristics and mother's internal resources (attachment style) and external resources (maternal and paternal grandmothers' perceived support) to their marital adaptation during the first month following delivery, comparing mothers of twins (n = 88) with mothers of singletons (n = 82). The findings indicate that both internal and external resources contribute to the marital adaptation of the two groups, even beyond the contribution of specific circumstances. Thus, it seems that the birth of twins and the birth of a single child are normative life events that have more in common than previously acknowledged. The implications for the focus of social work interventions, particularly in the case of the birth of twins, are discussed.

Domain-General and Domain-Specific Patterns of Activity Supporting Metacognition in Human Prefrontal Cortex

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Metacognition is the capacity to evaluate the success of one's own cognitive processes in various domains; for example, memory and perception. It remains controversial whether metacognition relies on a domain-general resource that is applied to different tasks or if self-evaluative processes are domain specific. Here, we investigated this issue directly by examining the neural substrates engaged when metacognitive judgments were made by human participants of both sexes during perceptual and memory tasks matched for stimulus and performance characteristics. By comparing patterns of fMRI activity while subjects evaluated their performance, we revealed both domain-specific and domain-general metacognitive representations. Multivoxel activity patterns in anterior prefrontal cortex predicted levels of confidence in a domain-specific fashion, whereas domain-general signals predicting confidence and accuracy were found in a widespread network in the frontal and posterior midline. The demonstration of domain-specific metacognitive representations suggests the presence of a content-rich mechanism available to introspection and cognitive control. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We used human neuroimaging to investigate processes supporting memory and perceptual metacognition. It remains controversial whether metacognition relies on a global resource that is applied to different tasks or if self-evaluative processes are specific to particular tasks. Using multivariate decoding methods, we provide evidence that perceptual- and memory-specific metacognitive representations coexist with generic confidence signals. Our findings reconcile previously conflicting results on the domain specificity/generality of metacognition and lay the groundwork for a mechanistic understanding of metacognitive judgments. PMID:29519851

Impact of contextualized pediatric resuscitation training on pediatric healthcare providers in Botswana.

PubMed

Wright, Shelton W; Steenhoff, Andrew P; Elci, Okan; Wolfe, Heather A; Ralston, Mark; Kgosiesele, Thandie; Makone, Ishmael; Mazhani, Loeto; Nadkarni, Vinay M; Meaney, Peter A

2015-03-01

Worldwide, 6.6 million children die each year, partly due to a failure to recognize and treat acutely ill children. Programs that improve provider recognition and treatment initiation may improve child survival. Describe provider characteristics and hospital resources during a contextualized pediatric resuscitation training program in Botswana and determine if training impacts provider knowledge retention. The American Heart Association's Pediatric Emergency Assessment Recognition and Stabilization (PEARS) course was contextualized to Botswana resources and practice guidelines in this observational study. A cohort of facility-based nurses (FBN) was assessed prior to and 1-month following training. Survey tools assessed provider characteristics, cognitive knowledge and confidence and hospital pediatric resources. Data analysis utilized Fisher's exact, Chi-square, Wilcoxon rank-sum and linear regression where appropriate. 61 healthcare providers (89% FBNs, 11% physicians) successfully completed PEARS training. Referral facilities had more pediatric specific equipment and high-flow oxygen. Median frequency of pediatric resuscitation was higher in referral compared to district level FBN's (5 [3,10] vs. 2 [1,3] p=0.007). While 50% of FBN's had previous resuscitation training, none was pediatric specific. Median provider confidence improved significantly after training (3.8/5 vs. 4.7/5, p<0.001), as did knowledge of correct management of acute pneumonia and diarrhea (44% vs. 100%, p<0.001, 6% vs. 67%, p<0.001, respectively). FBN's in Botswana report frequent resuscitation of ill children but low baseline training. Provider knowledge for recognition and initial treatment of respiratory distress and shock is low. Contextualized training significantly increased FBN provider confidence and knowledge retention 1-month after training. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

EarthCube Data Discovery Hub: Enhancing, Curating and Finding Data across Multiple Geoscience Data Sources.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaslavsky, I.; Valentine, D.; Richard, S. M.; Gupta, A.; Meier, O.; Peucker-Ehrenbrink, B.; Hudman, G.; Stocks, K. I.; Hsu, L.; Whitenack, T.; Grethe, J. S.; Ozyurt, I. B.

2017-12-01

EarthCube Data Discovery Hub (DDH) is an EarthCube Building Block project using technologies developed in CINERGI (Community Inventory of EarthCube Resources for Geoscience Interoperability) to enable geoscience users to explore a growing portfolio of EarthCube-created and other geoscience-related resources. Over 1 million metadata records are available for discovery through the project portal (cinergi.sdsc.edu). These records are retrieved from data facilities, including federal, state and academic sources, or contributed by geoscientists through workshops, surveys, or other channels. CINERGI metadata augmentation pipeline components 1) provide semantic enhancement based on a large ontology of geoscience terms, using text analytics to generate keywords with references to ontology classes, 2) add spatial extents based on place names found in the metadata record, and 3) add organization identifiers to the metadata. The records are indexed and can be searched via a web portal and standard search APIs. The added metadata content improves discoverability and interoperability of the registered resources. Specifically, the addition of ontology-anchored keywords enables faceted browsing and lets users navigate to datasets related by variables measured, equipment used, science domain, processes described, geospatial features studied, and other dataset characteristics that are generated by the pipeline. DDH also lets data curators access and edit the automatically generated metadata records using the CINERGI metadata editor, accept or reject the enhanced metadata content, and consider it in updating their metadata descriptions. We consider several complex data discovery workflows, in environmental seismology (quantifying sediment and water fluxes using seismic data), marine biology (determining available temperature, location, weather and bleaching characteristics of coral reefs related to measurements in a given coral reef survey), and river geochemistry (discovering observations relevant to geochemical measurements outside the tidal zone, given specific discharge conditions).

Oak Ridge Reservation. Physical Characteristics and National Resources

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

Parr, Patricia Dreyer; Joan, F. Hughes

The topology, geology, hydrology, vegetation, and wildlife of the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) provide a complex and intricate array of resources that directly impact land stewardship and use decisions. The purpose of this document is to consolidate general information regarding the natural resources and physical characteristics of the ORR.

Characteristics of Resources Represented in the OCLC CORC Database.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connell, Tschera Harkness; Prabha, Chandra

2002-01-01

Examines the characteristics of Web resources in Online Computer Library Center's (OCLC) Cooperative Online Resource Catalog (CORC) in terms of subject matter, source of content, publication patterns, and units of information chosen for representation in the database. Suggests that the ability to successfully use a database depends on…

Progress and needs in agricultural research, development, and applications programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, D. G.; Myers, V. I.

1977-01-01

The dynamic nature of agriculture requires repetitive resource assessments such as those from remote sensing. Until recently, the use of remote sensing in agriculture has been limited primarily to site specific investigations without large-scale evaluations. Examples of successful applications at various user levels are provided. The stage of development for applying remote sensing to many agricultural problems is assessed, and goals for planning future data characteristics for increased use in agriculture are suggested.

Songs for the Ego: Theorizing Musical Self-Enhancement.

PubMed

Elvers, Paul

2016-01-01

This paper outlines a theoretical account of musical self-enhancement. I claim that listening to music serves as a resource for actively manipulating affective states so that a positive self-view is maintained and a sense of optimism is provided. Self-enhancement-the process by which individuals modify their self-worth and gain self-esteem-typically takes place in social interactions. I argue that experiencing music may serve as a unique "esthetic surrogate" for interaction, which equally enables self-enhancement. This ability relies on three main characteristics of the musical experience, namely, its capacity to (a) evoke empathetic feelings, (b) elicit social cohesion and affiliation, and (c) elicit feelings of reward. I outline how these characteristics relate to theories of music cognition and empirical findings in psychology and neuroscience research. I also explain the specifics of musical self-enhancement and how it differs from music's other regulatory functions such as mood- and emotion regulation. My aim in introducing the notion of musical self-enhancement is to broaden our understanding of how music functions as an environmental resource entailing access to unique affective states and how musical experiences are co-constituted by both the agent and the sonic environment. This specific use of music for self-enhancement can be regarded as a form of affective niche construction, providing the external conditions in which people can experience themselves more positively and maintain high self-esteem.

Songs for the Ego: Theorizing Musical Self-Enhancement

PubMed Central

Elvers, Paul

2016-01-01

This paper outlines a theoretical account of musical self-enhancement. I claim that listening to music serves as a resource for actively manipulating affective states so that a positive self-view is maintained and a sense of optimism is provided. Self-enhancement—the process by which individuals modify their self-worth and gain self-esteem—typically takes place in social interactions. I argue that experiencing music may serve as a unique “esthetic surrogate” for interaction, which equally enables self-enhancement. This ability relies on three main characteristics of the musical experience, namely, its capacity to (a) evoke empathetic feelings, (b) elicit social cohesion and affiliation, and (c) elicit feelings of reward. I outline how these characteristics relate to theories of music cognition and empirical findings in psychology and neuroscience research. I also explain the specifics of musical self-enhancement and how it differs from music’s other regulatory functions such as mood- and emotion regulation. My aim in introducing the notion of musical self-enhancement is to broaden our understanding of how music functions as an environmental resource entailing access to unique affective states and how musical experiences are co-constituted by both the agent and the sonic environment. This specific use of music for self-enhancement can be regarded as a form of affective niche construction, providing the external conditions in which people can experience themselves more positively and maintain high self-esteem. PMID:26834675

Performance Requirements to Achieve Cost-Effectiveness of Point-of-Care Tests for Sepsis Among Patients with Febrile Illness in Low-Resource Settings.

PubMed

Penno, Erin C; Crump, John A; Baird, Sarah J

2015-10-01

Bacterial sepsis is an important cause of mortality in low- and middle-income countries, yet distinguishing patients with sepsis from those with other illnesses remains a challenge. Currently, management decisions are based on clinical assessment using algorithms such as Integrated Management of Adolescent and Adult Illness. Efforts to develop and evaluate point-of-care tests (POCTs) for sepsis to guide decisions on the use of antimicrobials are underway. To establish the minimum performance characteristics of such a test, we varied the characteristics of a hypothetical POCT for sepsis required for it to be cost-effective and applied a decision tree model to a population of febrile patients presenting at the district hospital level in a low-resource setting. We used a case fatality probability of 20% for appropriately treated sepsis and of 50% for inappropriately treated sepsis. On the basis of clinical assessment for sepsis with established sensitivity of 0.83 and specificity of 0.62, we found that a POCT for sepsis with a sensitivity of 0.83 and a specificity of 0.94 was cost-effective, resulting in parity in survival but costing $1.14 less per live saved. A POCT with accuracy equivalent to the best malaria rapid diagnostic test was cheaper and more effective than clinical assessment. © The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

[Caregiver Stress in Foster and Adoptive Parents of Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders].

PubMed

Sarimski, Klaus

2014-01-01

Caregiver Stress in Foster and Adoptive Parents of Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Foster and adoptive parents of 71 children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) report on developmental and behavioral characteristics, family stress, coping resources and their satisfaction with support. The data reveal an elevated rate of social and emotional problems in the children. In spite positive individual and social resources, the foster and adoptive parents feel a high level of caregiver stress. 30 % of them rate the support they receive from pediatric, therapeutic or educational services as lower than expected. Specifically, they miss early information on the diagnosis, professional knowledge and support for the special challenges of education and managing behavioral problems in their collaboration with social support agencies.

[International Standards of Tuberculosis Care (ISTC)--comments from the German point of view].

PubMed

Castell, S; Bauer, T; Diel, R; Hedrich, A; Magdorf, K; Rüsch-Gerdes, S; Schaberg, T; Loddenkemper, R

2012-04-01

The "International Standards for Tuberculosis Care" (ISTC) were developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and others to provide internationally agreed and, if possible, evidence-based standards for tuberculosis care including the care by private providers who are not part of national tuberculosis programmes or health-care systems. Hence, the ISTC primarily address resource-restrained countries with high tuberculosis prevalence. In this article, the German translation of the 21 standards from 2009 is presented - addressing diagnostic and therapeutic standards, co-infection (especially with HIV) and public-health issues. The accompanying comments show how these standards have to be modified for Germany due to the medical resources available here and country-specific characteristics respectively. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Brackish groundwater in the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stanton, Jennifer S.; Anning, David W.; Brown, Craig J.; Moore, Richard B.; McGuire, Virginia L.; Qi, Sharon L.; Harris, Alta C.; Dennehy, Kevin F.; McMahon, Peter B.; Degnan, James R.; Böhlke, John Karl

2017-04-05

For some parts of the Nation, large-scale development of groundwater has caused decreases in the amount of groundwater that is present in aquifer storage and that discharges to surface-water bodies. Water supply in some areas, particularly in arid and semiarid regions, is not adequate to meet demand, and severe drought is affecting large parts of the United States. Future water demand is projected to heighten the current stress on groundwater resources. This combination of factors has led to concerns about the availability of freshwater to meet domestic, agricultural, industrial, mining, and environmental needs. To ensure the water security of the Nation, currently [2016] untapped water sources may need to be developed.Brackish groundwater is an unconventional water source that may offer a partial solution to current and future water demands. In support of the national census of water resources, the U.S. Geological Survey completed the national brackish groundwater assessment to better understand the occurrence and characteristics of brackish groundwater in the United States as a potential water resource. Analyses completed as part of this assessment relied on previously collected data from multiple sources; no new data were collected. Compiled data included readily available information about groundwater chemistry, horizontal and vertical extents and hydrogeologic characteristics of principal aquifers (regionally extensive aquifers or aquifer systems that have the potential to be used as a source of potable water), and groundwater use. Although these data were obtained from a wide variety of sources, the compiled data are biased toward shallow and fresh groundwater resources; data representing groundwater that is at great depths and is saline were not as readily available.One of the most important contributions of this assessment is the creation of a database containing chemical characteristics and aquifer information for the known areas with brackish groundwater in the United States. Previously published digital data relating to brackish groundwater resources were limited to a small number of State- and regional-level studies. Data sources for this assessment ranged from single publications to large datasets and from local studies to national assessments. Geochemical data included concentrations of dissolved solids, major ions, trace elements, nutrients, and radionuclides as well as physical properties of the water (pH, temperature, and specific conductance). Additionally, the database provides selected well information (location, yield, depth, and contributing aquifer) necessary for evaluating the water resource.The assessment was divided into national-, regional-, and aquifer-scale analyses. National-scale analyses included evaluation of the three-dimensional distribution of observed dissolved-solids concentrations in groundwater, the three-dimensional probability of brackish groundwater occurrence, and the geochemical characteristics of saline (greater than or equal to 1,000 mg/L of dissolved solids) groundwater resources. Regional-scale analyses included a summary of the percentage of observed grid cell volume in the region that was occupied by brackish groundwater within the mixture of air, water, and rock for multiple depth intervals. Aquifer-scale analyses focused primarily on four regions that contained the largest amounts of observed brackish groundwater and included a generalized description of hydrogeologic characteristics from previously published work; the distribution of dissolved-solids concentrations; considerations for developing brackish groundwater resources, including a summary of other chemical characteristics that may limit the use of brackish groundwater and the ability of sampled wells producing brackish groundwater to yield useful amounts of water; and the amount of saline groundwater being used in 2010.

A preliminary categorization of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment as secondary metal resources

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

Oguchi, Masahiro, E-mail: oguchi.masahiro@nies.go.jp; Murakami, Shinsuke; Sakanakura, Hirofumi

2011-09-15

Highlights: > End-of-life electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) as secondary metal resources. > The content and the total amount of metals in specific equipment are both important. > We categorized 21 EEE types from contents and total amounts of various metals. > Important equipment types as secondary resources were listed for each metal kind. > Collectability and possible collection systems of various EEE types were discussed. - Abstract: End-of-life electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has recently received attention as a secondary source of metals. This study examined characteristics of end-of-life EEE as secondary metal resources to consider efficient collection andmore » metal recovery systems according to the specific metals and types of EEE. We constructed an analogy between natural resource development and metal recovery from end-of-life EEE and found that metal content and total annual amount of metal contained in each type of end-of-life EEE should be considered in secondary resource development, as well as the collectability of the end-of-life products. We then categorized 21 EEE types into five groups and discussed their potential as secondary metal resources. Refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and CRT TVs were evaluated as the most important sources of common metals, and personal computers, mobile phones, and video games were evaluated as the most important sources of precious metals. Several types of small digital equipment were also identified as important sources of precious metals; however, mid-size information and communication technology (ICT) equipment (e.g., printers and fax machines) and audio/video equipment were shown to be more important as a source of a variety of less common metals. The physical collectability of each type of EEE was roughly characterized by unit size and number of end-of-life products generated annually. Current collection systems in Japan were examined and potentially appropriate collection methods were suggested for equipment types that currently have no specific collection systems in Japan, particularly for video games, notebook computers, and mid-size ICT and audio/video equipment.« less

Role of Teacher Characteristics and School Resources in Early Mathematics Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jung, Eunjoo; Brown, Elizabeth T.; Karp, Karen S.

2014-01-01

The authors investigated the degree to which school-level teacher characteristics and resources are related to the mathematics learning of kindergarten children using a sample drawn from a large US database. Kindergarten-level teacher characteristics were operationalised as collective teacher efficacy, teacher experience and teacher preparation;…

Human Resources & Demographics: Characteristics of People and Policy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joint Economic Committee, Washington, DC.

The Human Resources and Demographics staff study for the Joint Economic Committee's Special Study on Economic Change presents demographic data to support the position that it will take a strong economy to enable the United States to utilize its human resources. Data are presented, in narrative format, on fertility, population, characteristics of…

Bee Abundance and Nutritional Status in Relation to Grassland Management Practices in an Agricultural Landscape.

PubMed

Smith, Griffin W; Debinski, Diane M; Scavo, Nicole A; Lange, Corey J; Delaney, John T; Moranz, Raymond A; Miller, James R; Engle, David M; Toth, Amy L

2016-04-01

Grasslands provide important resources for pollinators in agricultural landscapes. Managing grasslands with fire and grazing has the potential to benefit plant and pollinator communities, though there is uncertainty about the ideal approach. We examined the relationships among burning and grazing regimes, plant communities, and Bombus species and Apis mellifera L. abundance and nutritional indicators at the Grand River Grasslands in southern Iowa and northern Missouri. Treatment regimes included burn-only, grazed-and-burned, and patch-burn graze (pastures subdivided into three temporally distinct fire patches with free access by cattle). The premise of the experimental design was that patch-burn grazing would increase habitat heterogeneity, thereby providing more diverse and abundant floral resources for pollinators. We predicted that both bee abundance and individual bee nutritional indicators (bee size and lipid content) would be positively correlated with floral resource abundance. There were no significant differences among treatments with respect to bee abundance. However, some of the specific characteristics of the plant community showed significant relationships with bee response variables. Pastures with greater abundance of floral resources had greater bee abundance but lower bee nutritional indicators. Bee nutritional variables were positively correlated with vegetation height, but, in some cases, negatively correlated with stocking rate. These results suggest grassland site characteristics such as floral resource abundance and stocking rate are of potential importance to bee pollinators and suggest avenues for further research to untangle the complex interactions between grassland management, plant responses, and bee health. © The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Wave Resource Characterization at US Wave Energy Converter (WEC) Test Sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dallman, A.; Neary, V. S.

2016-02-01

The US Department of Energy's (DOE) Marine and Hydrokinetic energy (MHK) Program is supporting a diverse research and development portfolio intended to accelerate commercialization of the marine renewable industry by improving technology performance, reducing market barriers, and lowering the cost of energy. Wave resource characterization at potential and existing wave energy converter (WEC) test sites and deployment locations contributes to this DOE goal by providing a catalogue of wave energy resource characteristics, met-ocean data, and site infrastructure information, developed utilizing a consistent methodology. The purpose of the catalogue is to enable the comparison of resource characteristics among sites to facilitate the selection of test sites that are most suitable for a developer's device and that best meet their testing needs and objectives. It also provides inputs for the design of WEC test devices and planning WEC tests, including the planning of deployment and operations and maintenance. The first edition included three sites: the Pacific Marine Energy Center (PMEC) North Energy Test Site (NETS) offshore of Newport, Oregon, the Kaneohe Bay Naval Wave Energy Test Site (WETS) offshore of Oahu, HI, and a potential site offshore of Humboldt Bay, CA (Eureka, CA). The second edition was recently finished, which includes five additional sites: the Jennette's Pier Wave Energy Converter Test Site in North Carolina, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Field Research Facility (FRF), the PMEC Lake Washington site, the proposed PMEC South Energy Test Site (SETS), and the proposed CalWave Central Coast WEC Test Site. The operational sea states are included according to the IEC Technical Specification on wave energy resource assessment and characterization, with additional information on extreme sea states, weather windows, and representative spectra. The methodology and a summary of results will be discussed.

Layer-specific chromatin accessibility landscapes reveal regulatory networks in adult mouse visual cortex

PubMed Central

Gray, Lucas T; Yao, Zizhen; Nguyen, Thuc Nghi; Kim, Tae Kyung; Zeng, Hongkui; Tasic, Bosiljka

2017-01-01

Mammalian cortex is a laminar structure, with each layer composed of a characteristic set of cell types with different morphological, electrophysiological, and connectional properties. Here, we define chromatin accessibility landscapes of major, layer-specific excitatory classes of neurons, and compare them to each other and to inhibitory cortical neurons using the Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq). We identify a large number of layer-specific accessible sites, and significant association with genes that are expressed in specific cortical layers. Integration of these data with layer-specific transcriptomic profiles and transcription factor binding motifs enabled us to construct a regulatory network revealing potential key layer-specific regulators, including Cux1/2, Foxp2, Nfia, Pou3f2, and Rorb. This dataset is a valuable resource for identifying candidate layer-specific cis-regulatory elements in adult mouse cortex. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21883.001 PMID:28112643

Hunter-fisherman characteristics: factors in wildlife management and policy decisions

Treesearch

Robert S. Bond; James C. Whittaker

1971-01-01

Research on the characteristics and motivations of hunters and fishermen is examined for factors important to resource managers and policy-makers. Characteristics related to the learning experience, time for participation, utilization and accessibility of the resource base, and the type of fish and game harvested are considered. Motivational research, although in its...

Staff Assist: A Resource to Improve Nursing Home Quality and Staffing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Castle, Nicholas G.

2011-01-01

Purpose: This study describes the creation and use of a web-based resource, designed to help nursing homes implement quality improvements through changes in staffing characteristics. Design and Methods: Information on staffing characteristics (i.e., staffing levels, turnover, stability, and use of agency staff), facility characteristics (e.g.,…

Civilian Manpower Cost Controls Automated Data System: Functional Description,

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-12-07

1.2 Project References 1-1 1.3 Terms and Abbreviations 1-3 2 SYSTEM SUMMARY 2-1 2.1 Background 2-1 2.2 Objective 2-2 2.3 Existing Methods and...Procedures 2-3 2.4 Proposed Methods and Procedures 2-18 2.5 Assumptions and Constraints 2-33 3 DETAILED CHARACTERISTICS 3-1 3.1 Specific Performance...of the most critical of Army resources and a key partner is the civilian work force. Maintanance of the large professional civilian work force

Training in quality and safety: the current landscape.

PubMed

Karasick, Andrew S; Nash, David B

2015-01-01

The current US health care environment requires and encourages the development and implementation of training programs focusing on quality improvement and patient safety. This article offers a new resource that details the basic characteristics of such physician-inclusive training programs. Specifically, program type, objectives, eligibility, cost, training length, and modality are aggregated and displayed to provide health care professionals with a new tool to facilitate individual education in the field of quality improvement and patient safety. © The Author(s) 2014.

Dimensionally regularized Tsallis' statistical mechanics and two-body Newton's gravitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zamora, J. D.; Rocca, M. C.; Plastino, A.; Ferri, G. L.

2018-05-01

Typical Tsallis' statistical mechanics' quantifiers like the partition function and the mean energy exhibit poles. We are speaking of the partition function Z and the mean energy 〈 U 〉 . The poles appear for distinctive values of Tsallis' characteristic real parameter q, at a numerable set of rational numbers of the q-line. These poles are dealt with dimensional regularization resources. The physical effects of these poles on the specific heats are studied here for the two-body classical gravitation potential.

Energy Conversion Alternatives Study (ECAS), Westinghouse phase 1. Volume 3: Combustors, furnaces and low-BTU gasifiers. [used in coal gasification and coal liquefaction (equipment specifications)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hamm, J. R.

1976-01-01

Information is presented on the design, performance, operating characteristics, cost, and development status of coal preparation equipment, combustion equipment, furnaces, low-Btu gasification processes, low-temperature carbonization processes, desulfurization processes, and pollution particulate removal equipment. The information was compiled for use by the various cycle concept leaders in determining the performance, capital costs, energy costs, and natural resource requirements of each of their system configurations.

Cultural Resources Survey of Mile 306.3 to 293.4-R on the Mississippi River, Concordia, Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana Parishes, Louisiana

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-01-01

from Cairo, Illinois to an arbitrary location upstream of the Gulf of Mexico where the delta plain originates . Specifically, the proposed project area...dominated by sediment of Mississippi River alluvial origin . In the northern part of Pointe Coupee Parish, the sediment deposited by the Red or Arkansas...North America. Domesticated cultigens, pottery making, and mound building are recognized as characteristics that suggest increased populations, social

RCRA, superfund and EPCRA hotline training module. Introduction to: Hazardous waste identification (40 cfr part 261) updated July 1996

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

NONE

1996-07-01

The module introduces a specific hazardous waste identification process, which involves asking and analyzing a series of questions about any waste being evaluated. It analyzes in detail the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) definition of `hazardous waste.` It explains concepts that are essential to identifying a RCRA hazardous waste: hazardous waste listing, hazardous waste characteristics, the `mixture` and `derived-from` rules, the `contained-in` policy, and the hazardous waste identification rules (HWIR).

Point-of-Care Diagnostics in Low-Resource Settings and Their Impact on Care in the Age of the Noncommunicable and Chronic Disease Epidemic.

PubMed

Weigl, Bernhard H; Neogi, Tina; McGuire, Helen

2014-06-01

The emergence of point-of-care (POC) diagnostics specifically designed for low-resource settings coupled with the rapid increase in need for routine care of patients with chronic diseases should prompt reconsideration of how health care can be delivered most beneficially and cost-effectively in developing countries. Bolstering support for primary care to provide rapid and appropriate integrated acute and chronic care treatment may be a possible solution. POC diagnostics can empower local and primary care providers and enable them to make better clinical decisions. This article explores the opportunity for POC diagnostics to strengthen primary care and chronic disease diagnosis and management in a low-resource setting (LRS) to deliver appropriate, consistent, and integrated care. We analyze the requirements of resource-appropriate chronic disease care, the characteristics of POC diagnostics in LRS versus the developed world, the many roles of diagnostics in the care continuum in LRS, and the process and economics of developing LRS-compatible POC diagnostics. © 2013 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

[Studies on HPLC chromatogram of phenolic constituents of Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis].

PubMed

Huang, Wen-hua; Guo, Bao-lin; Si, Jin-ping

2005-07-01

To study the chemical characteristic, to identify the different forms and to establish the new standard for the quality control of Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis. HPLC method was used with acetonitrile-water (63:37) as the mobile phase at room temperature. The chromatographic column was Lichrospher 100 RP-18e (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm). The flow rate was 1 mL x min(-1), and the detection wavelength was 294 nm. The chromatograms of 45 individuals from 13 seed resources of Cortex Magnolia Officinalis were recorded. The chemical characteristics analysis and comparability' s calculation of seed resources were made. It was proposed that the area ratio of peak 5 to 6 (characteristic I) and the area ratio of peak 5 and 6 to the total peak areas (characteristic II) are the identification characteristics for different seed resources of Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis. This method can be used effectively to identify the high quality seed resource of Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis.

Resource efficiency and culture--workplace training for small and medium-sized enterprises.

PubMed

Bliesner, Anna; Liedtke, Christa; Rohn, Holger

2014-05-15

Although there are already some qualification offers available for enterprises to support resource efficiency innovations, the high potentials that can be identified especially for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have not been activated until now. As successful change lies in the hands of humans, the main aim of vocational education has to be the promotion of organisational and cultural changes in the enterprises. As there is already a small but increasing number of enterprises that perform very well in resource efficiency innovations one question arises: What are typical characteristics of those enterprises? Leaning on a good-practice approach, the project "ResourceCulture" is going to prove or falsify the hypothesis that enterprises being successful with resource efficiency innovations have a specific culture of trust, which substantially contributes to innovation processes, or even initially enables them. Detailed empirical field research will light up which correlations between resource efficiency, innovation and cultures of trust can be found and will offer important aspects for the improvement of management instruments and qualification concepts for workplace training. The project seizes qualification needs that were likewise mentioned by enterprises and consultants, regarding the implementation of resource efficiency. This article - based on first empirical field research results - derives preliminary indications for the design of the qualification module for the target groups resource efficiency consultants and managers. On this basis and in order to implement "ResourceCulture" conceptual and methodological starting points for workplace training are outlined. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

U. S. research safety vehicle (RSV) phase I program. Volume III. RSV characteristics and performance specifications. Final report, Jan 1974--Apr 1975

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

Andon, J.; Dodson, E.; Khadilkar, A.

1975-06-01

Current passenger car usage patterns and factors influencing usage are analyzed and projections of usage patterns in the mid-1980's are made. Current available data on six categories of vehicle accidents are analyzed and projections made of national accident patterns in the mid-80's; the effect of potential reductions in these projections as a result of safety programs and other factors related to driving safety are estimated. Based on the usage and accident projections, the characteristics of an RSV (weighing under 3,000 lbs C.W.) for operation in the mid-1980 traffic environment are described. A recommended set of specifications for the RSV aremore » developed considering the potential safety payoff accruing to an increased level of safety performance, the need for energy conservation, availability of material resources, and changes in vehicle mix. (An executive summary of this report is presented in Volume I).« less

Predisposing characteristics, enabling resources and need as predictors of utilization and clinical outcomes for veterans receiving mental health services.

PubMed

Fasoli, DiJon R; Glickman, Mark E; Eisen, Susan V

2010-04-01

Though demand for mental health services (MHS) among US veterans is increasing, MHS utilization per veteran is decreasing. With health and social service needs competing for limited resources, it is important to understand the association between patient factors, MHS utilization, and clinical outcomes. We use a framework based on Andersen's behavioral model of health service utilization to examine predisposing characteristics, enabling resources, and clinical need as predictors of MHS utilization and clinical outcomes. This was a prospective observational study of veterans receiving inpatient or outpatient MHS through Veterans Administration programs. Clinician ratings (Global Assessment of Functioning [GAF]) and self-report assessments (Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale-24) were completed for 421 veterans at enrollment and 3 months later. Linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine: (1) predisposing characteristics, enabling resources, and need as predictors of MHS inpatient, residential, and outpatient utilization and (2) the association between individual characteristics, utilization, and clinical outcomes. Being older, female, having greater clinical need, lack of enabling resources (employment, stable housing, and social support), and easy access to treatment significantly predicted greater MHS utilization at 3-month follow-up. Less clinical need and no inpatient psychiatric hospitalization predicted better GAF and Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale-24 scores. White race and residential treatment also predicted better GAF scores. Neither enabling resources, nor number of outpatient mental health visits predicted clinical outcomes. This application of Andersen's behavioral model of health service utilization confirmed associations between some predisposing characteristics, need, and enabling resources on MHS utilization but only predisposing characteristics, need, and utilization were associated with clinical outcomes.

Identifying users of traditional and Internet-based resources for meal ideas: An association rule learning approach.

PubMed

Doub, Allison E; Small, Meg L; Levin, Aron; LeVangie, Kristie; Brick, Timothy R

2016-08-01

Increasing home cooking while decreasing the consumption of food prepared away from home is a commonly recommended weight management strategy, however research on where individuals obtain ideas about meals to cook at home is limited. This study examined the characteristics of individuals who reported using traditional and Internet-based resources for meal ideas. 583 participants who were ≥50% responsible for household meal planning were recruited to approximate the 2014 United States Census distribution on sex, age, race/ethnicity, and household income. Participants reported demographic characteristics, home cooking frequency, and their use of 4 traditional resources for meal ideas (e.g., cookbooks), and 7 Internet-based resources for meal ideas (e.g., Pinterest) in an online survey. Independent samples t-tests compared home cooking frequency by resource use. Association rule learning identified those demographic characteristics that were significantly associated with resource use. Family and friends (71%), food community websites (45%), and cookbooks (41%) were the most common resources reported. Cookbook users reported preparing more meals at home per week (M = 9.65, SD = 5.28) compared to non-cookbook users (M = 8.11, SD = 4.93; t = -3.55, p < 0.001). Resource use was generally higher among parents and varied systematically with demographic characteristics. Findings suggest that home cooking interventions may benefit by modifying resources used by their target population. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Amor and Social Stigma: ASD Beliefs Among Immigrant Mexican Parents.

PubMed

Cohen, Shana R; Miguel, Jessica

2018-06-01

This study examined cultural beliefs about ASD and its causes among Mexican-heritage families. In focus group interviews, we asked 25 immigrant parents of children with ASD to identify words they associated with ASD and its causes. Participants free-listed, ranked, and justified their responses. Mixed methods analyses utilized saliency scores to calculate responses. Deductive interview analyses justified participants' responses. Salient responses for ASD perceptions included specific characteristics about the child (e.g., loving) and perceptions about lack of resources. Salient responses for ASD causes were vaccines, genetics, and a combination of genetics and environment. Inductive analyses revealed distinct beliefs about social stigma, child characteristics, factors supporting development, and parents' emotional stress. Interpretations linked these beliefs to promising adaptations in diagnosis and treatment.

Conceptualizing a model: a report of the ISPOR-SMDM Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force-2.

PubMed

Roberts, Mark; Russell, Louise B; Paltiel, A David; Chambers, Michael; McEwan, Phil; Krahn, Murray

2012-01-01

The appropriate development of a model begins with understanding the problem that is being represented. The aim of this article is to provide a series of consensus-based best practices regarding the process of model conceptualization. For the purpose of this series of papers, the authors consider the development of models whose purpose is to inform medical decisions and health-related resource allocation questions. They specifically divide the conceptualization process into two distinct components: the conceptualization of the problem, which converts knowledge of the health care process or decision into a representation of the problem, followed by the conceptualization of the model itself, which matches the attributes and characteristics of a particular modeling type to the needs of the problem being represented. Recommendations are made regarding the structure of the modeling team, agreement on the statement of the problem, the structure, perspective and target population of the model, and the interventions and outcomes represented. Best practices relating to the specific characteristics of model structure, and which characteristics of the problem might be most easily represented in a specific modeling method, are presented. Each section contains a number of recommendations that were iterated among the authors, as well as the wider modeling taskforce, jointly set up by the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research and the Society for Medical Decision Making.

Pursuing Precision Speech-Language Therapy Services for Children with Down Syndrome.

PubMed

McDaniel, Jena; Yoder, Paul J

2016-11-01

The behavioral phenotype of individuals with Down syndrome (DS) offers one avenue for developing speech-language therapy services that are tailored to the individual's characteristics that affect treatment response. Behavioral phenotypes are patterns of behavioral strengths and weaknesses for specific genetic disorders that can help guide the development and implementation of effective interventions. Nonetheless, individual differences within children with DS must be acknowledged and addressed because behavioral phenotypes are probabilistic, not deterministic. Developing precision speech-language therapy services to maximize learning opportunities and outcomes for children with DS calls for increased collaboration among clinicians and researchers to address the needs, challenges, and opportunities on three interconnected themes: (1) moving effective interventions from research to practice, (2) making evidence-based, child-specific treatment intensity decisions, and (3) considering child motivation and temperament characteristics. Increased availability of intervention materials and resources as well as more specific recommendations that acknowledge individual differences could help narrow the research-practice gap. Clear descriptions of disciplined manipulations of treatment intensity components could lead to more effective intervention services. Last, addressing motivation and temperament characteristics, such as the personality-motivation orientation, in children with DS may help maximize learning opportunities. Focused attention and collaboration on these key themes could produce substantial, positive changes for children with DS and their families in the coming decade. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Individual vocal signatures in barn owl nestlings: does individual recognition have an adaptive role in sibling vocal competition?

PubMed

Dreiss, A N; Ruppli, C A; Roulin, A

2014-01-01

To compete over limited parental resources, young animals communicate with their parents and siblings by producing honest vocal signals of need. Components of begging calls that are sensitive to food deprivation may honestly signal need, whereas other components may be associated with individual-specific attributes that do not change with time such as identity, sex, absolute age and hierarchy. In a sib-sib communication system where barn owl (Tyto alba) nestlings vocally negotiate priority access to food resources, we show that calls have individual signatures that are used by nestlings to recognize which siblings are motivated to compete, even if most vocalization features vary with hunger level. Nestlings were more identifiable when food-deprived than food-satiated, suggesting that vocal identity is emphasized when the benefit of winning a vocal contest is higher. In broods where siblings interact iteratively, we speculate that individual-specific signature permits siblings to verify that the most vocal individual in the absence of parents is the one that indeed perceived the food brought by parents. Individual recognition may also allow nestlings to associate identity with individual-specific characteristics such as position in the within-brood dominance hierarchy. Calls indeed revealed age hierarchy and to a lower extent sex and absolute age. Using a cross-fostering experimental design, we show that most acoustic features were related to the nest of origin (but not the nest of rearing), suggesting a genetic or an early developmental effect on the ontogeny of vocal signatures. To conclude, our study suggests that sibling competition has promoted the evolution of vocal behaviours that signal not only hunger level but also intrinsic individual characteristics such as identity, family, sex and age. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2013 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Poliomyelitis case confirmation: characteristics for use by national eradication programmes.

PubMed Central

Biellik, R. J.; Bueno, H.; Olive, J. M.; de Quadros, C.

1992-01-01

Highly sensitive case definitions were first introduced by national poliomyelitis eradication programmes to avoid missing true cases of the disease, though false-positive diagnostic errors could still occur owing to low specificity. Extensive data from all 1620 cases of acute, flaccid paralysis reported in Brazil during 1987-88 provided an opportunity to study the characteristics of confirmed poliomyelitis cases and epidemiologically to evaluate potential case definitions that maximized both sensitivity and specificity. Cases that had been confirmed by wild poliomyelitis virus isolation were compared with those that had been rejected (non-polio cases). To guarantee the consistency of clinical, epidemiological and laboratory investigations, only cases less than 10 years of age that had been investigated within 15 days of the onset and with complete laboratory specimens were included. No single practical case definition combining both high sensitivity and high specificity emerged from the study. However, the results showed that poliomyelitis endemic countries with limited resources should give priority to the investigation of cases in less than 5-year-olds, cases with prodromal fever, cases without involvement in all four limbs, cases without progression greater than 3 days after the onset, and cases occurring in areas where poliomyelitis had recently been confirmed. In countries without laboratory resources, cases of acute, flaccid paralysis with initial involvement in one or both lower limbs and residual neurological sequelae at 60 days should be confirmed. Countries that are close to eradication may selectively reject any cases lacking laboratory confirmation, despite adequate specimen collection, if they do not have initial involvement in one or both lower limbs and residual neurological sequelae at 60 days. PMID:1314710

Motivational Mechanisms in the Relation between Job Characteristics and Employee Functioning.

PubMed

Olafsen, Anja H; Halvari, Hallgeir

2017-08-07

This study investigates the job demands-resources (JD-R) model in relation to work motivation in a self-determination theory (SDT) perspective, with the purpose of developing a model where social-contextual factors are seen in relation to psychological needs in order to explain autonomous work motivation and, in turn, self-reported work performance and somatic symptom burden. SEM-analyses of cross-sectional survey data including 405 waiters/waitresses in Norway were conducted to evaluate the hypothesized model. Results indicate that different job resources have different relations to psychological need satisfaction, and that certain types of job demands (i.e., job challenges) actually may enhance satisfaction of specific psychological needs. In particular, task autonomy had a positive relation to autonomy satisfaction (p < .001) and to competence satisfaction (p < .05), positive feedback had a positive relation to autonomy-, competence-, and relatedness satisfaction (p < .001), and workload had a positive relation to competence satisfaction (p < .001). Furthermore, psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness positively related to autonomous work motivation and, in turn, positively to work performance and negatively to somatic symptom burden (p < .001). Indirect relations were also detected between the job characteristics and autonomous work motivation and between the basic needs and work performance (p < .05). Hence, when explaining autonomous work motivation and work outcomes, it is important to distinguish between different job demands and job resources, as well as among the three psychological needs.

Method selection for sustainability assessments: The case of recovery of resources from waste water.

PubMed

Zijp, M C; Waaijers-van der Loop, S L; Heijungs, R; Broeren, M L M; Peeters, R; Van Nieuwenhuijzen, A; Shen, L; Heugens, E H W; Posthuma, L

2017-07-15

Sustainability assessments provide scientific support in decision procedures towards sustainable solutions. However, in order to contribute in identifying and choosing sustainable solutions, the sustainability assessment has to fit the decision context. Two complicating factors exist. First, different stakeholders tend to have different views on what a sustainability assessment should encompass. Second, a plethora of sustainability assessment methods exist, due to the multi-dimensional characteristic of the concept. Different methods provide other representations of sustainability. Based on a literature review, we present a protocol to facilitate method selection together with stakeholders. The protocol guides the exploration of i) the decision context, ii) the different views of stakeholders and iii) the selection of pertinent assessment methods. In addition, we present an online tool for method selection. This tool identifies assessment methods that meet the specifications obtained with the protocol, and currently contains characteristics of 30 sustainability assessment methods. The utility of the protocol and the tool are tested in a case study on the recovery of resources from domestic waste water. In several iterations, a combination of methods was selected, followed by execution of the selected sustainability assessment methods. The assessment results can be used in the first phase of the decision procedure that leads to a strategic choice for sustainable resource recovery from waste water in the Netherlands. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Components of Hospital Perioperative Infrastructure Can Overcome the Weekend Effect in Urgent General Surgery Procedures.

PubMed

Kothari, Anai N; Zapf, Matthew A C; Blackwell, Robert H; Markossian, Talar; Chang, Victor; Mi, Zhiyong; Gupta, Gopal N; Kuo, Paul C

2015-10-01

We hypothesized that perioperative hospital resources could overcome the "weekend effect" (WE) in patients undergoing emergent/urgent surgeries. The WE is the observation that surgeon-independent patient outcomes are worse on the weekend compared with weekdays. The WE is often explained by differences in staffing and resources resulting in variation in care between the week and weekend. Emergent/urgent surgeries were identified using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Database (Florida) from 2007 to 2011 and linked to the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey Database to determine hospital level characteristics. Extended median length of stay (LOS) on the weekend compared with the weekdays (after controlling for hospital, year, and procedure type) was selected as a surrogate for WE. Included were 126,666 patients at 166 hospitals. A total of 17 hospitals overcame the WE during the study period. Logistic regression, controlling for patient characteristics, identified full adoption of electronic medical records (OR 4.74), home health program (OR 2.37), pain management program [odds ratio (OR) 1.48)], increased registered nurse-to-bed ratio (OR 1.44), and inpatient physical rehabilitation (OR 1.03) as resources that were predictors for overcoming the WE. The prevalence of these factors in hospitals exhibiting the WE for all 5 years of the study period were compared with those hospitals that overcame the WE (P < 0.001). Specific hospital resources can overcome the WE seen in urgent general surgery procedures. Improved hospital perioperative infrastructure represents an important target for overcoming disparities in surgical care.

Maps showing mineral resource assessment for copper and molybdenum in porphyry and stockwork deposits and for tungsten, iron, gold, copper, and silver in skarn deposits, Dillion 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Idaho and Montana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pearson, R.C.; Trautwein, C.M.; Moll, S.H.; Berger, B.R.; Hanna, W.F.; Loen, J.S.; Rowan, L.C.; Ruppel, E.T.; Segal, D.B.

1992-01-01

This report is one of several in the series that assess the mineral resources of the Dillon quadrangle. For the purpose of the assessment, mineral deposits· in the quadrangle that are either known or suspected from a knowledge of the geologic setting have been grou~d into 30 deposit types on the basis of mineralogy, commodity, or structural or depositional setting. The emphasis in these assessment reports is on metallic minerals, but some important nonmetallic minerals will also be assessed. Fossil fuels are beyond the scope of this investigation; phosphate and uranium have been investigated previously (Swanson, 1970; Wodzicki andKrason, 1981); and certain nonmetallic. minerals, including bulk commodities such as sand and gravel, are in large supply and thus not considered. The ·mineral resource assessment discussed in this report considers two deposit types: (1) porphyry or stockwork deposits of copper. and molybdenum (referred to generally in this report as porphyry deposits) and (2) skarn deposits of tungsten, iron, gold, copper, and silver. Combining copper and molybenum porphyry deposits into a single deposit type is believed necessary for this purpose· mainly because the two metals are found together in most .deposits in the quadrangle, a geochemical signature unique to each has not been determined, and the significant petrologic characteristics of many associated plutons are not well known, especially characterist~cs of subsurface plutons whose presence is .inferred from geophysical data. In assessing mineral resources,· we have adopted a general philosophy similar to that of Harrison and others (19S6). We attempt to identify those parts of the quadrangle that are favorable for the occurrence of mineral resources. We do not attempt to locate specific exploration targets nor to determine the quantity of reserves or resources present.

Rural-urban disparities in child abuse management resources in the emergency department.

PubMed

Choo, Esther K; Spiro, David M; Lowe, Robert A; Newgard, Craig D; Hall, Michael Kennedy; McConnell, Kenneth John

2010-01-01

To characterize differences in child abuse management resources between urban and rural emergency departments (EDs). We surveyed ED directors and nurse managers at hospitals in Oregon to gain information about available abuse-related resources. Chi-square analysis was used to test differences between urban and rural EDs. Multivariate analysis was performed to examine the association between a variety of hospital characteristics, in addition to rural location, and presence of child abuse resources. Fifty-five Oregon hospitals were surveyed. A smaller proportion of rural EDs had written abuse policies (62% vs 95%, P= .006) or on-site child abuse advocates (35% vs 71%, P= .009). Thirty-two percent of rural EDs had none of the examined abuse resources (vs 0% of urban EDs, P= .01). Of hospital characteristics studied in the multivariate model, only rural location was associated with decreased availability of child abuse resources (OR 0.19 [95% CI, 0.05-0.70]). Rural EDs have fewer resources than urban EDs for the management of child abuse. Other studied hospital characteristics were not associated with availability of abuse resources. Further work is needed to identify barriers to resource utilization and to create resources that can be made accessible to all ED settings. © 2010 National Rural Health Association.

Simulation Use in Paramedic Education Research (SUPER): A Descriptive Study

PubMed Central

McKenna, Kim D.; Carhart, Elliot; Bercher, Daniel; Spain, Andrew; Todaro, John; Freel, Joann

2015-01-01

Abstract Objectives. The purpose of this research was to characterize the use of simulation in initial paramedic education programs in order assist stakeholders’ efforts to target educational initiatives and resources. This group sought to provide a snapshot of what simulation resources programs have or have access to and how they are used; faculty perceptions about simulation; whether program characteristics, resources, or faculty training influence simulation use; and if simulation resources are uniform for patients of all ages. Methods. This was a cross-sectional census survey of paramedic programs that were accredited or had a Letter of Review from the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the EMS Professions at the time of the study. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square analyses. Results. Of the 638 surveys sent, 389 valid responses (61%) were analyzed. Paramedic programs reported they have or have access to a wide range of simulation resources (task trainers [100%], simple manikins [100%], intermediate manikins [99%], advanced/fully programmable manikins [91%], live simulated patients [83%], computer-based [71%], and virtual reality [19%]); however, they do not consistently use them, particularly advanced (71%), live simulated patients (66%), computer-based (games, scenarios) (31%), and virtual reality (4%). Simulation equipment (of any type) reportedly sits idle and unused in (31%) of programs. Lack of training was cited as the most common reason. Personnel support specific to simulation was available in 44% of programs. Programs reported using simulation to replace skills more frequently than to replace field or clinical hours. Simulation goals included assessment, critical thinking, and problem-solving most frequently, and patient and crew safety least often. Programs using advanced manikins report manufacturers as their primary means of training (87%) and that 19% of faculty had no training specific to those manikins. Many (78%) respondents felt they should use more simulation. Conclusions. Paramedic programs have and have access to diverse simulation resources; however, faculty training and other program resources appear to influence their use. PMID:25664774

Simulation Use in Paramedic Education Research (SUPER): A Descriptive Study.

PubMed

McKenna, Kim D; Carhart, Elliot; Bercher, Daniel; Spain, Andrew; Todaro, John; Freel, Joann

2015-01-01

The purpose of this research was to characterize the use of simulation in initial paramedic education programs in order assist stakeholders' efforts to target educational initiatives and resources. This group sought to provide a snapshot of what simulation resources programs have or have access to and how they are used; faculty perceptions about simulation; whether program characteristics, resources, or faculty training influence simulation use; and if simulation resources are uniform for patients of all ages. This was a cross-sectional census survey of paramedic programs that were accredited or had a Letter of Review from the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the EMS Professions at the time of the study. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square analyses. Of the 638 surveys sent, 389 valid responses (61%) were analyzed. Paramedic programs reported they have or have access to a wide range of simulation resources (task trainers [100%], simple manikins [100%], intermediate manikins [99%], advanced/fully programmable manikins [91%], live simulated patients [83%], computer-based [71%], and virtual reality [19%]); however, they do not consistently use them, particularly advanced (71%), live simulated patients (66%), computer-based (games, scenarios) (31%), and virtual reality (4%). Simulation equipment (of any type) reportedly sits idle and unused in (31%) of programs. Lack of training was cited as the most common reason. Personnel support specific to simulation was available in 44% of programs. Programs reported using simulation to replace skills more frequently than to replace field or clinical hours. Simulation goals included assessment, critical thinking, and problem-solving most frequently, and patient and crew safety least often. Programs using advanced manikins report manufacturers as their primary means of training (87%) and that 19% of faculty had no training specific to those manikins. Many (78%) respondents felt they should use more simulation. Paramedic programs have and have access to diverse simulation resources; however, faculty training and other program resources appear to influence their use.

The U.S. Shale Oil and Gas Resource - a Multi-Scale Analysis of Productivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'sullivan, F.

2014-12-01

Over the past decade, the large-scale production of natural gas, and more recently oil, from U.S. shale formations has had a transformative impact on the energy industry. The emergence of shale oil and gas as recoverable resources has altered perceptions regarding both the future abundance and cost of hydrocarbons, and has shifted the balance of global energy geopolitics. However, despite the excitement, shale is a resource in its nascency, and many challenges surrounding its exploitation remain. One of the most significant of these is the dramatic variation in resource productivity across multiple length scales, which is a feature of all of today's shale plays. This paper will describe the results of work that has looked to characterize the spatial and temporal variations in the productivity of the contemporary shale resource. Analysis will be presented that shows there is a strong stochastic element to observed shale well productivity in all the major plays. It will be shown that the nature of this stochasticity is consistent regardless of specific play being considered. A characterization of this stochasticity will be proposed. As a parallel to the discussion of productivity, the paper will also address the issue of "learning" in shale development. It will be shown that "creaming" trends are observable and that although "absolute" well productivity levels have increased, "specific" productivity levels (i.e. considering well and stimulation size) have actually falling markedly in many plays. The paper will also show that among individual operators' well ensembles, normalized well-to-well performance distributions are almost identical, and have remained consistent year-to-year. This result suggests little if any systematic learning regarding the effective management of well-to-well performance variability has taken place. The paper will conclude with an articulation of how the productivity characteristics of the shale resource are impacting on the resources' economic profile, and the implications of this in terms of the commercial risks associated with shale production activities.

Microbial Resources and Enological Significance: Opportunities and Benefits

PubMed Central

Petruzzi, Leonardo; Capozzi, Vittorio; Berbegal, Carmen; Corbo, Maria R.; Bevilacqua, Antonio; Spano, Giuseppe; Sinigaglia, Milena

2017-01-01

Among the innovative trends in the wine sector, the continuous exploration of enological properties associated with wine microbial resources represents a cornerstone driver of quality improvement. Since the advent of starter cultures technology, the attention has been focused on intraspecific biodiversity within the primary species responsible for alcoholic fermentation (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and, subsequently, for the so-called ‘malolactic fermentation’ (Oenococcus oeni). However, in the last decade, a relevant number of studies proposed the enological exploitation of an increasing number of species (e.g., non-Saccharomyces yeasts) associated with spontaneous fermentation in wine. These new species/strains may provide technological solutions to specific problems and/or improve sensory characteristics, such as complexity, mouth-feel and flavors. This review offers an overview of the available information on the enological/protechnological significance of microbial resources associated with winemaking, summarizing the opportunities and the benefits associated with the enological exploitation of this microbial potential. We discuss proposed solutions to improve quality and safety of wines (e.g., alternative starter cultures, multistrains starter cultures) and future perspectives. PMID:28642742

Hierarchical nonlinear dynamics of human attention.

PubMed

Rabinovich, Mikhail I; Tristan, Irma; Varona, Pablo

2015-08-01

Attention is the process of focusing mental resources on a specific cognitive/behavioral task. Such brain dynamics involves different partially overlapping brain functional networks whose interconnections change in time according to the performance stage, and can be stimulus-driven or induced by an intrinsically generated goal. The corresponding activity can be described by different families of spatiotemporal discrete patterns or sequential dynamic modes. Since mental resources are finite, attention modalities compete with each other at all levels of the hierarchy, from perception to decision making and behavior. Cognitive activity is a dynamical process and attention possesses some universal dynamical characteristics. Thus, it is time to apply nonlinear dynamical theory for the description and prediction of hierarchical attentional tasks. Such theory has to include the analyses of attentional control stability, the time cost of attention switching, the finite capacity of informational resources in the brain, and the normal and pathological bifurcations of attention sequential dynamics. In this paper we have integrated today's knowledge, models and results in these directions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Survey of Geologic Resources. Chapter 11

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edmonson, Jennifer; Rickman, Doug

2012-01-01

This chapter focuses on the resources available from the Moon itself: regolith, geologically concentrated materials, and lunar physical features that will enable habitation and generation of power on the surface. This chapter briefly covers the formation of the Moon and thus the formation of the crust of the Moon, as well as the evolution of the regolith. The characteristics of the regolith are provided in some detail, including its mineralogy and lithology. The location of high concentrations of specific minerals or rocks is noted. Other ideal locations for in situ resource utilization technology and lunar habitation are presented. This chapter is intended to be a brief review of current knowledge, and to serve as a foundational source for further study. Each concept presented here has a wealth of literature associated with it; the reader is therefore directed to that literature with each discussion. With great interest in possible manned lunar landings and continued study of the Moon by multiple satellites, the available information changes regularly.

Assssment and Mapping of the Riverine Hydrokinetic Resource in the Continental United States

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

Jacobson, Paul T.; Ravens, Thomas M.; Cunningham, Keith W.

2012-12-14

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funded the Electric Power Research Institute and its collaborative partners, University of Alaska ? Anchorage, University of Alaska ? Fairbanks, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, to provide an assessment of the riverine hydrokinetic resource in the continental United States. The assessment benefited from input obtained during two workshops attended by individuals with relevant expertise and from a National Research Council panel commissioned by DOE to provide guidance to this and other concurrent, DOE-funded assessments of water based renewable energy. These sources of expertise provided valuable advice regarding data sources and assessment methodology. Themore » assessment of the hydrokinetic resource in the 48 contiguous states is derived from spatially-explicit data contained in NHDPlus ?a GIS-based database containing river segment-specific information on discharge characteristics and channel slope. 71,398 river segments with mean annual flow greater than 1,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) mean discharge were included in the assessment. Segments with discharge less than 1,000 cfs were dropped from the assessment, as were river segments with hydroelectric dams. The results for the theoretical and technical resource in the 48 contiguous states were found to be relatively insensitive to the cutoff chosen. Raising the cutoff to 1,500 cfs had no effect on estimate of the technically recoverable resource, and the theoretical resource was reduced by 5.3%. The segment-specific theoretical resource was estimated from these data using the standard hydrological engineering equation that relates theoretical hydraulic power (Pth, Watts) to discharge (Q, m3 s-1) and hydraulic head or change in elevation (??, m) over the length of the segment, where ? is the specific weight of water (9800 N m-3): ??? = ? ? ?? For Alaska, which is not encompassed by NPDPlus, hydraulic head and discharge data were manually obtained from Idaho National Laboratory?s Virtual Hydropower Prospector, Google Earth, and U.S. Geological Survey gages. Data were manually obtained for the eleven largest rivers with average flow rates greater than 10,000 cfs and the resulting estimate of the theoretical resource was expanded to include rivers with discharge between 1,000 cfs and 10,000 cfs based upon the contribution of rivers in the latter flow class to the total estimate in the contiguous 48 states. Segment-specific theoretical resource was aggregated by major hydrologic region in the contiguous, lower 48 states and totaled 1,146 TWh/yr. The aggregate estimate of the Alaska theoretical resource is 235 TWh/yr, yielding a total theoretical resource estimate of 1,381 TWh/yr for the continental US. The technically recoverable resource in the contiguous 48 states was estimated by applying a recovery factor to the segment-specific theoretical resource estimates. The recovery factor scales the theoretical resource for a given segment to take into account assumptions such as minimum required water velocity and depth during low flow conditions, maximum device packing density, device efficiency, and flow statistics (e.g., the 5 percentile flow relative to the average flow rate). The recovery factor also takes account of ?back effects? ? feedback effects of turbine presence on hydraulic head and velocity. The recovery factor was determined over a range of flow rates and slopes using the hydraulic model, HEC-RAS. In the hydraulic modeling, presence of turbines was accounted for by adjusting the Manning coefficient. This analysis, which included 32 scenarios, led to an empirical function relating recovery factor to slope and discharge. Sixty-nine percent of NHDPlus segments included in the theoretical resource estimate for the contiguous 48 states had an estimated recovery factor of zero. For Alaska, data on river slope was not readily available; hence, the recovery factor was estimated based on the flow rate alone. Segment-specific estimates of the theoretical resource were multiplied by the corresponding recovery factor to estimate the technically recoverable resource. The resulting technically recoverable resource estimate for the continental United States is 120 TWh/yr.« less

School nutritional capacity, resources and practices are associated with availability of food/beverage items in schools

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The school food environment is important to target as less healthful food and beverages are widely available at schools. This study examined whether the availability of specific food/beverage items was associated with a number of school environmental factors. Methods Principals from elementary (n = 369) and middle/high schools (n = 118) in British Columbia (BC), Canada completed a survey measuring characteristics of the school environment. Our measurement framework integrated constructs from the Theories of Organizational Change and elements from Stillman’s Tobacco Policy Framework adapted for obesity prevention. Our measurement framework included assessment of policy institutionalization of nutritional guidelines at the district and school levels, climate, nutritional capacity and resources (nutritional resources and participation in nutritional programs), nutritional practices, and school community support for enacting stricter nutritional guidelines. We used hierarchical mixed-effects logistic regression analyses to examine associations with the availability of fruit, vegetables, pizza/hamburgers/hot dogs, chocolate candy, sugar-sweetened beverages, and french fried potatoes. Results In elementary schools, fruit and vegetable availability was more likely among schools that have more nutritional resources (OR = 6.74 and 5.23, respectively). In addition, fruit availability in elementary schools was highest in schools that participated in the BC School Fruit and Vegetable Nutritional Program and the BC Milk program (OR = 4.54 and OR = 3.05, respectively). In middle/high schools, having more nutritional resources was associated with vegetable availability only (OR = 5.78). Finally, middle/high schools that have healthier nutritional practices (i.e., which align with upcoming provincial/state guidelines) were less likely to have the following food/beverage items available at school: chocolate candy (OR = .80) and sugar-sweetened beverages (OR = .76). Conclusions School nutritional capacity, resources, and practices were associated with the availability of specific food/beverage items in BC public schools. Policies targeting the school environment are increasingly being considered as one of the strategies used to address childhood obesity, as a result it is important to further understand the factors associated with the availability of specific food/beverage items at school. PMID:23421918

School nutritional capacity, resources and practices are associated with availability of food/beverage items in schools.

PubMed

Mâsse, Louise C; de Niet, Judith E

2013-02-19

The school food environment is important to target as less healthful food and beverages are widely available at schools. This study examined whether the availability of specific food/beverage items was associated with a number of school environmental factors. Principals from elementary (n=369) and middle/high schools (n=118) in British Columbia (BC), Canada completed a survey measuring characteristics of the school environment. Our measurement framework integrated constructs from the Theories of Organizational Change and elements from Stillman's Tobacco Policy Framework adapted for obesity prevention. Our measurement framework included assessment of policy institutionalization of nutritional guidelines at the district and school levels, climate, nutritional capacity and resources (nutritional resources and participation in nutritional programs), nutritional practices, and school community support for enacting stricter nutritional guidelines. We used hierarchical mixed-effects logistic regression analyses to examine associations with the availability of fruit, vegetables, pizza/hamburgers/hot dogs, chocolate candy, sugar-sweetened beverages, and french fried potatoes. In elementary schools, fruit and vegetable availability was more likely among schools that have more nutritional resources (OR=6.74 and 5.23, respectively). In addition, fruit availability in elementary schools was highest in schools that participated in the BC School Fruit and Vegetable Nutritional Program and the BC Milk program (OR=4.54 and OR=3.05, respectively). In middle/high schools, having more nutritional resources was associated with vegetable availability only (OR=5.78). Finally, middle/high schools that have healthier nutritional practices (i.e., which align with upcoming provincial/state guidelines) were less likely to have the following food/beverage items available at school: chocolate candy (OR= .80) and sugar-sweetened beverages (OR= .76). School nutritional capacity, resources, and practices were associated with the availability of specific food/beverage items in BC public schools. Policies targeting the school environment are increasingly being considered as one of the strategies used to address childhood obesity, as a result it is important to further understand the factors associated with the availability of specific food/beverage items at school.

A systematic review of administrative and clinical databases of infants admitted to neonatal units.

PubMed

Statnikov, Yevgeniy; Ibrahim, Buthaina; Modi, Neena

2017-05-01

High quality information, increasingly captured in clinical databases, is a useful resource for evaluating and improving newborn care. We conducted a systematic review to identify neonatal databases, and define their characteristics. We followed a preregistered protocol using MesH terms to search MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science and OVID Maternity and Infant Care Databases for articles identifying patient level databases covering more than one neonatal unit. Full-text articles were reviewed and information extracted on geographical coverage, criteria for inclusion, data source, and maternal and infant characteristics. We identified 82 databases from 2037 publications. Of the country-specific databases there were 39 regional and 39 national. Sixty databases restricted entries to neonatal unit admissions by birth characteristic or insurance cover; 22 had no restrictions. Data were captured specifically for 53 databases; 21 administrative sources; 8 clinical sources. Two clinical databases hold the largest range of data on patient characteristics, USA's Pediatrix BabySteps Clinical Data Warehouse and UK's National Neonatal Research Database. A number of neonatal databases exist that have potential to contribute to evaluating neonatal care. The majority is created by entering data specifically for the database, duplicating information likely already captured in other administrative and clinical patient records. This repetitive data entry represents an unnecessary burden in an environment where electronic patient records are increasingly used. Standardisation of data items is necessary to facilitate linkage within and between countries. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Primary care in the United States: practice-based innovations and factors that influence adoption.

PubMed

Goldberg, Debora Goetz

2012-01-01

This study aims to explore the use of specific innovations in primary care practices. The research seeks to examine whether a relationship exists between environmental factors and organizational characteristics and the level of innovation in primary care practices in Virginia. The study utilized multiple secondary data sets and an organizational survey of primary care practices to define the external environment and the level of innovation. Institutional theory was used to explain the connection between innovations in primary care practices and institutional forces within the environment. Resource dependency theory was used to explain motivators for change based on a dependence on scarce financial, human, and information resources. Results show a positive association between organizational size, organizational relationships, and stakeholder expectations on the level of innovation. A negative association was found between competition and the level of innovation. No relationship was found between degree of Medicare and managed care penetration and innovation, nor between knowledge of, and difficulty complying with, payer organization requirements and innovation. Primary care physician practices exist in a market-driven environment characterized by high pressure from regulatory sources, decreasing reimbursement levels, increasing rate of change in technologies, and increasing patient and community expectations. This study contributes new information on the relationship between organizational characteristics, the external environment and specific innovations in primary care practices. Information on the contributing factors to innovation in primary care is important for improving delivery of health care services and the ability of these practices to survive.

Reinforcement learning techniques for controlling resources in power networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kowli, Anupama Sunil

As power grids transition towards increased reliance on renewable generation, energy storage and demand response resources, an effective control architecture is required to harness the full functionalities of these resources. There is a critical need for control techniques that recognize the unique characteristics of the different resources and exploit the flexibility afforded by them to provide ancillary services to the grid. The work presented in this dissertation addresses these needs. Specifically, new algorithms are proposed, which allow control synthesis in settings wherein the precise distribution of the uncertainty and its temporal statistics are not known. These algorithms are based on recent developments in Markov decision theory, approximate dynamic programming and reinforcement learning. They impose minimal assumptions on the system model and allow the control to be "learned" based on the actual dynamics of the system. Furthermore, they can accommodate complex constraints such as capacity and ramping limits on generation resources, state-of-charge constraints on storage resources, comfort-related limitations on demand response resources and power flow limits on transmission lines. Numerical studies demonstrating applications of these algorithms to practical control problems in power systems are discussed. Results demonstrate how the proposed control algorithms can be used to improve the performance and reduce the computational complexity of the economic dispatch mechanism in a power network. We argue that the proposed algorithms are eminently suitable to develop operational decision-making tools for large power grids with many resources and many sources of uncertainty.

Exploring alternate specifications to explain agency-level effects in placement decisions regarding aboriginal children: further analysis of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect Part B.

PubMed

Chabot, Martin; Fallon, Barbara; Tonmyr, Lil; MacLaurin, Bruce; Fluke, John; Blackstock, Cindy

2013-01-01

This paper builds upon the analyses presented in two companion papers (Fluke et al., 2010; Fallon et al., 2013) using data from the 1998 and 2003 cycles of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-1998 and CIS-2003) to examine the influence of clinical and organizational characteristics on the decision to place a child in out-of-home care at the conclusion of a child maltreatment investigation. This paper explores various model specifications to explain the effect of an agency-level factor, proportion of Aboriginal reports, which emerged as a stable and significant factor through the two data collection cycles. It addresses the issue of data comparability between the two cycles and explores various re-specifications and descriptive analyses of reported models to evaluate their solidity with regards to the sampling schemes and the precise contribution of a multi-level specification. The decision to place a child in out-of-home care was examined using data from the CIS-2003. This child welfare dataset collected information about the results of nearly 12,000 child maltreatment investigations as well as a description of the characteristics of the workers and organization responsible for conducting those investigations. Multi-level statistical models were developed using MPlus software, which can accommodate dichotomous outcome variables and are more reflective of decision-making in child welfare. The models are thus multi-level binary logistic regressions. Final models revealed that two agency-level variables, 'Education degree of majority of workers' and 'Degree of centralization in the agency' clarify the nature of the effect of 'Proportion of Aboriginal reports', a stable, key second level predictor of the placement decision. The comparability of the effect of this agency-level variable across the 1998 and 2003 cycles becomes further evident through this analysis. By using a unified database including both cycles and various specifications of models, the comparability was found to be robust, in addition to clarifying the precise contribution of a multi-level specification. This third paper in a series establishes the 'Proportion of Aboriginal reports' received by the child welfare agency as an important agency level predictor associated with a child's likelihood of being placed in the Canadian child protection system. While the more complex models give support to the notion that unequal resources subtend those results, more analyses are needed to confirm this hypothesis. Unequal resources for agencies with larger Aboriginal caseloads may explain the persistence of the results. These findings suggest that specific resource constraints related to worker education may be explanatory. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Work characteristics and determinants of job satisfaction in four age groups: university employees' point of view.

PubMed

Bos, Judith T; Donders, Nathalie C G M; Bouwman-Brouwer, Karin M; Van der Gulden, Joost W J

2009-11-01

To investigate (a) differences in work characteristics and (b) determinants of job satisfaction among employees in different age groups. A cross-sectional questionnaire was filled in by 1,112 university employees, classified into four age groups. (a) Work characteristics were analysed with ANOVA while adjusting for sex and job classification. (b) Job satisfaction was regressed against job demands and job resources adapted from the Job Demands-Resources model. Statistically significant differences concerning work characteristics between age groups are present, but rather small. Regression analyses revealed that negative association of the job demands workload and conflicts at work with job satisfaction faded by adding job resources. Job resources were most correlated with more job satisfaction, especially more skill discretion and more relations with colleagues. Skill discretion and relations with colleagues are major determinants of job satisfaction. However, attention should also be given to conflicts at work, support from supervisor and opportunities for further education, because the mean scores of these work characteristics were disappointing in almost all age groups. The latter two characteristics were found to be associated significantly to job satisfaction in older workers.

Child functional characteristics explain child and family outcomes better than diagnosis: Population-based study of children with autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders/disabilities.

PubMed

Miller, Anton; Shen, Jane; Mâsse, Louise C

2016-06-15

Allocation of resources for services and supports for children with neurodevelopmental disorders/disabilities (NDD/D) is often based on the presence of specific health conditions. This study investigated the relative roles of a child's diagnosed health condition and neurodevelopmental and related functional characteristics in explaining child and family health and well-being. The data on children with NDD/D (ages 5 to 14; weighted n = 120,700) are from the 2006 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS), a population-based Canadian survey of parents of children with functional limitations/disabilities. Direct and indirect effects of child diagnosis status-autism spectrum disorder (ASD)/not ASD-and functional characteristics (particularly, ASD-related impairments in speech, cognition, and emotion and behaviour) on child participation and family health and well-being were investigated in a series of structural equation models, while controlling for covariates. All models adequately fitted the data. Child ASD diagnosis was significantly associated with child participation and family health and well-being. When ASD-related child functional characteristics were added to the model, all direct effects from child diagnosis on child and family outcomes disappeared; the effect of child diagnosis on child and family outcomes was fully mediated via ASD-related child functional characteristics. Children's neurodevelopmental functional characteristics are integral to understanding the child and family health-related impact of neurodevelopmental disorders such as ASD. These findings have implications for the relative weighting given to functional versus diagnosis-specific factors in considering needs for services and supports.

42 CFR 412.503 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... from a long-term care hospital based on clinical characteristics and average resource use, for... hospital based on clinical characteristics and average resource use, for prospective payment purposes for... PROSPECTIVE PAYMENT SYSTEMS FOR INPATIENT HOSPITAL SERVICES Prospective Payment System for Long-Term Care...

42 CFR 412.503 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... from a long-term care hospital based on clinical characteristics and average resource use, for... hospital based on clinical characteristics and average resource use, for prospective payment purposes for... PROSPECTIVE PAYMENT SYSTEMS FOR INPATIENT HOSPITAL SERVICES Prospective Payment System for Long-Term Care...

42 CFR 412.503 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... from a long-term care hospital based on clinical characteristics and average resource use, for... hospital based on clinical characteristics and average resource use, for prospective payment purposes for... PROSPECTIVE PAYMENT SYSTEMS FOR INPATIENT HOSPITAL SERVICES Prospective Payment System for Long-Term Care...

42 CFR 412.503 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... from a long-term care hospital based on clinical characteristics and average resource use, for... hospital based on clinical characteristics and average resource use, for prospective payment purposes for... PROSPECTIVE PAYMENT SYSTEMS FOR INPATIENT HOSPITAL SERVICES Prospective Payment System for Long-Term Care...

TU-C-218-01: Effective Medical Imaging Physics Education.

PubMed

Sprawls, P

2012-06-01

A practical and applied knowledge of physics and the associated technology is required for the clinically effective and safe use of the various medical imaging modalities. This is needed by all involved in the imaging process, including radiologists, especially residents in training, technologists, and physicists who provide consultation on optimum and safe procedures and as educators for the other imaging professionals. This area of education is undergoing considerable change and evolution for three reasons: 1. Increasing capabilities and complexity of medical imaging technology and procedures, 2.Expanding scope and availability of educational resources, especially on the internet, and 3. A significant increase in our knowledge of the mental learning process and the design of learning activities to optimize effectiveness and efficiency, especially for clinically applied physics. This course will address those three issues by providing guidance on establishing appropriate clinically focused learning outcomes, a review of the brain function for enhancing clinically applied physics, and the design and delivery of effective learning activities beginning with the classroom and continuing through learning physics during the clinical practice of radiology. Characteristics of each type of learning activity will be considered with respect to effectiveness and efficiency in achieving appropriate learning outcomes. A variety of available resources will be identified and demonstrated for use in the different phases of learning process. A major focus is on enhancing the role of the medical physicist in clinical radiology both as a resource and educator with contemporary technology being the tool, but not the teacher. 1. Develop physics learning objectives that will support effective and safe medical imaging procedures. 2. Understand specific brain functions that are involved in learning and applying physics. 3. Describe the characteristics and development of mental knowledge structures for applied clinical physics. 4. List the established levels of learning and associate each with specific functions that can be performed. 5. Analyze the different types of learning activities (classroom, individual study, clinical, etc.) with respect to effectiveness and efficiency. 6. Design and Provide a comprehensive physics education program with each activity optimized with respect to outcomes and available resources. © 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

BeMonitored: Monitoring psychophysiology and behavior using Android in phobias.

PubMed

Brás, Susana; Soares, Sandra C; Moreira, Ricardo; Fernandes, José M

2016-09-01

It is of the utmost importance that researchers can recreate, as accurately as possible, real-life conditions in psychological studies. However, that is not always possible. Given that phobias are rather context-specific, their study is the ideal candidate to assess the feasibility of using a mobile and wearable device for obtaining physiological and behavioral data. In this article, we propose BeMonitored, a smartphone-based solution to support more ecologically valid monitoring of psychological experiments. BeMonitored delivers customizable, specific context-dependent audiovisual stimuli and uses external resources connected via Bluetooth or a smartphone's own resources, while capturing the participant's behavior, physiology, and environment. We used BeMonitored in a spider phobia case study and showed that spider phobics differed from control participants in face motion, captured by the smartphone camera. Moreover, our results also revealed heart rate differences between spider and neutral stimuli in phobic participants. The presented results emphasize the usefulness of smartphones for phobia monitoring. Considering their intrinsic characteristics, smartphones may constitute the natural evolution from the lab to more realistic contexts.

Task 2 Report - A GIS-Based Technical Potential Assessment of Domestic Energy Resources for Electricity Generation.

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

Lee, Nathan; Grue, Nicholas W; Rosenlieb, Evan

The purpose of this report is to support the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines in assessing the technical potential of domestic energy resources for utility scale electricity generation in the Lao PDR. Specifically, this work provides assessments of technical potential, and associated maps of developable areas, for energy technologies of interest. This report details the methodology, assumptions, and datasets employed in this analysis to provide a transparent, replicable process for future analyses. The methodology and results presented are intended to be a fundamental input to subsequent decision making and energy planning-related analyses. This work concentrates on domestic energy resourcesmore » for utility-scale electricity generation and considers solar photovoltaic, wind, biomass, and coal resources. This work does not consider potentially imported energy resources (e.g., natural gas) or domestic energy resources that are not present in sufficient quantity for utility-scale generation (e.g., geothermal resources). A technical potential assessment of hydropower resources is currently not feasible due to the absence of required data including site-level assessments of multiple characteristics (e.g., geology environment and access) as well as spatial data on estimated non-exploited hydropower resources. This report is the second output of the Energy Alternatives Study for the Lao PDR, a collaboration led by the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines and the United States Agency for International Development under the auspices of the Smart Infrastructure for the Mekong program. The Energy Alternatives Study is composed of five successive tasks that collectively support the project's goals. This work is focused on Task 2 - Assess technical potential of domestic energy resources for electricity generation. The work was carried out by a team from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in collaboration with the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines and other Lao power sector stakeholders. and datasets employed in this analysis to provide a transparent, replicable process for future analyses. The methodology and results presented are intended to be a fundamental input to subsequent decision making and energy planning-related analyses. This work concentrates on domestic energy resources for utility-scale electricity generation and considers solar photovoltaic, wind, biomass, and coal resources. This work does not consider potentially imported energy resources (e.g., natural gas) or domestic energy resources that are not present in sufficient quantity for utility-scale generation (e.g., geothermal resources). A technical potential assessment of hydropower resources is currently not feasible due to the absence of required data including site-level assessments of multiple characteristics (e.g., geology environment and access) as well as spatial data on estimated non-exploited hydropower resources.« less

Design and Properties of Asphalt Concrete Mixtures Using Renewable Bioasphalt Binder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Setyawan, A.; Djumari; Irfansyah, P. A.; Shidiq, A. M.; Wibisono, I. S.; Fauzy, M. N.; Hadi, F. N.

2017-02-01

The needs of petroleum asphalt as materials for pavement is very large, while the petroleum classified as natural resources that cannot be renewable. As a result of petroleum dwindling and prices tend to be more expensive. So that requiring other alternative materials as a substitute for conventional asphalt derived from biomass or often called bioasphalt. This study aims to know the volumetric and Marshall characteristics on Asphalt Cement ( AC ) using the Damar asphalt modification to substitute 60/70 penetration asphalt as a binder. The volumetric and Marshall characteristic are porosity, density, flow, stability, and Marshall quotient. The characteristic of asphalt concrete at optimum bitumen content are compared to the conditions from highway agency 1987 and the general specification of asphalt concrete Bina Marga 2010 the third revision. The research uses experimental method in the laboratory with the samples made using the dasphalt modification as binder and incorporating the aggregate gradation no. VII SNI 03-1737-1989. The research is using 15 samples divided into 5 contents of damar asphalt, they are 5%, 5,5%, 6%, 6,5%, dan 7%. Tests carried out using Marshall test equipment to get the value of flow and stability and then be searched the value of optimum damar asphalt content. The result of asphalt concrete analysis using dasphalt modification as binder gives the value of optimum dasphalt content at 5,242%. The most characteristics already met the requirements and specifications.

Hospital administrative characteristics and volunteer resource management practices.

PubMed

Intindola, Melissa; Rogers, Sean; Flinchbaugh, Carol; Della Pietra, Doug

2016-05-16

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the links between various characteristics of hospital administration and the utilization of classes of volunteer resource management (VRM) practices. Design/methodology/approach - This paper uses original data collected via surveys of volunteer directors in 122 hospitals in five Northeastern and Southern US states. Findings - Structural equation modeling results suggest that number of paid volunteer management staff, scope of responsibility of the primary volunteer administrator, and hospital size are positively associated with increased usage of certain VRM practices. Research limitations/implications - First, the authors begin the exploration of VRM antecedents, and encourage others to continue this line of inquiry; and second, the authors assess dimensionality of practices, allowing future researchers to consider whether specific dimensions have a differential impact on key individual and organizational outcomes. Practical implications - Based on the findings of a relationship between administrative characteristics and the on-the-ground execution of VRM practice, a baseline audit comparing current practices to those VRM practices presented here might be useful in determining what next steps may be taken to focus investments in VRM that can ultimately drive practice utilization. Originality/value - The exploration of the dimensionality of volunteer management adds a novel perspective to both the academic study, and practice, of volunteer management. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical categorization of VRM practices.

Correlating students' educational background, study habits, and resource usage with learning success in medical histology.

PubMed

Selvig, Daniel; Holaday, Louisa W; Purkiss, Joel; Hortsch, Michael

2015-01-01

Histology is a traditional core basic science component of most medical and dental education programs and presents a didactic challenge for many students. Identifying students that are likely to struggle with histology would allow for early intervention to support and encourage their learning success. To identify student characteristics that are associated with learning success in histology, three first-year medical school classes at the University of Michigan (>440 students) were surveyed about their educational background, attitudes toward learning histology, and their use of histology learning strategies and resources. These characteristics were linked with the students' quiz and examination results in histology. Students who reported previous experience in histology or pathology and hold science or biomedical science college degrees usually did well in histology. Learning success in histology was also positively associated with students' perception that histology is important for their professional career. Other positive indicators were in-person participation in teacher-guided learning experiences, specifically lecture and laboratory sessions. In contrast, students who relied on watching histology lectures by video rather than going to lectures in-person performed significantly worse. These characteristics and learning strategies of students who did well in this very visual and challenging study subject should be of help for identifying and advising students early, who might be at risk of failing a histology course or component. © 2014 American Association of Anatomists.

[Optimization of a cake formulation with functional characteristics using resistant starch, Sphagnum magellanicum moss and deffated hazel nut flour (Gevuina avellana, Mol)].

PubMed

Villarroel, Mario; Reyes, Carla; Hazbun, Julia; Karmelic, Julia

2007-03-01

Resistant starch (RS) Hi Maize 260, Sphagnum magellanicum Moss (SM) both natural resources rich in total dietary fiber, and defatted hazel nut flour (DHN) as protein resource were used in the development of a pastry product (queque) with functional characteristics. Taguchi methodology was utilized in the optimization process using the orthogonal array L934 with four control factors: RS, SM. DHN and Master Gluten 4000 (MG), 3 factor levels and 9 experimental trials. The best result of Sensory Quality (SQ) and signal to noise ratio (S/N) was obtained combining the minor levels of the independent variables. Main effect (average effects of factor) analysis and anova analysis showed that SM and DHN were the control factors with a significant influence (p<0.05) on the CS with a relative contribution of 83%. It is important to emphasize the total dietary fiber (8.7%) and protein (7.2%) values, the formers due to the presence of RS and SM. Shelf life study showed that the sensory characteristics flavour, appearance and texture were not affected when samples were stored at refrigerated temperatures but not at 20 degrees C, specifically flavour always kept a good preference during the whole period of time. Samples of optimized cakes showed very good results when they were submitted to hedonic test with 100% of favorable consumer's opinions.

A preliminary categorization of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment as secondary metal resources.

PubMed

Oguchi, Masahiro; Murakami, Shinsuke; Sakanakura, Hirofumi; Kida, Akiko; Kameya, Takashi

2011-01-01

End-of-life electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has recently received attention as a secondary source of metals. This study examined characteristics of end-of-life EEE as secondary metal resources to consider efficient collection and metal recovery systems according to the specific metals and types of EEE. We constructed an analogy between natural resource development and metal recovery from end-of-life EEE and found that metal content and total annual amount of metal contained in each type of end-of-life EEE should be considered in secondary resource development, as well as the collectability of the end-of-life products. We then categorized 21 EEE types into five groups and discussed their potential as secondary metal resources. Refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and CRT TVs were evaluated as the most important sources of common metals, and personal computers, mobile phones, and video games were evaluated as the most important sources of precious metals. Several types of small digital equipment were also identified as important sources of precious metals; however, mid-size information and communication technology (ICT) equipment (e.g., printers and fax machines) and audio/video equipment were shown to be more important as a source of a variety of less common metals. The physical collectability of each type of EEE was roughly characterized by unit size and number of end-of-life products generated annually. Current collection systems in Japan were examined and potentially appropriate collection methods were suggested for equipment types that currently have no specific collection systems in Japan, particularly for video games, notebook computers, and mid-size ICT and audio/video equipment. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Economic study of low temperature geothermal energy in Lassen and Modoc Counties, California

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

Not Available

1977-04-01

The feasibility of using low cost, low temperature geothermal energy in job-producing industries to increase employment and encourage economic development was investigated. The study, encompassing all of Lassen and Modoc Counties, was to be site-specific, referencing candidate geothermal applications to known hot wells and springs as previously determined, or to new wells with specific characteristics as defined in the Scope of Work. The emphasis was to be placed on economically practical and readily achievable applications from known resources. Although both positive and negative findings were found in specific areas of investigation, it is felt that the overall long term prognosismore » for geothermal energy stimulus to industry in the area is excellent. The applications studied were; greenhouse heating, kiln drying, onion dehydration, feedlots, and aquaculture.« less

Emergency department overcrowding: the impact of resource scarcity on physician job satisfaction.

PubMed

Rondeau, Kent V; Francescutti, Louis H

2005-01-01

Emergency departments in most developed countries have been experiencing significant overcrowding under a regime of severe resource constraints. Physicians in emergency departments increasingly find themselves toiling in workplaces that are characterized by diminished availability of, limited access to, and decreased stability of critical resources. Severe resource constraints have the potential to greatly weaken the overall job satisfaction of emergency physicians. This article examines the impact of hospital resource constraints on the job satisfaction of a large sample of emergency physicians in Canada. After controlling for workflow and patient characteristics and for various institutional and physician characteristics, institutional resource constraints are found to be major contributors to emergency physician job dissatisfaction. Resource factors that have the greatest impact on job satisfaction include availability of emergency room physicians, access to hospital technology and emergency beds, and stability of financial (investment) resources.

[The characteristics of public health resources management].

PubMed

2011-01-01

The article analyses the position of human health in the system of social economic relationships. The notion of material and technical resources in health institutions is defined. It is demonstrated that they are characterized by number of health institutions, their structure according levels and stages of medical care provision, costs of fixed assets, their structure and wear. The conceptual characteristics of actual management of public health resources are analyzed.

Identifying ELIXIR Core Data Resources

PubMed Central

Durinx, Christine; McEntyre, Jo; Appel, Ron; Apweiler, Rolf; Barlow, Mary; Blomberg, Niklas; Cook, Chuck; Gasteiger, Elisabeth; Kim, Jee-Hyub; Lopez, Rodrigo; Redaschi, Nicole; Stockinger, Heinz; Teixeira, Daniel; Valencia, Alfonso

2017-01-01

The core mission of ELIXIR is to build a stable and sustainable infrastructure for biological information across Europe. At the heart of this are the data resources, tools and services that ELIXIR offers to the life-sciences community, providing stable and sustainable access to biological data. ELIXIR aims to ensure that these resources are available long-term and that the life-cycles of these resources are managed such that they support the scientific needs of the life-sciences, including biological research. ELIXIR Core Data Resources are defined as a set of European data resources that are of fundamental importance to the wider life-science community and the long-term preservation of biological data. They are complete collections of generic value to life-science, are considered an authority in their field with respect to one or more characteristics, and show high levels of scientific quality and service. Thus, ELIXIR Core Data Resources are of wide applicability and usage. This paper describes the structures, governance and processes that support the identification and evaluation of ELIXIR Core Data Resources. It identifies key indicators which reflect the essence of the definition of an ELIXIR Core Data Resource and support the promotion of excellence in resource development and operation. It describes the specific indicators in more detail and explains their application within ELIXIR’s sustainability strategy and science policy actions, and in capacity building, life-cycle management and technical actions. The identification process is currently being implemented and tested for the first time. The findings and outcome will be evaluated by the ELIXIR Scientific Advisory Board in March 2017. Establishing the portfolio of ELIXIR Core Data Resources and ELIXIR Services is a key priority for ELIXIR and publicly marks the transition towards a cohesive infrastructure. PMID:27803796

Identifying ELIXIR Core Data Resources.

PubMed

Durinx, Christine; McEntyre, Jo; Appel, Ron; Apweiler, Rolf; Barlow, Mary; Blomberg, Niklas; Cook, Chuck; Gasteiger, Elisabeth; Kim, Jee-Hyub; Lopez, Rodrigo; Redaschi, Nicole; Stockinger, Heinz; Teixeira, Daniel; Valencia, Alfonso

2016-01-01

The core mission of ELIXIR is to build a stable and sustainable infrastructure for biological information across Europe. At the heart of this are the data resources, tools and services that ELIXIR offers to the life-sciences community, providing stable and sustainable access to biological data. ELIXIR aims to ensure that these resources are available long-term and that the life-cycles of these resources are managed such that they support the scientific needs of the life-sciences, including biological research. ELIXIR Core Data Resources are defined as a set of European data resources that are of fundamental importance to the wider life-science community and the long-term preservation of biological data. They are complete collections of generic value to life-science, are considered an authority in their field with respect to one or more characteristics, and show high levels of scientific quality and service. Thus, ELIXIR Core Data Resources are of wide applicability and usage. This paper describes the structures, governance and processes that support the identification and evaluation of ELIXIR Core Data Resources. It identifies key indicators which reflect the essence of the definition of an ELIXIR Core Data Resource and support the promotion of excellence in resource development and operation. It describes the specific indicators in more detail and explains their application within ELIXIR's sustainability strategy and science policy actions, and in capacity building, life-cycle management and technical actions. The identification process is currently being implemented and tested for the first time. The findings and outcome will be evaluated by the ELIXIR Scientific Advisory Board in March 2017. Establishing the portfolio of ELIXIR Core Data Resources and ELIXIR Services is a key priority for ELIXIR and publicly marks the transition towards a cohesive infrastructure.

Unmet Need for Specialty Mental Health Services Among Children Across Europe.

PubMed

Kovess-Masfety, Viviane; Van Engelen, Julia; Stone, Lisanne; Otten, Roy; Carta, Mauro Giovanni; Bitfoi, Adina; Koc, Ceren; Goelitz, Dietmar; Lesinskiene, Sigita; Mihova, Zlatka; Fermanian, Christophe; Pez, Ondine; Husky, Mathilde

2017-08-01

The aim of this study was to examine the determinants of use of mental health services for children across Europe, with a specific focus on differences in the availability of mental health resources. Data were drawn from the School Children Mental Health in Europe Project. Parent- and teacher-reported child mental health status was based on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Sociodemographic characteristics of parents and children, as well as academic performance and use of mental health services in the previous 12 months, were collected. Countries were categorized as having high versus low mental health resources. The sample comprised 4,894 schoolchildren in seven countries. Across Europe, only 25.6% of children with a mental disorder had received mental health services in the previous 12 months, including 31.5% in high-resources countries and 18.9% in low-resources countries (p=.001) (N=4,867). The presence of any mental disorder, maternal psychological distress, gender, living in a single-parent home, and low academic performance were determinants of service use. The effect of resources group on the likelihood of receiving services remained significant when the analyses controlled for all predictors (odds ratio=1.41, p<.01). Determinants differed between groups-maternal psychological distress was associated with service use in high-resources countries, and gender was associated with service use in low-resources countries. The findings point to a substantial portion of unmet need across Europe and to major differences in access to care in low- versus high-resources countries. Efforts are needed to address unmet need among children with mental disorders, especially in low-resources countries.

[Investigation and protection for endangered Coptis deltoidea].

PubMed

Xiong, Feiyu; Ma, Yuntong; Yan, Zhuyun; Chen, Xin; Zhu, Meng; Chen, Run

2011-04-01

To investigate the history of the medicinal uses, resources, distribution, habitat and population characteristic of Coptis deltoidea, and provide basis for the protection and rational development and utilization of Radix Coptidis Deltoideae. The relevant literature and data was scrutinized and herbarium was compared, interview and field survey methods were carried out. The medicinal history, resources, distribution, population characteristic and protective strategy of C. deltoidea were summarized. The sustainable development of C. deltoidea was discussed. The resource is endangered, the germplasm resources should be intentionally protected and ensure the sustainable development and utilization of C. deltoidea.

Measurement of Hydrologic Resource Parameters Through Remote Sensing in the Feather River Headwaters Area

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thorley, G. A.; Draeger, W. C.; Lauer, D. T.; Lent, J.; Roberts, E.

1971-01-01

The four problem are as being investigated are: (1) determination of the feasibility of providing the resource manager with operationally useful information through the use of remote sensing techniques; (2) definition of the spectral characteristics of earth resources and the optimum procedures for calibrating tone and color characteristics of multispectral imagery (3) determination of the extent to which humans can extract useful earth resource information through remote sensing imagery; (4) determination of the extent to which automatic classification and data processing can extract useful information from remote sensing data.

HIV/AIDS stigma and knowledge among predominantly middle-class high school students in New Delhi, India.

PubMed

Pramanik, Suneet; Chartier, Maggie; Koopman, Cheryl

2006-03-01

This study examined stigmatizing attitudes toward HIV/AIDS among predominantly middle-class adolescents in New Delhi high schools. This study was specifically designed to: 1) assess stigmatizing attitudes toward HIV/AIDS and sexuality; HIV/AIDS knowledge, and awareness of HIV-related health resources; and 2) examine whether HIV-related stigma and knowledge are related to one another and to gender, parents' education, and exposure to HIV/AIDS education. In four high schools in New Delhi, 186 students completed a questionnaire assessing stigmatization of HIV/AIDS, stigmatization of sexuality, knowledge of HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS education and resources, and demographic characteristics. Adolescents varied in how much they stigmatized persons with HIV/AIDS. They generally lacked accurate knowledge about the disease and of related health resources. However, those with greater exposure to HIV/AIDS education demonstrated significantly greater HIV/AIDS knowledge. Female adolescents demonstrated significantly less knowledge about HIV/AIDS compared with male adolescents, while the males reported significantly greater exposure to HIV/AIDS education compared with the females. These results suggest a need for greater HIV/AIDS education and awareness of health resources, especially among female adolescents. Education must directly address stigmatizing attitudes about HIV/AIDS, gaps in HIV/AIDS knowledge and awareness of HIV-related health resources.

Medical team interdependence as a determinant of use of clinical resources.

PubMed Central

Sicotte, C; Pineault, R; Lambert, J

1993-01-01

OBJECTIVE. Our objective, based on organization theory, is to examine whether interdependence among physicians leads to coordination problems that in turn may explain variations observed in the use of clinical resources. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING. Secondary data about episodes of in-hospital care were collected over a 14-month period in two midsize acute care hospitals located in two suburbs of Montreal, Quebec. STUDY DESIGN. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to assess the marginal effect of medical team interdependence on clinical resource utilization after taking into account the effect attributable to the nature of several morbidities taken as specific and distinct tasks. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS. Medical team interdependence is found within medical specialties as well as between specialties. The largest portion of resource utilization was explained by morbidity characteristics, whereas team interdependence had a weaker, but systematic effect for all morbidities studied (15 regression models out of 18 performed). Task coordination was found to become more difficult as the number of physicians coming from different specialties increased in the context of teamwork. CONCLUSIONS. Results suggest that team practice does not entirely overcome coordination problems inherent to task (morbidity) interdependence. In considering the individual (especially the attending) physician as the main factor responsible for resource utilization, other factors related to team practice may too readily be overlooked. PMID:8270423

Water Resources Data for California, 1965; Part 2: Water Quality Records

USGS Publications Warehouse

1965-01-01

Water quality information is presented for chemical quality, fluvial sediment, and water temperatures. The chemical quality includes concentrations of individual dissolved constituents and certain properties or characteristics such as hardness, sodium-adsorption-ratio, specific conductance, and pH. Fluvial sediment information is given for suspended-sediment discharges and concentrations and for particle-size distribution of suspended sediment and bed material. Water temperature data represent once-daily observations except for stations where a continuous temperature recorder furnishes information from which daily minimums and maximums are obtained.

Water Resources Data for California, 1966; Part 2: Water Quality Records

USGS Publications Warehouse

1967-01-01

Water-quality information is presented for chemical quality, fluvial sediment, and water temperatures. The chemical quality includes concentrations of individual dissolved constituents and certain properties or characteristics such as hardness, sodium-adsorption ratio, specific conductance, and pH. Fluvial-sediment information is given for suspended-sediment discharges and concentrations and for particle-size distribution of suspended sediment and bed material. Water-temperature data represent once-daily observations except for stations where a continuous temperature recorder furnishes information from which daily minimums and maximums are obtained.

RCRA/UST, superfund and EPCRA hotline training module. Introduction to: Hazardous waste identification (40 CFR part 261) updated as of July 1995

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

NONE

1995-11-01

This module introduces a specific hazardous waste identification process, which involves asking and analyzing a series of questions about any waste being evaluated. Analyzes in detail the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) definition of hazardous waste. It explains the following concepts that are essential to identifying a RCRA hazardous waste: hazardous waste listing, hazardous waste characteristics, the mixture and derived-from rules, the contained-in policy, and the Hazardous Waste Identification Rule (HWIR).

An evaluation of the relations between flow regime components, stream characteristics, species traits and meta-demographic rates of warmwater stream fishes: Implications for aquatic resource management

USGS Publications Warehouse

Peterson, James T.; Shea, C.P.

2015-01-01

Fishery biologists are increasingly recognizing the importance of considering the dynamic nature of streams when developing streamflow policies. Such approaches require information on how flow regimes influence the physical environment and how those factors, in turn, affect species-specific demographic rates. A more cost-effective alternative could be the use of dynamic occupancy models to predict how species are likely to respond to changes in flow. To appraise the efficacy of this approach, we evaluated relative support for hypothesized effects of seasonal streamflow components, stream channel characteristics, and fish species traits on local extinction, colonization, and recruitment (meta-demographic rates) of stream fishes. We used 4 years of seasonal fish collection data from 23 streams to fit multistate, multiseason occupancy models for 42 fish species in the lower Flint River Basin, Georgia. Modelling results suggested that meta-demographic rates were influenced by streamflows, particularly short-term (10-day) flows. Flow effects on meta-demographic rates also varied with stream size, channel morphology, and fish species traits. Small-bodied species with generalized life-history characteristics were more resilient to flow variability than large-bodied species with specialized life-history characteristics. Using this approach, we simplified the modelling framework, thereby facilitating the development of dynamic, spatially explicit evaluations of the ecological consequences of water resource development activities over broad geographic areas. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Social Resource Characteristics and Adolescent Substance Abuse Relapse.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vik, Peter W.; And Others

1992-01-01

Examined social resource network characteristics of adolescent substance abusers (n=19). Perceived similarity to one's social network emerged as important moderator of whether social network provided support to remain abstinent or elevated risk for relapse. Increased perceived support predicted continued posttreatment abstinence when recovering…

Sustaining FCS in Higher Education: A 2010 Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Firebaugh, Francille M.; Nickols, Sharon Y.; Atiles, Jorge H.; Turkki, Kaija

2010-01-01

This article identifies characteristics of enduring FCS higher education programs and explores organizational changes and the impact of these changes. From multiple sources, characteristics of sustained programs were identified and categorized as (a) resource-based: strong leadership, outstanding faculty, adequate resources; (b) program-related:…

A 'user friendly' geographic information system in a color interactive digital image processing system environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, W. J.; Goldberg, M.

1982-01-01

NASA's Eastern Regional Remote Sensing Applications Center (ERRSAC) has recognized the need to accommodate spatial analysis techniques in its remote sensing technology transfer program. A computerized Geographic Information System to incorporate remotely sensed data, specifically Landsat, with other relevant data was considered a realistic approach to address a given resource problem. Questions arose concerning the selection of a suitable available software system to demonstrate, train, and undertake demonstration projects with ERRSAC's user community. The very specific requirements for such a system are discussed. The solution found involved the addition of geographic information processing functions to the Interactive Digital Image Manipulation System (IDIMS). Details regarding the functions of the new integrated system are examined along with the characteristics of the software.

A study of interactive control scheduling and economic assessment for robotic systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

A class of interactive control systems is derived by generalizing interactive manipulator control systems. Tasks of interactive control systems can be represented as a network of a finite set of actions which have specific operational characteristics and specific resource requirements, and which are of limited duration. This has enabled the decomposition of the overall control algorithm simultaneously and asynchronously. The performance benefits of sensor referenced and computer-aided control of manipulators in a complex environment is evaluated. The first phase of the CURV arm control system software development and the basic features of the control algorithms and their software implementation are presented. An optimal solution for a production scheduling problem that will be easy to implement in practical situations is investigated.

Characterizing Health Information for Different Target Audiences.

PubMed

Sun, Yueping; Hou, Zhen; Hou, Li; Li, Jiao

2015-01-01

Different groups of audiences in health care: health professionals and health consumers, each have different information needs. Health monographs targeting different audiences are created by leveraging readers' background knowledge. The NCI's Physician Data Query (PDQ®) Cancer Information Summaries provide parallel cancer information and education resources with different target audiences. In this paper, we used targeted audience-specific cancer information PDQs to measure characteristic differences on the element level between audiences. In addition, we compared vocabulary coverage. Results show a significant difference between the professional and patient version of cancer monographs in both content organization and vocabulary. This study provides a new view to assess targeted audience-specific health information, and helps editors to improve the quality and readability of health information.

Resource seeking strategies of zoosporic true fungi in heterogeneous soil habitats at the microscale level

PubMed Central

Gleason, Frank H.; Crawford, John W.; Neuhauser, Sigrid; Henderson, Linda E.; Lilje, Osu

2012-01-01

Zoosporic true fungi have frequently been identified in samples from soil and freshwater ecosystems using baiting and molecular techniques. In fact some species can be components of the dominant groups of microorganisms in particular soil habitats. Yet these microorganisms have not yet been directly observed growing in soil ecosystems. Significant physical characteristics and features of the three-dimensional structures of soils which impact microorganisms at the microscale level are discussed. A thorough knowledge of soil structures is important for studying the distribution of assemblages of these fungi and understanding their ecological roles along spatial and temporal gradients. A number of specific adaptations and resource seeking strategies possibly give these fungi advantages over other groups of microorganisms in soil ecosystems. These include chemotactic zoospores, mechanisms for adhesion to substrates, rhizoids which can penetrate substrates in small spaces, structures which are resistant to environmental extremes, rapid growth rates and simple nutritional requirements. These adaptations are discussed in the context of the characteristics of soils ecosystems. Recent advances in instrumentation have led to the development of new and more precise methods for studying microorganisms in three-dimensional space. New molecular techniques have made identification of microbes possible in environmental samples. PMID:22308003

Technical and organisational aspects in enterprise resource planning systems implementation: lessons from a Spanish public hospital

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Escobar-Rodriguez, Tomas; Escobar-Pérez, Bernabe; Monge-Lozano, Pedro

2014-09-01

Public resources should always be managed efficiently, more so in times of crisis. Due to the specific characteristics of the healthcare sector, there is a need for special attention, especially in regards to hospitals. Administrators need useful tools to be able to efficiently manage available resources, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Therefore, an analysis of the effects of their implementation and use in hospitals is valuable. This study has two purposes. One is to analyse the role ERP systems play in aiding the integration of hospital data, with focus on user satisfaction as well as possible resistance to change. The other purpose is to analyse the effects of implanting and using ERP systems in the hospital environment and identifying how certain variables influence the process, especially the existence of different organisational cultures. Results indicate that clinical information has become notably more integrated, despite the lack of flow in the economic-financial area. The heterogeneous nature of the different groups, clinical (Medical, Nursing) and non-clinical (Economic-Financial, Accounting), had a negative influence on the implementation process, and limited the integration of information as well as the system's performance.

Exploring Cultural Heritage Resources in a 3d Collaborative Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Respaldiza, A.; Wachowicz, M.; Vázquez Hoehne, A.

2012-06-01

Cultural heritage is a complex and diverse concept, which brings together a wide domain of information. Resources linked to a cultural heritage site may consist of physical artefacts, books, works of art, pictures, historical maps, aerial photographs, archaeological surveys and 3D models. Moreover, all these resources are listed and described by a set of a variety of metadata specifications that allow their online search and consultation on the most basic characteristics of them. Some examples include Norma ISO 19115, Dublin Core, AAT, CDWA, CCO, DACS, MARC, MoReq, MODS, MuseumDat, TGN, SPECTRUM, VRA Core and Z39.50. Gateways are in place to fit in these metadata standards into those used in a SDI (ISO 19115 or INSPIRE), but substantial work still remains to be done for the complete incorporation of cultural heritage information. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate how the complexity of cultural heritage resources can be dealt with by a visual exploration of their metadata within a 3D collaborative environment. The 3D collaborative environments are promising tools that represent the new frontier of our capacity of learning, understanding, communicating and transmitting culture.

Associations among job demands and resources, work engagement, and psychological distress: fixed-effects model analysis in Japan.

PubMed

Oshio, Takashi; Inoue, Akiomi; Tsutsumi, Akizumi

2018-05-25

We examined the associations among job demands and resources, work engagement, and psychological distress, adjusted for time-invariant individual attributes. We used data from a Japanese occupational cohort survey, which included 18,702 observations of 7,843 individuals. We investigated how work engagement, measured by the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, was associated with key aspects of job demands and resources, using fixed-effects regression models. We further estimated the fixed-effects models to assess how work engagement moderated the association between each job characteristic and psychological distress as measured by Kessler 6 scores. The fixed-effects models showed that work engagement was positively associated with job resources, as did pooled cross-sectional and prospective cohort models. Specifically, the standardized regression coefficients (β) were 0.148 and 0.120 for extrinsic reward and decision latitude, respectively, compared to -0.159 and 0.020 for role ambiguity and workload and time pressure, respectively (p < 0.001 for all associations). Work engagement modestly moderated the associations of psychological distress with workload and time pressure and extrinsic reward; a one-standard deviation increase in work engagement moderated their associations by 19.2% (p < 0.001) and 11.3% (p = 0.034), respectively. Work engagement was associated with job demands and resources, which is in line with the theoretical prediction of the job demands-resources model, even after controlling for time-invariant individual attributes. Work engagement moderated the association between selected aspects of job demands and resources and psychological distress.

Source Water Protection and Sustainability: a Practical Approach to Assessing Risk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, D. O.; Chinitz, A. E.

2009-12-01

The recognition of climate change and the realization of the finite nature of sources of drinking water have spurred communities to develop resource sustainable practices. Sustainability requires overall management of the resource, and protecting existing and future water supplies from contamination plays a key role. Continued population growth will place increasing demands on water supplies and climate change will likely reduce groundwater recharge as well as increase the desire to replace dwindling surface water sources with groundwater. Aware of the need to protect its resource, the City of Springfield has delineated the source water protection areas (SWPAs) surrounding its wells and wellfields and has an ordinance in place that allows the City to establish specific guidelines associated with chemical usage. The City has established a range of best management strategies that vary in degree as a function of the time-of-travel zone and the presumed risk that a specific chemical poses to groundwater. When the guidelines were initially established, the City used more of a blanket approach to imposing specific practices on facilities within the SWPAs. The various approaches used were not site-specific and were based on limited information, reflecting limited resources, that were applied throughout the SWPAs as a function of proximity to the well(s). This practice led to the City’s receiving many questions from developers, etc., regarding “Why do you consider this product a risk?” The City needed an objective, consistent risk assessment tool that would reflect not only the specific chemical but also the geologic characteristics of the site where the chemical would be used. We used existing well reports to develop GIS coverages of both weighted hydraulic conductivity and depth to the aquifer that were then overlain on to the SWPA coverages. This exercise provided an assessment of the ease of water movement to the aquifer. Using that information, a spreadsheet was developed that incorporated the hydrogeologic data into the decision making process concerning the specific chemical. We use readily available chemical properties, including the partition coefficient, persistence, retardation coefficient, vapor pressure, and toxicity (LD50 value), for the specific chemical(s) that would be used. The combined hydrogeologic, chemical and toxicity data are then translated into a relative risk score (0-10) that provides the basis for determining an appropriate management strategy. The process is not without its limitations, however it requires no new data discovery and provides for a consistent, objective, and site and chemical specific evaluation of the risk to groundwater.

Social Networks and Community-Based Natural Resource Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lauber, T. Bruce; Decker, Daniel J.; Knuth, Barbara A.

2008-10-01

We conducted case studies of three successful examples of collaborative, community-based natural resource conservation and development. Our purpose was to: (1) identify the functions served by interactions within the social networks of involved stakeholders; (2) describe key structural properties of these social networks; and (3) determine how these structural properties varied when the networks were serving different functions. The case studies relied on semi-structured, in-depth interviews of 8 to 11 key stakeholders at each site who had played a significant role in the collaborative projects. Interview questions focused on the roles played by key stakeholders and the functions of interactions between them. Interactions allowed the exchange of ideas, provided access to funding, and enabled some stakeholders to influence others. The exchange of ideas involved the largest number of stakeholders, the highest percentage of local stakeholders, and the highest density of interactions. Our findings demonstrated the value of tailoring strategies for involving stakeholders to meet different needs during a collaborative, community-based natural resource management project. Widespread involvement of local stakeholders may be most appropriate when ideas for a project are being developed. During efforts to exert influence to secure project approvals or funding, however, involving specific individuals with political connections or influence on possible sources of funds may be critical. Our findings are consistent with past work that has postulated that social networks may require specific characteristics to meet different needs in community-based environmental management.

Conceptualizing a model: a report of the ISPOR-SMDM Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force--2.

PubMed

Roberts, Mark; Russell, Louise B; Paltiel, A David; Chambers, Michael; McEwan, Phil; Krahn, Murray

2012-01-01

The appropriate development of a model begins with understanding the problem that is being represented. The aim of this article was to provide a series of consensus-based best practices regarding the process of model conceptualization. For the purpose of this series of articles, we consider the development of models whose purpose is to inform medical decisions and health-related resource allocation questions. We specifically divide the conceptualization process into two distinct components: the conceptualization of the problem, which converts knowledge of the health care process or decision into a representation of the problem, followed by the conceptualization of the model itself, which matches the attributes and characteristics of a particular modeling type with the needs of the problem being represented. Recommendations are made regarding the structure of the modeling team, agreement on the statement of the problem, the structure, perspective, and target population of the model, and the interventions and outcomes represented. Best practices relating to the specific characteristics of model structure and which characteristics of the problem might be most easily represented in a specific modeling method are presented. Each section contains a number of recommendations that were iterated among the authors, as well as among the wider modeling taskforce, jointly set up by the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research and the Society for Medical Decision Making. Copyright © 2012 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The provision of neuropsychological services in rural/regional settings: professional and ethical issues.

PubMed

Allott, Kelly; Lloyd, Susan

2009-07-01

Despite rapid growth of the discipline of clinical neuropsychology during recent times, there is limited information regarding the identification and management of professional and ethical issues associated with the practice of neuropsychology within rural settings. The aim of this article is to outline the characteristics unique to practicing neuropsychology in rural communities and to describe the potential professional and ethical dilemmas that might arise. Issues are illustrated using examples from neuropsychological practice in a rural/regional setting in Victoria, Australia. Relative to urban regions, there is an inequality in the distribution of psychologists, including neuropsychologists, in rural areas. The unique characteristics of rural and regional communities that impact on neuropsychological practice are: 1) limited resources in expertise, technology, and community services, 2) greater travel distances and costs, 3) professional isolation, and 4) beliefs about psychological services. These characteristics lower the threshold for particular ethical issues. The ethical issues that require anticipation and careful management include: 1) professional competence, 2) multiple relationships, and 3) confidentiality. Through increased awareness and management of rural-specific professional and ethical issues, rural neuropsychologists can experience their work as rewarding and enjoyable. Specific guidelines for identifying, managing, and resolving ethically and professionally challenging situations that may arise during rural practice are provided.

Analysis of Wind Characteristics at United States Tall Tower Measurement Sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; Scott, G.; Haymes, S.

2008-12-01

A major initiative of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is to ensure that 20% of the country's electricity is produced by wind energy by the year 2030. An understanding of the boundary layer characteristics, especially at elevated heights greater than 80 meters (m) above the surface is a key factor for wind turbine design, wind plant layout, and identifying potential markets for advanced wind technology. The wind resource group at the DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory is analyzing wind data collected at tall (80+ m) towers across the United States. The towers established by both public and private initiative, measure wind characteristics at multiple levels above the surface, with the highest measurement levels generally between 80 and 110 m. A few locations have measurements above 200 m. Measurements of wind characteristics over a wide range of heights are useful to: (1) characterize the local and regional wind climate; (2) validate wind resource estimates derived from numerical models; and (3) directly assess and analyze specific wind resource characteristics such as wind speed shear over the turbine blade swept area. The majority of the available public tall tower measurement sites are located between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. The towers are not evenly distributed among the states. The states with the largest number of towers include Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas. These states have five or six towers collecting data. Other states with multiple tower locations include Texas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, and Ohio. The primary consideration when analyzing the data from the tall towers is identifying tower flow effects that not only can produce slightly misleading average wind speeds, but also significantly misleading wind speed shear values. In addition, the periods-of-record of most tall tower data are only one to two years in length. The short data collection time frame does not significantly affect the diurnal wind speed pattern though it does complicate analysis of seasonal wind patterns. The tall tower data analysis revealed some distinct regional features of wind shear climatology. For example, the wind shear exponent (alpha) at the towers in the Central Plains is generally between 0.15 and 0.25, greater than the commonly used 1/7 power law exponent value of 0.143. Another characteristic of Central Plains wind climatology was that winds from the south had alpha values of 0.2 to 0.3, while northerly winds had lower alpha values from 0.1 to 0.2. The wind resource at a particular tower is affected not only by the regional climatology but also by local conditions such as terrain, surface roughness, and structure of the lower boundary layer.

Study on characteristics of water resources in Beijing in recent 15 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chuan, L. M.; Zheng, H. G.; Zhao, J. J.; Wang, A. L.; Zhang, X. J.

2018-02-01

In order to understand the characteristics of water supply and water usage in Beijing in recent 15 years, a variety of statistical datasets were collected and field investigations were carried out, to analyze the total water resource, the characteristics and trends of water resource supply, utilization and distribution during 2000-2014. The results showed that the total amount of water resources in Beijing is maintained at 1.61~3.95 billion m3, and the surface water accounts for about 1/3, and the groundwater accounts for 2/3. Agricultural water and living water were the dominated consumption in the past 15 years in Beijing, accounted for 35.3% and 38.9% of the total amount, followed by industrial water, which accounting for 17.9% of total water consumption, and water used in environment is relatively small, only accounting for 7.8% of the total amount. This study can provide theoretical support for the establishment and management of water conservation policies and the rational utilization of water resources in Beijing.

H2@Scale Resource and Market Analysis

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

Ruth, Mark

This presentation overviews progress to date on the H2@Scale resource and market analysis work. The work finds, for example, that hydrogen demand of 60 MMT/yr is possible when transportation and industry are considered; resources are available to meet that demand; using renewable resources would reduce emissions and fossil use by over 15%; further impacts are possible when considering synergistic benefits; additional analysis is underway to improve understanding of potential markets and synergistic impacts; and further analysis will be necessary to estimate impacts due to spatial characteristics, feedback effects in the economy, and inertia characteristics.

78 FR 35957 - Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for the Central Yukon Planning Area Alaska...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-14

... Rivers system; management of wilderness characteristics; protection of resources important to maintaining a subsistence lifestyle; the importance of subsistence to local economies and traditional lifestyles... BLM-managed lands in the planning area for wilderness characteristics using criteria established by...

Food Insecurity in Older Adults in an Integrated Health Care System.

PubMed

Steiner, John F; Stenmark, Sandra H; Sterrett, Andrew T; Paolino, Andrea R; Stiefel, Matthew; Gozansky, Wendolyn S; Zeng, Chan

2018-05-01

To estimate food insecurity prevalence and develop a statistical prediction model for food insecurity. Retrospective cohort study. Kaiser Permanente Colorado. Adult members who completed a pre-Medicare Annual Wellness Visit survey. Food insecurity was assessed using a single screening question. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics from electronic health records and self-reported characteristics from the survey were used to develop the prediction model. Of 130,208 older adult members between January 2012 and December 2015, 50,097 (38.5%) completed food insecurity screening, 2,859 of whom (5.7% of respondents) reported food insecurity. The prevalence of food insecurity was 10.0% or greater among individuals who were black or Hispanic, had less than high school education, had Medicaid insurance, were extremely obese, had poor health status or quality of life, had depression or anxiety, had impairments in specific activities of daily living, had other nutritional risk factors, or were socially isolated (all p<.001). A multivariable model based on these and other characteristics showed moderate discrimination (c-statistic = 0.74) between individuals with food insecurity and those without and 14.3% of individuals in the highest quintile of risk reported food insecurity. Food insecurity is prevalent even in older adults with private-sector healthcare coverage. Specific individual characteristics, and a model based on those characteristics, can identify older adults at higher risk of food insecurity. System-level interventions will be necessary to connect older adults with community-based food resources. © 2018, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2018, The American Geriatrics Society.

The association between hospital outcomes and diagnostic imaging: early findings.

PubMed

Lee, David W; Foster, David A

2009-11-01

Resource use variation across the United States prompts the important question of whether "more is better" when it comes to health care services. The aim of this study was to examine correlations between the use of 4 common imaging modalities (CT, MR, ultrasound, and radiography) and in-hospital mortality and costs. Using clinical and utilization data for 1.1 million inpatient admissions at 102 US hospitals during 2007, two hospital-specific, risk-adjusted imaging utilization measures for each modality were constructed that controlled for patients' demographic and clinical characteristics and for hospital characteristics were constructed for each modality. First, logistic regression was used to estimate the odds that each type of imaging service would be provided during an admission. Second, the mean number of services per admission was estimated using output from a two-part ordinary least squares model. Hospital-specific, risk-adjusted inpatient mortality and total hospital costs were also computed, and correlations between the imaging utilization measures and the mortality and cost outcome measures were then assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficients (P < .05). The correlation analyses were weighted by hospital admission volume. Hospitals in which patients were more likely to receive imaging services during admissions had lower mortality, even after controlling for potential confounders. Correlation coefficients were -0.2 for all modalities (P = .02-.05). Weaker correlations existed between mean services per admission and mortality, while costs trended insignificantly higher with greater utilization. This study lays the foundation for further exploration of the relationship between resource use and the clinical and economic outcomes associated with imaging utilization.

Sustainability considerations for health research and analytic data infrastructures.

PubMed

Wilcox, Adam; Randhawa, Gurvaneet; Embi, Peter; Cao, Hui; Kuperman, Gilad J

2014-01-01

The United States has made recent large investments in creating data infrastructures to support the important goals of patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and comparative effectiveness research (CER), with still more investment planned. These initial investments, while critical to the creation of the infrastructures, are not expected to sustain them much beyond the initial development. To provide the maximum benefit, the infrastructures need to be sustained through innovative financing models while providing value to PCOR and CER researchers. Based on our experience with creating flexible sustainability strategies (i.e., strategies that are adaptive to the different characteristics and opportunities of a resource or infrastructure), we define specific factors that are important considerations in developing a sustainability strategy. These factors include assets, expansion, complexity, and stakeholders. Each factor is described, with examples of how it is applied. These factors are dimensions of variation in different resources, to which a sustainability strategy should adapt. We also identify specific important considerations for maintaining an infrastructure, so that the long-term intended benefits can be realized. These observations are presented as lessons learned, to be applied to other sustainability efforts. We define the lessons learned, relating them to the defined sustainability factors as interactions between factors. Using perspectives and experiences from a diverse group of experts, we define broad characteristics of sustainability strategies and important observations, which can vary for different projects. Other descriptions of adaptive, flexible, and successful models of collaboration between stakeholders and data infrastructures can expand this framework by identifying other factors for sustainability, and give more concrete directions on how sustainability can be best achieved.

Individual and contextual antecedents of workplace aggression in aged care nurses and certified nursing assistants.

PubMed

Rodwell, John; Demir, Defne; Gulyas, Andre

2015-08-01

Employees in aged care are at high risk of workplace aggression. Research rarely examines the individual and contextual antecedents of aggression for specific types of workers within these settings, such as nurses and certified nursing assistants (CNAs). The study aimed to explore characteristics of the job demands-resources model (JD-R), negative affectivity (NA) and demographics related to workplace aggression for aged care workers. The survey study was based on 208 nurses and 83 CNAs working within aged care. Data from each group were analysed separately using ordinal regressions. Both aged care nurses and CNAs reported high rates of bullying, external emotional abuse, threat of assault and physical assault. Elements of the JD-R model and individual characteristics were related to aggression types for both groups. Characteristics of the JD-R model, NA and demographics are important in understanding the antecedents of aggression observed among aged care workers. © 2015 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Learning from failure - rationale and design for a study about discontinuation of randomized trials (DISCO study)

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) may be discontinued because of apparent harm, benefit, or futility. Other RCTs are discontinued early because of insufficient recruitment. Trial discontinuation has ethical implications, because participants consent on the premise of contributing to new medical knowledge, Research Ethics Committees (RECs) spend considerable effort reviewing study protocols, and limited resources for conducting research are wasted. Currently, little is known regarding the frequency and characteristics of discontinued RCTs. Methods/Design Our aims are, first, to determine the prevalence of RCT discontinuation for specific reasons; second, to determine whether the risk of RCT discontinuation for specific reasons differs between investigator- and industry-initiated RCTs; third, to identify risk factors for RCT discontinuation due to insufficient recruitment; fourth, to determine at what stage RCTs are discontinued; and fifth, to examine the publication history of discontinued RCTs. We are currently assembling a multicenter cohort of RCTs based on protocols approved between 2000 and 2002/3 by 6 RECs in Switzerland, Germany, and Canada. We are extracting data on RCT characteristics and planned recruitment for all included protocols. Completion and publication status is determined using information from correspondence between investigators and RECs, publications identified through literature searches, or by contacting the investigators. We will use multivariable regression models to identify risk factors for trial discontinuation due to insufficient recruitment. We aim to include over 1000 RCTs of which an anticipated 150 will have been discontinued due to insufficient recruitment. Discussion Our study will provide insights into the prevalence and characteristics of RCTs that were discontinued. Effective recruitment strategies and the anticipation of problems are key issues in the planning and evaluation of trials by investigators, Clinical Trial Units, RECs and funding agencies. Identification and modification of barriers to successful study completion at an early stage could help to reduce the risk of trial discontinuation, save limited resources, and enable RCTs to better meet their ethical requirements. PMID:22928744

Wind Energy Resource Atlas of the Philippines

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

Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; George, R.

2001-03-06

This report contains the results of a wind resource analysis and mapping study for the Philippine archipelago. The study's objective was to identify potential wind resource areas and quantify the value of those resources within those areas. The wind resource maps and other wind resource characteristic information will be used to identify prospective areas for wind-energy applications.

Phenotypic plasticity to light and nutrient availability alters functional trait ranking across eight perennial grassland species.

PubMed

Siebenkäs, Alrun; Schumacher, Jens; Roscher, Christiane

2015-03-27

Functional traits are often used as species-specific mean trait values in comparative plant ecology or trait-based predictions of ecosystem processes, assuming that interspecific differences are greater than intraspecific trait variation and that trait-based ranking of species is consistent across environments. Although this assumption is increasingly challenged, there is a lack of knowledge regarding to what degree the extent of intraspecific trait variation in response to varying environmental conditions depends on the considered traits and the characteristics of the studied species to evaluate the consequences for trait-based species ranking. We studied functional traits of eight perennial grassland species classified into different functional groups (forbs vs. grasses) and varying in their inherent growth stature (tall vs. small) in a common garden experiment with different environments crossing three levels of nutrient availability and three levels of light availability over 4 months of treatment applications. Grasses and forbs differed in almost all above- and belowground traits, while trait differences related to growth stature were generally small. The traits showing the strongest responses to resource availability were similarly for grasses and forbs those associated with allocation and resource uptake. The strength of trait variation in response to varying resource availability differed among functional groups (grasses > forbs) and species of varying growth stature (small-statured > tall-statured species) in many aboveground traits, but only to a lower extent in belowground traits. These differential responses altered trait-based species ranking in many aboveground traits, such as specific leaf area, tissue nitrogen and carbon concentrations and above-belowground allocation (leaf area ratio and root : shoot ratio) at varying resource supply, while trait-based species ranking was more consistent in belowground traits. Our study shows that species grouping according to functional traits is valid, but trait-based species ranking depends on environmental conditions, thus limiting the applicability of species-specific mean trait values in ecological studies. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company.

Montana StreamStats—A method for retrieving basin and streamflow characteristics in Montana: Chapter A in Montana StreamStats

USGS Publications Warehouse

McCarthy, Peter M.; Dutton, DeAnn M.; Sando, Steven K.; Sando, Roy

2016-04-05

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides streamflow characteristics and other related information needed by water-resource managers to protect people and property from floods, plan and manage water-resource activities, and protect water quality. Streamflow characteristics provided by the USGS, such as peak-flow and low-flow frequencies for streamflow-gaging stations, are frequently used by engineers, flood forecasters, land managers, biologists, and others to guide their everyday decisions. In addition to providing streamflow characteristics at streamflow-gaging stations, the USGS also develops regional regression equations and drainage area-adjustment methods for estimating streamflow characteristics at locations on ungaged streams. Regional regression equations can be complex and often require users to determine several basin characteristics, which are physical and climatic characteristics of the stream and its drainage basin. Obtaining these basin characteristics for streamflow-gaging stations and ungaged sites traditionally has been time consuming and subjective, and led to inconsistent results.StreamStats is a Web-based geographic information system application that was created by the USGS to provide users with access to an assortment of analytical tools that are useful for water-resource planning and management. StreamStats allows users to easily obtain streamflow and basin characteristics for USGS streamflow-gaging stations and user-selected locations on ungaged streams. The USGS, in cooperation with Montana Department of Transportation, Montana Department of Environmental Quality, and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, completed a study to develop a StreamStats application for Montana, compute streamflow characteristics at streamflow-gaging stations, and develop regional regression equations to estimate streamflow characteristics at ungaged sites. Chapter A of this Scientific Investigations Report describes the Montana StreamStats application and the datasets, streamflow-gaging stations, streamflow characteristics, and regression equations (as described fully in Chapters B through G of this report) that are used for development of the StreamStats application for Montana.

Geospatial characteristics of Florida's coastal and offshore environments: Administrative and political boundaries and offshore sand resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Demopoulos, Amanda W.J.; Foster, Ann M.; Jones, Michal L.; Gualtieri, Daniel J.

2011-01-01

The Geospatial Characteristics Geopdf of Florida's Coastal and Offshore Environments is a comprehensive collection of geospatial data describing the political and natural resources of Florida. This interactive map provides spatial information on bathymetry, sand resources, military areas, marine protected areas, cultural resources, locations of submerged cables, and shipping routes. The map should be useful to coastal resource managers and others interested in the administrative and political boundaries of Florida's coastal and offshore region. In particular, as oil and gas explorations continue to expand, the map may be used to explore information regarding sensitive areas and resources in the State of Florida. Users of this geospatial database will find that they have access to synthesized information in a variety of scientific disciplines concerning Florida's coastal zone. This powerful tool provides a one-stop assembly of data that can be tailored to fit the needs of many natural resource managers.

Evidence-Based Practice Point-of-Care Resources: A Quantitative Evaluation of Quality, Rigor, and Content.

PubMed

Campbell, Jared M; Umapathysivam, Kandiah; Xue, Yifan; Lockwood, Craig

2015-12-01

Clinicians and other healthcare professionals need access to summaries of evidence-based information in order to provide effective care to their patients at the point-of-care. Evidence-based practice (EBP) point-of-care resources have been developed and are available online to meet this need. This study aimed to develop a comprehensive list of available EBP point-of-care resources and evaluate their processes and policies for the development of content, in order to provide a critical analysis based upon rigor, transparency and measures of editorial quality to inform healthcare providers and promote quality improvement amongst publishers of EBP resources. A comprehensive and systematic search (Pubmed, CINAHL, and Cochrane Central) was undertaken to identify available EBP point-of-care resources, defined as "web-based medical compendia specifically designed to deliver predigested, rapidly accessible, comprehensive, periodically updated, and evidence-based information (and possibly also guidance) to clinicians." A pair of investigators independently extracted information on general characteristics, content presentation, editorial quality, evidence-based methodology, and breadth and volume. Twenty-seven summary resources were identified, of which 22 met the predefined inclusion criteria for EBP point-of-care resources, and 20 could be accessed for description and assessment. Overall, the upper quartile of EBP point-of-care providers was assessed to be UpToDate, Nursing Reference Centre, Mosby's Nursing Consult, BMJ Best Practice, and JBI COnNECT+. The choice of which EBP point-of-care resources are suitable for an organization is a decision that depends heavily on the unique requirements of that organization and the resources it has available. However, the results presented in this study should enable healthcare providers to make that assessment in a clear, evidence-based manner, and provide a comprehensive list of the available options. © 2015 Sigma Theta Tau International.

Characterizing sexual health resources on college campuses.

PubMed

Eisenberg, Marla E; Lechner, Kate E; Frerich, Ellen A; Lust, Katherine A; Garcia, Carolyn M

2012-10-01

This observational study describes the development of the college resources and sexual health inventory, the profile of sexual health promotion resources at participating colleges, and comparisons of resources across several college characteristics. 28 diverse college campuses in one Midwestern state participated. 10 domains were assessed, including characteristics of campus health services (e.g. convenience), condom programs, sexual health information, communication about resources, sexual violence resources and gay/lesbian/bisexual student resources. Scores for each measure reflected the presence or extent of each resource. Summary scores were created for the overall level of sexual health resources and for each domain. T tests and ANOVAs were used to compare resources at 2-year versus 4-year colleges, public versus private sectors, metro versus non-metro locations, and across enrollment size. Inventory scores ranged from 6 to 53. 4-year colleges offered significantly more resources than 2-year; resource levels were statistically similar across location and enrollment size. Subsequent analyses comparing campuses with and without a health center indicated that several resources which were not inherently tied to a clinic nonetheless differed significantly with having a health center. Colleges without this resource could position sexual health resources in other offices or departments or provide referrals to sexual health resources in the broader community.

Environmental impact of geopressure - geothermal cogeneration facility on wetland resources and socioeconomic characteristics in Louisiana Gulf Coast region. Final report, October 10, 1983-September 31, 1984

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

Smalley, A.M.; Saleh, F.M.S.; Fontenot, M.

1984-08-01

Baseline data relevant to air quality are presented. The following are also included: geology and resource assessment, design well prospects in southwestern Louisiana, water quality monitoring, chemical analysis subsidence, microseismicity, geopressure-geothermal subsidence modeling, models of compaction and subsidence, sampling handling and preparation, brine chemistry, wetland resources, socioeconomic characteristics, impacts on wetlands, salinity, toxic metals, non-metal toxicants, temperature, subsidence, and socioeconomic impacts. (MHR)

Boys have caught up, family influences still continue: Influences on executive functioning and behavioral self-regulation in elementary students in Germany.

PubMed

Gunzenhauser, Catherine; Saalbach, Henrik; von Suchodoletz, Antje

2017-03-01

The development of self-regulation is influenced by various child-level and family-level characteristics. Previous research focusing on the preschool period has reported a female advantage in self-regulation and negative effects of various adverse features of the family environment on self-regulation. The present study aimed to investigate growth in self-regulation (i.e., executive functioning and behavioral self-regulation) over 1 school year during early elementary school and to explore the influences of child sex, the level of home chaos, and family educational resources on self-regulation. Participants were 263 German children (51% boys; mean age 8.59 years, SD = 0.56 years). Data were collected during the fall and spring of the school year. A computer-based standardized test battery was used to assess executive functioning. Caregiver ratings assessed children's behavioral self-regulation and information on the family's home environment (chaotic home environment and educational resources). Results suggest growth in elementary school children's executive functioning over the course of the school year. However, there were no significant changes in children's behavioral self-regulation between the beginning and the end of Grade 3. Sex differences in executive functioning and behavioral self-regulation were found, suggesting an advantage for boys. Educational resources in the family but not chaotic family environment were significantly related to self-regulation at both time-points. Children from families with more educational resources scored higher on self-regulation measures compared to their counterparts from less advantaged families. We did not find evidence for child-level or family-level characteristics predicting self-regulation growth over time. Findings suggest that the male disadvantage in self-regulation documented in previous studies might be specific to characteristics of the sample and the context in which the data were collected. Adequate self-regulation skills should be fostered in both girls and boys. Results also add to the importance of supporting self-regulation development in children from disadvantaged family backgrounds early in life. © 2017 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Performance of sampling methods to estimate log characteristics for wildlife.

Treesearch

Lisa J. Bate; Torolf R. Torgersen; Michael J. Wisdom; Edward O. Garton

2004-01-01

Accurate estimation of the characteristics of log resources, or coarse woody debris (CWD), is critical to effective management of wildlife and other forest resources. Despite the importance of logs as wildlife habitat, methods for sampling logs have traditionally focused on silvicultural and fire applications. These applications have emphasized estimates of log volume...

Teaching Talented Writers with Web 2.0 Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olthouse, Jill M.; Miller, Myriah Tasker

2012-01-01

This article is a review of 12 online writing resources and contains suggestions about how such resources might be used in a differentiated classroom with talented writers. Youth with writing talent are defined by distinguishing characteristics and the authors discuss how those characteristics can be supported and enhanced using Web 2.0 tools.…

Understanding Latter-Day Saints Education: Principles and Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, Barbara

2014-01-01

Using historic documents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and resources of its leaders, the principles of LDS or Mormon education and its key characteristics are described. In particular, the following characteristics are discussed: (1) the critical role of the Spirit in both teaching and learning, (2) the worthiness,…

Job Satisfaction of People with Intellectual Disability: Associations with Job Characteristics and Personality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akkerman, Alma; Kef, Sabina; Meininger, Herman P.

2018-01-01

To obtain an understanding of factors associated with job satisfaction of people with intellectual disability (ID), this study investigates the associations of job satisfaction with job characteristics (i.e., job demands, job resources) and personality, using the job demands-resources model. Data were gathered from 117 people and their employment…

Using Quantum Confinement to Uniquely Identify Devices

PubMed Central

Roberts, J.; Bagci, I. E.; Zawawi, M. A. M.; Sexton, J.; Hulbert, N.; Noori, Y. J.; Young, M. P.; Woodhead, C. S.; Missous, M.; Migliorato, M. A.; Roedig, U.; Young, R. J.

2015-01-01

Modern technology unintentionally provides resources that enable the trust of everyday interactions to be undermined. Some authentication schemes address this issue using devices that give a unique output in response to a challenge. These signatures are generated by hard-to-predict physical responses derived from structural characteristics, which lend themselves to two different architectures, known as unique objects (UNOs) and physically unclonable functions (PUFs). The classical design of UNOs and PUFs limits their size and, in some cases, their security. Here we show that quantum confinement lends itself to the provision of unique identities at the nanoscale, by using fluctuations in tunnelling measurements through quantum wells in resonant tunnelling diodes (RTDs). This provides an uncomplicated measurement of identity without conventional resource limitations whilst providing robust security. The confined energy levels are highly sensitive to the specific nanostructure within each RTD, resulting in a distinct tunnelling spectrum for every device, as they contain a unique and unpredictable structure that is presently impossible to clone. This new class of authentication device operates with minimal resources in simple electronic structures above room temperature. PMID:26553435

Experimental realization of self-guided quantum coherence freezing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Shang; Wang, Yi-Tao; Ke, Zhi-Jin; Liu, Wei; Zhang, Wen-Hao; Chen, Geng; Tang, Jian-Shun; Li, Chuan-Feng; Guo, Guang-Can

2017-12-01

Quantum coherence is the most essential characteristic of quantum physics, specifcially, when it is subject to the resource-theoretical framework, it is considered as the most fundamental resource for quantum techniques. Other quantum resources, e.g., entanglement, are all based on coherence. Therefore, it becomes urgently important to learn how to preserve coherence in quantum channels. The best preservation is coherence freezing, which has been studied recently. However, in these studies, the freezing condition is theoretically calculated, and there still lacks a practical way to achieve this freezing; in addition the channels are usually fixed, but actually, there are also degrees of freedom that can be used to adapt the channels to quantum states. Here we develop a self-guided quantum coherence freezing method, which can guide either the quantum channels (tunable-channel scheme with upgraded channels) or the initial state (fixed-channel scheme) to the coherence-freezing zone from any starting estimate. Specifically, in the fixed-channel scheme, the final-iterative quantum states all satisfy the previously calculated freezing condition. This coincidence demonstrates the validity of our method. Our work will be helpful for the better protection of quantum coherence.

Technical Analysis Feasibility Study on Smart Microgrid System in Sekolah Tinggi Teknik PLN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suyanto, Heri

2018-02-01

Nowadays application of new and renewable energy as main resource of power plant has greatly increased. High penetration of renewable energy into the grid will influence the quality and reliability of the electricity system, due to the intermittent characteristic of new and renewable energy resources. Smart grid or microgrid technology has the ability to deal with this intermittent characteristic especially if these renewable energy resources integrated to grid in large scale, so it can improve the reliability and efficiency of the grid. We plan to implement smart microgrid system at Sekolah Tinggi Teknik PLN as a pilot project. Before the pilot project start, the feasibility study must be conducted. In this feasibility study, the renewable energy resources and load characteristic at the site will be measured. Then the technical aspect of this feasibility study will be analyzed. This paper explains that analysis of ths feasibility study.

Participation process and outcome interactions: Exploring participation in water resource management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carr, G.; Loucks, D. P.; Blöschl, G.

2012-04-01

Evaluating participation programmes, projects and activities aids understanding of effective mechanisms and enables the identification of improvements to current strategies. Characteristics of participation processes, such whether the process is cost effective, adequately facilitated, accessible, includes a representative section of society or interest groups and allocates power equivalently between participants, are commonly described and evaluated in the literature. A key question concerns whether effective processes lead to desirable outcomes. Two types of outcomes can be identified from participation programmes - tangible and non-tangible. Tangible outcomes include resource management changes or resource quality changes. Non tangible outcomes include developing and strengthening communication and action networks, building trust between individuals and/or organisations, developing innovative solutions, or developing shared knowledge and understandings of issues. To better understand how participation impacts upon resource management it is necessary to identify i) how non-tangible outcomes lead to resource management outcomes and ii) which characteristics of the participation process are connected to achieving non-tangible outcomes. This has been attempted with a literature based meta-analysis. Literature has been analysed to identify outcomes from participations programmes, and the process characteristics present that are associated with promoting or inhibiting their achievement. Preliminary analysis shows that process characteristics such as representation, facilitation and accessibility are important for achieving non-tangible outcomes. The relationship between non-tangible outcomes and resource management outcomes is less clear in the literature. This may be due to the different timescales over which the different types of outcomes emerge (resource management outcomes emerge over longer time periods) and the different contexts or settings in which participation takes place.

Developing an In-depth Understanding of Elderly Adult's Vulnerability to Climate Change.

PubMed

Rhoades, Jason L; Gruber, James S; Horton, Bill

2018-05-08

Recent reports highlight the vulnerability of elderly adults to climate change, yet limited research has focused on this topic. To address this, the purpose of this study was to develop an in-depth understanding of elderly adult's vulnerability to climate change within the context of a specific community. A case study methodology utilizing a community-based action research approach was employed to engage elderly participants living in Bridgeport, CT, in exploring their vulnerability to current and predicted climate stressors with a focus on extreme heat, flooding and storms, and air pollution. This research identifies personal characteristics that interact with contextual factors to influence elderly adult's vulnerability to climate change. Personal characteristics include health, economic, and social considerations. Contextual factors include the adequacy of emergency preparedness measures, transportation resources, and coping and recovery resources. As a result of the interplay of these characteristics and factors, predicted climate changes could have serious consequences for Bridgeport's elderly adults. This research provides a contextualized and detailed illustration of how climate change could overwhelm elderly adult's adaptive capacity and highlights the need for support services to provide safeguards. The issues and concerns raised may bear similarities to other locations, especially urban settings facing similar climate stressors with similar socioeconomic conditions. The findings suggest a need for further research to improve our understanding and serve as the basis for collaborative adaptation planning that engages elderly communities with local governments and a broad coalition of partners to keep elders safe.

Average is Boring: How Similarity Kills a Meme's Success

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coscia, Michele

2014-09-01

Every day we are exposed to different ideas, or memes, competing with each other for our attention. Previous research explained popularity and persistence heterogeneity of memes by assuming them in competition for limited attention resources, distributed in a heterogeneous social network. Little has been said about what characteristics make a specific meme more likely to be successful. We propose a similarity-based explanation: memes with higher similarity to other memes have a significant disadvantage in their potential popularity. We employ a meme similarity measure based on semantic text analysis and computer vision to prove that a meme is more likely to be successful and to thrive if its characteristics make it unique. Our results show that indeed successful memes are located in the periphery of the meme similarity space and that our similarity measure is a promising predictor of a meme success.

Average is boring: how similarity kills a meme's success.

PubMed

Coscia, Michele

2014-09-26

Every day we are exposed to different ideas, or memes, competing with each other for our attention. Previous research explained popularity and persistence heterogeneity of memes by assuming them in competition for limited attention resources, distributed in a heterogeneous social network. Little has been said about what characteristics make a specific meme more likely to be successful. We propose a similarity-based explanation: memes with higher similarity to other memes have a significant disadvantage in their potential popularity. We employ a meme similarity measure based on semantic text analysis and computer vision to prove that a meme is more likely to be successful and to thrive if its characteristics make it unique. Our results show that indeed successful memes are located in the periphery of the meme similarity space and that our similarity measure is a promising predictor of a meme success.

Organizational characteristics influence implementation of worksite health protection and promotion programs: Evidence from smaller businesses

PubMed Central

McLellan, Deborah L.; Cabán-Martinez, Alberto J.; Nelson, Candace C.; Pronk, Nicolaas P.; Katz, Jeffrey N.; Allen, Jennifer D.; Davis, Kia L.; Wagner, Gregory R.; Sorensen, Glorian

2015-01-01

Objective We explored associations between organizational factors (size, sector, leadership support, and organizational capacity) and implementation of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and Worksite Health Promotion (WHP) programs in smaller businesses. Methods We conducted a web-based survey of Human Resource Managers of 117 smaller businesses (<750 employees) and analyzed factors associated with implementation of OSH and WHP among these sites using multivariate analyses. Results Implementation of OSH but not WHP activities were related to industry sector (p= 0.003). Leadership support was positively associated with OSH activities (p<.001), but negatively associated with WHP implementation. Organizational capacity (budgets, staffing, and committee involvement) was associated with implementation of both OSH and WHP. Size was related to neither. Conclusions Leadership support and specifically allocated resources reflecting that support are important factors for implementing OSH and WHP in smaller organizations. PMID:26340290

Porphyry copper deposit model: Chapter B in Mineral deposit models for resource assessment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ayuso, Robert A.; Barton, Mark D.; Blakely, Richard J.; Bodnar, Robert J.; Dilles, John H.; Gray, Floyd; Graybeal, Fred T.; Mars, John L.; McPhee, Darcy K.; Seal, Robert R.; Taylor, Ryan D.; Vikre, Peter G.; John, David A.

2010-01-01

This report contains a revised descriptive model of porphyry copper deposits (PCDs), the world's largest source (about 60 percent) and resource (about 65 percent) of copper and a major source of molybdenum, gold and silver. Despite relatively low grades (average 0.44 percent copper in 2008), PCDs have significant economic and societal impacts due to their large size (commonly hundreds of millions to billions of metric tons), long mine lives (decades), and high production rates (billions of kilograms of copper per year). The revised model describes the geotectonic setting of PCDs, and provides extensive regional- to deposit-scale descriptions and illustrations of geological, geochemical, geophysical, and geoenvironmental characteristics. Current genetic theories are reviewed and evaluated, knowledge gaps are identified, and a variety of exploration and assessment guides are presented. A summary is included for users seeking overviews of specific topics.

A Review of Living Collections with Special Emphasis on Sustainability and Its Impact on Research Across Multiple Disciplines

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Formal living collections have unique characteristics that distinguish them from other types of biorepositories. Comprising diverse resources, microbe culture collections, crop and biodiversity plant germplasm collections, and animal germplasm repositories are commonly allied with specific research communities or stakeholder groups. Among living collections, microbial culture collections have very long and unique life histories, with some being older than 100 years. Regulatory, financial, and technical developments have impacted living collections in many ways. International treaty obligations and restrictions on release of genetically modified organisms complicate the activities of living collections. Funding for living collections is a continuing challenge and threatens to create a two-tier system where medically relevant collections are well funded and all other collections are underfunded and hence understaffed. Molecular, genetic, and whole genome sequence analysis of contents of microbes and other living resource collections bring additional value to living collections. PMID:27869477

A Review of Living Collections with Special Emphasis on Sustainability and Its Impact on Research Across Multiple Disciplines.

PubMed

McCluskey, Kevin

2017-02-01

Formal living collections have unique characteristics that distinguish them from other types of biorepositories. Comprising diverse resources, microbe culture collections, crop and biodiversity plant germplasm collections, and animal germplasm repositories are commonly allied with specific research communities or stakeholder groups. Among living collections, microbial culture collections have very long and unique life histories, with some being older than 100 years. Regulatory, financial, and technical developments have impacted living collections in many ways. International treaty obligations and restrictions on release of genetically modified organisms complicate the activities of living collections. Funding for living collections is a continuing challenge and threatens to create a two-tier system where medically relevant collections are well funded and all other collections are underfunded and hence understaffed. Molecular, genetic, and whole genome sequence analysis of contents of microbes and other living resource collections bring additional value to living collections.

Who gets how much: funding formulas in federal public health programs.

PubMed

Buehler, James W; Holtgrave, David R

2007-01-01

Federal public health programs use a mix of formula-based and competitive methods to allocate funds among states and other constituent jurisdictions. Characteristics of formula-based allocations used by a convenience sample of four programs, three from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and one from the Health Resources and Services Administration, are described to illustrate formula-based allocation methods in public health. Data sources in these public health formulas include population counts and funding proportions based on historical precedent. None include factors that adjust allocations based on variations in the availability of local resources or the cost of delivering services. Formula-funded activities are supplemented by programs that target specific prevention needs or encourage development of innovative methods to address emerging problems, using set-aside funds. A public health finance research agenda should address ways to improve the fit between funding allocation formulas and program objectives.

Are there too many or too few physicians in Spain? Is emigration the timeless resource.

PubMed

Sánchez-Sagrado, T

2013-10-01

At the end of the last century, several Spanish doctors had to migrate overseas looking for a decent job. No decent jobs were offered by then in Spain. Last decade, the lack of doctors was a problem and a great social alarm was born. Mechanisms to attract doctors form overseas and medical training, both uncontrolled, were settled in, to get the numbers right. The result was a surplus of qualified health professionals. Today, overseas doctors who were invited to come and native doctors, both, trained for specific health situations have to leave the country. An extraordinary planning never heard of in neighbouring countries due to its "inefficiency". It was characteristic its lack of capability to take advantage of health professional's abilities - doctors and nurses-, its lack of population's health education, its waste of resources in training and its uncontrolled immigration. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

What influences the implementation of the New Zealand stroke guidelines for physiotherapists and occupational therapists?

PubMed

Mudge, Suzie; Hart, Anna; Murugan, Sankaran; Kersten, Paula

2017-03-01

Purpose To explore perceived barriers and facilitators to the use of the New Zealand (NZ) stroke guidelines by occupational therapists and physiotherapists. Methods A qualitative descriptive methodology was used. Eligible physiotherapists and occupational therapists (NZ registered, working in one of two hospitals, treating at least 10 patients with stroke in the previous year) were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews to elicit their perceptions of the utility and feasibility of the NZ stroke guidelines and identify barriers and facilitators to their implementation. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Conventional content analysis with constant comparative methods was used for coding and analysis. Results The main themes influencing guideline implementation were resources and characteristics of the guidelines, the organization, the patient and family and the therapist. Insufficient resources were a major barrier that crossed many of the themes. Participants suggested a range of strategies relating to the organization to improve therapists' alignment to the guidelines. Conclusion Alignment to the guidelines in NZ is influenced both positively and negatively by a range of interacting factors, consistent with other studies. Alignment might be improved by the introduction of some relatively simple strategies, such as ring-fencing time for access to resources and training in the use of the guidelines. Many of the barriers and related interventions are likely to be more complex. Implications for rehabilitation Alignment with stroke guidelines has been shown to improve patient outcomes. Therapist alignment with the implementation of the New Zealand stroke guidelines is influenced by guideline characteristics, organizational characteristics, resources, patient and family characteristics and therapist characteristics. Frequently encountered barriers related to limited resources, particularly time. Ring-fencing regular time for access to resources and training in the use of guidelines are examples of simple strategies that may reduce barriers.

El Salvador earthquakes: relationships among acute stress disorder symptoms, depression, traumatic event exposure, and resource loss.

PubMed

Sattler, David N; de Alvarado, Ana Maria Glower; de Castro, Norma Blandon; Male, Robert Van; Zetino, A M; Vega, Raphael

2006-12-01

Four and seven weeks after powerful earthquakes in El Salvador, the authors examined the relationships among demographics, traumatic event exposure, social support, resource loss, acute stress disorder (ASD) symptoms, depression, and posttraumatic growth. Participants were 253 college students (Study 1) and 83 people in the community (Study 2). In Study 1, female gender, traumatic event exposure, low social support, and loss of personal characteristic, condition, and energy resources contributed to ASD symptoms and depression. In Study 2, damage to home and loss of personal characteristic and object resources contributed to ASD symptoms and depression. Posttraumatic growth was not associated with ASD symptoms or depression. Findings support the conservation of resources stress theory (Hobfoll, 1998). Resource loss spirals, excessive demands on coping, and exposure to multiple disasters are discussed.

A cross-cultural exploration of abortion fund patients in the USA and the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man.

PubMed

Ely, Gretchen E; Hales, Travis W; Jackson, D Lynn

2018-05-01

This paper details results of a study examining administrative case data from 2010-2015 from abortion funds serving the USA and the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man. Driven by the available data, the researchers compared organisational characteristics, patient characteristics, procedural costs, patient resources and the ratio between patient resources and procedural costs. Independent t-tests were conducted to assess whether differences in characteristics, costs or resources were significant. The number of patients serviced by abortion funds across the two datasets increased yearly from 2010-2015. While patients in the USA had more resources, on average, to contribute to their abortion procedure, Irish, Northern Irish and Manx patients had the resources to pay for a greater percentage of their costs, on average, which was mainly attributable to the differences in gestational age of those helped by the different abortion funds. Patients across all nations were similar in terms of their marital status, average age and number of existing children. Patients across these countries face expensive procedures and a lack of resources that are bridged in part by abortion fund assistance.

The role of information and communication technology in the transformation of the healthcare business model: a case study of Slovenia.

PubMed

Stanimirovic, Dalibor; Vintar, Mirko

The Slovenian healthcare business model (BM) has largely failed to integrate information and communication technologies (ICT) into its operational context, instead maintaining its rigid structure and traditional 'way of doing business'wo managers of public clinics). Findings present a roadmap for the redefinition of BM elements and the transformation of the Slovenian healthcare BM. It includes the specific reconfiguration of BM actors and their interactions, and the application of advanced ICT solutions, which could facilitate more effective utilisation of healthcare resources and promote an improved delivery of healthcare services and products. The presented development approach and derived conceptual solution could be transferable to other countries with similar socio-economic characteristics and comparable healthcare systems, subject to certain adjustments and inclusion of national specifics.

Optimized model tuning in medical systems.

PubMed

Kléma, Jirí; Kubalík, Jirí; Lhotská, Lenka

2005-12-01

In medical systems it is often advantageous to utilize specific problem situations (cases) in addition to or instead of a general model. Decisions are then based on relevant past cases retrieved from a case memory. The reliability of such decisions depends directly on the ability to identify cases of practical relevance to the current situation. This paper discusses issues of automated tuning in order to obtain a proper definition of mutual case similarity in a specific medical domain. The main focus is on a reasonably time-consuming optimization of the parameters that determine case retrieval and further utilization in decision making/ prediction. The two case studies - mortality prediction after cardiological intervention, and resource allocation at a spa - document that the optimization process is influenced by various characteristics of the problem domain.

Sex and species specific isotopic niche specialisation increases with trophic complexity: evidence from an ephemeral pond ecosystem

PubMed Central

Dalu, Tatenda; Wasserman, Ryan J.; Vink, Tim J. F.; Weyl, Olaf L. F.

2017-01-01

It is generally accepted that organisms that naturally exploit an ecosystem facilitate coexistence, at least partially, through resource partitioning. Resource availability is, however, highly variable in space and time and as such the extent of resource partitioning must be somewhat dependent on availability. Here we test aspects of resource partitioning at the inter- and intra-specific level, in relation to resource availability in an atypical aquatic environment using an isotope approach. Using closely related key organisms from an ephemeral pond, we test for differences in isotopic signatures between two species of copepod and between sexes within each species, in relation to heterogeneity of basal food resources over the course of the ponds hydroperiod. We show that basal food resource heterogeneity increases over time initially, and then decreases towards the end of the hydroperiod, reflective of the expected evolution of trophic complexity for these systems. Resource partitioning also varied between species and sexes, over the hydroperiod with intra- and inter-specific specialisation relating to resource availability. Intra-specific specialisation was particularly evident in the omnivorous copepod species. Our findings imply that trophic specialisation at both the intra- and inter-specific level is partly driven by basal food resource availability. PMID:28233858

Taking knowledge users' knowledge needs into account in health: an evidence synthesis framework.

PubMed

Wickremasinghe, Deepthi; Kuruvilla, Shyama; Mays, Nicholas; Avan, Bilal Iqbal

2016-05-01

The increased demand for evidence-based practice in health policy in recent years has provoked a parallel increase in diverse evidence-based outputs designed to translate knowledge from researchers to policy makers and practitioners. Such knowledge translation ideally creates user-friendly outputs, tailored to meet information needs in a particular context for a particular audience. Yet matching users' knowledge needs to the most suitable output can be challenging. We have developed an evidence synthesis framework to help knowledge users, brokers, commissioners and producers decide which type of output offers the best 'fit' between 'need' and 'response'. We conducted a four-strand literature search for characteristics and methods of evidence synthesis outputs using databases of peer reviewed literature, specific journals, grey literature and references in relevant documents. Eight experts in synthesis designed to get research into policy and practice were also consulted to hone issues for consideration and ascertain key studies. In all, 24 documents were included in the literature review. From these we identified essential characteristics to consider when planning an output-Readability, Relevance, Rigour and Resources-which we then used to develop a process for matching users' knowledge needs with an appropriate evidence synthesis output. We also identified 10 distinct evidence synthesis outputs, classifying them in the evidence synthesis framework under four domains: key features, utility, technical characteristics and resources, and in relation to six primary audience groups-professionals, practitioners, researchers, academics, advocates and policy makers. Users' knowledge needs vary and meeting them successfully requires collaborative planning. The Framework should facilitate a more systematic assessment of the balance of essential characteristics required to select the best output for the purpose. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

An Exploratory Analysis of Network Characteristics and Quality of Interactions among Public Health Collaboratives

PubMed Central

Varda, Danielle M.; Retrum, Jessica H.

2012-01-01

While the benefits of collaboration have become widely accepted and the practice of collaboration is growing within the public health system, a paucity of research exists that examines factors and mechanisms related to effective collaboration between public health and their partner organizations. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap by exploring the structural and organizational characteristics of public health collaboratives. Design and Methods. Using both social network analysis and traditional statistical methods, we conduct an exploratory secondary data analysis of 11 public health collaboratives chosen from across the United States. All collaboratives are part of the PARTNER (www.partnertool.net) database. We analyze data to identify relational patterns by exploring the structure (the way that organizations connect and exchange relationships), in relation to perceptions of value and trust, explanations for varying reports of success, and factors related to outcomes. We describe the characteristics of the collaboratives, types of resource contributions, outcomes of the collaboratives, perceptions of success, and reasons for success. We found high variation and significant differences within and between these collaboratives including perceptions of success. There were significant relationships among various factors such as resource contributions, reasons cited for success, and trust and value perceived by organizations. We find that although the unique structure of each collaborative makes it challenging to identify a specific set of factors to determine when a collaborative will be successful, the organizational characteristics and interorganizational dynamics do appear to impact outcomes. We recommend a quality improvement process that suggests matching assessment to goals and developing action steps for performance improvement. Acknowledgements the authors would like to thank the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Public Health Program for funding for this research. PMID:25170462

An Exploratory Analysis of Network Characteristics and Quality of Interactions among Public Health Collaboratives.

PubMed

Varda, Danielle M; Retrum, Jessica H

2012-06-15

While the benefits of collaboration have become widely accepted and the practice of collaboration is growing within the public health system, a paucity of research exists that examines factors and mechanisms related to effective collaboration between public health and their partner organizations. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap by exploring the structural and organizational characteristics of public health collaboratives. Design and Methods. Using both social network analysis and traditional statistical methods, we conduct an exploratory secondary data analysis of 11 public health collaboratives chosen from across the United States. All collaboratives are part of the PARTNER (www.partnertool.net) database. We analyze data to identify relational patterns by exploring the structure (the way that organizations connect and exchange relationships), in relation to perceptions of value and trust, explanations for varying reports of success, and factors related to outcomes. We describe the characteristics of the collaboratives, types of resource contributions, outcomes of the collaboratives, perceptions of success, and reasons for success. We found high variation and significant differences within and between these collaboratives including perceptions of success. There were significant relationships among various factors such as resource contributions, reasons cited for success, and trust and value perceived by organizations. We find that although the unique structure of each collaborative makes it challenging to identify a specific set of factors to determine when a collaborative will be successful, the organizational characteristics and interorganizational dynamics do appear to impact outcomes. We recommend a quality improvement process that suggests matching assessment to goals and developing action steps for performance improvement. the authors would like to thank the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Public Health Program for funding for this research.

Decision making with environmental indices

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hoag, Dana L.; Ascough, James C.; Keske-Handley, C.; Koontz, Lynne; Burk, A.R.

2005-01-01

Since Ott's seminal book on environmental indices (1978), the use of indices has expanded into several natural resource disciplines, including ecological studies, environmental policymaking, and agricultural economics. However, despite their increasing use in natural resource disciplines, researchers and public decision makers continue to express concern about validity of these instruments to capture and communicate multidimensional, and sometimes disparate, characteristics of research data and stakeholder interests. Our purpose is to demonstrate how useful indices can be for communicating environmental information to decision makers. We discuss how environmental indices have evolved over four stages: 1) simple; 2) compound multicriteria; 3) the impact matrix and 4) disparate stakeholder management. We provide examples of simple and compound indices that were used by policy decision makers. We then build a framework, called an Impact Matrix (IM), that comprehensively accounts for multiple indices but lets the user decide how to integrate them. The IM was shaped from the concept of a financial risk payoff matrix and applied to ecosystem risk. While the IM offers flexibility, it does not address stakeholder preferences about which index to use. Therefore, the last phase in our evolutionary ladder includes stakeholder indices to specifically address disparate stakeholder preferences. Finally, we assert that an environmental index has the potential to increase resource efficiency, since the number of decision making resources may be reduced, and hence improve upon resource productivity

What Works to Reduce Unnecessary Care for Bronchiolitis? A Qualitative Analysis of a National Collaborative.

PubMed

Ralston, Shawn L; Atwood, Emily Carson; Garber, Matthew D; Holmes, Alison Volpe

2017-03-01

Unnecessary care is well established as a quality problem affecting acute viral bronchiolitis, one of the most common pediatric illnesses. Although there is an extensive quality improvement literature on the disease, published work primarily reflects the experience of freestanding children's hospitals. We sought to better understand the specific barriers and drivers for successful quality improvement in community and nonfreestanding children's facilities. We undertook a mixed methods study to identify correlates of success in a bronchiolitis quality improvement collaborative of community hospitals and children's hospitals within adult hospitals. We assessed site demographic characteristics, compliance with project interventions, and team engagement for association with end of project performance. We then used performance quartiles on a composite assessment of project measures (use of bronchodilators and steroids) to design a purposive sample of sites approached for qualitative interviews. Team engagement was the only factor quantitatively associated with better performance in the overall cohort. Fifteen sites, from the total cohort of 21, completed qualitative interviews. Qualitative themes around team engagement, including the presence of buy-in for successful sites and the inability to engage colleagues at unsuccessful sites, were important differentiating factors between top and bottom performance quartiles. Regardless of performance quartile, most programs cited intrainstitutional competition for limited resources to do quality improvement work as a specific barrier for pediatrics. The ability to overcome such barriers and specifically garner information technology (IT) resources also differentiated the top and bottom performance quartiles. Team engagement showed a consistent association with success across our quantitative and qualitative evaluations. Competition for limited resources in this cohort of nonfreestanding children's programs, particularly those in hospital IT, was a key qualitative theme. Copyright © 2016 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Associations among job demands and resources, work engagement, and psychological distress: fixed-effects model analysis in Japan

PubMed Central

Oshio, Takashi; Inoue, Akiomi

2018-01-01

Objectives: We examined the associations among job demands and resources, work engagement, and psychological distress, adjusted for time-invariant individual attributes. Methods: We used data from a Japanese occupational cohort survey, which included 18,702 observations of 7,843 individuals. We investigated how work engagement, measured by the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, was associated with key aspects of job demands and resources, using fixed-effects regression models. We further estimated the fixed-effects models to assess how work engagement moderated the association between each job characteristic and psychological distress as measured by Kessler 6 scores. Results: The fixed-effects models showed that work engagement was positively associated with job resources, as did pooled cross-sectional and prospective cohort models. Specifically, the standardized regression coefficients (β) were 0.148 and 0.120 for extrinsic reward and decision latitude, respectively, compared to -0.159 and 0.020 for role ambiguity and workload and time pressure, respectively (p < 0.001 for all associations). Work engagement modestly moderated the associations of psychological distress with workload and time pressure and extrinsic reward; a one-standard deviation increase in work engagement moderated their associations by 19.2% (p < 0.001) and 11.3% (p = 0.034), respectively. Conclusions: Work engagement was associated with job demands and resources, which is in line with the theoretical prediction of the job demands-resources model, even after controlling for time-invariant individual attributes. Work engagement moderated the association between selected aspects of job demands and resources and psychological distress. PMID:29563368

What Drives Country Differences in Cost of Alzheimer's Disease? An Explanation from Resource Use in the GERAS Study.

PubMed

Reed, Catherine; Happich, Michael; Argimon, Josep Maria; Haro, Josep Maria; Wimo, Anders; Bruno, Giuseppe; Dodel, Richard; Jones, Roy W; Vellas, Bruno; Belger, Mark

2017-01-01

Country differences in resource use and costs of Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be driven by differences in health care systems and resource availability. To compare country resource utilization drivers of societal costs for AD dementia over 18 months. GERAS is an observational study in France (n = 419), Germany (n = 550), and the UK (n = 526). Resource use of AD patients and caregivers contributing to >1% of total societal costs (year 2010) was assessed for country differences, adjusting for participant characteristics. Mean 18-month societal costs per patient were France €33,339, Germany €38,197, and UK €37,899 (£32,501). Caregiver time spent on basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL) contributed the most to societal costs (54% France, 64% Germany, 65% UK). Caregivers in France spent less time on ADL than UK caregivers and missed fewer work days than in other countries. Compared with other countries, patients in France used more community care services overall and were more likely to use home aid. Patients in Germany were least likely to use temporary accommodation or to be institutionalized at 18 months. UK caregivers spent the most time on instrumental ADL, UK patients used fewest outpatient resources, and UK patients/caregivers were most likely to receive financial support. Caregiver time on ADL contributed the most to societal costs and differed across countries, possibly due to use of community care services and institutionalization. Other resources had different patterns of use across countries, reflecting country-specific health and social care systems.

Earth resources data systems design: S192 instrument measurements and characteristics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldstein, A. S.

1972-01-01

The design, development, and characteristics of the S192 instrument for use with the earth resources data systems are discussed. Subjects presented are: (1) multispectral scanner measurements, (2) measurement characteristics, (3) calibration and aligment, (4) operating modes, and (5) time tagging and references. The S192 will obtain high spatial resolution, quantitative line scan imagery data of the radiation reflected and emitted by selected test sites in up to 13 spectral bands of visible, near infrared, and thermal infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Preliminary testing of a prototype portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patten, L. L.; Anderson, N. B.; Stevenson, J. J.

1982-01-01

A portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer for use as an analyzer in mineral resource investigative work was built and tested. The prototype battery powered spectrometer, measuring 11 by 12 by 5 inches and weighing only about 15 pounds, was designed specifically for field use. The spectrometer has two gas proportional counters and two radioactive sources, Cd (10a) and Fe (55). Preliminary field and laboratory tests on rock specimens and rock pulps have demonstrated the capability of the spectrometer to detect 33 elements to date. Characteristics of the system present some limitations, however, and further improvements are recommended.

StreamStats in Georgia: a water-resources web application

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gotvald, Anthony J.; Musser, Jonathan W.

2015-07-31

StreamStats is being implemented on a State-by-State basis to allow for customization of the data development and underlying datasets to address their specific needs, issues, and objectives. The USGS, in cooperation with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and Georgia Department of Transportation, has implemented StreamStats for Georgia. The Georgia StreamStats Web site is available through the national StreamStats Web-page portal at http://streamstats.usgs.gov. Links are provided on this Web page for individual State applications, instructions for using StreamStats, definitions of basin characteristics and streamflow statistics, and other supporting information.

The Contribution of Work Characteristics, Home Characteristics and Gender to Burnout in Medical Residents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Verweij, Hanne; van der Heijden, Frank M. M. A.; van Hooff, Madelon L. M.; Prins, Jelle T.; Lagro-Janssen, Antoine L. M.; van Ravesteijn, Hiske; Speckens, Anne E. M.

2017-01-01

Burnout is highly prevalent in medical residents. In order to prevent or reduce burnout in medical residents, we should gain a better understanding of contributing and protective factors of burnout. Therefore we examined the associations of job demands and resources, home demands and resources, and work-home interferences with burnout in male and…

An Exploration of School Counselors' Demands and Resources: Relationship to Stress, Biographic, and Caseload Characteristics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCarthy, Christopher; Kerne, Valerie Van Horn; Calfa, Nicolina A.; Lambert, Richard G.; Guzman, Michele

2010-01-01

The study in this article examined the relationship of school counselors' reports of demands and resources in their work environment to perceived stress, biographic factors, and caseload characteristics. Participants were 227 school counselors in Texas. Paperwork requirements and size of caseload were rated the most demanding aspects of their job,…

Characteristics of Highly Talented International Business Professionals Defined: Qualitative Study among International Business Professionals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Heugten, Petra; Heijne-Penninga, Marjolein; Paans, Wolter; Wolfensberger, Marca

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the characteristics of talent in relation to international business to facilitate selection and development of talent in human resources (HR) and human resource development (HRD). Design/methodology/approach: A mixed method design was used: focus groups with business professionals to identify the…

Predictors of Psychological Distress and Positive Resources among Palestinian Adolescents: Trauma, Child, and Mothering Characteristics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Qouta, Samir; Punamaki, Raija-Leena; Montgomery, Edith; El Sarraj, Eyad

2007-01-01

Objective: The aim was to examine how traumatic and stressful events, responses to violence, child characteristics, and mothering quality, as measured in middle childhood predict psychological distress and positive resources in adolescence. Method: The participants were 65 Palestinian adolescents (17 [plus or minus] 0.85 years; 52% girls), who had…

Comparing Public and Private Institutions That Have and Have Not Implemented Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems: A Resource Dependence Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sendhil, Geetha R.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this national study was to utilize quantitative methods to examine institutional characteristics, financial resource variables, personnel variables, and customer variables of public and private institutions that have and have not implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, from a resource dependence perspective.…

Missouri StreamStats—A water-resources web application

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ellis, Jarrett T.

2018-01-31

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintains and operates more than 8,200 continuous streamgages nationwide. Types of data that may be collected, computed, and stored for streamgages include streamgage height (water-surface elevation), streamflow, and water quality. The streamflow data allow scientists and engineers to calculate streamflow statistics, such as the 1-percent annual exceedance probability flood (also known as the 100-year flood), the mean flow, and the 7-day, 10-year low flow, which are used by managers to make informed water resource management decisions, at each streamgage location. Researchers, regulators, and managers also commonly need physical characteristics (basin characteristics) that describe the unique properties of a basin. Common uses for streamflow statistics and basin characteristics include hydraulic design, water-supply management, water-use appropriations, and flood-plain mapping for establishing flood-insurance rates and land-use zones. The USGS periodically publishes reports that update the values of basin characteristics and streamflow statistics at selected gaged locations (locations with streamgages), but these studies usually only update a subset of streamgages, making data retrieval difficult. Additionally, streamflow statistics and basin characteristics are most often needed at ungaged locations (locations without streamgages) for which published streamflow statistics and basin characteristics do not exist. Missouri StreamStats is a web-based geographic information system that was created by the USGS in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to provide users with access to an assortment of tools that are useful for water-resources planning and management. StreamStats allows users to easily obtain the most recent published streamflow statistics and basin characteristics for streamgage locations and to automatically calculate selected basin characteristics and estimate streamflow statistics at ungaged locations.

Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: Hanna, Laramie, and Shirley Basins, Wyoming: Chapter C in Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Merrill, Matthew D.; Covault, Jacob A.; Craddock, William H.; Slucher, Ernie R.; Warwick, Peter D.; Blondes, Madalyn S.; Gosai, Mayur A.; Freeman, P.A.; Cahan, Steven M.; Lohr, Celeste D.; Warwick, Peter D.; Corum, Margo D.

2012-01-01

The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (Public Law 110-140) directs the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct a national assessment of potential geologic storage resources for carbon dioxide (CO2). The methodology used for the national CO2 assessment is non-economic and intended to be used at regional to subbasinal scales. This report identifies and contains geologic descriptions of twelve storage assessment units (SAUs) in six separate packages of sedimentary rock within the Hanna, Laramie, and Shirley Basins of Wyoming. It focuses on the particular characteristics, specified in the methodology, that influence the potential CO2 storage resource in those SAUs. Specific descriptions of SAU boundaries as well as their sealing and reservoir units are included. Properties for each SAU, such as depth to top, gross thickness, net porous thickness, porosity, permeability, groundwater quality, and structural reservoir traps are provided to illustrate geologic factors critical to the assessment. Although assessment results are not contained in this report, the geologic information included herein will be employed, as specified in the methodology, to calculate a statistical Monte Carlo-based distribution of potential storage space in the various SAUs. Figures in this report show SAU boundaries and cell maps of well penetrations through the sealing unit into the top of the storage formation. Cell maps show the number of penetrating wells within one square mile and are derived from interpretations of incompletely attributed well data in a digital compilation that is known not to include all drilling. The USGS does not expect to know the location of all wells and cannot guarantee the amount of drilling through specific formations in any given cell shown on cell maps.

Using Geothermal Play Types as an Analogue for Estimating Potential Resource Size

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

Terry, Rachel; Young, Katherine

Blind geothermal systems are becoming increasingly common as more geothermal fields are developed. Geothermal development is known to have high risk in the early stages of a project development because reservoir characteristics are relatively unknown until wells are drilled. Play types (or occurrence models) categorize potential geothermal fields into groups based on geologic characteristics. To aid in lowering exploration risk, these groups' reservoir characteristics can be used as analogues in new site exploration. The play type schemes used in this paper were Moeck and Beardsmore play types (Moeck et al. 2014) and Brophy occurrence models (Brophy et al. 2011). Operatingmore » geothermal fields throughout the world were classified based on their associated play type, and then reservoir characteristics data were catalogued. The distributions of these characteristics were plotted in histograms to develop probability density functions for each individual characteristic. The probability density functions can be used as input analogues in Monte Carlo estimations of resource potential for similar play types in early exploration phases. A spreadsheet model was created to estimate resource potential in undeveloped fields. The user can choose to input their own values for each reservoir characteristic or choose to use the probability distribution functions provided from the selected play type. This paper also addresses the United States Geological Survey's 1978 and 2008 assessment of geothermal resources by comparing their estimated values to reported values from post-site development. Information from the collected data was used in the comparison for thirty developed sites in the United States. No significant trends or suggestions for methodologies could be made by the comparison.« less

Trust in the Internet as a Health Resource Among Older Adults: Analysis of Data from a Nationally Representative Survey

PubMed Central

Kirch, Matthias; Zheng, Kai; An, Lawrence C

2011-01-01

Background Distrust in the Internet as a source of health information remains common among older adults. The influence of this distrust on Internet use for health-related purposes, however, is unclear. Objective The objective of our study was to explore how older adults’ trust in the Internet influences their online health-related activities, and to identify potential targets for improving health-related Internet resources for older adults. Methods Data were obtained from a nationally representative, random digit-dial telephone survey of 1450 adults 50 years of age and older in the United States. A model was developed to conceptualize the hypothesized relationships among individual characteristics, distrust, and avoidance of the Internet as a health resource. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between trust in online health information and use of the Internet for health-related purposes. Additional multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify the key characteristics associated with trust in online health information, adding sequentially the variables hypothesized to account for distrust among older adults: sociodemographic and health characteristics, inexperience and technical difficulties with the Internet, negative feelings toward the Internet, and lack of awareness about the sources providing the health information found online. Results The mean (SD) age of the study population was 63.7 (10.6) years. Of the 823 (56.8%) Internet users, 628 (76.3%) reported using the Internet as a health resource. Trust in the Internet as a source of health information was associated with using the Internet for a number of health activities, including searching for information about a specific health condition (adjusted OR 4.43, P < .001), purchasing prescription drugs (adjusted OR 2.61, P = .03), and talking with a health care provider about information found online (adjusted OR 2.54, P = .002). Older adults (age ≥65 years) were less likely to trust the Internet as a source of health information (OR 0.63, P = .04), even after adjusting for other sociodemographic characteristics and health and function. This age effect was only slightly attenuated (adjusted OR 0.69, P = .13) after adjusting for inexperience and technical difficulties with the Internet, but it disappeared entirely (adjusted OR 0.96, P = .91) after adjusting for other hypothesized contributors to distrust (including finding the Internet confusing because it provides “too much information,” and lacking awareness about the source providing health information found online). Conclusions Website design features that clearly identify the source and credibility of information and minimize confusion may build trust among older adults and offer an opportunity to increase the utility of the Internet as a health resource for this population. PMID:21324832

Trust in the internet as a health resource among older adults: analysis of data from a nationally representative survey.

PubMed

Zulman, Donna M; Kirch, Matthias; Zheng, Kai; An, Lawrence C

2011-02-16

Distrust in the Internet as a source of health information remains common among older adults. The influence of this distrust on Internet use for health-related purposes, however, is unclear. The objective of our study was to explore how older adults' trust in the Internet influences their online health-related activities, and to identify potential targets for improving health-related Internet resources for older adults. Data were obtained from a nationally representative, random digit-dial telephone survey of 1450 adults 50 years of age and older in the United States. A model was developed to conceptualize the hypothesized relationships among individual characteristics, distrust, and avoidance of the Internet as a health resource. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between trust in online health information and use of the Internet for health-related purposes. Additional multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify the key characteristics associated with trust in online health information, adding sequentially the variables hypothesized to account for distrust among older adults: sociodemographic and health characteristics, inexperience and technical difficulties with the Internet, negative feelings toward the Internet, and lack of awareness about the sources providing the health information found online. The mean (SD) age of the study population was 63.7 (10.6) years. Of the 823 (56.8%) Internet users, 628 (76.3%) reported using the Internet as a health resource. Trust in the Internet as a source of health information was associated with using the Internet for a number of health activities, including searching for information about a specific health condition (adjusted OR 4.43, P < .001), purchasing prescription drugs (adjusted OR 2.61, P = .03), and talking with a health care provider about information found online (adjusted OR 2.54, P = .002). Older adults (age ≥ 65 years) were less likely to trust the Internet as a source of health information (OR 0.63, P = .04), even after adjusting for other sociodemographic characteristics and health and function. This age effect was only slightly attenuated (adjusted OR 0.69, P = .13) after adjusting for inexperience and technical difficulties with the Internet, but it disappeared entirely (adjusted OR 0.96, P = .91) after adjusting for other hypothesized contributors to distrust (including finding the Internet confusing because it provides "too much information," and lacking awareness about the source providing health information found online). Website design features that clearly identify the source and credibility of information and minimize confusion may build trust among older adults and offer an opportunity to increase the utility of the Internet as a health resource for this population.

Reference Resources for Research and Continuing Education in Nursing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Nurses' Association, Kansas City, MO.

This booklet on reference resources for research and continuing education in nursing contains three papers that were presented at a program sponsored by the Interagency Council on Library Resources for Nursing held at the 1976 Convention of the American Nurses' Association. In "Awareness of Library Resources: A Characteristic of Professional…

Adaptations to a Learning Resource

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Libbrecht, Paul

2015-01-01

Learning resources have been created to represent digital units of exchangeable materials that teachers and learners can pull from in order to support the learning processes. They resource themselves. Leveraging the web, one can often find these resources. But what characteristics do they need in order to be easily exchangeable? Although several…

A Reanalysis of Occupation and Suicide: Negative Perceptions of the Workplace Linked to Suicide Attempts.

PubMed

Howard, Matt; Krannitz, Morgan

2017-11-17

Suicide is the ultimate outcome of poor psychological well-being; however, there is a paucity of research examining the link between occupation and suicide, despite early academic interest and the known importance of work to our everyday lives. We propose that this body of research was abandoned prematurely, and we provide a reanalysis by integrating the Job Characteristics Model and the Conservation of Resources model with extant suicide research. Specifically, we hypothesize that work design characteristics (job autonomy, task variety, physical demands) and threats to personal resources (absence of viewing work-as-career, work-family conflict, family-work conflict, job dissatisfaction) are linked to suicide attempts via depression and suicidal ideation. Utilizing three measurement occasions and 2,855 participants from the AddHealth database, our findings indicate that job autonomy, task variety, work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and job dissatisfaction all indirectly contribute to employees' suicide attempts via depression and suicidal ideation. Thus, negative employee perceptions of the workplace environment have much more severe consequences than is typically examined. Based on these results, we provide recommendations for developing a theoretically derived nomological net around suicidal behavior in an organizational context, and offer strategies for managers and employees to construct a work environment that is conducive to employee well-being.

The Potential of Sequential Extraction in the Characterisation and Management of Wastes from Steel Processing: A Prospective Review

PubMed Central

Rodgers, Kiri J.; Hursthouse, Andrew; Cuthbert, Simon

2015-01-01

As waste management regulations become more stringent, yet demand for resources continues to increase, there is a pressing need for innovative management techniques and more sophisticated supporting analysis techniques. Sequential extraction (SE) analysis, a technique previously applied to soils and sediments, offers the potential to gain a better understanding of the composition of solid wastes. SE attempts to classify potentially toxic elements (PTEs) by their associations with phases or fractions in waste, with the aim of improving resource use and reducing negative environmental impacts. In this review we explain how SE can be applied to steel wastes. These present challenges due to differences in sample characteristics compared with materials to which SE has been traditionally applied, specifically chemical composition, particle size and pH buffering capacity, which are critical when identifying a suitable SE method. We highlight the importance of delineating iron-rich phases, and find that the commonly applied BCR (The community Bureau of reference) extraction method is problematic due to difficulties with zinc speciation (a critical steel waste constituent), hence a substantially modified SEP is necessary to deal with particular characteristics of steel wastes. Successful development of SE for steel wastes could have wider implications, e.g., for the sustainable management of fly ash and mining wastes. PMID:26393631

The Potential of Sequential Extraction in the Characterisation and Management of Wastes from Steel Processing: A Prospective Review.

PubMed

Rodgers, Kiri J; Hursthouse, Andrew; Cuthbert, Simon

2015-09-18

As waste management regulations become more stringent, yet demand for resources continues to increase, there is a pressing need for innovative management techniques and more sophisticated supporting analysis techniques. Sequential extraction (SE) analysis, a technique previously applied to soils and sediments, offers the potential to gain a better understanding of the composition of solid wastes. SE attempts to classify potentially toxic elements (PTEs) by their associations with phases or fractions in waste, with the aim of improving resource use and reducing negative environmental impacts. In this review we explain how SE can be applied to steel wastes. These present challenges due to differences in sample characteristics compared with materials to which SE has been traditionally applied, specifically chemical composition, particle size and pH buffering capacity, which are critical when identifying a suitable SE method. We highlight the importance of delineating iron-rich phases, and find that the commonly applied BCR (The community Bureau of reference) extraction method is problematic due to difficulties with zinc speciation (a critical steel waste constituent), hence a substantially modified SEP is necessary to deal with particular characteristics of steel wastes. Successful development of SE for steel wastes could have wider implications, e.g., for the sustainable management of fly ash and mining wastes.

Experimental platform utilising melting curve technology for detection of mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates.

PubMed

Broda, Agnieszka; Nikolayevskyy, Vlad; Casali, Nicki; Khan, Huma; Bowker, Richard; Blackwell, Gemma; Patel, Bhakti; Hume, James; Hussain, Waqar; Drobniewski, Francis

2018-04-20

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most deadly infections with approximately a quarter of cases not being identified and/or treated mainly due to a lack of resources. Rapid detection of TB or drug-resistant TB enables timely adequate treatment and is a cornerstone of effective TB management. We evaluated the analytical performance of a single-tube assay for multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) on an experimental platform utilising RT-PCR and melting curve analysis that could potentially be operated as a point-of-care (PoC) test in resource-constrained settings with a high burden of TB. Firstly, we developed and evaluated the prototype MDR-TB assay using specimens extracted from well-characterised TB isolates with a variety of distinct rifampicin and isoniazid resistance conferring mutations and nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) strains. Secondly, we validated the experimental platform using 98 clinical sputum samples from pulmonary TB patients collected in high MDR-TB settings. The sensitivity of the platform for TB detection in clinical specimens was 75% for smear-negative and 92.6% for smear-positive sputum samples. The sensitivity of detection for rifampicin and isoniazid resistance was 88.9 and 96.0% and specificity was 87.5 and 100%, respectively. Observed limitations in sensitivity and specificity could be resolved by adjusting the sample preparation methodology and melting curve recognition algorithm. Overall technology could be considered a promising PoC methodology especially in resource-constrained settings based on its combined accuracy, convenience, simplicity, speed, and cost characteristics.

Resource modelling for control: how hydrogeological modelling can support a water quality monitoring infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scozzari, Andrea; Doveri, Marco

2015-04-01

The knowledge of the physical/chemical processes implied with the exploitation of water bodies for human consumption is an essential tool for the optimisation of the monitoring infrastructure. Due to their increasing importance in the context of human consumption (at least in the EU), this work focuses on groundwater resources. In the framework of drinkable water networks, the physical and data-driven modelling of transport phenomena in groundwater can help optimising the sensor network and validating the acquired data. This work proposes the combined usage of physical and data-driven modelling as a support to the design and maximisation of results from a network of distributed sensors. In particular, the validation of physico-chemical measurements and the detection of eventual anomalies by a set of continuous measurements take benefit from the knowledge of the domain from which water is abstracted, and its expected characteristics. Change-detection techniques based on non-specific sensors (presented by quite a large literature during the last two decades) have to deal with the classical issues of maximising correct detections and minimising false alarms, the latter of the two being the most typical problem to be faced, in the view of designing truly applicable monitoring systems. In this context, the definition of "anomaly" in terms of distance from an expected value or feature characterising the quality of water implies the definition of a suitable metric and the knowledge of the physical and chemical peculiarities of the natural domain from which water is exploited, with its implications in terms of characteristics of the water resource.

Shaping the Herders' "Mental Maps": Participatory Mapping with Pastoralists' to Understand Their Grazing Area Differentiation and Characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wario, Hussein T.; Roba, Hassan G.; Kaufmann, Brigitte

2015-09-01

Understanding the perception of environmental resources by the users is an important element in planning its sustainable use and management. Pastoralist communities manage their vast grazing territories and exploit resource variability through strategic mobility. However, the knowledge on which pastoralists' resource management is based and their perception of the grazing areas has received limited attention. To improve this understanding and to document this knowledge in a way that can be communicated with `outsiders', we adopted a participatory mapping approach using satellite imagery to explore how Borana pastoralists of southern Ethiopia differentiated and characterized their grazing areas. The Borana herders conceptualized their grazing areas as set of distinctive grazing units each having specific names and characteristics. The precise location and the borders of each grazing unit were identified on the satellite image. In naming of the grazing units, the main differentiating criteria were landforms, vegetation types, prevalence of wildlife species, and manmade features. Based on the dominant soil type, the grazing units were aggregated into seasonal grazing areas that were described using factors such as soil drainage properties, extent of woody cover, main grass species, and prevalence of ecto-parasites. Pastoralists ranking of the seasonal grazing areas according to their suitability for cattle grazing matched with vegetation assessment results on the abundance of desirable fodder varieties. Approaching grazing area differentiation from the pastoralists' perspectives improves the understanding of rangeland characteristics that pastoralists considered important in their grazing management and visualization of their mental representation in digital maps eases communication of this knowledge.

Genetic Improvement of Switchgrass and Other Herbaceous Plants for Use as Biomass Fuel Feedstock

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

Vogel, K.P.

2001-01-11

It should be highly feasible to genetically modify the feedstock quality of switchgrass and other herbaceous plants using both conventional and molecular breeding techniques. Effectiveness of breeding to modify herbages of switchgrass and other perennial and annual herbaceous species has already been demonstrated. The use of molecular markers and transformation technology will greatly enhance the capability of breeders to modify the plant structure and cell walls of herbaceous plants. It will be necessary to monitor gene flow to remnant wild populations of plants and have strategies available to curtail gene flow if it becomes a potential problem. It also willmore » be necessary to monitor plant survival and long-term productivity as affected by genetic changes that improve forage quality. Information on the conversion processes that will be used and the biomass characteristics that affect conversion efficiency and rate is absolutely essential as well as information on the relative economic value of specific traits. Because most forage or biomass quality characteristics are highly affected by plant maturity, it is suggested that plant material of specific maturity stages be used in research to determining desirable feedstock quality characteristics. Plant material could be collected at various stages of development from an array of environments and storage conditions that could be used in conversion research. The same plant material could be used to develop NIRS calibrations that could be used by breeders in their selection programs and also to develop criteria for a feedstock quality assessment program. Breeding for improved feedstock quality will likely affect the rate of improvement of biomass production per acre. If the same level of resources are used, multi-trait breeding simply reduces the selection pressure and hence the breeding progress that can be made for a single trait unless all the traits are highly correlated. Since desirable feedstock traits are likely to be similar to IVDMD, it is likely that they will not be highly positively correlated with yield. Hence to achieve target yields and improve specific quality traits, it will likely be necessary to increase the resources available to plant breeders. Marker assisted selection will be extremely useful in breeding for quality traits, particularly for traits that can be affected by modifying a few genes. Genetic markers are going to be needed for monitoring gene flow to wild populations. Transformation will be a very useful tool for determining the affects of specific genes on biomass feedstock quality.« less

Effects of Student Characteristics, Principal Qualifications, and Organizational Constraints for Assessing Student Achievement: A School Public Relations and Human Resources Concern

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, I. Phillip; Vang, Maiyoua; Young, Karen Holsey

2008-01-01

Standards-based student achievement scores are used to assess the effectiveness of public education and to have important implications regarding school public relations and human resource practices. Often overlooked is that these scores may be moderated by the characteristics of students, the qualifications of principals, and the restraints…

Modelling the sensitivity of river reaches to water abstraction: RAPHSA- a hydroecology tool for environmental managers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klaar, Megan; Laize, Cedric; Maddock, Ian; Acreman, Mike; Tanner, Kath; Peet, Sarah

2014-05-01

A key challenge for environmental managers is the determination of environmental flows which allow a maximum yield of water resources to be taken from surface and sub-surface sources, whilst ensuring sufficient water remains in the environment to support biota and habitats. It has long been known that sensitivity to changes in water levels resulting from river and groundwater abstractions varies between rivers. Whilst assessment at the catchment scale is ideal for determining broad pressures on water resources and ecosystems, assessment of the sensitivity of reaches to changes in flow has previously been done on a site-by-site basis, often with the application of detailed but time consuming techniques (e.g. PHABSIM). While this is appropriate for a limited number of sites, it is costly in terms of money and time resources and therefore not appropriate for application at a national level required by responsible licensing authorities. To address this need, the Environment Agency (England) is developing an operational tool to predict relationships between physical habitat and flow which may be applied by field staff to rapidly determine the sensitivity of physical habitat to flow alteration for use in water resource management planning. An initial model of river sensitivity to abstraction (defined as the change in physical habitat related to changes in river discharge) was developed using site characteristics and data from 66 individual PHABSIM surveys throughout the UK (Booker & Acreman, 2008). By applying a multivariate multiple linear regression analysis to the data to define habitat availability-flow curves using resource intensity as predictor variables, the model (known as RAPHSA- Rapid Assessment of Physical Habitat Sensitivity to Abstraction) is able to take a risk-based approach to modeled certainty. Site specific information gathered using desk-based, or a variable amount of field work can be used to predict the shape of the habitat- flow curves, with the uncertainty of estimates reducing as more information is collected. Creation of generalized physical habitat- discharge relationships by the model allows environmental managers to select the desired level of confidence in the modeled results, based on environmental risk and the level of resource investment available. Hence, resources can be better directed according to the level of certainty required at each site. This model is intended to provide managers with an alternative to the existing use of either expert opinion or resource intensive site- specific investigations in determining local environmental flows. Here, we outline the potential use of this tool by the Environment Agency in routine operational and investigation- specific scenarios using case studies to illustrate its use.

Infection Prevention and Control Programs in United States Nursing Homes: Results of a National Survey

PubMed Central

Herzig, Carolyn T. A.; Stone, Patricia W.; Castle, Nicholas; Pogorzelska-Maziarz, Monika; Larson, Elaine L.; Dick, Andrew W.

2015-01-01

Objectives The objectives of this study were to (1) obtain a national perspective of the current state of nursing home (NH) infection prevention and control (IPC) programs and (2) examine differences in IPC program characteristics for NHs that had and had not received an infection control deficiency citation. Design A national cross-sectional survey of randomly sampled NHs was conducted and responses were linked with Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reporting (CASPER) and NH Compare data. Setting Surveys were completed and returned by 990 NHs (response rate 39%) between December 2013 and December 2014. Participants The person in charge of the IPC program at each NH completed the survey. Measurements The survey consisted of 34 items related to respondent demographics, IPC program staffing, stability of the workforce, resources and challenges, and resident care and employee processes. Facility characteristics and infection control deficiency citations were assessed using CASPER and NH Compare data. Results Most respondents had at least two responsibilities in addition to those related to infection control (54%) and had no specific IPC training (61%). While many practices and processes were consistent with infection prevention guidelines for NHs, there was wide variation in programs across the US. About 36% of responding facilities had received an infection control deficiency citation. NHs that received citations had infection control professionals with less experience (P = .01) and training (P = .02) and were less likely to provide financial resources for continuing education in infection control (P = .01). Conclusion The findings demonstrate that a lack of adequately trained infection prevention personnel is an important area for improvement. Furthermore, there is a need to identify specific evidence-based practices to reduce infection risk in NHs. PMID:26712489

Sustainability Considerations for Health Research and Analytic Data Infrastructures

PubMed Central

Wilcox, Adam; Randhawa, Gurvaneet; Embi, Peter; Cao, Hui; Kuperman, Gilad J.

2014-01-01

Introduction: The United States has made recent large investments in creating data infrastructures to support the important goals of patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and comparative effectiveness research (CER), with still more investment planned. These initial investments, while critical to the creation of the infrastructures, are not expected to sustain them much beyond the initial development. To provide the maximum benefit, the infrastructures need to be sustained through innovative financing models while providing value to PCOR and CER researchers. Sustainability Factors: Based on our experience with creating flexible sustainability strategies (i.e., strategies that are adaptive to the different characteristics and opportunities of a resource or infrastructure), we define specific factors that are important considerations in developing a sustainability strategy. These factors include assets, expansion, complexity, and stakeholders. Each factor is described, with examples of how it is applied. These factors are dimensions of variation in different resources, to which a sustainability strategy should adapt. Summary Observations: We also identify specific important considerations for maintaining an infrastructure, so that the long-term intended benefits can be realized. These observations are presented as lessons learned, to be applied to other sustainability efforts. We define the lessons learned, relating them to the defined sustainability factors as interactions between factors. Conclusion and Next Steps: Using perspectives and experiences from a diverse group of experts, we define broad characteristics of sustainability strategies and important observations, which can vary for different projects. Other descriptions of adaptive, flexible, and successful models of collaboration between stakeholders and data infrastructures can expand this framework by identifying other factors for sustainability, and give more concrete directions on how sustainability can be best achieved. PMID:25848610

Alcohol use and misuse: What are the contributions of occupation and work organization conditions?

PubMed Central

Marchand, Alain

2008-01-01

Background This research examines the specific contribution of occupation and work organization conditions to alcohol use and misuse. It is based on a social-action model that takes into account agent personality, structures of daily life, and macro social structures. Methods Data come from a representative sample of 10,155 workers in Quebec, Canada. Multinomial regression models corrected for sample design effect have been used to predict low-risk and high-risk drinking compared to non-drinkers. The contribution of occupation and work organization conditions (skill used, decision authority, physical and psychological demands, hours worked, irregular work schedule, harassment, unionization, job insecurity, performance pay, prestige) have been adjusted for family situation, social network outside the workplace, and individual characteristics. Results Compared to non-qualified blue-collars, both low-risk and high-risk drinking are associated with qualified blue-collars, semi-qualified white-collars, and middle managers; high-risk drinking is associated with upper managers. For constraints-resources related to work organization conditions, only workplace harassment is an important determinant of both low-risk and high-risk drinking, but it is modestly moderated by occupation. Family situation, social support outside work, and personal characteristics of individuals are also associated with alcohol use and misuse. Non-work factors mediated/suppressed the role of occupation and work organization conditions. Conclusion Occupation and workplace harassment are important factors associated with alcohol use and misuse. The results support the theoretical model conceptualizing alcohol use and misuse as being the product of stress caused by constraints and resources brought to bear simultaneously by agent personality, structures of daily life, and macro social structures. Occupational alcohol researchers must expand their theoretical perspectives to avoid erroneous conclusions about the specific role of the workplace. PMID:18816388

Alcohol use and misuse: what are the contributions of occupation and work organization conditions?

PubMed

Marchand, Alain

2008-09-24

This research examines the specific contribution of occupation and work organization conditions to alcohol use and misuse. It is based on a social-action model that takes into account agent personality, structures of daily life, and macro social structures. Data come from a representative sample of 10,155 workers in Quebec, Canada. Multinomial regression models corrected for sample design effect have been used to predict low-risk and high-risk drinking compared to non-drinkers. The contribution of occupation and work organization conditions (skill used, decision authority, physical and psychological demands, hours worked, irregular work schedule, harassment, unionization, job insecurity, performance pay, prestige) have been adjusted for family situation, social network outside the workplace, and individual characteristics. Compared to non-qualified blue-collars, both low-risk and high-risk drinking are associated with qualified blue-collars, semi-qualified white-collars, and middle managers; high-risk drinking is associated with upper managers. For constraints-resources related to work organization conditions, only workplace harassment is an important determinant of both low-risk and high-risk drinking, but it is modestly moderated by occupation. Family situation, social support outside work, and personal characteristics of individuals are also associated with alcohol use and misuse. Non-work factors mediated/suppressed the role of occupation and work organization conditions. Occupation and workplace harassment are important factors associated with alcohol use and misuse. The results support the theoretical model conceptualizing alcohol use and misuse as being the product of stress caused by constraints and resources brought to bear simultaneously by agent personality, structures of daily life, and macro social structures. Occupational alcohol researchers must expand their theoretical perspectives to avoid erroneous conclusions about the specific role of the workplace.

Infection Prevention and Control Programs in US Nursing Homes: Results of a National Survey.

PubMed

Herzig, Carolyn T A; Stone, Patricia W; Castle, Nicholas; Pogorzelska-Maziarz, Monika; Larson, Elaine L; Dick, Andrew W

2016-01-01

The objectives of this study were to (1) obtain a national perspective of the current state of nursing home (NH) infection prevention and control (IPC) programs and (2) examine differences in IPC program characteristics for NHs that had and had not received an infection control deficiency citation. A national cross-sectional survey of randomly sampled NHs was conducted and responses were linked with Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reporting (CASPER) and NH Compare data. Surveys were completed and returned by 990 NHs (response rate 39%) between December 2013 and December 2014. The person in charge of the IPC program at each NH completed the survey. The survey consisted of 34 items related to respondent demographics, IPC program staffing, stability of the workforce, resources and challenges, and resident care and employee processes. Facility characteristics and infection control deficiency citations were assessed using CASPER and NH Compare data. Most respondents had at least 2 responsibilities in addition to those related to infection control (54%) and had no specific IPC training (61%). Although many practices and processes were consistent with infection prevention guidelines for NHs, there was wide variation in programs across the United States. Approximately 36% of responding facilities had received an infection control deficiency citation. NHs that received citations had infection control professionals with less experience (P = .01) and training (P = .02) and were less likely to provide financial resources for continuing education in infection control (P = .01). The findings demonstrate that a lack of adequately trained infection prevention personnel is an important area for improvement. Furthermore, there is a need to identify specific evidence-based practices to reduce infection risk in NHs. Copyright © 2016 AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Key principles of community-based natural resource management: a synthesis and interpretation of identified effective approaches for managing the commons.

PubMed

Gruber, James S

2010-01-01

This article examines recent research on approaches to community-based environmental and natural resource management and reviews the commonalities and differences between these interdisciplinary and multistakeholder initiatives. To identify the most effective characteristics of Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), I collected a multiplicity of perspectives from research teams and then grouped findings into a matrix of organizational principles and key characteristics. The matrix was initially vetted (or "field tested") by applying numerous case studies that were previously submitted to the World Bank International Workshop on CBNRM. These practitioner case studies were then compared and contrasted with the findings of the research teams. It is hoped that the developed matrix may be useful to researchers in further focusing research, understanding core characteristics of effective and sustainable CBNRM, providing practitioners with a framework for developing new CBNRM initiatives for managing the commons, and providing a potential resource for academic institutions during their evaluation of their practitioner-focused environmental management and leadership curriculum.

[Management characteristics in charity hospitals in Brazil].

PubMed

Lima, Sheyla Maria Lemos; Barbosa, Pedro Ribeiro; Portela, Margareth C; Ugá, Maria Alicia Dominguez; Vasconcellos, Miguel Murat; Gerschman, Silvia

2004-01-01

This paper presents the management characteristics of charity hospitals in Brazil, based on data from a national survey developed in 2001. The sample accounted for the random inclusion of 66 Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) inpatient care providers with less than 599 beds and all 26 hospitals with at least 599 beds. It also included 10 institutions assumed as non-providers of services to the SUS. The analyses are descriptive, focusing on the classification of the hospitals according to their managerial development level, as well as selected issues regarding the utilization of specific managerial technologies, human resources, technical services, and services contracting. Distinct managerial levels were identified, but it is important to note that 83% of the SUS providers with less than 599 beds were classified as having incipient management. The authors discuss implications of the findings for inpatient care policies, considering the importance of charity hospitals for the Brazilian Health System.

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

Dallman, Ann Renee; Neary, Vincent Sinclair

This report presents met - ocean data and wave energy characteristics at three U.S. wave energy converter (WEC) test and potential deployment sites . Its purpose is to enable the compari son of wave resource characteristics among sites as well as the select io n of test sites that are most suitable for a developer's device and that best meet their testing needs and objectives . It also provides essential inputs for the design of WEC test devices and planning WEC tests, including the planning of deployment and op eration s and maintenance. For each site, this report catalogues wavemore » statistics recommended in the (draft) International Electrotechnical Commission Technical Specification (IEC 62600 - 101 TS) on Wave Energy Characterization, as well as the frequency of oc currence of weather windows and extreme sea states, and statistics on wind and ocean currents. It also provides useful information on test site infrastructure and services .« less

Average is Boring: How Similarity Kills a Meme's Success

PubMed Central

Coscia, Michele

2014-01-01

Every day we are exposed to different ideas, or memes, competing with each other for our attention. Previous research explained popularity and persistence heterogeneity of memes by assuming them in competition for limited attention resources, distributed in a heterogeneous social network. Little has been said about what characteristics make a specific meme more likely to be successful. We propose a similarity-based explanation: memes with higher similarity to other memes have a significant disadvantage in their potential popularity. We employ a meme similarity measure based on semantic text analysis and computer vision to prove that a meme is more likely to be successful and to thrive if its characteristics make it unique. Our results show that indeed successful memes are located in the periphery of the meme similarity space and that our similarity measure is a promising predictor of a meme success. PMID:25257730

The effect of carbon black (CB) loading on curing characteristics and mechanical properties of virgin acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (Nbrv)/recycled acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (Nbrr) blends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husnan, M. A.; Ismail, H.; Shuib, R. K.

2018-02-01

Recently, the interest of polymer industry researchers have grown rapidly on the use of specific techniques which can reduce cost and utilize rubber waste into the processing form. The increasing of cognizance in environmental matters and the desire to sustain the resources had fortified the practice of recycling waste materials. In this work, the effect of carbon black loading on curing characteristics and mechanical properties of virgin acrylonitrile butadiene rubber/recycled acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBRv/NBRr) blends were studied. Cure time (t90), scorch time (tS2) and swelling percentage decreased but minimum torque (ML) and maximum torque (MH) increased with increasing carbon black (CB) loading in the blends. Increasing CB loading also increased tensile strength, tensile modulus (M100), hardness and compression set but decreased elongation at break (Eb) of NBRv/NBRr blends.

[Characteristics of communication systems of suspected occupational disease in the Autonomous Communities, Spain].

PubMed

García Gómez, Montserrat; Urbaneja Arrúe, Félix; García López, Vega; Estaban Buedo, Valentín; Rodríguez Suárez, Valentín; Miralles Martínez-Portillo, Lourdes; González García, Isabel; Egea Garcia, Josefa; Corraliza Infanzon, Emma; Ramírez Salvador, Laura; Briz Blázquez, Santiago; Armengol Rosell, Ricard; Cisnal Gredilla, José María; Correa Rodríguez, Juan Francisco; Coto Fernández, Juan Carlos; Díaz Peral, Mª Rosario; Elvira Espinosa, Mercedes; Fernández Fernández, Iñigo; García-Ramos Alonso, Eduardo; Martínez Arguisuelas, Nieves; Rivas Pérez, Ana Isabel

2017-03-17

There are several initiatives to develop systems for the notification of suspected occupational disease (OD) in different autonomous communities. The objective was to describe the status of development and characteristics of these systems implemented by the health authorities. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on the existence of systems for the information and surveillance of suspected OD, their legal framework, responsible institution and availability of information. A specific meeting was held and a survey was designed and sent to all autonomous communities and autonomous cities (AACC). Information was collected on the existence of a regulatory standard, assigned human resources, notifiers, coverage and number of suspected OD received, processed and recognized. 18 of 19 AACC responded. 10 have developed a suspected OD notification system, 3 of them supported by specific autonomic law. The notifiers were physicians of the public health services, physicians of the occupational health services and, in 2 cases, medical inspectors. 7 AACC had specific software to support the system. The OD recognition rate of suspected cases was 53% in the Basque Country; 41% in Castilla-La Mancha; 36% in Murcia; 32.6% in the Valencian Community and 31% in La Rioja. The study has revealed an heterogeneous development of suspected OD reporting systems in Spain. Although the trend is positive, only 55% of the AACC have some type of development and 39% have specific software supporting it. Therefore unequal OD recognition rates have been obtained depending on the territory.

The recreation-resource inventory process for state and regional plans

Treesearch

Hugh C. Davis

1971-01-01

The establishment of guidelines for identifying recreation resources in the inventorying process should be limited to conditions and characteristics of the natural resources themselves. This requires not only that we define recreation, but also that we prescribe the combination of resources necessary to carry on a variety of recreational activities.

78 FR 42970 - Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for the Bering Sea-Western Interior...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-18

...] Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for the Bering Sea-Western Interior Planning Area... Management (BLM) Anchorage Field Office, Anchorage, Alaska, intends to prepare a Resource Management Plan... properties, visual resources, wildland fire management, lands with wilderness characteristics, forestry...

A patient workflow management system built on guidelines.

PubMed Central

Dazzi, L.; Fassino, C.; Saracco, R.; Quaglini, S.; Stefanelli, M.

1997-01-01

To provide high quality, shared, and distributed medical care, clinical and organizational issues need to be integrated. This work describes a methodology for developing a Patient Workflow Management System, based on a detailed model of both the medical work process and the organizational structure. We assume that the medical work process is represented through clinical practice guidelines, and that an ontological description of the organization is available. Thus, we developed tools 1) for acquiring the medical knowledge contained into a guideline, 2) to translate the derived formalized guideline into a computational formalism, precisely a Petri Net, 3) to maintain different representation levels. The high level representation guarantees that the Patient Workflow follows the guideline prescriptions, while the low level takes into account the specific organization characteristics and allow allocating resources for managing a specific patient in daily practice. PMID:9357606

Developing a Telescope Simulator Towards a Global Autonomous Robotic Telescope Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giakoumidis, N.; Ioannou, Z.; Dong, H.; Mavridis, N.

2013-05-01

A robotic telescope network is a system that integrates a number of telescopes to observe a variety of astronomical targets without being operated by a human. This system autonomously selects and observes targets in accordance to an optimized target. It dynamically allocates telescope resources depending on the observation requests, specifications of the telescopes, target visibility, meteorological conditions, daylight, location restrictions and availability and many other factors. In this paper, we introduce a telescope simulator, which can control a telescope to a desired position in order to observe a specific object. The system includes a Client Module, a Server Module, and a Dynamic Scheduler module. We make use and integrate a number of open source software to simulate the movement of a robotic telescope, the telescope characteristics, the observational data and weather conditions in order to test and optimize our system.

14 CFR 1274.505 - Procurement procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... performance, financial and technical resources or accessibility to other necessary resources. In certain... or performance required, including the range of acceptable characteristics or minimum acceptable...

Substantiated Reports of Child Maltreatment From the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 2008: Examining Child and Household Characteristics and Child Functional Impairment.

PubMed

Afifi, Tracie O; Taillieu, Tamara; Cheung, Kristene; Katz, Laurence Y; Tonmyr, Lil; Sareen, Jitender

2015-07-01

Identifying child and household characteristics that are associated with specific child maltreatment types and child functional impairment are important for informing prevention and intervention efforts. Our objectives were to examine the distribution of several child and household characteristics among substantiated child maltreatment types in Canada; to determine if a specific child maltreatment type relative to all other types was associated with increased odds of child functional impairment; and to determine which child and household characteristics were associated with child functional impairment. Data were from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (collection 2008) from 112 child welfare sites across Canada (n = 6163 children). Physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional maltreatment were highly prevalent among children aged 10 to 15 years. For single types of child maltreatment, the highest prevalence of single-parent homes (50.6%), social assistance (43.0%), running out of money regularly (30.7%), and unsafe housing (30.9%) were reported for substantiated cases of neglect. Being male, older age, living in a single-parent home, household running out of money, moving 2 or more times in the past year, and household overcrowding were associated with increased odds of child functional impairment. More work is warranted to determine if providing particular resources for single-parent families, financial counselling, and facilitating adequate and stable housing for families with child maltreatment histories or at risk for child maltreatment could be effective for improving child functional outcomes.

Substantiated Reports of Child Maltreatment From the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 2008: Examining Child and Household Characteristics and Child Functional Impairment

PubMed Central

Afifi, Tracie O; Taillieu, Tamara; Cheung, Kristene; Katz, Laurence Y; Tonmyr, Lil; Sareen, Jitender

2015-01-01

Objective: Identifying child and household characteristics that are associated with specific child maltreatment types and child functional impairment are important for informing prevention and intervention efforts. Our objectives were to examine the distribution of several child and household characteristics among substantiated child maltreatment types in Canada; to determine if a specific child maltreatment type relative to all other types was associated with increased odds of child functional impairment; and to determine which child and household characteristics were associated with child functional impairment. Method: Data were from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (collection 2008) from 112 child welfare sites across Canada (n = 6163 children). Results: Physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional maltreatment were highly prevalent among children aged 10 to 15 years. For single types of child maltreatment, the highest prevalence of single-parent homes (50.6%), social assistance (43.0%), running out of money regularly (30.7%), and unsafe housing (30.9%) were reported for substantiated cases of neglect. Being male, older age, living in a single-parent home, household running out of money, moving 2 or more times in the past year, and household overcrowding were associated with increased odds of child functional impairment. Conclusions: More work is warranted to determine if providing particular resources for single-parent families, financial counselling, and facilitating adequate and stable housing for families with child maltreatment histories or at risk for child maltreatment could be effective for improving child functional outcomes. PMID:26175390

How do task characteristics affect learning and performance? The roles of variably mapped and dynamic tasks.

PubMed

Macnamara, Brooke N; Frank, David J

2018-05-01

For well over a century, scientists have investigated individual differences in performance. The majority of studies have focused on either differences in practice, or differences in cognitive resources. However, the predictive ability of either practice or cognitive resources varies considerably across tasks. We are the first to examine task characteristics' impact on learning and performance in a complex task while controlling for other task characteristics. In 2 experiments we test key theoretical task characteristic thought to moderate the relationship between practice, cognitive resources, and performance. We devised a task where each of several key task characteristics can be manipulated independently. Participants played 5 rounds of a game similar to the popular tower defense videogame Plants vs. Zombies where both cognitive load and game characteristics were manipulated. In Experiment 1, participants either played a consistently mapped version-the stimuli and the associated meaning of their properties were constant across the 5 rounds-or played a variably mapped version-the stimuli and the associated meaning of their properties changed every few minutes. In Experiment 2, participants either played a static version-that is, turn taking with no time pressure-or played a dynamic version-that is, the stimuli moved regardless of participants' response rates. In Experiment 1, participants' accuracy and efficiency were substantially hindered in the variably mapped conditions. In Experiment 2, learning and performance accuracy were hindered in the dynamic conditions, especially when under cognitive load. Our results suggest that task characteristics impact the relative importance of cognitive resources and practice on predicting learning and performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The impact of library instruction: do first-year medical students use library resources specifically highlighted during instructional sessions?*

PubMed Central

Rafferty, Ryan S.

2013-01-01

Objectives: The research sought to determine if first-year medical students consulted and cited resources specifically highlighted during library instructional sessions. Methods: Students attended a library resources instructional session. Resources that pertained to the students' assignment were demonstrated and discussed. The students created a report including citations from relevant literature. The citations were analyzed and categorized as: a resource discussed at the instructional session, a resource found on the course LibGuide, a library resource, course material, or some other resource. All citations were subcategorized as print or electronic. Results: Three years (2008–2011) of data analyzing 2,983 citations showed that 49.55% of all citations were from resources discussed during library instructional sessions; 21.86% came from resources with links on the course LibGuide; 77.51% were from library resources; and 90.68% came from electronic resources. Conclusion: Students cited resources specifically highlighted during library instructional sessions for their assignments. The percentage of all citations coming from resources highlighted during the instructional sessions or found on the course LibGuide indicates that library instruction had an impact on the students' work. PMID:23930092

Do diagnosis-related groups appropriately explain variations in costs and length of stay of hip replacement? A comparative assessment of DRG systems across 10 European countries.

PubMed

Geissler, Alexander; Scheller-Kreinsen, David; Quentin, Wilm

2012-08-01

This paper assesses the variations in costs and length of stay for hip replacement cases in Austria, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Spain and Sweden and examines the ability of national diagnosis-related group (DRG) systems to explain the variation in resource use against a set of patient characteristic and treatment specific variables. In total, 195,810 cases clustered in 712 hospitals were analyzed using OLS fixed effects models for cost data (n=125,698) and negative binominal models for length-of-stay data (n=70,112). The number of DRGs differs widely across the 10 European countries (range: 2-14). Underlying this wide range is a different use of classification variables, especially secondary diagnoses and treatment options are considered to a different extent. In six countries, a standard set of patient characteristics and treatment variables explain the variation in costs or length of stay better than the DRG variables. This raises questions about the adequacy of the countries' DRG system or the lack of specific criteria, which could be used as classification variables. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Characteristics and evolution of the ecosystem of software tools supporting research in molecular biology.

PubMed

Pazos, Florencio; Chagoyen, Monica

2018-01-16

Daily work in molecular biology presently depends on a large number of computational tools. An in-depth, large-scale study of that 'ecosystem' of Web tools, its characteristics, interconnectivity, patterns of usage/citation, temporal evolution and rate of decay is crucial for understanding the forces that shape it and for informing initiatives aimed at its funding, long-term maintenance and improvement. In particular, the long-term maintenance of these tools is compromised because of their specific development model. Hundreds of published studies become irreproducible de facto, as the software tools used to conduct them become unavailable. In this study, we present a large-scale survey of >5400 publications describing Web servers within the two main bibliographic resources for disseminating new software developments in molecular biology. For all these servers, we studied their citation patterns, the subjects they address, their citation networks and the temporal evolution of these factors. We also analysed how these factors affect the availability of these servers (whether they are alive). Our results show that this ecosystem of tools is highly interconnected and adapts to the 'trendy' subjects in every moment. The servers present characteristic temporal patterns of citation/usage, and there is a worrying rate of server 'death', which is influenced by factors such as the server popularity and the institutions that hosts it. These results can inform initiatives aimed at the long-term maintenance of these resources. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Integrated Medical Model (IMM) 4.0 Enhanced Functionalities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, M.; Keenan, A. B.; Saile, L.; Boley, L. A.; Walton, M. E.; Shah, R. V.; Kerstman, E. L.; Myers, J. G.

2015-01-01

The Integrated Medical Model is a probabilistic simulation model that uses input data on 100 medical conditions to simulate expected medical events, the resources required to treat, and the resulting impact to the mission for specific crew and mission characteristics. The newest development version of IMM, IMM v4.0, adds capabilities that remove some of the conservative assumptions that underlie the current operational version, IMM v3. While IMM v3 provides the framework to simulate whether a medical event occurred, IMMv4 also simulates when the event occurred during a mission timeline. This allows for more accurate estimation of mission time lost and resource utilization. In addition to the mission timeline, IMMv4.0 features two enhancements that address IMM v3 assumptions regarding medical event treatment. Medical events in IMMv3 are assigned the untreated outcome if any resource required to treat the event was unavailable. IMMv4 allows for partially treated outcomes that are proportional to the amount of required resources available, thus removing the dichotomous treatment assumption. An additional capability IMMv4 is to use an alternative medical resource when the primary resource assigned to the condition is depleted, more accurately reflecting the real-world system. The additional capabilities defining IMM v4.0the mission timeline, partial treatment, and alternate drug result in more realistic predicted mission outcomes. The primary model outcomes of IMM v4.0 for the ISS6 mission, including mission time lost, probability of evacuation, and probability of loss of crew life, are be compared to those produced by the current operational version of IMM to showcase enhanced prediction capabilities.

76 FR 46320 - Notice of Public Meeting, Southeast Oregon Resource Advisory Council

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-02

... Plan, Blue Mountains Forest Plan revisions, Wilderness Characteristics Inventories, Power/Energy...] Notice of Public Meeting, Southeast Oregon Resource Advisory Council AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management... (BLM) Southeast Oregon Resource Advisory Council (RAC) will meet as indicated below. DATES: The...

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

Fields, Jason; Tinnesand, Heidi; Baring-Gould, Ian

In support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wind and Water Power Technologies Office (WWPTO) goals, researchers from DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) are investigating the Distributed Wind Resource Assessment (DWRA) process, which includes pre-construction energy estimation as well as turbine site suitability assessment. DWRA can have a direct impact on the Wind Program goals of maximizing stakeholder confidence in turbine performance and safety as well as reducing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). One of the major components of the LCOE equation is annual energy production. DWRA improvements can maximize the annualmore » energy production, thereby lowering the overall LCOE and improving stakeholder confidence in the distributed wind technology sector by providing more accurate predictions of power production. Over the long term, one of the most significant benefits of a more defined DWRA process could be new turbine designs, tuned to site-specific characteristics that will help the distributed wind industry follow a similar trajectory to the low-wind-speed designs in the utility-scale industry sector. By understanding the wind resource better, the industry could install larger rotors, capture more energy, and as a result, increase deployment while lowering the LCOE. a direct impact on the Wind Program goals of maximizing stakeholder confidence in turbine performance and safety as well as reducing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). One of the major components of the LCOE equation is annual energy production. DWRA improvements can maximize the annual energy production, thereby lowering the overall LCOE and improving stakeholder confidence in the distributed wind technology sector by providing more accurate predictions of power production. Over the long term, one of the most significant benefits of a more defined DWRA process could be new turbine designs, tuned to site-specific characteristics that will help the distributed wind industry follow a similar trajectory to the low-wind-speed designs in the utility-scale industry sector. By understanding the wind resource better, the industry could install larger rotors, capture more energy, and as a result, increase deployment while lowering the LCOE.« less

Summary of environmental geologic studies in the Mid-Atlantic outer continental shelf area; results of 1978-1979 field seasons

USGS Publications Warehouse

Robb, James M.

1983-01-01

Because of the need for knowledge of an offshore area that is undergoing exploration for oil and gas resources, since 1975 the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has funded studies of the environmental characteristics of the Mid-Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf. This volume briefly summarizes a final report to the BLM on the results of U.S. Geological Survey investigations stemming from data acquired during 1978 and 1979. The parent final report contains complete accounts of those investigations. The subjects of the studies range from the geologic effects of water currents and their capabilities of erosion and transportation, to delineation of potentially hazardous geologic characteristics of the area. Nine specific studies address the complexities of water currents, the nature of materials suspended in the sea waters, rates of mixing-in of material deposited on the bottom, and the sites of probable deposition of such materials, as well as sites and mechanisms of possible submarine landsliding or unstable bottom (engineering characteristics) of the Continental Slope and shelf.

Low-flow characteristics for selected streams in Indiana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fowler, Kathleen K.; Wilson, John T.

2015-01-01

The management and availability of Indiana’s water resources increase in importance every year. Specifically, information on low-flow characteristics of streams is essential to State water-management agencies. These agencies need low-flow information when working with issues related to irrigation, municipal and industrial water supplies, fish and wildlife protection, and the dilution of waste. Industrial, municipal, and other facilities must obtain National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits if their discharges go directly to surface waters. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) requires low-flow statistics in order to administer the NPDES permit program. Low-flow-frequency characteristics were computed for 272 continuous-record stations. The information includes low-flow-frequency analysis, flow-duration analysis, and harmonic mean for the continuous-record stations. For those stations affected by some form of regulation, low-flow frequency curves are based on the longest period of homogeneous record under current conditions. Low-flow-frequency values and harmonic mean flow (if sufficient data were available) were estimated for the 166 partial-record stations. Partial-record stations are ungaged sites where streamflow measurements were made at base flow.

Environmental scan and evaluation of best practices for online systematic review resources.

PubMed

Parker, Robin M N; Boulos, Leah M; Visintini, Sarah; Ritchie, Krista; Hayden, Jill

2018-04-01

Online training for systematic review methodology is an attractive option due to flexibility and limited availability of in-person instruction. Librarians often direct new reviewers to these online resources, so they should be knowledgeable about the variety of available resources. The objective for this project was to conduct an environmental scan of online systematic review training resources and evaluate those identified resources. The authors systematically searched for electronic learning resources pertaining to systematic review methods. After screening for inclusion, we collected data about characteristics of training resources and assigned scores in the domains of (1) content, (2) design, (3) interactivity, and (4) usability by applying a previously published evaluation rubric for online instruction modules. We described the characteristics and scores for each training resource and compared performance across the domains. Twenty training resources were evaluated. Average overall score of online instructional resources was 61%. Online courses (n=7) averaged 73%, web modules (n=5) 64%, and videos (n=8) 48%. The top 5 highest scoring resources were in course or web module format, featured high interactivity, and required a longer (>5hrs) time commitment from users. This study revealed that resources include appropriate content but are less likely to adhere to principles of online training design and interactivity. Awareness of these resources will allow librarians to make informed recommendations for training based on patrons' needs. Future online systematic review training resources should use established best practices for e-learning to provide high-quality resources, regardless of format or user time commitment.

Grey Literature Searching for Health Sciences Systematic Reviews: A Prospective Study of Time Spent and Resources Utilized.

PubMed

Saleh, Ahlam A; Ratajeski, Melissa A; Bertolet, Marnie

To identify estimates of time taken to search grey literature in support of health sciences systematic reviews and to identify searcher or systematic review characteristics that may impact resource selection or time spent searching. A survey was electronically distributed to searchers embarking on a new systematic review. Characteristics of the searcher and systematic review were collected along with time spent searching and what resources were searched. Time and resources were tabulated and resources were categorized as grey or non-grey. Data was analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis tests. Out of 81 original respondents, 21% followed through with completion of the surveys in their entirety. The median time spent searching all resources was 471 minutes, and of those a median of 85 minutes were spent searching grey literature. The median number of resources used in a systematic review search was four and the median number of grey literature sources searched was two. The amount of time spent searching was influenced by whether the systematic review was grant funded. Additionally, the number of resources searched was impacted by institution type and whether systematic review training was received. This study characterized the amount of time for conducting systematic review searches including searching the grey literature, in addition to the number and types of resources used. This may aid searchers in planning their time, along with providing benchmark information for future studies. This paper contributes by quantifying current grey literature search patterns and associating them with searcher and review characteristics. Further discussion and research into the search approach for grey literature in support of systematic reviews is encouraged.

Grey Literature Searching for Health Sciences Systematic Reviews: A Prospective Study of Time Spent and Resources Utilized

PubMed Central

Saleh, Ahlam A.; Ratajeski, Melissa A.; Bertolet, Marnie

2015-01-01

Objective To identify estimates of time taken to search grey literature in support of health sciences systematic reviews and to identify searcher or systematic review characteristics that may impact resource selection or time spent searching. Methods A survey was electronically distributed to searchers embarking on a new systematic review. Characteristics of the searcher and systematic review were collected along with time spent searching and what resources were searched. Time and resources were tabulated and resources were categorized as grey or non-grey. Data was analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results Out of 81 original respondents, 21% followed through with completion of the surveys in their entirety. The median time spent searching all resources was 471 minutes, and of those a median of 85 minutes were spent searching grey literature. The median number of resources used in a systematic review search was four and the median number of grey literature sources searched was two. The amount of time spent searching was influenced by whether the systematic review was grant funded. Additionally, the number of resources searched was impacted by institution type and whether systematic review training was received. Conclusions This study characterized the amount of time for conducting systematic review searches including searching the grey literature, in addition to the number and types of resources used. This may aid searchers in planning their time, along with providing benchmark information for future studies. This paper contributes by quantifying current grey literature search patterns and associating them with searcher and review characteristics. Further discussion and research into the search approach for grey literature in support of systematic reviews is encouraged. PMID:25914722

Pomological Traits, Sensory Profile and Nutraceutical Properties of Nine Cultivars of Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) Fruits Grown in Mediterranean Area.

PubMed

Gentile, C; Reig, C; Corona, O; Todaro, A; Mazzaglia, A; Perrone, A; Gianguzzi, G; Agusti, M; Farina, V

2016-09-01

In this paper the diversity of fruit quality within nine loquat cultivars, including five international affirmed cultivars (Algerie, Golden Nugget, Peluche, Bueno, El Buenet) and four local cultivars (Sanfilippara, Nespolone di Trabia, BRT20 and Claudia), were investigated in order to discriminate the variation in pomological characteristics, sensory profile, and antioxidant properties. Finally, to evaluate potential bioactivity, antiproliferative activity of hydrophilic extracts from loquat fruits was assessed, at dietary relevant concentrations, against three human epithelial cell lines. Even though the international cultivars confirmed an appropriate level of commercial qualities in association to high levels in antioxidant compounds, the local cultivars revealed the best performances in a wide range of chemical-physical and sensory characteristics. Concerning bioactivity, our results indicate that hydrophilic extracts from all tested cultivars showed concentration-dependent antiproliferative activity with a significant variability of effects between different cell lines and between different cultivars. HeLa cells, the most sensitive and hydrophilic extracts from Peluche, showed the highest inhibitory effect followed by Nespolone di Trabia and Claudia. The results of this trial provide useful information on the pomological traits and the not yet known specific nutritional and functional properties of loquat fruits. Our data, besides helping to promote specific local cultivars, could serve to establish a database that will permit to improve the utilization of specific genetic resources in breeding programs.

Resource diversity and provenance underpin spatial patterns in functional diversity across native and exotic species.

PubMed

Méndez, Verónica; Wood, Jamie R; Butler, Simon J

2018-05-01

Functional diversity metrics are increasingly used to augment or replace taxonomic diversity metrics to deliver more mechanistic insights into community structure and function. Metrics used to describe landscape structure and characteristics share many of the same limitations as taxonomy-based metrics, particularly their reliance on anthropogenically defined typologies with little consideration of structure, management, or function. However, the development of alternative metrics to describe landscape characteristics has been limited. Here, we extend the functional diversity framework to characterize landscapes based on the diversity of resources available across habitats present. We then examine the influence of resource diversity and provenance on the functional diversities of native and exotic avian communities in New Zealand. Invasive species are increasingly prevalent and considered a global threat to ecosystem function, but the characteristics of and interactions between sympatric native and exotic communities remain unresolved. Understanding their comparative responses to environmental change and the mechanisms underpinning them is of growing importance in predicting community dynamics and changing ecosystem function. We use (i) matrices of resource use (species) and resource availability (habitats) and (ii) occurrence data for 62 native and 25 exotic species and 19 native and 13 exotic habitats in 2015 10 × 10 km quadrats to examine the relationship between native and exotic avian and landscape functional diversity. The numbers of species in, and functional diversities of, native and exotic communities were positively related. Each community displayed evidence of environmental filtering, but it was significantly stronger for exotic species. Less environmental filtering occurred in landscapes providing a more diverse combination of resources, with resource provenance also an influential factor. Landscape functional diversity explained a greater proportion of variance in native and exotic community characteristics than the number of habitat types present. Resource diversity and provenance should be explicitly accounted for when characterizing landscape structure and change as they offer additional mechanistic understanding of the links between environmental filtering and community structure. Manipulating resource diversity through the design and implementation of management actions could prove a powerful tool for the delivery of conservation objectives, be they to protect native species, control exotic species, or maintain ecosystem service provision.

Evaluation of rural areas in terms of landscape quality: Salacik Village (Trabzon/Turkey) example.

PubMed

Düzgüneş, Ertan; Demirel, Öner

2015-06-01

As a result of the increasing urbanization and fast pace of work life, people started to turn to rural areas so as to regenerate both socially and psychologically. Increasing interest in the rural areas made the importance of landscape quality of these areas more significant. This improvement gave way to the idea of the necessity of preserving the resourceful landscape areas in terms of visual characteristics and bringing them under the spotlight, and it became the driving power in reconciling the planners and administrators. From this point of view, a study was conducted in Salacık Village of Akçaabat district of Trabzon (Turkey) in order to identify the visually resourceful landscape areas and maintain the sustainability of the resource values by preserving them. In this respect, the area was divided into seven individual landscape types, visual landscape evaluation including the opinions of the experts, and a survey that is used in planning of the rural areas was implemented. It is thought that the results attained with the evaluations made taking the principles of Gestalt theory into consideration will constitute an essential fundamental for urban and regional planners, natural resource administrators, and other planning parties in their planning decisions relating the specific area. Apart from that, among the goals of this study are contributing in the preservation of visually resourceful landscapes, maintaining their sustainability, and integration of these areas into the development strategies.

Factors driving deforestation in common-pool resources in northern Mexico.

PubMed

Perez-Verdin, Gustavo; Kim, Yeon-Su; Hospodarsky, Denver; Tecle, Aregai

2009-01-01

The theory of collective action has been extensively used to explain the relationship between common-based property regimes and the conservation of natural resources. However, there are two key components of the theory that literature reports as puzzles in which no consensus exists about their effect on the performance of common-pool resources. These are group size and heterogeneity. This study analyzes the effects of these two key components on the effectiveness of community-based forestry, called ejidos, to protect their forest resources in northern Mexico. We used a multinomial logit model to determine the contribution of 16 explanatory variables to the dependent variable, a measure of success of ejidos defined by the presence of deforested, degraded, or forested conditions. The results show that corn yield, marginality, percent of forest area, total population, a forest value index, distance to markets, roads and towns, were all statistically significant in driving deforested conditions. Deforestation becomes more attractive for poor communities and as corn yield and distance to towns, roads, and markets decrease. In general, group size and heterogeneity had no significant effects on the presence of deforested conditions. Deforestation is driven by resource-specific characteristics, such as location and soil productivity, not by ejidos' attributes, such as total area or number of members. We argue that current institutional policies focusing on the structure of property right arrangements should be shifted (1) to provide better technology for land cultivation; (2) to reduce the marginality problem in poor communities; and (3) to strengthen local institutions.

Tailoring Software for Multiple Processor Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-10-01

resource management decisions . Despite the lack of programming support, the use of multiple processor systems has grown sub- -stantially. Software has...making resource management decisions . Specifically, program- 1 mers need not allocate specific hardware resources to individual program components...Instead, such allocation decisions are automatically made based on high-level resource directives stated by ap- plication programmers, where each directive

Medical Resource Utilization by Taiwanese Psychiatric Inpatients under the National Health Insurance System.

PubMed

Lee, Chiachi Bonnie; Li, Chung-Yi; Lin, Chih-Ming

2016-12-01

The length of stay in Taiwan's psychiatric facilities is unusually long compared with that of other countries. To identify factors associated with the high length of stay in the acute and chronic psychiatric wards of a public psychiatric hospital. The present study consisted of 912 inpatients discharged from a public psychiatric hospital in Northern Taiwan in 2005. Demographic characteristics, discharge diagnoses, and medical resource utilization were retrieved from the inpatient claim data of the National Health Insurance Database. Multivariate logistic regression models were performed to identify significant predictors for a long length of stay (LOS). Covariate adjusted odds ratios and a 95% confidence interval (CI) were applied to explore the effects of financial barriers, demographic, and diagnostic characteristics, and readmission for medical care. A median LOS of 35.0 days and median medical charge of USD 3,271.50 were reported. A greater likelihood of a high degree of medical care was found among patients who were exempt from copayments, were diagnosed with schizophrenia, had a co-morbidity factor, and were admitted from emergency visits. The results showed that patients in the 45--60 year age group had a higher risk of long LOS than those in the 18--30 year age group. A longer LOS in Taiwan might reflect more free access to hospitals and further extensive utilization of medical facilities under the National Health Insurance system. It was noted that age, sex, disease characteristics, and insurance policies were associated with a high medical utilization. However, the lack of a copayment may partially explain the long LOS in our study. Other causes, such as inadequate supplies of resources for psychiatric services, may also deserve closer study. A failure to adjust for potentially confounding factors might limit interpretation of the observed relationship between such potential factors and medical resource utilization. These findings support the future planning of specific care policies in mental health services in Taiwan. While an exemption in copayment aims to remove financial barriers for indigent people, it contributed to the extended LOS. To make psychiatric care more efficient, facilities in the community must be strengthened, patients must be directed to appropriate care to avoid emergency check-ins, and the reimbursement policy must be geared to facilitate the efficient delivery of care. Our study calls for further research on the role of resource allocation, incentives for efficient delivery of care, and the frequency of hospitalization, in particular, on the long LOS of psychiatric patients in Taiwan.

Drug target ontology to classify and integrate drug discovery data.

PubMed

Lin, Yu; Mehta, Saurabh; Küçük-McGinty, Hande; Turner, John Paul; Vidovic, Dusica; Forlin, Michele; Koleti, Amar; Nguyen, Dac-Trung; Jensen, Lars Juhl; Guha, Rajarshi; Mathias, Stephen L; Ursu, Oleg; Stathias, Vasileios; Duan, Jianbin; Nabizadeh, Nooshin; Chung, Caty; Mader, Christopher; Visser, Ubbo; Yang, Jeremy J; Bologa, Cristian G; Oprea, Tudor I; Schürer, Stephan C

2017-11-09

One of the most successful approaches to develop new small molecule therapeutics has been to start from a validated druggable protein target. However, only a small subset of potentially druggable targets has attracted significant research and development resources. The Illuminating the Druggable Genome (IDG) project develops resources to catalyze the development of likely targetable, yet currently understudied prospective drug targets. A central component of the IDG program is a comprehensive knowledge resource of the druggable genome. As part of that effort, we have developed a framework to integrate, navigate, and analyze drug discovery data based on formalized and standardized classifications and annotations of druggable protein targets, the Drug Target Ontology (DTO). DTO was constructed by extensive curation and consolidation of various resources. DTO classifies the four major drug target protein families, GPCRs, kinases, ion channels and nuclear receptors, based on phylogenecity, function, target development level, disease association, tissue expression, chemical ligand and substrate characteristics, and target-family specific characteristics. The formal ontology was built using a new software tool to auto-generate most axioms from a database while supporting manual knowledge acquisition. A modular, hierarchical implementation facilitate ontology development and maintenance and makes use of various external ontologies, thus integrating the DTO into the ecosystem of biomedical ontologies. As a formal OWL-DL ontology, DTO contains asserted and inferred axioms. Modeling data from the Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) program illustrates the potential of DTO for contextual data integration and nuanced definition of important drug target characteristics. DTO has been implemented in the IDG user interface Portal, Pharos and the TIN-X explorer of protein target disease relationships. DTO was built based on the need for a formal semantic model for druggable targets including various related information such as protein, gene, protein domain, protein structure, binding site, small molecule drug, mechanism of action, protein tissue localization, disease association, and many other types of information. DTO will further facilitate the otherwise challenging integration and formal linking to biological assays, phenotypes, disease models, drug poly-pharmacology, binding kinetics and many other processes, functions and qualities that are at the core of drug discovery. The first version of DTO is publically available via the website http://drugtargetontology.org/ , Github ( http://github.com/DrugTargetOntology/DTO ), and the NCBO Bioportal ( http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologies/DTO ). The long-term goal of DTO is to provide such an integrative framework and to populate the ontology with this information as a community resource.

Providing culturally competent services for American Indian and Alaska Native veterans to reduce health care disparities.

PubMed

Noe, Timothy D; Kaufman, Carol E; Kaufmann, L Jeanne; Brooks, Elizabeth; Shore, Jay H

2014-09-01

We conducted an exploratory study to determine what organizational characteristics predict the provision of culturally competent services for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) veterans in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health facilities. In 2011 to 2012, we adapted the Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment (ORCA) for a survey of 27 VA facilities in the Western Region to assess organizational readiness and capacity to adopt and implement native-specific services and to profile the availability of AI/AN veteran programs and interest in and resources for such programs. Several ORCA subscales (Program Needs, Leader's Practices, and Communication) statistically significantly predicted whether VA staff perceived that their facilities were meeting the needs of AI/AN veterans. However, none predicted greater implementation of native-specific services. Our findings may aid in developing strategies for adopting and implementing promising native-specific programs and services for AI/AN veterans, and may be generalizable for other veteran groups.

Providing Culturally Competent Services for American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans to Reduce Health Care Disparities

PubMed Central

Kaufman, Carol E.; Kaufmann, L. Jeanne; Brooks, Elizabeth; Shore, Jay H.

2014-01-01

Objectives. We conducted an exploratory study to determine what organizational characteristics predict the provision of culturally competent services for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) veterans in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health facilities. Methods. In 2011 to 2012, we adapted the Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment (ORCA) for a survey of 27 VA facilities in the Western Region to assess organizational readiness and capacity to adopt and implement native-specific services and to profile the availability of AI/AN veteran programs and interest in and resources for such programs. Results. Several ORCA subscales (Program Needs, Leader’s Practices, and Communication) statistically significantly predicted whether VA staff perceived that their facilities were meeting the needs of AI/AN veterans. However, none predicted greater implementation of native-specific services. Conclusions. Our findings may aid in developing strategies for adopting and implementing promising native-specific programs and services for AI/AN veterans, and may be generalizable for other veteran groups. PMID:25100420

Globalization, shifting livelihoods, and their effects on natural resources on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kramer, D. B.

2012-12-01

Knowledge of local peoples' livelihoods is important in understanding the use of, access to, and regulation of natural resources. Drivers of global change, including climate change and globalization, often result in shifts in local peoples' livelihood portfolios. Here, we use longitudinal data to examine how increasing market access, migration, and technology adoption have affected livelihood portfolios in a dozen communities along Nicaragua's Atlantic coast and the effects of livelihood change on terrestrial and marine wildlife. Our study communities are located in varying proximity to the terminus of the first trans-isthmian highway in this region, completed in 2008. Our results indicate that changes in livelihood portfolios, such as shifts between agriculture, fishing, and tourism, can be explained by a combination of household and community characteristics. Moreover, globalization's effects on specific livelihoods are distinct while varying both spatially and temporally. Trends in fisheries abundance, deforestation, and the management of endangered species and protected areas are better understood in the context of these shifting livelihood patterns. Moreover, this study provides new insights as to how natural resource dependent communities might decrease their vulnerability to the forces of global change.

Resource Evaluation and Energy Production Estimate for a Tidal Energy Conversion Installation using Acoustic Flow Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gagnon, Ian; Baldwin, Ken; Wosnik, Martin

2015-11-01

The ``Living Bridge'' project plans to install a tidal turbine at Memorial Bridge in the Piscataqua River at Portsmouth, NH. A spatio-temporal tidal energy resource assessment was performed using long term bottom-deployed Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers ADCP. Two locations were evaluated: at the planned deployment location and mid-channel. The goal was to determine the amount of available kinetic energy that can be converted into usable electrical energy on the bridge. Changes in available kinetic energy with ebb/flood and spring/neap tidal cycles and electrical energy demand were analyzed. A system model is used to calculate the net energy savings using various tidal generator and battery bank configurations. Differences in the tidal characteristics between the two measurement locations are highlighted. Different resource evaluation methodologies were also analyzed, e.g., using a representative ADCP ``bin'' vs. a more refined, turbine-geometry-specific methodology, and using static bin height vs. bin height that move w.r.t. the free surface throughout a tidal cycle (representative of a bottom-fixed or floating turbine deployment, respectively). ADCP operating frequencies and bin sizes affect the standard deviation of measurements, and measurement uncertainties are evaluated. Supported by NSF-IIP grant 1430260.

Nutritional Attributes, Substitutability, Scalability, and Environmental Intensity of an Illustrative Subset of Current and Future Protein Sources for Aquaculture Feeds: Joint Consideration of Potential Synergies and Trade-offs.

PubMed

Pelletier, Nathan; Klinger, Dane H; Sims, Neil A; Yoshioka, Janice-Renee; Kittinger, John N

2018-05-15

Aquaculture is anticipated to play an increasingly important role in global food security because it may represent one of the best opportunities to increase the availability of healthy animal protein in the context of resource and environmental constraints. However, the growth and sustainability of the aquaculture industry faces important bottlenecks with respect to feed resources, which may be derived from diverse sources. Here, using a small but representative subset of potential aquafeed inputs (which we selected to highlight a range of relevant attributes), we review a core suite of considerations that need to be accommodated in concert in order to overcome key bottlenecks to the continued development and expansion of the aquaculture industry. Specifically, we evaluate the nutritional attributes, substitutability, scalability, and resource and environmental intensity of each input. On this basis, we illustrate a range of potential synergies and trade-offs within and across attributes that are characteristic of ingredient types. We posit that the recognition and management of such synergies and trade-offs is imperative to satisfying the multi-objective decision-making associated with sustainable increases in future aquaculture production.

Natural Partners: Resource-Based and Integrative Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Porter, John R.

1992-01-01

With resource-based learning projects, college students at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science develop a better sense of the information resources available, the nature of scientific literature, and the characteristics of scientific writing. Faculty motivations, benefits, and disappointments with this approach are addressed.…

Resource, quality and safety management.

PubMed

Hovenga, Evelyn J S

2010-01-01

This chapter gives an educational overview of: * Resource management relative to sustainability and the use casemix systems * Types of resources and their information system needs to support their optimal management * Quality, performance measurement options and associated information needs * Casemix systems' characteristics, usage and need for enterprise systems.

Change is necessary in a biological engineering curriculum.

PubMed

Johnson, Arthur T; Montas, Hubert; Shirmohammadi, Adel; Wheaton, Fredrick W

2006-01-01

Success of a Biological Engineering undergraduate educational program can be measured in a number of ways, but however it is measured, a presently successful program can translate into an unsuccessful program if it cannot adjust to different conditions posed by technical advances, student characteristics, and academic pressures. Described in this paper is a Biological Engineering curriculum that has changed significantly since its transformation from Agricultural Engineering in 1993. As a result, student numbers have continued to climb, specific objectives have emerged, and unique courses have been developed. The Biological Resources Engineering program has evolved into a program that emphasizes breadth, fundamentals, communications skills, diversity, and practical engineering judgment.

[The theoretical aspects of development of health economics].

PubMed

Nechaev, V S; Markun, E R

2009-01-01

The article discusses several theoretical characteristics in the development of health economics. Particularly, the need of adequate health financing to implement sector functioning in satisfying the needs of population in medical services is emphasized. The consideration is given to the specificity of medical needs and conclusion is made that particular conditions are to be established for adequate resources support of public health system. The changeable health needs of population can be comprehensively considered only in the public health system with flexible accounting of this kind of changes as related to the health services with operational bringing the amount of financial flows in correspondence with the mentioned alterations.

Hydropower: A Regulatory Guide to Permitting and Licensing in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

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

McCoy, Gilbert A.

1992-12-01

The design, construction and operation of a hydropower project can result in many potential impacts. These potential impacts are of concern to a host of federal, state, and local authorities. Early consultation with land and water management, fish and wildlife resource protection, and health and human safety-oriented agencies should occur to determine specific concerns and study requirements for each proposed project. This Guide to Permitting and Licensing outlines the characteristic features of attractive hydropower sites; summarizes an array of developmental constraints; illustrates potential environmental impacts and concerns; and summarizes all federal, state, and local permitting and licensing requirements.

Hydropower : A Regulatory Guide to Permitting and Licensing in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

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

McCoy, Gilbert A.

1992-12-01

The design, construction and operation of a hydropower project can result in many potential impacts. These potential impacts are of concern to a host of federal, state, and local authorities. Early consultation with land and water management, fish and wildlife resource protection, and health and human safety-oriented agencies should occur to determine specific concerns and study requirements for each proposed project. This Guide to Permitting and Licensing outlines the characteristic features of attractive hydropower sites; summarizes an array of developmental constraints; illustrates potential environmental impacts and concerns; and summarizes all federal, state, and local permitting and licensing requirements.

White-nose Syndrome management: Report on structured decision making initiative

USGS Publications Warehouse

Szymanski, Jennifer A.; Runge, Michael C.; Parkin, Mary J.; Armstrong, Mike

2009-01-01

This report describes an analysis undertaken to assist state and federal natural resources managers in addressing the following question: What management measures should be taken this year within a given area to control the spread and minimize the effects of white-nose syndrome (WNS) on hibernating bats at the individual and population levels? The answer depends upon specific characteristics of the bat species, the hibernacula, and the syndrome itself, all of which could vary across the geographic extent of WNS and change over time. It also depends on a large number of agency and societal judgments concerning how to balance disease management against other objectives.

Understanding interactions in virtual HIV communities: a social network analysis approach.

PubMed

Shi, Jingyuan; Wang, Xiaohui; Peng, Tai-Quan; Chen, Liang

2017-02-01

This study investigated the driving mechanism of building interaction ties among the people living with HIV/AIDS in one of the largest virtual HIV communities in China using social network analysis. Specifically, we explained the probability of forming interaction ties with homophily and popularity characteristics. The exponential random graph modeling results showed that members in this community tend to form homophilous ties in terms of shared location and interests. Moreover, we found a tendency away from popularity effect. This suggests that in this community, resources and information were not disproportionally received by a few of members, which could be beneficial to the overall community.

Habitat-Specific Morphological Variation among Threespine Sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) within a Drainage Basin

PubMed Central

Webster, Mike M.; Atton, Nicola; Hart, Paul J. B.; Ward, Ashley J. W.

2011-01-01

Habitat-specific morphological variation, often corresponding to resource specialization, is well documented in freshwater fishes. In this study we used landmark based morphometric analyses to investigate morphological variation among threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) from four interconnected habitat types within a single lowland drainage basin in eastern England. These included the upper and lower reaches of the river, the estuary, a connected ditch network and a coastal salt marsh. We found significant habitat-specific differences in morphology, with three axes of variation describing differences in orbit diameter, body depth, caudal peduncle shape and pectoral fin positioning as well as variation in relative dorsal and pelvic spine size. Interestingly, the ditch system, an artificial and heavily managed habitat, is populated by sticklebacks with a characteristic morphology, suggesting that human management of habitats can in some circumstances lead to morphological variation among the animals that inhabit them. We discuss the mechanisms that conceivably underlie the observed morphological variation and the further work necessary to identify them. Finally, we consider the implications of habitat-specific body shape variation for the behavioural ecology of this ecologically generalist species. PMID:21698269

What community resources do older community-dwelling adults use to manage their osteoarthritis? A formative examination

PubMed Central

Martin, Kathryn Remmes; Schoster, Britta; Woodard, Janice

2011-01-01

Community resources can influence health outcomes, yet little research has examined how older individuals use community resources for osteoarthritis (OA) management. Six focus groups were conducted with 37 community-dwelling older adult African Americans and Caucasians who self-reported OA and resided in Johnston County, North Carolina. Descriptive analyses and qualitative constant comparison methodology revealed individuals use local recreational facilities, senior centers, shopping centers, religious organizations, medical providers, pharmacies and their social network for OA management. Participants also identified environmental characteristics (e.g., sidewalk conditions, curb-cuts, handicapped parking, automatic doors) that both facilitated and hindered use of community resources for OA management. Identified resources and environmental characteristics were organized around Corbin & Strauss framework tasks: medical/behavioral, role, and emotional management. As older Americans live with multiple chronic diseases, better understanding of what community resources are used for disease management may help improve the health of community-dwelling adults, both with and without OA. PMID:23049159

Give me a better break: Choosing workday break activities to maximize resource recovery.

PubMed

Hunter, Emily M; Wu, Cindy

2016-02-01

Surprisingly little research investigates employee breaks at work, and even less research provides prescriptive suggestions for better workday breaks in terms of when, where, and how break activities are most beneficial. Based on the effort-recovery model and using experience sampling methodology, we examined the characteristics of employee workday breaks with 95 employees across 5 workdays. In addition, we examined resources as a mediator between break characteristics and well-being. Multilevel analysis results indicated that activities that were preferred and earlier in the work shift related to more resource recovery following the break. We also found that resources mediated the influence of preferred break activities and time of break on health symptoms and that resource recovery benefited person-level outcomes of emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behavior. Finally, break length interacted with the number of breaks per day such that longer breaks and frequent short breaks were associated with more resources than infrequent short breaks. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Understanding Intention to Use Electronic Information Resources: A Theoretical Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

PubMed Central

Tao, Donghua

2008-01-01

This study extended the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by examining the roles of two aspects of e-resource characteristics, namely, information quality and system quality, in predicting public health students’ intention to use e-resources for completing research paper assignments. Both focus groups and a questionnaire were used to collect data. Descriptive analysis, data screening, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques were used for data analysis. The study found that perceived usefulness played a major role in determining students’ intention to use e-resources. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use fully mediated the impact that information quality and system quality had on behavior intention. The research model enriches the existing technology acceptance literature by extending TAM. Representing two aspects of e-resource characteristics provides greater explanatory information for diagnosing problems of system design, development, and implementation. PMID:18999300

Understanding intention to use electronic information resources: A theoretical extension of the technology acceptance model (TAM).

PubMed

Tao, Donghua

2008-11-06

This study extended the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by examining the roles of two aspects of e-resource characteristics, namely, information quality and system quality, in predicting public health students' intention to use e-resources for completing research paper assignments. Both focus groups and a questionnaire were used to collect data. Descriptive analysis, data screening, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques were used for data analysis. The study found that perceived usefulness played a major role in determining students' intention to use e-resources. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use fully mediated the impact that information quality and system quality had on behavior intention. The research model enriches the existing technology acceptance literature by extending TAM. Representing two aspects of e-resource characteristics provides greater explanatory information for diagnosing problems of system design, development, and implementation.

The cumulative effects of life event, personal and social resources on subjective well-being of elderly widowers.

PubMed

Balaswamy, S; Richardson, V E

2001-01-01

A multidimensional Life Stress Model was used to test the independent contributions of background characteristics, personal resources, life event, and environmental influences on 200 widowers' levels of well-being, measured by the Affect Balance Scale. Stepwise regression analyses revealed that environmental resources were unrelated to negative affect which is influenced more by the life event and personal resource variables. The environmental resource variables, particularly interactions with friends and neighbors, mostly influenced positive affect. The explanatory model for well-being included multiple variables and explained 33 percent of the variance. Although background characteristics had the greatest impact, absence of hospitalization, higher mastery, higher self-esteem, contacts with friends, and interaction with neighbors enhanced well-being. The results support previous speculations on the importance of positive exchanges for positive affect. African-American widowers showed higher levels of well-being than Caucasian widowers did. The results advance knowledge about differences among elderly men.

Relationship of Somatic Symptoms With Depression Severity, Quality of Life, and Health Resources Utilization in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder Seeking Primary Health Care in Spain

PubMed Central

García-Campayo, Javier; Ayuso-Mateos, José Luis; Caballero, Luis; Romera, Irene; Aragonés, Enric; Rodríguez-Artalejo, Fernando; Quail, Deborah; Gilaberte, Inmaculada

2008-01-01

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the characteristics of somatic symptoms and depression severity, quality of life (QOL), and health resources utilization in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) in primary care setting. Method: This cross-sectional, nationwide epidemiologic study, carried out in 1150 primary care patients with DSM-IV–defined MDD, evaluated the characteristics of somatic symptoms by means of the Standardized Polyvalent Psychiatric Interview. Depression severity and QOL were evaluated by means of the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and the Physical and Mental Component Summaries of the Medical Outcomes Study 12-item Short-Form Health Survey. Health resources utilization was measured in terms of doctor consultations and hospitalizations. The associations were assessed by means of adjusted analyses. The study was carried out from April 2004 to July 2004. Results: Disability associated with somatic symptoms and number of somatic symptoms were strongly associated with increased depression severity (2.45 and 0.29 increase in SDS score, respectively) and health resources utilization (odds ratios of 1.42 and 1.04, respectively). Associated disability, frequency, and persistence during leisure time of somatic symptoms were strongly associated with poorer QOL. In contrast, we found a weaker relationship between duration and intensity of somatic symptoms and depression severity, QOL, and health resources utilization. Conclusions: Of the studied somatic symptom characteristics, somatic symptom–associated disability and number of somatic symptoms are strongly associated with increased depression severity and health resources utilization, as well as with decreased QOL. Our results may help physicians identify relevant characteristics of somatic symptoms to more effectively diagnose and treat depression in primary care patients. PMID:19158973

Families on Welfare. Focus on Teenage Mothers Could Enhance Welfare Reform Efforts. Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

General Accounting Office, Washington, DC. Health, Education, and Human Services Div.

The Subcommittee on Human Resources of the House Committee on Ways and Means asked the General Accounting Office for information on characteristics of single-parent families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and whether the characteristics of this population have changed in recent years. This report examines how certain…

Assessing Transformations of Algal Organic Matter in the Long-Term: Impacts of Humification-Like Processes

PubMed Central

Leloup, Maud; Pallier, Virginie; Nicolau, Rudy; Feuillade-Cathalifaud, Geneviève

2015-01-01

Algae and cyanobacteria are important contributors to the natural organic matter (NOM) of eutrophic water resources. The objective of this work is to increase knowledge on the modifications of algal organic matter (AOM) properties in the long term to anticipate blooms footprint in such aquatic environments. The production of AOM from an alga (Euglena gracilis) and a cyanobacteria (Microcystis aeruginosa) was followed up and characterized during the stationary phase and after one year and four months of cultivation, in batch experiments. Specific UV absorbance (SUVA) index, organic matter fractionation according to hydrophobicity and apparent molecular weight were combined to assess the evolution of AOM. A comparison between humic substances (HS) mainly derived from allochthonous origins and AOM characteristics was performed to hypothesize impacts of AOM transformation processes on the water quality of eutrophic water resources. Each AOM fraction underwent a specific evolution pattern, depending on its composition. Impacts of humification-like processes were predominant over release of biopolymers due to cells decay and led to an increase in the hydrophobic compounds part and molecular weights over time. However, the hydrophilic fraction remained the major fraction whatever the growth stage. Organic compounds generated by maturation of these precursors corresponded to large and aliphatic structures. PMID:26251898

The rate of country-level improvements of the infant mortality rate is mainly determined by previous history.

PubMed

Bremberg, Sven G

2016-08-01

Studies of country-level determinants of health have produced conflicting results even when the analyses have been restricted to high-income counties. Yet, most of these studies have not taken historical, country-specific developments into account. Thus, it is appropriate to separate the influence of current exposures from historical aspects. Determinants of the infant mortality rate (IMR) were studied in 28 OECD countries over the period 1990-2012. Twelve determinants were selected. They refer to the level of general resources, resources that specifically address child health and characteristics that affect knowledge dissemination, including level of trust, and a health related behaviour: the rate of female smoking. Bivariate analyses with the IMR in year 2000 as outcome and the 12 determinants produced six statistically significant models. In multivariate analyses, the rate of decrease in the IMR was investigated as outcome and a history variable (IMR in 1990) was included in the models. The history variable alone explained 95% of the variation. None of the multivariate models, with the 12 determinants included, explained significantly more variation. Taking into account the historical development of the IMR will critically affect correlations between country-level determinants and the IMR. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Aviation and healthcare: a comparative review with implications for patient safety.

PubMed

Kapur, Narinder; Parand, Anam; Soukup, Tayana; Reader, Tom; Sevdalis, Nick

2016-01-01

Safety in aviation has often been compared with safety in healthcare. Following a recent article in this journal, the UK government set up an Independent Patient Safety Investigation Service, to emulate a similar well-established body in aviation. On the basis of a detailed review of relevant publications that examine patient safety in the context of aviation practice, we have drawn up a table of comparative features and a conceptual framework for patient safety. Convergence and divergence of safety-related behaviours across aviation and healthcare were derived and documented. Key safety-related domains that emerged included Checklists, Training, Crew Resource Management, Sterile Cockpit, Investigation and Reporting of Incidents and Organisational Culture. We conclude that whilst healthcare has much to learn from aviation in certain key domains, the transfer of lessons from aviation to healthcare needs to be nuanced, with the specific characteristics and needs of healthcare borne in mind. On the basis of this review, it is recommended that healthcare should emulate aviation in its resourcing of staff who specialise in human factors and related psychological aspects of patient safety and staff wellbeing. Professional and post-qualification staff training could specifically include Cognitive Bias Avoidance Training, as this appears to play a key part in many errors relating to patient safety and staff wellbeing.

Aviation and healthcare: a comparative review with implications for patient safety

PubMed Central

Parand, Anam; Soukup, Tayana; Reader, Tom; Sevdalis, Nick

2015-01-01

Safety in aviation has often been compared with safety in healthcare. Following a recent article in this journal, the UK government set up an Independent Patient Safety Investigation Service, to emulate a similar well-established body in aviation. On the basis of a detailed review of relevant publications that examine patient safety in the context of aviation practice, we have drawn up a table of comparative features and a conceptual framework for patient safety. Convergence and divergence of safety-related behaviours across aviation and healthcare were derived and documented. Key safety-related domains that emerged included Checklists, Training, Crew Resource Management, Sterile Cockpit, Investigation and Reporting of Incidents and Organisational Culture. We conclude that whilst healthcare has much to learn from aviation in certain key domains, the transfer of lessons from aviation to healthcare needs to be nuanced, with the specific characteristics and needs of healthcare borne in mind. On the basis of this review, it is recommended that healthcare should emulate aviation in its resourcing of staff who specialise in human factors and related psychological aspects of patient safety and staff wellbeing. Professional and post-qualification staff training could specifically include Cognitive Bias Avoidance Training, as this appears to play a key part in many errors relating to patient safety and staff wellbeing. PMID:26770817

Relations for estimating unit-hydrograph parameters in New Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Waltemeyer, Scott D.

2001-01-01

Data collected from 20 U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations, most of which were operated in New Mexico between about 1969 and 1977, were used to define hydrograph characteristics for small New Mexico streams. Drainage areas for the gaging stations ranged from 0.23 to 18.2 square miles. Observed values for the hydrograph characteristics were determined for 87 of the most significant rainfall-runoff events at these gaging stations and were used to define regional regression relations with basin characteristics. Regional relations defined lag time (tl), time of concentration (tc), and time to peak (tp) as functions of stream length and basin shape. The regional equation developed for time of concentration for New Mexico agrees well with the Kirpich equation developed for Tennessee. The Kirpich equation is based on stream length and channel slope, whereas the New Mexico equation is based on stream length and basin shape. Both equations, however, underestimate tc when applied to larger basins where tc is greater than about 2 hours. The median ratio between tp and tc for the observed data was 0.66, which equals the value (0.67) recommended by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly the Soil Conservation Service). However, the median ratio between tl and tc was only 0.42, whereas the commonly used ratio is 0.60. A relation also was developed between unit-peak discharge (qu) and time of concentration. The unit-peak discharge relation is similar in slope to the Natural Resources Conservation Service equation, but the equation developed for New Mexico in this study produces estimates of qu that range from two to three times as large as those estimated from the Natural Resources Conservation Service equation. An average value of 833 was determined for the empirical constant Kp. A default value of 484 has been used by the Natural Resources Conservation Service when site-specific data are not available. The use of a lower value of Kp in calculations generally results in a lower peak discharge. A relation between the empirical constant Kp and average channel slope was defined in this study. The predicted Kp values from the equation ranged from 530 to 964 for the 20 flood-hydrograph gaging stations. The standard error of estimate for the equation is 36 percent.

Partnerships panel: natural, resource partnerships: literature synthesis and research agenda

Treesearch

Steve Selin; Nancy Myers

1995-01-01

This paper presents a summary of an annotated bibliography on natural resource partnerships. Resource areas and management functions addressed in the partnership literature are examined. Partnership research is summarized and broken into categories including: Partnership outcomes, assessing the potential for partnerships, characteristics of successful partnerships,...

Philippines Wind Energy Resource Atlas Development

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

Elliott, D.

2000-11-29

This paper describes the creation of a comprehensive wind energy resource atlas for the Philippines. The atlas was created to facilitate the rapid identification of good wind resource areas and understanding of the salient wind characteristics. Detailed wind resource maps were generated for the entire country using an advanced wind mapping technique and innovative assessment methods recently developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

What do adolescents and young adults want from cancer resources? Insights from a Delphi panel of AYA patients.

PubMed

Cheung, Christabel K; Zebrack, Brad

2017-01-01

Cancer treatment programs and community-based support organizations are increasingly producing information and support resources geared to adolescent and young adult patients (AYAs); however, systematically-derived knowledge about user preferences for these resources is lacking. The primary purpose of this study was to generate findings from informed AYA cancer patients that resource developers can use to create products consistent with AYAs' expressed preferences for information and support. Utilizing a modified Delphi technique, AYA cancer patients identified barriers to optimal AYA cancer care, cancer resources that address their needs, and specific characteristics of cancer resources they find helpful. The Delphi panel consisted of a convenience sample of 21 patients aged 18-39 years, who were diagnosed with cancer between ages 15-39 and were no more than 8 years out from cancer treatment at the time of the study. Survey data were collected in three consecutive and iterative rounds over the course of 6 months in 2015. Findings indicated that AYA patients prefer resources that reduce feelings of loneliness, create a sense of community or belonging, and provide opportunities to meet other AYA patients. Among the top barriers to optimal cancer care, AYAs identified a lack of cancer care providers specializing in AYA care, a lack of connection to an AYA patient community, and their own lack of ability to navigate the health system. Participants also described aspects of cancer information and supportive care resources that they believe address AYAs' concerns. Information derived from this study will help developers of cancer information and support resources to better reach their intended audience. From the point of view of AYA cancer patients, optimal cancer care and utilization of information and support resources requires that cancer support programs foster meaningful connections among AYA patients. Results also suggest that patient resources should equip AYAs with practical knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the health system and advocate for themselves. Given patient interest in social media, future research should further investigate optimizing online resources to serve the AYA cancer population.

Arthropod food web restoration following removal of an invasive wetland plant.

PubMed

Gratton, Claudio; Denno, Robert F

2006-04-01

Restoration of habitats impacted by invasive plants is becoming an increasingly important tool in the management of native biodiversity, though most studies do not go beyond monitoring the abundance of particular taxonomic groups, such as the return of native vegetation. Yet, the reestablishment of trophic interactions among organisms in restored habitats is equally important if we are to monitor and understand how ecosystems recover. This study examined whether food web interactions among arthropods (as inferred by abundance of naturally occurring stable isotopes of C [delta13C] and N [delta15N]) were reestablished in the restoration of a coastal Spartina alterniflora salt marsh that had been invaded by Phragmites australis. From patterns of C and N stable isotopes we infer that trophic interactions among arthropods in the native salt marsh habitats are characterized by reliance on the dominant marsh plant Spartina as a basal resource. Herbivores such as delphacid planthoppers and mirid bugs have isotope signatures characteristic of Spartina, and predatory arthropods such as dolicopodid flies and spiders likewise have delta13C and delta15N signatures typical of Spartina-derived resources (approximately -13 per thousand and 10 per thousand, respectively). Stable isotope patterns also suggest that the invasion of Phragmites into salt marshes and displacement of Spartina significantly alter arthropod food web interactions. Arthropods in Phragmites-dominated sites have delta13C isotope values between -18 per thousand and -20 per thousand, suggesting reliance on detritus and/or benthic microalgae as basal resources and not on Phragmites, which has a delta13C approximately -26 per thousand. Since most Phragmites herbivores are either feeding internally or are rare transients from nearby Spartina, these resources do not provide significant prey resources for other arthropod consumers. Rather, predator isotope signatures in the invaded habitats indicate dependence on detritus/algae as basal resources instead of the dominant vegetation. The reestablishment of Spartina after removal of Phragmites, however, not only returned species assemblages typical of reference (uninvaded) Spartina, but stable isotope signatures suggest that the trophic interactions among the arthropods were also similar in reestablished habitats. Specifically, both herbivores and predators showed characteristic Spartina signatures, suggesting the return of the original grazer-based food web structure in the restored habitats.

Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: Bighorn Basin, Wyoming and Montana: Chapter A in Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Covault, Jacob A.; Buursink, Mark L.; Craddock, William H.; Merrill, Matthew D.; Blondes, Madalyn S.; Gosai, Mayur A.; Freeman, P.A.; Warwick, Peter D.; Corum, Margo D.

2012-01-01

This report identifies and contains geologic descriptions of twelve storage assessment units (SAUs) in six separate packages of sedimentary rocks within the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming and Montana and focuses on the particular characteristics, specified in the methodology, that influence the potential CO2 storage resource in those SAUs. Specific descriptions of the SAU boundaries as well as their sealing and reservoir units are included. Properties for each SAU such as depth to top, gross thickness, net porous thickness, porosity, permeability, groundwater quality, and structural reservoir traps are provided to illustrate geologic factors critical to the assessment. Although assessment results are not contained in this report, the geologic information included here will be employed, as specified in the methodology of earlier work, to calculate a statistical Monte Carlo-based distribution of potential storage space in the various SAUs. Figures in this report show SAU boundaries and cell maps of well penetrations through the sealing unit into the top of the storage formation. Wells sharing the same well borehole are treated as a single penetration. Cell maps show the number of penetrating wells within one square mile and are derived from interpretations of incompletely attributed well data, a digital compilation that is known not to include all drilling. The USGS does not expect to know the location of all wells and cannot guarantee the amount of drilling through specific formations in any given cell shown on cell maps.

Challenges in economic evaluation of new drugs: experience with rituximab in Hungary.

PubMed

Brodszky, Valentin; Orlewska, Ewa; Pentek, Martha; Karpati, Krisztian; Skoupa, Jana; Gulacsi, Laszlo

2010-01-01

Implementation of a new therapy into clinical practice is a complex process. Various countries have different requirements for information but most often focus on economic evaluation, which often plays a stronger role in healthcare decision making than does clinical evidence. To identify all potential challenges in economic evaluation, the case of a new biological drug, rituximab, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, has been taken as an example. We present methods and results of economic assessment, highlighting the specific issues that should be considered in countries with economic and health care conditions similar to those of Hungary. In principle, economic evaluation requires data on characteristics of target population, disease progression, treatment impact, preferences, resource utilization and unit prices. Treatment effect/relative risk reduction and clinical practice patterns (resource use) may be more generalizable, whereas prices and baseline risk need to be jurisdiction specific. In order to address issues of transferability, investments need to be made in the collection of epidemiological and demographic data, plus data on clinical practice patterns, resource use, costs and health state valuation. In Hungary this problem has been solved through conducting a well designed 255 patient cross-sectional study. The Hungarian example shows that there should be more investment in data collection for those parameters that are thought to differ most from place to place. Owing to the similarities between Central and Eastern Europe countries in health care systems, clinical practice patterns and economic indicators, they may be able to develop partnerships to develop relevant regional databases and registries.

43 CFR 11.60 - Type B assessments-general.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 11.60 Public Lands: Interior Office of the Secretary of the Interior NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE... assessment is to provide alternative methodologies for conducting natural resource damage assessments in... specifically allocable to, site-specific efforts taken in the assessment of damages for a natural resource for...

43 CFR 11.60 - Type B assessments-general.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 11.60 Public Lands: Interior Office of the Secretary of the Interior NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE... assessment is to provide alternative methodologies for conducting natural resource damage assessments in... specifically allocable to, site-specific efforts taken in the assessment of damages for a natural resource for...

Methane occurrence in groundwater of south-central New York State, 2012: summary of findings

USGS Publications Warehouse

Heisig, Paul M.; Scott, Tia-Marie

2013-01-01

A survey of methane in groundwater was undertaken to document methane occurrence on the basis of hydrogeologic setting within a glaciated 1,810-square-mile area of south-central New York that has not seen shale-gas resource development. The adjacent region in northeastern Pennsylvania has undergone shale-gas resource development from the Marcellus Shale. Well construction and subsurface data were required for each well sampled so that the local hydrogeologic setting could be classified. All wells were also at least 1 mile from any known gas well (active, exploratory, or abandoned). Sixty-six domestic wells and similar purposed supply wells were sampled during summer 2012. Field water-quality characteristics (pH, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and temperature) were measured at each well, and samples were collected and analyzed for dissolved gases, including methane and short-chain hydrocarbons. Carbon and hydrogen isotopic ratios of methane were measured in 21 samples that had at least 0.3 milligram per liter (mg/L) methane.

A framework for ecological decision support systems: Building the right systems and building the systems right

USGS Publications Warehouse

D'Erchia, Frank; Korschgen, Carl E.; Nyquist, M.; Root, Ralph; Sojda, Richard S.; Stine, Peter

2001-01-01

Workshops in the late 1990's launched the commitment of the U.S. Geological Survey's Biological Resources Division (BRD) to develop and implement decision support systems (DSS) applications. One of the primary goals of this framework document is to provide sufficient background and information for Department of the Interior (DOI) bureau stakeholders and other clients to determine the potential for DSS development. Such an understanding can assist them in carrying out effective land planning and management practices. This document provides a definition of DSS and its characteristics and capabilities. It proceeds to describe issues related to meeting resource managers needs, such as the needs for specific applications, customer requirements, information and technology transfer, user support, and institutionalization. Using the decision process as a means to guide DSS development and determine users needs is also discussed. We conclude with information on method to evaluate DSS development efforts and recommended procedures for verification and validation. 

Developing a biomonitoring tool for fine sediment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turley, Matt; Bilotta, Gary; Brazier, Richard; Extence, Chris

2014-05-01

Sediment is an essential component of freshwater ecosystems; however anthropogenic activities can lead to elevated sediment delivery which can impact on the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of these ecosystems. Ultimately, this can result in a loss of ecosystem services worth more than 1.7 trillion per annum. As such it is important that sediment, which is one of the most commonly attributed causes of water quality impairment globally, is managed in order to minimise these impacts. The current EU environmental quality standard for sediment (monitored in the form of suspended solids) is 25 mg L-1 for all environments. It is widely recognised that this standard is unsuitable and not ecologically relevant. Furthermore, it requires a substantial resource investment to monitor sediment in this form as part of national and international water resource legislation. In recognition of this the development of sediment-specific biomonitoring tools is receiving increasing attention. The Proportion of Sediment-Sensitive Invertebrates (PSI) index is one such tool that is designed to indicate levels of fine sediment (

West Virginia US Department of Energy experimental program to stimulate competitive research. Section 2: Human resource development; Section 3: Carbon-based structural materials research cluster; Section 3: Data parallel algorithms for scientific computing

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

Not Available

1994-02-02

This report consists of three separate but related reports. They are (1) Human Resource Development, (2) Carbon-based Structural Materials Research Cluster, and (3) Data Parallel Algorithms for Scientific Computing. To meet the objectives of the Human Resource Development plan, the plan includes K--12 enrichment activities, undergraduate research opportunities for students at the state`s two Historically Black Colleges and Universities, graduate research through cluster assistantships and through a traineeship program targeted specifically to minorities, women and the disabled, and faculty development through participation in research clusters. One research cluster is the chemistry and physics of carbon-based materials. The objective of thismore » cluster is to develop a self-sustaining group of researchers in carbon-based materials research within the institutions of higher education in the state of West Virginia. The projects will involve analysis of cokes, graphites and other carbons in order to understand the properties that provide desirable structural characteristics including resistance to oxidation, levels of anisotropy and structural characteristics of the carbons themselves. In the proposed cluster on parallel algorithms, research by four WVU faculty and three state liberal arts college faculty are: (1) modeling of self-organized critical systems by cellular automata; (2) multiprefix algorithms and fat-free embeddings; (3) offline and online partitioning of data computation; and (4) manipulating and rendering three dimensional objects. This cluster furthers the state Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research plan by building on existing strengths at WVU in parallel algorithms.« less

Executable Behavioral Modeling of System and Software Architecture Specifications to Inform Resourcing Decisions

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

BEHAVIORAL MODELING OF SYSTEM- AND SOFTWARE- ARCHITECTURE SPECIFICATIONS TO INFORM RESOURCING DECISIONS by Monica F. Farah-Stapleton...AND SOFTWARE- ARCHITECTURE SPECIFICATIONS TO INFORM RESOURCING DECISIONS 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6. AUTHOR(S) Monica F. Farah-Stapleton 7. PERFORMING...this thesis are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. IRB number

Environmental scan and evaluation of best practices for online systematic review resources

PubMed Central

Parker, Robin M. N.; Boulos, Leah M.; Visintini, Sarah; Ritchie, Krista; Hayden, Jill

2018-01-01

Objective Online training for systematic review methodology is an attractive option due to flexibility and limited availability of in-person instruction. Librarians often direct new reviewers to these online resources, so they should be knowledgeable about the variety of available resources. The objective for this project was to conduct an environmental scan of online systematic review training resources and evaluate those identified resources. Methods The authors systematically searched for electronic learning resources pertaining to systematic review methods. After screening for inclusion, we collected data about characteristics of training resources and assigned scores in the domains of (1) content, (2) design, (3) interactivity, and (4) usability by applying a previously published evaluation rubric for online instruction modules. We described the characteristics and scores for each training resource and compared performance across the domains. Results Twenty training resources were evaluated. Average overall score of online instructional resources was 61%. Online courses (n=7) averaged 73%, web modules (n=5) 64%, and videos (n=8) 48%. The top 5 highest scoring resources were in course or web module format, featured high interactivity, and required a longer (>5hrs) time commitment from users. Conclusion This study revealed that resources include appropriate content but are less likely to adhere to principles of online training design and interactivity. Awareness of these resources will allow librarians to make informed recommendations for training based on patrons’ needs. Future online systematic review training resources should use established best practices for e-learning to provide high-quality resources, regardless of format or user time commitment. PMID:29632443

Decomposition of terrestrial resource subsidies in headwater streams: Does consumer diversity matter?

Treesearch

David Stoker; Amber J. Falkner; Kelly M. Murray; Ashley K. Lang; Thomas R. Barnum; Jeffrey Hepinstall-Cymerman; Michael J. Conroy; Robert J. Cooper; Catherine M. Pringle

2017-01-01

Resource subsidies and biodiversity are essential for maintaining community structure and ecosystem functioning, but the relative importance of consumer diversity and resource characteristics to decomposition remains unclear. Forested headwater streams are detritus-based systems, dependent on leaf litter inputs from adjacent riparian ecosystems, and...

Leaf Angle, Light Interception, and Water Relations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knapp, Alan K.; Smith, Dixie L.

1997-01-01

Presents an exercise that demonstrates how plants cope with multiple resource limitations in the field. Stimulates students to think about interactions among multiple limited resources and the challenges plants as immobile organisms face when characteristics that increase the capture of one resource negatively impact the availability of another.…

Karst landscapes and associated resources: a resource assessment.

Treesearch

James F. Baichtal; Douglas N. Swanston

1996-01-01

The Tongass National Forest contains world-class karst features and the largest concentration of associated dissolved caves known in the state of Alaska. This paper describes the dominant karst formation processes operating in southeast Alaska, the controlling geologic and hydrologic characteristics, and the influence of karst landscapes on associated forest resources...

Extremophiles: developments of their special functions and potential resources.

PubMed

Fujiwara, Shinsuke

2002-01-01

Extremophilles are valuable resources in biotechnology. Enzymes from extremophiles are expected to fill the gap between biological and chemical processes due to their unusual properties. Especially enzymes from hyperthermophiles that can grow at above 90 degrees C were devoted owing to its extraordinary thermostability and denaturant tolerance. Screening trials of hyperthermophilic microorganisms were performed by a number of microbiologists and various unique strains were isolated from natural environments. One of the most successful uses of thermostable enzymes was DNA polymerase in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Thermostable enzymes are used in the chemical, food, pharmaceutical, paper and textile industries. Recombinant forms of thermostable enzymes that have been expressed in Escherichia coli are commonly utilized in industrial applications however their enzymatic characteristics and tertiary structure are different from the native ones produced in the original strains. In vitro heat treatment induces a structural conversion of the recombinant protein to its natural form. High temperature itself plays an important role in determining the specific characteristics and tertiary structure of the enzyme. Recent studies have revealed that hyperthermophiles can grow under numerous conditions not only in geothermal or deep-sea thermal environments. Technological advances have allowed DNA to be isolated from natural environments. Now genes could be isolated from microorganisms that have not been cultured. In this review, innovative approaches to hunt genes from natural environments without pure culturing of microorganisms are also discussed.

New technologies - How to assess environmental effects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sullivan, P. J.; Lavin, M. L.

1981-01-01

A method is provided for assessing the environmental effects of a room-and-pillar mining system (RP) and a new hydraulic borehole mining system (HBM). Before environmental assessment can begin, each technology is defined in terms of its engineering characteristics at both the conceptual and preliminary design stages. The mining sites are also described in order to identify the significant advantages and constraints for each system. This can be a basic physical and biological survey of the region at the conceptual stage, but a more specific representation of site characteristics is required at the preliminary stage. Assessment of potential environmental effects of each system at the conceptual design is critical to its hardware development and application. A checklist can be used to compare and identify the negative impacts of each method, outlining the resource affected, the type of impact involved, and the exact activity causing that impact. At the preliminary design stage, these impacts should be evaluated as a result of either utilization or alteration. Underground coal mining systems have three major utilization impacts - the total area disturbed, the total water resources withdrawn from other uses, and the overall energy efficiency of the process - and one major alteration impact - the degradation of water quality by sedimentation and acid contamination. A comparison of the RP and HBM systems shows the HBM to be an environmentally less desirable system for the Central Appalachia region.

Utility and direct costs: ankylosing spondylitis compared with rheumatoid arthritis.

PubMed

Verstappen, S M M; Jacobs, J W G; van der Heijde, D M; van der Linden, Sj; Verhoef, C M; Bijlsma, J W J; Boonen, A

2007-06-01

To compare utility and disease-specific direct costs between patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the Netherlands. Patients with AS and those with RA completed questions on disease characteristics, the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) to assess utility, and questionnaire resource utilisation. Resource utilisation was assessed prospectively in AS, but retrospectively in RA. True cost estimates (2003) were used to calculate the costs. Differences in disease characteristics between AS and RA were described, and determinants of EQ-5D utility and costs were explored by Cox proportional hazard regressions. 576 patients with RA and 132 with AS completed the questionnaires. EQ-5D utility (0.63 vs 0.7) was lower, and annual direct costs higher in RA (euro5167 vs euro2574). In multivariate Cox proportional hazard regressions, there was no difference in utility between the diagnostic groups, but patients with RA incurred higher direct costs after controlling for age, gender and disease duration. In patients with RA and patients with AS, who are under the care of a rheumatologist, utility is equally reduced, but healthcare costs are higher in RA after controlling for age, gender and disease duration. These data can be helpful to provide insights into the differences and similarities between the healthcare needs of both patient groups and to identify issues for further research and for policy in healthcare organisations.

ComprehensiveBench: a Benchmark for the Extensive Evaluation of Global Scheduling Algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pilla, Laércio L.; Bozzetti, Tiago C.; Castro, Márcio; Navaux, Philippe O. A.; Méhaut, Jean-François

2015-10-01

Parallel applications that present tasks with imbalanced loads or complex communication behavior usually do not exploit the underlying resources of parallel platforms to their full potential. In order to mitigate this issue, global scheduling algorithms are employed. As finding the optimal task distribution is an NP-Hard problem, identifying the most suitable algorithm for a specific scenario and comparing algorithms are not trivial tasks. In this context, this paper presents ComprehensiveBench, a benchmark for global scheduling algorithms that enables the variation of a vast range of parameters that affect performance. ComprehensiveBench can be used to assist in the development and evaluation of new scheduling algorithms, to help choose a specific algorithm for an arbitrary application, to emulate other applications, and to enable statistical tests. We illustrate its use in this paper with an evaluation of Charm++ periodic load balancers that stresses their characteristics.

Content Management System for Developing a Virtual Platform for Association of Women's Aid with Lack of Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sainz de Abajo, Beatriz; Flores García, Alberto; García Salcines, Enrique; Burón Fernández, F. Javier; López Coronado, Miguel; de Castro Lozano, Carlos

In this paper we show a Virtual Platform for an Association of Women's Aid called Centro Integral de Ayuda a la Mujer (CIAM). After analyzing different Content Management Systems (CMS) and the benefits that its use would contribute to the development of the Virtual Platform, taking into account the needs and requirements set by CIAM, we have opted for the use of Joomla!. This free CMS, for its characteristics, is the most benefits provided us. The virtual platform design has been developed following customer specifications, to have understood the simplicity and easy handling of the resulting platform. This platform will be integrated into the Web portal that has the Amarex Association and it will be able to be administrates from the CIAM without specific knowledge of programming languages. If new services were necessary, they would be easily implemented, adding new modules and components to perform these services.

The clubhouse as an empowering setting.

PubMed

Mowbray, Carol T; Lewandowski, Lisa; Holter, Mark; Bybee, Deborah

2006-08-01

Attention to psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) practice has expanded in recent years. However, social work research studies on PSR are not numerous. This study focuses on operational characteristics of clubhouses, a major PSR program model, and the organizational attributes (including resource levels) that predict the extent to which the clubhouse constitutes an empowering setting. The authors present data from a statewide sample of 30 clubhouses, annually serving nearly 4,000 consumers (adults with serious mental illnesses), based on interviews of clubhouse directors, on-site observations, and government information sources. Results indicate that users were predominantly male, white, and middle age; about one-third had a major functional disability. There were wide variations in member characteristics as well as in resource levels. In terms of empowerment, this sample of clubs averaged rather low levels of member involvement in governance and operations but seemed to provide members with opportunities and assistance in making their own decisions. The empowerment variables had different predictors, including client characteristics, urban-related characteristics, staffing, and resource levels. Implications for social work practice in PSR settings are discussed.

A Comparison of Subjective and Objective Job Demands and Fit with Personal Resources as Predictors of Retirement Timing in a National U.S. Sample.

PubMed

Sonnega, Amanda; Helppie-McFall, Brooke; Hudomiet, Peter; Willis, Robert J; Fisher, Gwenith G

2017-12-19

Population aging and attendant pressures on public budgets have spurred considerable interest in understanding factors that influence retirement timing. A range of sociodemographic and economic characteristics predict both earlier and later retirement. Less is known about the role of job characteristics on the work choices of older workers. Researchers are increasingly using the subjective ratings of job characteristics available in the Health and Retirement Study in conjunction with more objective measures of job characteristics from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) database. Employing a theoretically-informed model of job demands-personal resources fit, we constructed mismatch measures between resources and job demands (both subjectively and objectively assessed) in physical, emotional, and cognitive domains. When we matched comparable measures across the two data sources in the domains of physical, emotional, and cognitive job demands, we found that both sources of information held predictive power in relation to retirement timing. Physical and emotional but not cognitive mismatch were associated with earlier retirement. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings and directions for future research.

An Introduction to "My Environmental Education Evaluation Resource Assistant" (MEERA), a Web-Based Resource for Self-Directed Learning about Environmental Education Program Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zint, Michaela

2010-01-01

My Environmental Education Evaluation Resource Assistant or "MEERA" is a web-site designed to support environmental educators' program evaluation activities. MEERA has several characteristics that set it apart from other self-directed learning evaluation resources. Readers are encouraged to explore the site and to reflect on the role that…

Does Work-Family Conflict Mediate the Associations of Job Characteristics With Employees' Mental Health Among Men and Women?

PubMed

Carvalho, Vânia S; Chambel, Maria J; Neto, Mariana; Lopes, Silvia

2018-01-01

Job characteristics are important to work-family conflict (WFC). Additionally, is well established that WFC has a negative impact on mental health. As such, this research aims to examine the role of WFC as a mechanism that explains the relationship between job characteristics (i.e., those establishing by the Job Demands-Control-Support Model) and workers' mental health. Moreover, based on gender inequalities in work and non-work roles, this study analyzed gender as moderator of this mediation. Specifically, the relationship between job characteristics and WFC and the relationship between WFC and mental health could be stronger for women than for men. With a sample of 254 workers from a Portuguese services company, (61% males), and based on a multiple-group analysis, the results indicated that the WFC mediates the relationship between job characteristics (i.e., job demands and job control) and mental health. It was reinforced that job demands and lack of control could contribute to employees' stress and, once individual' energy was drained, the WFC could emerge. Ultimately, may be due to the presence of this conflict that individuals mental health' is negatively affected. Contrary to our expectations, this relationship is not conditioned by gender ( Z -scores were non-significant). The study results have implications for human resource management, enhancing the knowledge on the relationship between the WFC and workers' mental health.

Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Sri Lanka and the Maldives

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

Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; Scott, G.

2003-08-01

The Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) wind resource group identifies the wind characteristics and distribution of the wind resource in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The detailed wind resource maps and other information contained in the atlas facilitate the identification of prospective areas for use of wind energy technologies, both for utility-scale power generation and off-grid wind energy applications.

Improving Long-Term Care Facility Disaster Preparedness and Response: A Literature Review.

PubMed

Pierce, J Rush; Morley, Sarah K; West, Theresa A; Pentecost, Percy; Upton, Lori A; Banks, Laura

2017-02-01

Long-term care facilities (LTCFs) and their residents are especially susceptible to disruptions associated with natural disasters and often have limited experience and resources for disaster planning and response. Previous reports have offered disaster planning and response recommendations. We could not find a comprehensive review of studied interventions or facility attributes that affect disaster outcomes in LTCFs and their residents. We reviewed articles published from 1974 through September 30, 2015, that studied disaster characteristics, facility characteristics, patient characteristics, or an intervention that affected outcomes for LTCFs experiencing or preparing for a disaster. Twenty-one articles were included in the review. All of the articles fell into 1 of the following categories: facility or disaster characteristics that predicted preparedness or response, interventions to improve preparedness, and health effects of disaster response, most often related to facility evacuation. All of the articles described observational studies that were heterogeneous in design and metrics. We believe that the evidence-based literature supports 6 specific recommendations for facilities, governmental agencies, health care communities and academia. These include integrated and coordinated disaster planning, staff training, careful consideration before governments order mandatory evacuations, anticipation of the increased medical needs of LTCF residents following a disaster, and the need for more outcomes research. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:140-149).

Plant community resistance to invasion by Bromus species – the roles of community attributes, Bromus Interactions with plant communities, and Bromus traits

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chambers, Jeanne; Germino, Matthew; Belnap, Jayne; Brown, Cynthia; Schupp, Eugene W.; St. Clair, Samuel B

2016-01-01

The factors that determine plant community resistance to exotic annual Bromus species (Bromushereafter) are diverse and context specific. They are influenced by the environmental characteristics and attributes of the community, the traits of Bromus species, and the direct and indirect interactions of Bromus with the plant community. Environmental factors, in particular ambient and soil temperatures, have significant effects on the ability of Bromus to establish and spread. Seasonality of precipitation relative to temperature influences plant community resistance toBromus through effects on soil water storage, timing of water and nutrient availability, and dominant plant life forms. Differences among plant communities in how well soil resource use by the plant community matches resource supply rates can influence the magnitude of resource fluctuations due to either climate or disturbance and thus the opportunities for invasion. The spatial and temporal patterns of resource availability and acquisition of growth resources by Bromus versus native species strongly influence resistance to invasion. Traits of Bromus that confer a “priority advantage” for resource use in many communities include early-season germination and high growth and reproductive rates. Resistance to Bromus can be overwhelmed by high propagule supply, low innate seed dormancy, and large, if short-lived, seed banks. Biological crusts can inhibit germination and establishment of invasive annual plants, including several annual Bromus species, but are effective only in the absence of disturbance. Herbivores can have negative direct effects on Bromus, but positive indirect effects through decreases in competitors. Management strategies can be improved through increased understanding of community resistance to exotic annual Bromus species.

Trends in healthcare utilization among older Americans with colorectal cancer: A retrospective database analysis

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background Analyses of utilization trends (cost drivers) allow us to understand changes in colorectal cancer (CRC) costs over time, better predict future costs, identify changes in the use of specific types of care (eg, hospice), and provide inputs for cost-effectiveness models. This retrospective cohort study evaluated healthcare resource use among US Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with CRC between 1992 and 2002. Methods Cohorts included patients aged 66+ newly diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the colon (n = 52,371) or rectum (n = 18,619) between 1992 and 2002 and matched patients from the general Medicare population, followed until death or December 31, 2005. Demographic and clinical characteristics were evaluated by cancer subsite. Resource use, including the percentage that used each type of resource, number of hospitalizations, and number of hospital and skilled nursing facility days, was evaluated by stage and subsite. The number of office, outpatient, and inpatient visits per person-year was calculated for each cohort, and was described by year of service, subsite, and treatment phase. Hospice use rates in the last year of life were calculated by year of service, stage, and subsite for CRC patients who died of CRC. Results CRC patients (mean age: 77.3 years; 44.9% male) used more resources than controls in every category (P < .001), with the largest differences seen in hospital days and home health use. Most resource use (except hospice) remained relatively steady over time. The initial phase was the most resource intense in terms of office and outpatient visits. Hospice use among patients who died of CRC increased from 20.0% in 1992 to 70.5% in 2004, and age-related differences appear to have evened out in later years. Conclusion Use of hospice care among CRC decedents increased substantially over the study period, while other resource use remained generally steady. Our findings may be useful for understanding CRC cost drivers, tracking trends, and forecasting resource needs for CRC patients in the future. PMID:20003294

A large-scale integrated karst-vegetation recharge model to understand the impact of climate and land cover change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarrazin, Fanny; Hartmann, Andreas; Pianosi, Francesca; Wagener, Thorsten

2017-04-01

Karst aquifers are an important source of drinking water in many regions of the world, but their resources are likely to be affected by changes in climate and land cover. Karst areas are highly permeable and produce large amounts of groundwater recharge, while surface runoff is typically negligible. As a result, recharge in karst systems may be particularly sensitive to environmental changes compared to other less permeable systems. However, current large-scale hydrological models poorly represent karst specificities. They tend to provide an erroneous water balance and to underestimate groundwater recharge over karst areas. A better understanding of karst hydrology and estimating karst groundwater resources at a large-scale is therefore needed for guiding water management in a changing world. The first objective of the present study is to introduce explicit vegetation processes into a previously developed karst recharge model (VarKarst) to better estimate evapotranspiration losses depending on the land cover characteristics. The novelty of the approach for large-scale modelling lies in the assessment of model output uncertainty, and parameter sensitivity to avoid over-parameterisation. We find that the model so modified is able to produce simulations consistent with observations of evapotranspiration and soil moisture at Fluxnet sites located in carbonate rock areas. Secondly, we aim to determine the model sensitivities to climate and land cover characteristics, and to assess the relative influence of changes in climate and land cover on aquifer recharge. We perform virtual experiments using synthetic climate inputs, and varying the value of land cover parameters. In this way, we can control for variations in climate input characteristics (e.g. precipitation intensity, precipitation frequency) and vegetation characteristics (e.g. canopy water storage capacity, rooting depth), and we can isolate the effect that each of these quantities has on recharge. Our results show that these factors are strongly interacting and are generating non-linear responses in recharge.

43 CFR 3265.11 - What records must I keep available for inspection?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... penetrated; (f) Well test results; (g) Records pertaining to characteristics of the geothermal resource; (h...) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MINERALS MANAGEMENT (3000) GEOTHERMAL RESOURCE...

43 CFR 3265.11 - What records must I keep available for inspection?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... penetrated; (f) Well test results; (g) Records pertaining to characteristics of the geothermal resource; (h...) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MINERALS MANAGEMENT (3000) GEOTHERMAL RESOURCE...

43 CFR 3265.11 - What records must I keep available for inspection?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... penetrated; (f) Well test results; (g) Records pertaining to characteristics of the geothermal resource; (h...) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MINERALS MANAGEMENT (3000) GEOTHERMAL RESOURCE...

43 CFR 3265.11 - What records must I keep available for inspection?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... penetrated; (f) Well test results; (g) Records pertaining to characteristics of the geothermal resource; (h...) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MINERALS MANAGEMENT (3000) GEOTHERMAL RESOURCE...

[Change characteristics of agricultural climate resources in recent 50 years in Shandong Province, China].

PubMed

Dong, Xu-guang; Li, Sheng-li; Shi, Zhen-bin; Qiu, Can

2015-01-01

Based on the 1961-2010 ground surface data from 90 meteorological stations, this paper analyzed the spatiotemporal change characteristics of agricultural climate resources (e.g. sunshine hours, thermal resources and water) for the growth season of winter wheat and summer maize in Shandong Province. Results indicated that temperature indicators showed a significant rising tendency especially in the winter wheat growth season. Both evapotranspiration and sunshine hours declined obviously, especially for the evapotranspiration in the summer maize growth season, while there was no clear change evidence in rainfall and aridity. Regarding the spatial distribution characteristics, agro-climatic resources presented meridional or zonal increment or decrement in the winter wheat and summer maize growth seasons. In different areas, variation features of agro-climatic resources appeared with distinct differences. In the western Shandong area, temperature indicators showed a slight rising tendency while evapotranspiration and aridity declined significantly. Sunshine hours decreased most significantly in the middle and west southern areas. Precipitation increment was relatively obvious in the winter wheat growth season in the middle and east southern areas and in the summer maize growth season in the middle and southern areas. Thermal resource increases benefited the growth of winter wheat in every phase during the growth period. However, it brought high risks of plant diseases and hot disaster as well. The decrease of sunshine hours was adverse to crop photosynthesis in the growth period while evapotranspiration decrement profited the water retention of soil.

Utilization characteristics and importance of woody biomass resources on the rural-urban fringe in botswana.

PubMed

Nkambwe, Musisi; Sekhwela, Mogodisheng B M

2006-02-01

This article examines the utilization characteristics and importance of woody biomass resources in the rural-urban fringe zones of Botswana. In the literature for Africa, attention has been given to the availability and utilization of biomass in either urban or rural environments, but the rural-urban fringe has been neglected. Within southern Africa, this neglect is not justified; the rural-urban fringe, not getting the full benefits available in urban environments in Botswana, has developed problems in woody biomass availability and utilization that require close attention. In this article, socioeconomic data on the importance of woody biomass in the Batlokwa Tribal Territory, on the rural-urban fringe of Gaborone, Botswana, were collected together with ecologic data that reveal the utilization characteristics and potential for regrowth of woody biomass. The analysis of these results show that local woody biomass is very important in the daily lives of communities in the rural-urban fringe zones and that there is a high level of harvesting. However, there is no effort in planning land use in the tribal territory to either conserve this resource or provide alternatives to its utilization. The future of woody biomass resources in Botswana's rural-urban fringe is uncertain. The investigators recommend that a comprehensive policy for the development of the rural-urban fringe consider the importance of this resource. The neglect of this resource will have far-reaching implications on the livelihoods of residents as well as the environment in this zone.

Determinants of Cervical Cancer Screening Accuracy for Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) and Lugol’s Iodine (VILI) Performed by Nurse and Physician

PubMed Central

Raifu, Amidu O.; El-Zein, Mariam; Sangwa-Lugoma, Ghislain; Ramanakumar, Agnihotram; Walter, Stephen D.

2017-01-01

Background Visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) and Lugol’s iodine (VILI) are used to screen women for cervical cancer in low-resource settings. Little is known about correlates of their diagnostic accuracy by healthcare provider. We examined determinants of VIA and VILI screening accuracy by examiner in a cross-sectional screening study of 1528 women aged 30 years or older in a suburb of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Methods We used a logistic regression model for sensitivity and specificity to estimate the diagnostic accuracy of VIA and VILI, independently performed by nurse and physician, as a function of sociodemographic and reproductive health characteristics. Results Nurses rated tests as positive more often than physicians (36.3% vs 30.2% for VIA, 26.2% vs 25.2% for VILI). Women’s age was the most important determinant of performance. It was inversely associated with sensitivity (nurse’s VIA: p<0.001, nurse’s VILI: p = 0.018, physician’s VIA: p = 0.005, physician’s VILI: p = 0.006) but positively associated with specificity (all four combinations: p<0.001). Increasing parity adversely affected sensitivity and specificity, but the effects on sensitivity were significant for nurses only. The screening performance of physician’s assessment was significantly better than the nurse’s (difference in sensitivity: VIA = 13%, VILI = 16%; difference in specificity: VIA = 6%, VILI = 1%). Conclusions Age and parity influence the performance of visual tests for cervical cancer screening. Proper training of local healthcare providers in the conduct of these tests should take into account these factors for improved performance of VIA and VILI in detecting cervical precancerous lesions among women in limited-resource settings. PMID:28107486

The characteristics of patients frequently admitted to academic medical centers in the United States

PubMed Central

Williams, Mark V.; Carrier, Danielle; Hensley, Laurie; Thomas, Stephen; Cerese, Julie

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND The recent intense attention to hospital readmissions and their implications for quality, safety, and reimbursement necessitates understanding specific subsets of readmitted patients. Frequently admitted patients, defined as patients who are admitted 5 or more times within 1 year, may have some distinguishing characteristics that require novel solutions. METHODS A comprehensive administrative database (University HealthSystem Consortium's Clinical Data Base/Resource Manager™) was analyzed to identify demographic, social, and clinical characteristics of frequently admitted patients in 101 US academic medical centers. RESULTS We studied 28,291 frequently admitted patients with 180,185 admissions over a 1‐year period (2011–2012). These patients comprise 1.6% of all patients, but account for 8% of all admissions and 7% of direct costs. Their admissions are driven by multiple chronic conditions; compared to other hospitalized patients, they have significantly more comorbidities (an average of 7.1 vs 2.5), and 84% of their admissions are to medical services. A minority, but significantly more than other patients, have comorbidities of psychosis or substance abuse. Moreover, although they are slightly more likely than other patients to be on Medicaid or to be uninsured (27.6% vs 21.6%), nearly three‐quarters have private or Medicare coverage. CONCLUSIONS Patients who are frequently admitted to US academic medical centers are likely to have multiple complex chronic conditions and may have behavioral comorbidities that mediate their health behaviors, resulting in acute episodes requiring hospitalization. This information can be used to identify solutions for preventing repeat hospitalization for this small group of patients who consume a highly disproportionate share of healthcare resources. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2015;10:563–568. © 2015 The Authors Journal of Hospital Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Hospital Medicine PMID:26018340

Investigating the Marine Environment and Its Resources, Part I.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lien, Violetta F.

This is the first of two volumes comprising a resource unit designed to help students become more knowledgeable about the marine environment and its resources. Included in this volume are discussions of geography of the Gulf of Mexico, geology, physical characteristics of the marine environment, marine ecology, and ocean/land interaction.…

Challenges to managing natural resource information

Treesearch

William L. Halvorson

2005-01-01

One of the most important issues facing resource managers today is that of information. In order to handle the numerous and diverse requirements for information, landscape-scale information management systems are needed that allow individual land management units to view their resource information in a regional context. The characteristics of such a system are: (1) the...

Using Eco-Mapping to Understand Family Strengths and Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCormick, Katherine M.; Stricklin, Sarintha; Nowak, Theresa M.; Rous, Beth

2008-01-01

As professionals and families work together to identify and celebrate the strengths and resources unique to each family, new and innovative ways to describe and discuss family characteristics are needed. The eco-map, borrowed from social science disciplines, is one method used to describe family strengths and resources. The eco-map was developed…

A Comparison of Web Resource Access Experiments: Planning for the New Millennium.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenberg, Jane

This paper reports on research that compared five leading experiments that aim to improve access to the growing number of information resources on the World Wide Web. The objective was to identify characteristics of success and considerations for improvement in experiments providing access to Web resources via bibliographic control methods. The…

The Research on the Construction of Teaching Resources in Ethnic University in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ma, Jun

2015-01-01

The construction of teaching resource library should reflect the characteristics about the school and meet the needs of the personnel training; it is particularly significant for the development of ethnic minority colleges and universities. Through the analysis of the present situation of the construction about teaching resources in ethnic…

The inconsistent mediating effects of psychosocial work characteristics on the education-health relationship.

PubMed

Qiu, Hanyao; Bures, Regina; Shehan, Constance L

2012-10-01

This study examined the relationship between psychosocial work characteristics and educational disparities in health. Informed by the evidence on the relationship between work pressure and higher education, we suggested reframing the distribution of psychosocial work characteristics in the context of education. We differentiated psychosocial work resources from demands and hypothesized that the inconsistent mediation effects of psychosocial resources and demands are associated with educational status. Using data from the 2008 National Study of Changing Workforce (NSCW), we found that psychosocial work resources and demands had inconsistent mediating effects on the education-health relationship. Higher educated employees were more likely to report autonomy, challenge and schedule control, but they were also more likely to experience overtime hours, job overload and work-family conflict. Work resources appeared to protect higher-educated workers from stress and health problems while work demands put them at risk of less favorable health outcomes. In addition we found that the 'costs' of psychosocial work demands were stronger among women, particularly those who were highly educated, suggesting that highly educated women did not reap the full health benefit of high educational attainment. Our findings illustrate that the observed positive associations between education and health mask important heterogeneity in the effects of psychosocial work characteristics. We discuss the implications of this study for health and family-based work policies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

Hussain, Hameed; Malik, Saif Ur Rehman; Hameed, Abdul

An efficient resource allocation is a fundamental requirement in high performance computing (HPC) systems. Many projects are dedicated to large-scale distributed computing systems that have designed and developed resource allocation mechanisms with a variety of architectures and services. In our study, through analysis, a comprehensive survey for describing resource allocation in various HPCs is reported. The aim of the work is to aggregate under a joint framework, the existing solutions for HPC to provide a thorough analysis and characteristics of the resource management and allocation strategies. Resource allocation mechanisms and strategies play a vital role towards the performance improvement ofmore » all the HPCs classifications. Therefore, a comprehensive discussion of widely used resource allocation strategies deployed in HPC environment is required, which is one of the motivations of this survey. Moreover, we have classified the HPC systems into three broad categories, namely: (a) cluster, (b) grid, and (c) cloud systems and define the characteristics of each class by extracting sets of common attributes. All of the aforementioned systems are cataloged into pure software and hybrid/hardware solutions. The system classification is used to identify approaches followed by the implementation of existing resource allocation strategies that are widely presented in the literature.« less

Model-specification uncertainty in future forest pest outbreak.

PubMed

Boulanger, Yan; Gray, David R; Cooke, Barry J; De Grandpré, Louis

2016-04-01

Climate change will modify forest pest outbreak characteristics, although there are disagreements regarding the specifics of these changes. A large part of this variability may be attributed to model specifications. As a case study, we developed a consensus model predicting spruce budworm (SBW, Choristoneura fumiferana [Clem.]) outbreak duration using two different predictor data sets and six different correlative methods. The model was used to project outbreak duration and the uncertainty associated with using different data sets and correlative methods (=model-specification uncertainty) for 2011-2040, 2041-2070 and 2071-2100, according to three forcing scenarios (RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). The consensus model showed very high explanatory power and low bias. The model projected a more important northward shift and decrease in outbreak duration under the RCP 8.5 scenario. However, variation in single-model projections increases with time, making future projections highly uncertain. Notably, the magnitude of the shifts in northward expansion, overall outbreak duration and the patterns of outbreaks duration at the southern edge were highly variable according to the predictor data set and correlative method used. We also demonstrated that variation in forcing scenarios contributed only slightly to the uncertainty of model projections compared with the two sources of model-specification uncertainty. Our approach helped to quantify model-specification uncertainty in future forest pest outbreak characteristics. It may contribute to sounder decision-making by acknowledging the limits of the projections and help to identify areas where model-specification uncertainty is high. As such, we further stress that this uncertainty should be strongly considered when making forest management plans, notably by adopting adaptive management strategies so as to reduce future risks. © 2015 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada Global Change Biology © 2015 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Natural Resources Canada.

Chemical considerations for an updated National assessment of brackish groundwater resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

McMahon, Peter B.; Böhlke, John Karl; Dahm, Katharine; Parkhurst, David L.; Anning, David W.; Stanton, Jennifer S.

2016-01-01

Brackish groundwater (BGW) is increasingly used for water supplies where fresh water is scarce, but the distribution and availability of such resources have not been characterized at the national scale in the United States since the 1960s. Apart from its distribution and accessibility, BGW usability is a function of the chemical requirements of the intended use, chemical characteristics of the resource, and treatment options to make the resource compatible with the use. Here, we discuss relations between these three chemical factors using national-scale examples and local case studies. In a preliminary compilation of BGW data in the United States, five water types accounted for the major-ion composition of 70% of samples. PHREEQC calculations indicate that 57–77% of samples were oversaturated with respect to barite, calcite, or chalcedony. In the study, 5–14% of samples had concentrations of arsenic, fluoride, nitrate, or uranium that exceeded drinking-water standards. In case studies of the potential use of BGW for drinking water, irrigation, and hydraulic fracturing, PHREEQC simulations of a hypothetical treatment process resembling reverse osmosis (RO) showed that BGW had the potential to form various assemblages of mineral deposits (scale) during treatment that could adversely affect RO membranes. Speciation calculations showed that most boron in the irrigation example occurred as boric acid, which has relatively low removal efficiency by RO. Results of this preliminary study indicate that effective national or regional assessments of BGW resources should include geochemical characterizations that are guided in part by specific use and treatment requirements.

Assessing heat load in drylot dairy cattle: Refining on-farm sampling methodology.

PubMed

Tresoldi, Grazyne; Schütz, Karin E; Tucker, Cassandra B

2016-11-01

Identifying dairy cattle experiencing heat stress and adopting appropriate mitigation strategies can improve welfare and profitability. However, little is known about how cattle use heat abatement resources (shade, sprayed water) on drylot dairies. It is also unclear how often we need to observe animals to measure high heat load, or the relevance of specific aspects of this response, particularly in terms of panting. Our objectives were to describe and determine sampling intervals to measure cattle use of heat abatement resources, respiration rate (RR) and panting characteristics (drooling, open mouth, protruding tongue), and to evaluate the relationship between the latter 2. High-producing cows were chosen from 4 drylots (8 cows/dairy, n=32) and observed for at least 5.9h (1000 to 1800h, excluding milking) when air temperature, humidity, and the combined index averaged 33°C, 30%, and 79, respectively. Use of heat abatement resources was recorded continuously; RR and the presence and absence of each panting characteristic were recorded every 5min. From the observed values, estimates using the specified sub-sampling intervals were calculated for heat abatement resource use (1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 60, 90, and 120min), and for RR and panting (10, 15, 20, 30, 60, 90, and 120min). Estimates and observed values were compared using linear regression. Sampling intervals were considered accurate if they met 3 criteria: R 2 ≥0.9, intercept=0, and slope=1. The relationship between RR and each panting characteristic was analyzed using mixed models. Cows used shade (at corral or over feed bunk) and feed bunk area (where water was sprayed) for about 90 and 50% of the observed time, respectively, and used areas with no cooling for 2min at a time, on average. Cows exhibited drooling (34±4% of observations) more often than open mouth and protruding tongue (11±3 and 8±3% of observations, respectively). Respiration rate varied depending on the presence of panting (with vs. without drool present: 97±3 vs. 74±3 breaths/min; open vs. closed mouth: 104±4 vs. 85±4 breaths/min; protruding vs. non-protruding tongue: 105±5 vs. 91±5 breaths/min). Accurate estimates were obtained when using sampling intervals ≤90min for RR, ≤60min for corral shade and sprayed water use, and ≤30min for drooling. In a hot and dry climate, cows kept in drylots had higher RR when showing panting characteristics than when these were absent, and used shade extensively, avoiding areas with no cooling. In general, 30min intervals were most efficient for measuring heat load responses. Copyright © 2016 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Client characteristics and the cost of home care in the prospective payment system.

PubMed

Livesay, Jody L; Hanson, Kathleen S; Anderson, Mary Ann; Oelschlaeger, Mary

2003-01-01

There has been much speculation in the literature about the effect of the prospective payment system (PPS) on the home care industry but few reports of systematic investigation. Clearly, comprehension of client characteristics is essential for categorizing home care clients into the correct Home Health Resource Groups, for allocating resources appropriately, and for implementing necessary organizational changes to accommodate clients who require variations in the amount of resources predicted by the PPS. The purposes of this study were to compare the characteristics of home health clients that resulted in a financial gain or a financial loss for one agency under the PPS with those of the interim payment system. A secondary data analysis of 140 cases compiled by one not-for-profit hospital-affiliated home care organization was completed. Results suggested that client characteristics of the projected loss group had more recertifications on admission and at the end of the 60-day episode, a longer stay (3 weeks), and more visits, particularly from skilled nursing. Comprehension of client characteristics and the subsequent ability to adjust for the proper case mix will be crucial if home care agencies are to remain financially viable under the PPS. Replication of this project needs to be done using more variables and multiple sites.

Relational job characteristics and nurses' affective organizational commitment: the mediating role of work engagement.

PubMed

Santos, Alda; Chambel, Maria José; Castanheira, Filipa

2016-02-01

To study work engagement as a mediator of the associations between relational job characteristics and nurses' affective commitment to the hospital. Earlier research has shown that work engagement mediates the relationship between job resources and affective organizational commitment. However, relational job characteristics, which may be job resources, have not been studied or examined in relation to work engagement and affective organizational commitment in the nursing profession. This study uses a correlational survey design and an online survey for data collection. Data for this correlational study were collected by survey over months (2013) from a sample of 335 hospital nurses. Measures included Portuguese translations of the Relational Job Characteristics' Psychological Effects Scale, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the Affective Organizational Commitment Scale. Data analysis supports a full mediation model where relational job characteristics explained affective commitment to the hospital through nurses' work engagement. Relational job characteristics contribute to nurses' work engagement, which in turn contributes to affective organizational commitment. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Utilization potential evaluation of plant resources in the dry-hot valley of Jinsha River

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xi, Rong; Xu, Naizhong; Liu, Shengxiang; Ren, Tingyan

2017-08-01

Plant resources in the dry-hot valley of Jinsha River are endemic to a class of district. The article adopts the analytic hierarchy process method to evaluate the exploitation and utilization potential of plant resources of thirty typical plant resources on the basis of their characteristics in the dry-hot valley of Jinsha River, which provide scientific evidence for quantitative evaluation of regional plant resources, and we also suggest pathways offering protection and development.

Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: Columbia Basin of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and the Western Oregon-Washington basins: Chapter D in Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Covault, Jacob A.; Blondes, Madalyn S.; Cahan, Steven M.; DeVera, Christina A.; Freeman, P.A.; Lohr, Celeste D.; Warwick, Peter D.; Corum, Margo D.

2013-01-01

The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (Public Law 110–140) directs the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct a national assessment of potential geologic storage resources for carbon dioxide (CO2). The methodology used by the USGS for the national CO2 assessment follows that of previous USGS work. The methodology is non-economic and intended to be used at regional to subbasinal scales. This report identifies and contains geologic descriptions of three storage assessment units (SAUs) in Eocene and Oligocene sedimentary rocks within the Columbia, Puget, Willapa, Astoria, Nehalem, and Willamette Basins of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and focuses on the characteristics, specified in the methodology, that influence the potential CO2 storage resource in those SAUs. Specific descriptions of the SAU boundaries as well as their sealing and reservoir units are included. Properties for each SAU, such as depth to top, gross thickness, porosity, permeability, groundwater quality, and structural reservoir traps, are provided to illustrate geologic factors critical to the assessment. The designated sealing unit in the Columbia Basin is tentatively chosen to be the ubiquitous and thick Miocene Columbia River Basalt Group. As a result of uncertainties regarding the seal integrity of the Columbia River Basalt Group, the SAUs were not quantitatively assessed. Figures in this report show SAU boundaries and cell maps of well penetrations through sealing units into the top of the storage formations. The cell maps show the number of penetrating wells within one square mile and are derived from interpretations of incompletely attributed well data, a digital compilation that is known not to include all drilling. The USGS does not expect to know the location of all wells and cannot guarantee the amount of drilling through specific formations in any given cell shown on the cell maps.

Solar and Wind Resource Assessments for Afghanistan and Pakistan

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

Renne, D. S.; Kelly, M.; Elliott, D.

2007-01-01

The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has recently completed the production of high-resolution wind and solar energy resource maps and related data products for Afghanistan and Pakistan. The resource data have been incorporated into a geospatial toolkit (GsT), which allows the user to manipulate the resource information along with country-specific geospatial information such as highway networks, power facilities, transmission corridors, protected land areas, etc. The toolkit allows users to then transfer resource data for specific locations into NREL's micropower optimization model known as HOMER.

Resource stoichiometry and availability modulate species richness and biomass of tropical litter macro-invertebrates.

PubMed

Jochum, Malte; Barnes, Andrew D; Weigelt, Patrick; Ott, David; Rembold, Katja; Farajallah, Achmad; Brose, Ulrich

2017-09-01

High biodiversity and biomass of soil communities are crucial for litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems such as tropical forests. However, the leaf litter that these communities consume is of particularly poor quality as indicated by elemental stoichiometry. The impact of resource quantity, quality and other habitat parameters on species richness and biomass of consumer communities is often studied in isolation, although much can be learned from simultaneously studying both community characteristics. Using a dataset of 780 macro-invertebrate consumer species across 32 sites in tropical lowland rain forest and agricultural systems on Sumatra, Indonesia, we investigated the effects of basal resource stoichiometry (C:X ratios of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, S in local leaf litter), litter mass (basal resource quantity and habitat space), plant species richness (surrogate for litter habitat heterogeneity), and soil pH (acidity) on consumer species richness and biomass across different consumer groups (i.e. 3 feeding guilds and 10 selected taxonomic groups). In order to distinguish the most important predictors of consumer species richness and biomass, we applied a standardised model averaging approach investigating the effects of basal resource stoichiometry, litter mass, plant species richness and soil pH on both consumer community characteristics. This standardised approach enabled us to identify differences and similarities in the magnitude and importance of such effects on consumer species richness and biomass. Across consumer groups, we found litter mass to be the most important predictor of both species richness and biomass. Resource stoichiometry had a more pronounced impact on consumer species richness than on their biomass. As expected, taxonomic groups differed in which resource and habitat parameters (basal resource stoichiometry, litter mass, plant species richness and pH) were most important for modulating their community characteristics. The importance of litter mass for both species richness and biomass indicates that these tropical consumers strongly depend on habitat space and resource availability. Our study supports previous theoretical work indicating that consumer species richness is jointly influenced by resource availability and the balanced supply of multiple chemical elements in their resources. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2017 British Ecological Society.

Strategic Business Planning and Human Resources: Part I.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Eddie C.

1982-01-01

The maturity of a business is strategically important because an organization's characteristics change as it ages. Similarly, elements of the human resource program (compensation, benefits, staff development, etc.) also change as the business matures. (SK)

Characteristics and practices of National Immunisation Technical Advisory Groups in Europe and potential for collaboration, April 2014.

PubMed

Takla, A; Wichmann, O; Carrillo-Santisteve, P; Cotter, S; Levy-Bruhl, D; Paradowska-Stankiewicz, I; Valentiner-Branth, P; D'Ancona, F

2015-03-05

In many countries, national vaccination recommendations are developed by independent expert committees, so-called national immunisation technical advisory groups (NITAG). Since the evaluation of vaccines is complex and resource-demanding, collaboration between NITAGs that evaluate the same vaccines could be beneficial. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 30 European countries in February 2014, to explore basic characteristics and current practices of European NITAGs and identify potential modes and barriers for collaboration. Of 28 responding countries, 26 reported to have a NITAG or an equivalent expert group. Of these, 20 apply a systematic approach in the vaccine decision-making process, e.g. by considering criteria such as country-specific disease epidemiology, vaccine efficacy/effectiveness/safety, health economics, programme implementation/logistics or country-specific values/preferences. However, applied frameworks and extent of evidence review differ widely. The use of systematic reviews is required for 15 of 26 NITAGs, while results from transmission modelling and health economic evaluations are routinely considered by 18 and 20 of 26 NITAGs, respectively. Twenty-five countries saw potential for NITAG-collaboration, but most often named structural concerns, e.g. different NITAG structures or countries’ healthcare systems. Our survey gathered information that can serve as an inventory on European NITAGs, allowing further exploration of options and structures for NITAG collaboration.

Patient-centered Medical Home Capability and Clinical Performance in HRSA-supported Health Centers

PubMed Central

Shi, Leiyu; Lock, Diana C.; Lee, De-Chih; Lebrun-Harris, Lydie A.; Chin, Marshall H.; Chidambaran, Preeta; Nocon, Robert S.; Zhu, Jinsheng; Sripipatana, Alek

2015-01-01

Objectives To evaluate the relationship between Patient-centered Medical Home (PCMH) model adoption in health centers (HCs) and clinical performance measures and to determine if adoption of PCMH characteristics is associated with better clinical performance. Research Design Data came from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s 2009 Uniform Data System and the 2009 Commonwealth Fund National Survey of Federally Qualified Health Centers. Clinical performance measures included 2 process measures (childhood immunization and cervical cancer screening) and 2 outcome measures (hypertension control and diabetes control). Total and subscale PCMH scores were regressed on the clinical performance measures, adjusting for patient, provider, financial, and institutional characteristics. Results The findings showed different directional relationships, with some PCMH domains (care management, test/referral tracking, quality improvement, and external coordination) showing little or no effect on outcome measures of interest, 1 domain (access/communication) associated with improved outcomes, and 1 domain (patient tracking/registry) associated with worse outcomes. Conclusions This study is among the first to examine the association between PCMH transformation and clinical performance in HCs, providing an understanding of the impact of PCMH adoption within safety-net settings. The mixed results highlight the importance of examining relationships between specific PCMH domains and specific clinical quality measures, in addition to analyzing overall PCMH scores which could yield distorted findings. PMID:25793267

Anger and retribution after collective overuse: the role of blaming and environmental uncertainty in social dilemmas.

PubMed

de Kwaadsteniet, Erik W; van Dijk, Eric; Wit, Arjaan; De Cremer, David

2010-01-01

This article investigates how group members respond to one another when collective overuse occurs. The authors argue that interpersonal reactions after overuse in a common-resource dilemma are largely determined by the environmental characteristics of the social dilemma. More specifically, under environmental certainty they expect people to show more anger to group members than under uncertainty (Study 1). Additionally, they expect stronger retributive reactions to high harvesters than to moderate harvesters, and they expect this difference to be larger under certainty than under uncertainty (Study 2 and 3). Moreover, they predict that these effects are mediated by blaming. The results of three experiments corroborate these predictions.

Alzheimer’s Disease as the Product of a Progressive Energy Deficiency Syndrome in the Central Nervous System: The Neuroenergetic Hypothesis

PubMed Central

Blonz, Edward R.

2017-01-01

The decreased availability of metabolizable energy resources in the central nervous system is hypothesized to be a key factor in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. More specifically, the age-related decline in the ability of glucose to cross the blood-brain barrier creates a metabolic stress that shifts the normal, benign processing of amyloid-β protein precursor toward pathways associated with the production of amyloid-β plaques and tau-containing neurofibrillary tangles that are characteristic of the disease. The neuroenergetic hypothesis provides insight into the etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and illuminates new approaches for diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment. PMID:28946565

Visualizing the Big (and Large) Data from an HPC Resource

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sisneros, R.

2015-10-01

Supercomputers are built to endure painfully large simulations and contend with resulting outputs. These are characteristics that scientists are all too willing to test the limits of in their quest for science at scale. The data generated during a scientist's workflow through an HPC center (large data) is the primary target for analysis and visualization. However, the hardware itself is also capable of generating volumes of diagnostic data (big data); this presents compelling opportunities to deploy analogous analytic techniques. In this paper we will provide a survey of some of the many ways in which visualization and analysis may be crammed into the scientific workflow as well as utilized on machine-specific data.

A fuel cycle assessment guide for utility and state energy planners

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

Not Available

1994-07-01

This guide, one in a series of documents designed to help assess fuel cycles, is a framework for setting parameters, collecting data, and analyzing fuel cycles for supply-side and demand-side management. It provides an automated tool for entering comparative fuel cycle data that are meaningful to state and utility integrated resource planning, collaborative, and regional energy planning activities. It outlines an extensive range of energy technology characteristics and environmental, social, and economic considerations within each stage of a fuel cycle. The guide permits users to focus on specific stages or effects that are relevant to the technology being evaluated andmore » that meet the user`s planning requirements.« less

Application of Multi-Source Remote Sensing Image in Yunnan Province Grassland Resources Investigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, J.; Wen, G.; Li, D.

2018-04-01

Trough mastering background information of Yunnan province grassland resources utilization and ecological conditions to improves grassland elaborating management capacity, it carried out grassland resource investigation work by Yunnan province agriculture department in 2017. The traditional grassland resource investigation method is ground based investigation, which is time-consuming and inefficient, especially not suitable for large scale and hard-to-reach areas. While remote sensing is low cost, wide range and efficient, which can reflect grassland resources present situation objectively. It has become indispensable grassland monitoring technology and data sources and it has got more and more recognition and application in grassland resources monitoring research. This paper researches application of multi-source remote sensing image in Yunnan province grassland resources investigation. First of all, it extracts grassland resources thematic information and conducts field investigation through BJ-2 high space resolution image segmentation. Secondly, it classifies grassland types and evaluates grassland degradation degree through high resolution characteristics of Landsat 8 image. Thirdly, it obtained grass yield model and quality classification through high resolution and wide scanning width characteristics of MODIS images and sample investigate data. Finally, it performs grassland field qualitative analysis through UAV remote sensing image. According to project area implementation, it proves that multi-source remote sensing data can be applied to the grassland resources investigation in Yunnan province and it is indispensable method.

CORSET: Service-Oriented Resource Management System in Linux

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Dong-Jae; Kim, Chei-Yol; Jung, Sung-In

Generally, system resources are not enough for many running services and applications in a system. And services are more important than single process in real world and they have different priority or importance. So each service should be treated with discrimination in aspect of system resources. But administrator can't guarantee the specific service has proper resources in unsettled workload situation because many processes are in race condition. So, we suppose the service-oriented resource management subsystem to resolve upper problems. It guarantees the performance or QoS of the specific service in changeable workload situation by satisfying the minimum resource requirement for the service.

Understanding the Socioeconomic Effects of Wildfires on Western U.S. Public Lands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanchez, J. J.; Srivastava, L.; Marcos-Martinez, R.

2017-12-01

Climate change has resulted in the increased severity and frequency of forest disturbances due to wildfires, droughts, pests and diseases that compromise the sustainable provision of forest ecosystem services (e.g., water quantity and quality, carbon sequestration, recreation). A better understanding of the environmental and socioeconomic consequences of forest disturbances (i.e., wildfires) could improve the management and protection of public lands. We used a single-site benefit transfer function and spatially explicit information for demographic, socioeconomic, and site-specific characteristics to estimate the monetized value of market and non-market ecosystem services provided by forests on Western US public lands. These estimates are then used to approximate the costs of forest disturbances caused by wildfires of varying frequency and intensity, and across sites with heterogeneous characteristics and protection and management strategies. Our analysis provides credible estimates of the benefits of the forest for land management by the United States Forest Service, thereby assisting forest managers in planning resourcing and budgeting priorities.

[A profile of the population of Indonesia: developing human resources].

PubMed

Mantra, I B

1991-01-01

Population characteristics and their implications for human resource development in Indonesia are analyzed using data from official sources, including the 1990 census. The author concludes that concurrent with some socioeconomic development have been improvements in conditions and characteristics of the population, as seen in the declines in the proportion of the dependent child population and in fertility and mortality rates. An increase in spontaneous internal migration in response to changes in local conditions is also noted. (SUMMARY IN ENG)

BEYOND THE INDICES: RELATIONS OF HABITAT AND FISH CHARACTERISTICS IN THE GEORGIA PIEDMONT

EPA Science Inventory

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has conducted biological sampling at 180 stream sites in the Georgia Piedmont (1998-99) and recorded several trophic and abundance characteristics of the fish assemblages and habitat at each site. These characteristics were combined to ...

What can we learn from resource pulses?

PubMed

Yang, Louie H; Bastow, Justin L; Spence, Kenneth O; Wright, Amber N

2008-03-01

An increasing number of studies in a wide range of natural systems have investigated how pulses of resource availability influence ecological processes at individual, population, and community levels. Taken together, these studies suggest that some common processes may underlie pulsed resource dynamics in a wide diversity of systems. Developing a common framework of terms and concepts for the study of resource pulses may facilitate greater synthesis among these apparently disparate systems. Here, we propose a general definition of the resource pulse concept, outline some common patterns in the causes and consequences of resource pulses, and suggest a few key questions for future investigations. We define resource pulses as episodes of increased resource availability in space and time that combine low frequency (rarity), large magnitude (intensity), and short duration (brevity), and emphasize the importance of considering resource pulses at spatial and temporal scales relevant to specific resource-onsumer interactions. Although resource pulses are uncommon events for consumers in specific systems, our review of the existing literature suggests that pulsed resource dynamics are actually widespread phenomena in nature. Resource pulses often result from climatic and environmental factors, processes of spatiotemporal accumulation and release, outbreak population dynamics, or a combination of these factors. These events can affect life history traits and behavior at the level of individual consumers, numerical responses at the population level, and indirect effects at the community level. Consumers show strategies for utilizing ephemeral resources opportunistically, reducing resource variability by averaging over larger spatial scales, and tolerating extended interpulse periods of reduced resource availability. Resource pulses can also create persistent effects in communities through several mechanisms. We suggest that the study of resource pulses provides opportunities to understand the dynamics of many specific systems, and may also contribute to broader ecological questions at individual, population, and community levels.

Exploring Occupations in the Natural Resources: A Student Resource Guide for the Middle School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mortensen, James H.; And Others

Section A of this resource guide is designed to help students develop knowledge of their personal strengths and weaknesses and understand the relationship of these characteristics to educational and vocational choices. Each time students experience a work role, they should be encouraged to share with other students: (1) their observation of job…

An Inventory of Natural, Human, and Social Overhead Capital Resources in North-Central New Mexico.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carruthers, Garrey; Eastman, Clyde

Concerned with the north-central area of New Mexico (Rio Arriba, Taos, Colfax, Mora, Santa Fe, and San Miguel counties), this inventory describes the situation and delineation of the region, the natural resources (physical characteristics, land, land-ownership patterns, land-use patterns, land-title problems, water resources, and minerals); human…

Resource Evaluation and Site Selection for Microalgae Production in India

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

Milbrandt, A.; Jarvis, E.

2010-09-01

The study evaluates climate conditions, availability of CO2 and other nutrients, water resources, and land characteristics to identify areas in India suitable for algae production. The purpose is to provide an understanding of the resource potential in India for algae biofuels production and to assist policymakers, investors, and industry developers in their future strategic decisions.

Personomics: The Missing Link in the Evolution from Precision Medicine to Personalized Medicine.

PubMed

Ziegelstein, Roy C

2017-10-16

Clinical practice guidelines have been developed for many common conditions based on data from randomized controlled trials. When medicine is informed solely by clinical practice guidelines, however, the patient is not treated as an individual, but rather a member of a group. Precision medicine, as defined herein, characterizes unique biological characteristics of the individual or of specimens obtained from an individual to tailor diagnostics and therapeutics to a specific patient. These unique biological characteristics are defined by the tools of precision medicine: genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, epigenomics, pharmacogenomics, and other "-omics." Personalized medicine, as defined herein, uses additional information about the individual derived from knowing the patient as a person. These unique personal characteristics are defined by tools known as personomics which takes into account an individual's personality, preferences, values, goals, health beliefs, social support network, financial resources, and unique life circumstances that affect how and when a given health condition will manifest in that person and how that condition will respond to treatment. In this paradigm, precision medicine may be considered a necessary step in the evolution of medical care to personalized medicine, with personomics as the missing link.

Ecology of invasive mosquitoes: effects on resident species and on human health

PubMed Central

Juliano, Steven A.; Lounibos, L. Philip

2007-01-01

Investigations of biological invasions focus on patterns and processes that are related to introduction, establishment, spread and impacts of introduced species. This review focuses on the ecological interactions operating during invasions by the most prominent group of insect vectors of disease, mosquitoes. First, we review characteristics of non-native mosquito species that have established viable populations, and those invasive species that have spread widely and had major impacts, testing whether biotic characteristics are associated with the transition from established non-native to invasive. Second, we review the roles of interspecific competition, apparent competition, predation, intraguild predation and climatic limitation as causes of impacts on residents or as barriers to invasion. We concentrate on the best-studied invasive mosquito, Aedes albopictus, evaluating the application of basic ecological theory to invasions by Aedes albopictus. We develop a model based on observations of Aedes albopictus for effects of resource competition and predation as barriers to invasion, evaluating which community and ecosystem characteristics favour invasion. Third, we evaluate the ways in which invasive mosquitoes have contributed to outbreaks of human and animal disease, considering specifically whether invasive mosquitoes create novel health threats, or modify disease transmission for existing pathogen–host systems. PMID:17637849

Frequent visitors at the psychiatric emergency room - A literature review.

PubMed

Schmidt, Manuela

2018-03-01

Frequent visitors at the psychiatric emergency room (PER) constitute a small subgroup of patients, yet they are responsible for a disproportionate number of visits and thus claim considerable resources. Their needs are often left unmet and their repetitive visits reflect their dissatisfaction as well as that of PERs' staff. Motivated by these dilemmas, this study systematically reviews the literature about frequent visitors at PER and seeks to answer two questions: What characterizes frequent visitors at PER in the literature? and What characterizes PER in the literature? Based on 29 studies, this paper offers answers to the two questions based on a strength weakness opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis. The results of the review and subsequent analysis of the literature revealed the multiplicity and complexity of frequent visitors' characteristics and how they appear to converge. Commonalities were more difficult to identify in PER characteristics. In some cases, this happened because the characteristics were poorly described or were context specific. As a result, it was not easy to compare the studies on PER. Based on SWOT and the findings of the analysis, the paper proposes new venues of research and suggests how the field of mental health might develop by taking into account its opportunities and threats.

The Asian Human Resource Approach in Global Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cummings, William K.

1995-01-01

Challenges the prevailing Western approach to education by asserting that several Asian nations have and are developing a distinctive approach to human resource development. Describes characteristics of this approach and contrasts it to the Western model. (CFR)

Geothermal energy in Alaska: site data base and development status

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

Markle, D.R.

1979-04-01

The various factors affecting geothermal resource development are summarized for Alaska including: resource data base, geological description, reservoir characteristics, environmental character, base and development status, institutional factors, economics, population and market, and development potential. (MHR)

30 CFR 19.6 - Specific requirements for approval.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Specific requirements for approval. 19.6 Section 19.6 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR TESTING, EVALUATION, AND APPROVAL OF MINING PRODUCTS ELECTRIC CAP LAMPS § 19.6 Specific requirements for approval. (a...

15 CFR 291.4 - National industry-specific pollution prevention and environmental compliance resource centers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false National industry-specific pollution... § 291.4 National industry-specific pollution prevention and environmental compliance resource centers... information on pollution prevention opportunities, regulatory compliance and technologies and techniques for...

Quality Parameterization of Educational Resources from the Perspective of a Teacher

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karolcík, Štefan; Cipková, Elena; Veselský, Milan; Hrubišková, Helena; Matulcíková, Mária

2017-01-01

Objective assessment of the quality of available educational resources presupposes the existence of specific quality standards and specific evaluation tools which consider the specificities of digital products with educational ambitions. The study presents the results of research conducted on a representative sample of teachers who commented on…

A Theoretical and Clinical Framework for Parental Burnout: The Balance Between Risks and Resources (BR2)

PubMed Central

Mikolajczak, Moïra; Roskam, Isabelle

2018-01-01

Parental burnout is a specific syndrome resulting from enduring exposure to chronic parenting stress. But why do some parents burn out while others, facing the same stressors, do not? The main aim of this paper was to propose a theory of parental burnout capable of predicting who is at risk of burnout, explaining why a particular parent burned out and why at that specific point in time, and providing directions for intervention. The secondary goal was to operationalize this theory in a tool that would be easy to use for both researchers and clinicians. The results of this two-wave longitudinal study conducted on 923 parents suggest that the Balance between Risks and Resources (BR2) theory proposed here is a relevant framework to predict and explain parental burnout. More specifically, the results show that (1) the BR2 instrument reliably measures parents' balance between risks (parental stress-enhancing factors) and resources (parental stress-alleviating factors), (2) there is a strong linear relationship between BR2 score and parental burnout, (3) parental burnout results from a chronic imbalance of risks over resources, (4) BR2 predicts parental burnout better than job burnout and (5) among the risk and resource factors measured in BR2, risks and resources non-specific to parenting (e.g., low stress-management abilities, perfectionism) equally predict parental and job burnout, while risks and resources specific to parenting (e.g., childrearing practices, coparenting) uniquely predict parental burnout. PMID:29946278

Trends in Streamflow Characteristics in Hawaii, 1913-2002

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oki, Delwyn S.

2004-01-01

The surface-water resources of Hawaii have significant cultural, aesthetic, ecologic, and economic importance. In Hawaii, surface-water resources are developed for both offstream uses (for example, drinking water, agriculture, and industrial uses) and instream uses (for example, maintenance of habitat and ecosystems, recreational activities, aesthetic values, maintenance of water quality, conveyance of irrigation and domestic water supplies, and protection of traditional and customary Hawaiian rights). Possible long-term trends in streamflow characteristics have important implications for water users, water suppliers, resource managers, and citizens in the State. Proper management of Hawaii's streams requires an understanding of long-term trends in streamflow characteristics and their potential implications. Effects of long-term downward trends in low flows in streams include potential loss of habitat for native stream fauna and reduced water availability for offstream and instream water uses. Effects of long-term upward trends in high flows in streams include construction of bridges and water-conveyance structures that are potentially unsafe if they are not designed with proper consideration of trends in high flows.

A Comparison of Subjective and Objective Job Demands and Fit with Personal Resources as Predictors of Retirement Timing in a National U.S. Sample

PubMed Central

Sonnega, Amanda; Helppie-McFall, Brooke; Hudomiet, Peter; Willis, Robert J.; Fisher, Gwenith G.

2017-01-01

Population aging and attendant pressures on public budgets have spurred considerable interest in understanding factors that influence retirement timing. A range of sociodemographic and economic characteristics predict both earlier and later retirement. Less is known about the role of job characteristics on the work choices of older workers. Researchers are increasingly using the subjective ratings of job characteristics available in the Health and Retirement Study in conjunction with more objective measures of job characteristics from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) database. Employing a theoretically-informed model of job demands-personal resources fit, we constructed mismatch measures between resources and job demands (both subjectively and objectively assessed) in physical, emotional, and cognitive domains. When we matched comparable measures across the two data sources in the domains of physical, emotional, and cognitive job demands, we found that both sources of information held predictive power in relation to retirement timing. Physical and emotional but not cognitive mismatch were associated with earlier retirement. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings and directions for future research. PMID:29270302

Demand response, behind-the-meter generation and air quality.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiyue; Zhang, K Max

2015-02-03

We investigated the implications of behind-the-meter (BTM) generation participating in demand response (DR) programs. Specifically, we evaluated the impacts of NOx emissions from BTM generators enrolled in the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO)'s reliability-based DR programs. Through analyzing the DR program enrollment data, DR event records, ozone air quality monitoring data, and emission characteristics of the generators, we found that the emissions from BTM generators very likely contribute to exceedingly high ozone concentrations in the Northeast Corridor region, and very likely account for a substantial fraction of total NOx emissions from electricity generation. In addition, a companion study showed that the emissions from BTM generators could also form near-source particulate matter (PM) hotspots. The important policy implications are that the absence of up-to-date regulations on BTM generators may offset the current efforts to reduce the emissions from peaking power plants, and that there is a need to quantify the environmental impacts of DR programs in designing sound policies related to demand-side resources. Furthermore, we proposed the concept of "Green" DR resources, referring to those that not only provide power systems reliability services, but also have verifiable environmental benefits or minimal negative environmental impacts. We argue that Green DR resources that are able to maintain resource adequacy and reduce emissions at the same time are key to achieving the cobenefits of power system reliability and protecting public health during periods with peak electricity demand.

Pathways of Intergenerational Transmission of Advantages during Adolescence: Social Background, Cognitive Ability, and Educational Attainment.

PubMed

Schulz, Wiebke; Schunck, Reinhard; Diewald, Martin; Johnson, Wendy

2017-10-01

Educational attainment in adolescence is of paramount importance for attaining higher education and for shaping subsequent life chances. Sociological accounts focus on the role of differences in socioeconomic resources in intergenerational reproduction of educational inequalities. These often disregard the intergenerational transmission of cognitive ability and the importance of children's cognitive ability to educational attainment. Psychological perspectives stress the importance of cognitive ability for educational attainment but underemphasize potentially different roles of specific socioeconomic resources in shaping educational outcomes, as well as individual differences in cognitive ability. By integrating two strands of research, a clearer picture of the pathways linking the family of origin, cognitive ability, and early educational outcomes can be reached. Using the population-based TwinLife study in Germany, we investigated multidimensional pathways linking parental socioeconomic position to their children's cognitive ability and academic track attendance in the secondary school. The sample included twins (N = 4008), respectively ages 11 and 17, and siblings (N = 801). We observed strong genetic influences on cognitive ability, whereas shared environmental influences were much more important for academic tracking. In multilevel analyses, separate dimensions of socioeconomic resources influenced child cognitive ability, controlling parental cognitive ability. Controlling adolescent cognitive ability and parental cognitive ability, parental socioeconomic resources also directly affected track attendance. This indicated that it is crucial to investigate the intertwined influences on educational outcomes in adolescence of both cognitive ability and the characteristics of the family of origin.

A Probabilistic Assessment Methodology for the Evaluation of Geologic Carbon Dioxide Storage

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brennan, Sean T.; Burruss, Robert A.; Merrill, Matthew D.; Freeman, P.A.; Ruppert, Leslie F.

2010-01-01

In 2007, the Energy Independence and Security Act (Public Law 110-140) authorized the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct a national assessment of potential geologic storage resources for carbon dioxide (CO2) in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. The first year of that activity was specified for development of a methodology to estimate storage potential that could be applied uniformly to geologic formations across the United States. After its release, the methodology was to receive public comment and external expert review. An initial methodology was developed and published in March 2009 (Burruss and others, 2009), and public comments were received. The report was then sent to a panel of experts for external review. The external review report was received by the USGS in December 2009. This report is in response to those external comments and reviews and describes how the previous assessment methodology (Burruss and others, 2009) was revised. The resource that is assessed is the technically accessible storage resource, which is defined as the mass of CO2 that can be stored in the pore volume of a storage formation. The methodology that is presented in this report is intended to be used for assessments at scales ranging from regional to subbasinal in which storage assessment units are defined on the basis of common geologic and hydrologic characteristics. The methodology does not apply to site-specific evaluation of storage resources or capacity.

[Study on spatial distribution characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine resource species richness based on national census of Chinese medicine resources (pilot)].

PubMed

Zhang, Xiao-Bo; Wang, Hui; Jing, Zhi-Xian; Li, Meng; Guo, Lan-Ping; Huang, Lu-Qi

2017-11-01

Based on the data collected by the census team in the national census information management system, the spatial autocorrelation analysis method was used to analyze the similarity of the richness of Chinese herbal medicine resources in the investigated counties. The results showed that the species richness in the investigated counties appeared a tendency to focus on the distribution of the characteristics. Among them, the areas with sparse resources are concentrated in most areas of the north of the Yangtze River, northwest and most areas of Tibet. The areas with abundant resources are concentrated in the areas south of the Yangtze River. The results showed that there were significant differences in the abundance of traditional Chinese medicine resources between regions. The results showed that there were significant differences in the abundance of traditional Chinese medicine resources between regions. Due to the large differences in the land area between the county and the richness of the types of traditional Chinese medicine resources, it is proposed to increase the land area of the traditional Chinese medicine resource census when allocating the fourth national census of Chinese medicine resources by the "factor method", and the richness of traditional Chinese medicine and other indicators, in order to give full play to the efficiency of transfer payment system. Based on the county area and the rich variety of traditional Chinese medicine resources, combined with the national drug resources census pilot work carried out, it is recommended to focus on attention and support in the national medicine resources census work, personnel team, funding, summary of results on the western and southern provinces. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

On the Use of the Beta Distribution in Probabilistic Resource Assessments

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

Olea, Ricardo A., E-mail: olea@usgs.gov

2011-12-15

The triangular distribution is a popular choice when it comes to modeling bounded continuous random variables. Its wide acceptance derives mostly from its simple analytic properties and the ease with which modelers can specify its three parameters through the extremes and the mode. On the negative side, hardly any real process follows a triangular distribution, which from the outset puts at a disadvantage any model employing triangular distributions. At a time when numerical techniques such as the Monte Carlo method are displacing analytic approaches in stochastic resource assessments, easy specification remains the most attractive characteristic of the triangular distribution. Themore » beta distribution is another continuous distribution defined within a finite interval offering wider flexibility in style of variation, thus allowing consideration of models in which the random variables closely follow the observed or expected styles of variation. Despite its more complex definition, generation of values following a beta distribution is as straightforward as generating values following a triangular distribution, leaving the selection of parameters as the main impediment to practically considering beta distributions. This contribution intends to promote the acceptance of the beta distribution by explaining its properties and offering several suggestions to facilitate the specification of its two shape parameters. In general, given the same distributional parameters, use of the beta distributions in stochastic modeling may yield significantly different results, yet better estimates, than the triangular distribution.« less

CINERGI: Community Inventory of EarthCube Resources for Geoscience Interoperability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaslavsky, Ilya; Bermudez, Luis; Grethe, Jeffrey; Gupta, Amarnath; Hsu, Leslie; Lehnert, Kerstin; Malik, Tanu; Richard, Stephen; Valentine, David; Whitenack, Thomas

2014-05-01

Organizing geoscience data resources to support cross-disciplinary data discovery, interpretation, analysis and integration is challenging because of different information models, semantic frameworks, metadata profiles, catalogs, and services used in different geoscience domains, not to mention different research paradigms and methodologies. The central goal of CINERGI, a new project supported by the US National Science Foundation through its EarthCube Building Blocks program, is to create a methodology and assemble a large inventory of high-quality information resources capable of supporting data discovery needs of researchers in a wide range of geoscience domains. The key characteristics of the inventory are: 1) collaboration with and integration of metadata resources from a number of large data facilities; 2) reliance on international metadata and catalog service standards; 3) assessment of resource "interoperability-readiness"; 4) ability to cross-link and navigate data resources, projects, models, researcher directories, publications, usage information, etc.; 5) efficient inclusion of "long-tail" data, which are not appearing in existing domain repositories; 6) data registration at feature level where appropriate, in addition to common dataset-level registration, and 7) integration with parallel EarthCube efforts, in particular focused on EarthCube governance, information brokering, service-oriented architecture design and management of semantic information. We discuss challenges associated with accomplishing CINERGI goals, including defining the inventory scope; managing different granularity levels of resource registration; interaction with search systems of domain repositories; explicating domain semantics; metadata brokering, harvesting and pruning; managing provenance of the harvested metadata; and cross-linking resources based on the linked open data (LOD) approaches. At the higher level of the inventory, we register domain-wide resources such as domain catalogs, vocabularies, information models, data service specifications, identifier systems, and assess their conformance with international standards (such as those adopted by ISO and OGC, and used by INSPIRE) or de facto community standards using, in part, automatic validation techniques. The main level in CINERGI leverages a metadata aggregation platform (currently Geoportal Server) to organize harvested resources from multiple collections and contributed by community members during EarthCube end-user domain workshops or suggested online. The latter mechanism uses the SciCrunch toolkit originally developed within the Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF) project and now being extended to other communities. The inventory is designed to support requests such as "Find resources with theme X in geographic area S", "Find datasets with subject Y using query concept expansion", "Find geographic regions having data of type Z", "Find datasets that contain property P". With the added LOD support, additional types of requests, such as "Find example implementations of specification X", "Find researchers who have worked in Domain X, dataset Y, location L", "Find resources annotated by person X", will be supported. Project's website (http://workspace.earthcube.org/cinergi) provides access to the initial resource inventory, a gallery of EarthCube researchers, collections of geoscience models, metadata entry forms, and other software modules and inventories being integrated into the CINERGI system. Support from the US National Science Foundation under award NSF ICER-1343816 is gratefully acknowledged.

A Novel Framework Based on the Improved Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model to Understand the Impact of Job Characteristics on Job Burnout from the View of Emotion Regulation Theory.

PubMed

Yang, Naiding; Lu, Jintao; Ye, Jinfu

2018-03-01

It has been suggested that individual job characteristics have a significant impact on job burnout, and the process is subject to the regulation of demographic variables. However, the influence path of job characteristics on job burnout is still a "black box". On the basis of a systematic literature review by employing Pub Med, Science Direct, Web of Science, Google Scholar, CNKI and Scopus for required information with the several keywords "Job burnout", "Emotion regulation", "Personality traits", and "Psychological stress", in this study, an improved mine rescue workers-oriented job demands-resources (JD-R) model was put forward. Then, a novel analysis framework, to explore the impact of job characteristics on job burnout from the view of emotion regulation theory, was proposed combining the personality trait theory. This study argues that job burnout is influenced by job demands through expressive suppression and by job resources through cognitive reappraisal respectively. Further more, job demands and job resources have the opposite effects on job burnout through the "loss-path" caused by job pressure and the "gain-path" arised from job motivation, respectively. Extrovert personality traits can affect the way the individual processes the information of work environment and then how individual further adopts emotion regulation strategies, finally resulting in indirectly affecting the influence path of mine rescue workers' job characteristics on job burnout. This present study can help managers to realize the importance of employees' psychological stress and job burnout problems. The obtained conclusions provide significant decision-making references for managers in intervening job burnout, managing emotional stress and mental health of employees.

Use of diabetes resources in adults attending a self-management education program.

PubMed

Gucciardi, Enza; Smith, Patricia L; DeMelo, Margaret

2006-12-01

To identify the types of resources used to acquire information or assistance in the management of diabetes, and to identify persons who are more or less likely to use a variety of diabetes resources. Through the use of a questionnaire and review of patient records, sociodemographic, clinical, and health care service utilization characteristics were obtained for 267 individuals with type 2 diabetes from a culturally diverse diabetes education centre. Descriptive analyses were performed to provide information on the types of diabetes resources used by age, sex and primary language spoken. Multivariable Poisson regression was used to predict low from high users of a variety of diabetes resources. On average, most patients used four different resources. The most commonly cited were physicians or endocrinologists; diabetes educators; and magazines, newspapers, books or television. Those who did not speak English, were born outside of Canada, had a lower level of education, or who were older used fewer diabetes resources. Notably, the characteristics of individuals who are less likely to use resources or a variety of resources reflect the basic determinants of health (i.e., age, sex, ethnicity or primary language spoken, and education). We need to develop resources that are equitably accessible and of interest to all patients, particularly for individuals who do not speak English, who have lower education and literacy levels, and who are older. Furthermore, imparting the skills on how to find and utilize currently existing resources to assist in chronic disease self-management should be promoted as a core aspect of self-management education.

Selection of Electronic Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weathers, Barbara

1998-01-01

Discusses the impact of electronic resources on collection development; selection of CD-ROMs, (platform, speed, video and sound, networking capability, installation and maintenance); selection of laser disks; and Internet evaluation (accuracy of content, authority, objectivity, currency, technical characteristics). Lists Web sites for evaluating…

Job Satisfaction of People With Intellectual Disability: Associations With Job Characteristics and Personality.

PubMed

Akkerman, Alma; Kef, Sabina; Meininger, Herman P

2018-01-01

To obtain an understanding of factors associated with job satisfaction of people with intellectual disability (ID), this study investigates the associations of job satisfaction with job characteristics (i.e., job demands, job resources) and personality, using the job demands-resources model. Data were gathered from 117 people and their employment support workers, using structured questionnaires adapted from well-established instruments. Job resources and age were positively associated with job satisfaction. Job demands and personality showed no significant direct associations with job satisfaction. Moderation analyses showed that for people with ID with high conscientiousness, enhanced job demands were associated with reduced job satisfaction, which was not the case for those with low conscientiousness. This study emphasizes the importance of job design.

Time-aware service-classified spectrum defragmentation algorithm for flex-grid optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Yang; Xu, Jing

2018-01-01

By employing sophisticated routing and spectrum assignment (RSA) algorithms together with a finer spectrum granularity (namely frequency slot) in resource allocation procedures, flex-grid optical networks can accommodate diverse kinds of services with high spectrum-allocation flexibility and resource-utilization efficiency. However, the continuity and the contiguity constraints in spectrum allocation procedures may always induce some isolated, small-sized, and unoccupied spectral blocks (known as spectrum fragments) in flex-grid optical networks. Although these spectrum fragments are left unoccupied, they can hardly be utilized by the subsequent service requests directly because of their spectral characteristics and the constraints in spectrum allocation. In this way, the existence of spectrum fragments may exhaust the available spectrum resources for a coming service request and thus worsens the networking performance. Therefore, many reactive defragmentation algorithms have been proposed to handle the fragmented spectrum resources via re-optimizing the routing paths and the spectrum resources for the existing services. But the routing-path and the spectrum-resource re-optimization in reactive defragmentation algorithms may possibly disrupt the traffic of the existing services and require extra components. By comparison, some proactive defragmentation algorithms (e.g. fragmentation-aware algorithms) were proposed to suppress spectrum fragments from their generation instead of handling the fragmented spectrum resources. Although these proactive defragmentation algorithms induced no traffic disruption and required no extra components, they always left the generated spectrum fragments unhandled, which greatly affected their efficiency in spectrum defragmentation. In this paper, by comprehensively considering the characteristics of both the reactive and the proactive defragmentation algorithms, we proposed a time-aware service-classified (TASC) spectrum defragmentation algorithm, which simultaneously employed proactive and reactive mechanisms in suppressing spectrum fragments with the awareness of services' types and their duration times. By dividing the spectrum resources into several flexible groups according to services' types and limiting both the spectrum allocation and the spectrum re-tuning for a certain service inside one specific spectrum group according to its type, the proposed TASC defragmentation algorithm cannot only suppress spectrum fragments from generation inside each spectrum group, but also handle the fragments generated between two adjacent groups. In this way, the proposed TASC algorithm gains higher efficiency in suppressing spectrum fragments than both the reactive and the proactive defragmentation algorithms. Additionally, as the generation of spectrum fragments is retrained between spectrum groups and the defragmentation procedure is limited inside each spectrum group, the induced traffic disruption for the existing services can be possibly reduced. Besides, the proposed TASC defragmentation algorithm always re-tunes the spectrum resources of the service with the maximum duration time first in spectrum defragmentation procedure, which can further reduce spectrum fragments because of the fact that the services with longer duration times always have higher possibility in inducing spectrum fragments than the services with shorter duration times. The simulation results show that the proposed TASC defragmentation algorithm can significantly reduce the number of the generated spectrum fragments while improving the service blocking performance.

Receipt of Guideline-Concordant Care Among Older Women With Stage I-III Breast Cancer: A Population-Based Study.

PubMed

LeMasters, Traci; Madhavan, S Suresh; Sambamoorthi, Usha; Hazard-Jenkins, Hannah W; Kelly, Kimberly M; Long, Dustin

2018-06-01

Background: This study examined receipt of guideline-concordant care (GCC) according to evidence-based treatment guidelines and quality measures and specific types of treatment among older women with breast cancer. Patients and Methods: A total of 142,433 patients aged ≥66 years diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer between 2007 and 2011 were identified in the SEER-Medicare linked database. Algorithms considering cancer characteristics and the appropriate course of care as per guidelines versus actual care received determined receipt of GCC. Multivariable logistic regression estimated the likelihood of GCC and specific types of treatment for women aged ≥75 versus 66 to 74 years. Results: Overall, 39.7% of patients received GCC. Patients diagnosed at stage II or III, with certain preexisting conditions, and of nonwhite race were less likely to receive GCC. Patients with hormone-negative tumors, higher grade tumors, and greater access to oncology care resources were more likely to receive GCC. Patients aged ≥75 years were approximately 40% less likely to receive GCC or adjuvant endocrine therapy, 78% less likely to have any surgery, 61% less likely to have chemotherapy, and about half as likely to have radiation therapy than those aged 66 to 74 years. Conclusions: Fewer than half of older women with breast cancer received GCC, with the lowest rates observed among the oldest age groups, racial/ethnic minorities, and women with later-stage cancers. However, patients with more aggressive tumor characteristics and greater access to oncology resources were more likely to receive GCC. Considering that older women have the highest incidence of breast cancer and that many are diagnosed at stages requiring more aggressive treatment, efforts to increase rates of earlier stage diagnosis and the development of less toxic treatments could help improve GCC and survival while preserving quality of life. Copyright © 2018 by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Geothermal Produced Fluids: Characteristics, Treatment Technologies, and Management Options

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

Finster, Molly; Clark, Corrie; Schroeder, Jenna

2015-10-01

Geothermal power plants use geothermal fluids as a resource and create waste residuals as part of the power generation process. Both the geofluid resource and the waste stream are considered produced fluids. The chemical and physical nature of produced fluids can have a major impact on the geothermal power industry and can influence the feasibility of geothermal power development, exploration approaches, power plant design, operating practices, and the reuse or disposal of residuals. In general, produced fluids include anything that comes out of a geothermal field and that subsequently must be managed on the surface. These fluids vary greatly dependingmore » on the geothermal reservoir being harnessed, power plant design, and the life cycle stage in which the fluid exists, but generally include water and fluids used to drill geothermal wells, fluids used to stimulate wells in enhanced geothermal systems, and makeup and/or cooling water used during operation of a geothermal power plant. Additional geothermal-related produced fluids include many substances that are similar to waste streams from the oil and gas industry, such as scale, flash tank solids, precipitated solids from brine treatment, hydrogen sulfide, and cooling-tower-related waste. This review paper aims to provide baseline knowledge on specific technologies and technology areas associated with geothermal power production. Specifically, this research focused on the management techniques related to fluids produced and used during the operational stage of a geothermal power plant; the vast majority of which are employed in the generation of electricity. The general characteristics of produced fluids are discussed. Constituents of interest that tend to drive the selection of treatment technologies are described, including total dissolved solids, noncondensable gases, scale and corrosion, silicon dioxide, metal sulfides, calcium carbonate, corrosion, metals, and naturally occurring radioactive material. Management options for produced fluids that require additional treatment for these constituents are also discussed, including surface disposal, reuse and recycle, agricultural industrial and domestic uses, mineral extraction and recovery, and solid waste handling.« less

Atlas de Recursos Eólicos del Estado de Oaxaca (The Spanish version of Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Oaxaca) (in Spanish)

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

Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; Scott, G.

The Oaxaca Wind Resource Atlas, produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) wind resource group, is the result of an extensive mapping study for the Mexican State of Oaxaca. This atlas identifies the wind characteristics and distribution of the wind resource in Oaxaca. The detailed wind resource maps and other information contained in the atlas facilitate the identification of prospective areas for use of wind energy technologies, both for utility-scale power generation and off-grid wind energy applications.

Evaluating NTU's OpenCourseWare Project with Google Analytics: User Characteristics, Course Preferences, and Usage Patterns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheu, Feng-Ru; Shih, Meilun

2017-01-01

As freely adoptable digital resources, OpenCourseWare (OCW) have become a prominent form of Open Educational Resources (OER). More than 275 institutions in the worldwide OCW consortium have committed to creating free access open course materials. Despite the resources and efforts to create OCW worldwide, little understanding of its use exists.…

Examining Value Change in MOOCs in the Scope of Connectivism and Open Educational Resources Movement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ozturk, Hayriye Tugba

2015-01-01

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) came to prominence with Open Educational Resources Movement (OERM). It was based upon the idea of libre in removal of some permission barriers and gratis in removing the price barrier (Suber, 2008) in learning resources. In line with the theoretical underpinnings of OERM, MOOCs embody primary characteristics of…

Use of Web Resources in the Journal Literature 2001 and 2007: A Cross-Disciplinary Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Li

2011-01-01

This article examines Web resources in research articles from 30 scholarly journals in disciplines across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The purpose of the study is to report the degree to which scholars make use of Web-based resources in the journal literature and to identify Web citation characteristics within different subject…

Guidelines as rationing tools: a qualitative analysis of psychosocial patient selection criteria for cardiac procedures

PubMed Central

Giacomini, Mita K.; Cook, Deborah J.; Streiner, David L.; Anand, Sonia S.

2001-01-01

Background Cardiac procedure guidelines often include psychosocial criteria for selecting patients that potentially introduce social value judgements into clinical decisions and decisions about the rationing of care. The aim of this study was to investigate the terms and justifications for and the meanings of psychosocial patient characteristics used in cardiac procedure guidelines. Methods We selected English-language guidelines published since 1990 and chapters in textbooks published since 1989. These guidelines amalgamated multiple sources of evidence and expertise and made recommendations regarding patient selection for specific procedures. A multidisciplinary team of physicians and social scientists extracted passages regarding psychosocial criteria and developed categories and conceptual relationships to describe and interpret their content. Results Sixty-five papers met the criteria for inclusion in the study. Forty-five (69%) mentioned psychosocial criteria as procedure indications or contraindications. The latter fell into several categories, including behavioural and psychological issues, relationships with significant others, financial resources, social roles and environmental circumstances. Interpretation Psychosocial characteristics are portrayed as having 2 roles in patient selection: as risk factors intrinsic to the candidate or as indicators of need for special intervention. Guidelines typically simply list psychosocial contraindications without clarifying their specific nature or providing any justification for their use. Psychosocial considerations can help in the evaluation of patients for cardiac procedures, but they become ethically controversial when used to restrict access. The use of psychosocial indications and contraindications could be improved by more precise descriptions of the psychosocial problem at issue, explanations regarding why the criterion matters and justification of the characteristic using a biological rationale or research evidence. PMID:11258209

[Psychosocial and developmental outcomes of TYAs with cancer: Are there any specific characteristics for the young adults?

PubMed

Leprince, Tanguy; Sauveplane, Dominique; Ricadat, Elise; Seigneur, Étienne; Marioni, Gabrielle

2016-12-01

During the last few years, specific support devices and even dedicated units for teenagers and young adults (TYAs - patients grouped in the 15-25 years age group) appeared in oncology. If the existing literature review allows identifying many written work related to the experience of cancer during adolescence, resources about "young adults" are not only far less abundant, but rarely give the definition of what is a "young adult". Based on this observation, it appears necessary, at this stage of our practice, to question the definition and psychosocial outcomes of those psychiatrists and psychologists also call "young adults". Are they so different compared to teenagers? Do they have their own specificities? Based on the analysis of the general literature, we will seek to define the highlights of this moment of life and to identify their specific psychosocial and developmental outcomes. Thus, we will be able to study more accurately the experience of young adults facing cancer and the associated psychological side effects. Based on this analysis, we will present the issues which seemed to be specific in the psychological support of young adults and their relatives. Copyright © 2016 Société Française du Cancer. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Pregnancy and birth cohort resources in europe: a large opportunity for aetiological child health research.

PubMed

Larsen, Pernille Stemann; Kamper-Jørgensen, Mads; Adamson, Ashley; Barros, Henrique; Bonde, Jens Peter; Brescianini, Sonia; Brophy, Sinead; Casas, Maribel; Charles, Marie-Aline; Devereux, Graham; Eggesbø, Merete; Fantini, Maria Pia; Frey, Urs; Gehring, Ulrike; Grazuleviciene, Regina; Henriksen, Tine Brink; Hertz-Picciotto, Irva; Heude, Barbara; Hryhorczuk, Daniel O; Inskip, Hazel; Jaddoe, Vincent W V; Lawlor, Debbie A; Ludvigsson, Johnny; Kelleher, Cecily; Kiess, Wieland; Koletzko, Berthold; Kuehni, Claudia Elisabeth; Kull, Inger; Kyhl, Henriette Boye; Magnus, Per; Momas, Isabelle; Murray, Dierdre; Pekkanen, Juha; Polanska, Kinga; Porta, Daniela; Poulsen, Gry; Richiardi, Lorenzo; Roeleveld, Nel; Skovgaard, Anne Mette; Sram, Radim J; Strandberg-Larsen, Katrine; Thijs, Carel; Van Eijsden, Manon; Wright, John; Vrijheid, Martine; Andersen, Anne-Marie Nybo

2013-07-01

During the past 25 years, many pregnancy and birth cohorts have been established. Each cohort provides unique opportunities for examining associations of early-life exposures with child development and health. However, to fully exploit the large amount of available resources and to facilitate cross-cohort collaboration, it is necessary to have accessible information on each cohort and its individual characteristics. The aim of this work was to provide an overview of European pregnancy and birth cohorts registered in a freely accessible database located at http://www.birthcohorts.net. European pregnancy and birth cohorts initiated in 1980 or later with at least 300 mother-child pairs enrolled during pregnancy or at birth, and with postnatal data, were eligible for inclusion. Eligible cohorts were invited to provide information on the data and biological samples collected, as well as the timing of data collection. In total, 70 cohorts were identified. Of these, 56 fulfilled the inclusion criteria encompassing a total of more than 500,000 live-born European children. The cohorts represented 19 countries with the majority of cohorts located in Northern and Western Europe. Some cohorts were general with multiple aims, whilst others focused on specific health or exposure-related research questions. This work demonstrates a great potential for cross-cohort collaboration addressing important aspects of child health. The web site, http://www.birthcohorts.net, proved to be a useful tool for accessing information on European pregnancy and birth cohorts and their characteristics. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Predictors and Effects of Knowledge Management in U.S. Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watcharadamrongkun, Suntaree

Public demands for accountability in higher education have placed increasing pressure on institutions to document their achievement of critical outcomes. These demands also have had wide-reaching implications for the development and enforcement of accreditation standards, including those governing pharmacy education. The knowledge management (KM) framework provides perspective for understanding how organizations evaluate themselves and guidance for how to improve their performance. In this study, we explore knowledge management processes, how these processes are affected by organizational structure and by information technology resources, and how these processes affect organizational performance. This is done in the context of Accreditation Standards and Guidelines for the Professional Program in Pharmacy Leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy Degree (Standards 2007). Data were collected using an online census survey of 121 U.S. Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy and supplemented with archival data. A key informant method was used with CEO Deans and Assessment leaders serving as respondents. The survey yielded a 76.0% (92/121) response rate. Exploratory factor analysis was used to construct scales (and scales) describing core KM processes: Knowledge Acquisition, Knowledge Integration, and Institutionalization; all scale reliabilities were found to be acceptable. Analysis showed that, as expected, greater Knowledge Acquisition predicts greater Knowledge Integration and greater Knowledge Integration predicts greater Institutionalization. Predictive models were constructed using hierarchical multiple regression and path analysis. Overall, information technology resources had stronger effects on KM processes than did characteristics of organizational structure. Greater Institutionalization predicted better outcomes related to direct measures of performance (i.e., NAPLEX pass rates, Accreditation actions) but Institutionalization was unrelated to an indirect measure of performance (i.e., USNWR ratings). Several organizational structure characteristics (i.e., size, age, and being part of an academic health center) were significant predictors of organizational performance; in contrast, IT resources had no direct effects on performance. Findings suggest that knowledge management processes, organizational structures and IT resources are related to better performance for Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy. Further research is needed to understand mechanisms through which specific knowledge management processes translate into better performance and, relatedly, to establish how enhancing KM processes can be used to improve institutional quality.

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN THE MID-ATLANTIC UNITED STATES

EPA Science Inventory

Ecological resources have both extrinsic and intrinsic values. These range from the direct economic values

derived from resource harvests, to inherently ecological characteristics that are necessary for ecosystem

functioning, and finally to societal value that human...

Integration of bicycling and walking facilities into the infrastructure of urban communities : [research brief].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-02-01

Many manuals, handbooks and web resources exist that provide guidance on planning for and designing bicycle and pedestrian facilities. However few of these resources emphasize program and infrastructure characteristics most desired by current (and po...

Endometrial carcinoma in the baby boomer generation. Tumor characteristics and clinical outcome.

PubMed

Elshaikh, Mohamed A; Cattaneo, Richard; Shah, Mira; Patel, Suketu; Mahan, Meredith; Buekers, Thomas; Siddiqui, Farzan

2013-02-01

Baby boomers (BB) entering retirement represent a significant burden on medical resources. The unique lifestyle characteristics engendered by the BB may lead to different endometrial cancer characteristics that bear understanding. We sought to characterize BB with endometrioid carcinoma after hysterectomy and compare the results to those of prior to the baby boomers (PB). After reviewing our prospectively maintained database of 1,450 patients with endometrial cancer, we identified 595 patients who underwent hysterectomy for 1988 International Federation of Gynecologic Oncology (FIGO) stage I-II uterine endometrioid carcinomas, who were born between 1926 and 1964. Their medical records were reviewed in this Institutional review board (IRB)-approved study. Patients with non-endometrioid carcinoma and those who received preoperative therapy were excluded. Patients were defined as BB (born 1946-1964) or PB (born in 1926-1945). The two groups were compared regarding patients' demographics, tumor characteristics and survival. Following a univariate analysis, multivariable modeling was carried out using Cox regression analysis. All patients underwent hysterectomy with a minimum of two years' follow-up. There were 234 patients (39%) in the BB group and 361 patients (61%) in the PB group. Median follow-up for the study cohort was 56 months. BB had higher body mass index (p=0.027), lower tumor grade (p=0.002), earlier FIGO stage (p=0.023), higher number of dissected lymph nodes (p=0.008), less lymphvascular space involvement (p=<0.034), less utilization of adjuvant therapy (p=<0.001), and younger age at diagnosis (p=0.002). However, there was no significant difference found between the BB and PB in regards to local control, disease-specific survival and overall survival. For the study cohort, FIGO stage and tumor grade were independent predictors of recurrence-free and disease-specific survival. There was a trend towards shorter overall survival for the PB women (p=0.063). Although tumor characteristics were more favorable in the BB group of women, local control and survival end-points were not statistically different compared to those of the PB group. As more BB are diagnosed with endometrial carcinoma, further research is warranted to further elucidate the characteristic differences in endometrial carcinoma, if any, in this generation.

A method for characterizing late-season low-flow regime in the upper Grand Ronde River Basin, Oregon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kelly, Valerie J.; White, Seth

2016-04-19

This report describes a method for estimating ecologically relevant low-flow metrics that quantify late‑season streamflow regime for ungaged sites in the upper Grande Ronde River Basin, Oregon. The analysis presented here focuses on sites sampled by the Columbia River Inter‑Tribal Fish Commission as part of their efforts to monitor habitat restoration to benefit spring Chinook salmon recovery in the basin. Streamflow data were provided by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Oregon Water Resources Department. Specific guidance was provided for selection of streamgages, development of probabilistic frequency distributions for annual 7-day low-flow events, and regionalization of the frequency curves based on multivariate analysis of watershed characteristics. Evaluation of the uncertainty associated with the various components of this protocol indicates that the results are reliable for the intended purpose of hydrologic classification to support ecological analysis of factors contributing to juvenile salmon success. They should not be considered suitable for more standard water-resource evaluations that require greater precision, especially those focused on management and forecasting of extreme low-flow conditions.

Application of synthetic scenarios to address water resource concerns: A management-guided case study from the Upper Colorado River Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

McAfee, Stephanie A.; Pederson, Gregory T.; Woodhouse, Connie A.; McCabe, Gregory

2017-01-01

Water managers are increasingly interested in better understanding and planning for projected resource impacts from climate change. In this management-guided study, we use a very large suite of synthetic climate scenarios in a statistical modeling framework to simultaneously evaluate how (1) average temperature and precipitation changes, (2) initial basin conditions, and (3) temporal characteristics of the input climate data influence water-year flow in the Upper Colorado River. The results here suggest that existing studies may underestimate the degree of uncertainty in future streamflow, particularly under moderate temperature and precipitation changes. However, we also find that the relative severity of future flow projections within a given climate scenario can be estimated with simple metrics that characterize the input climate data and basin conditions. These results suggest that simple testing, like the analyses presented in this paper, may be helpful in understanding differences between existing studies or in identifying specific conditions for physically based mechanistic modeling. Both options could reduce overall cost and improve the efficiency of conducting climate change impacts studies.

The Chinese perspective on pastoral resource economics: a vision of the future in a context of socio-ecological vulnerability.

PubMed

Yu, L; Farrell, K N

2016-11-01

This paper reviews institutional changes in pastureland use in China over the last 30 years and discusses their impacts on pastoral communities, drawing evidence from case studies of two agro-pastoralist and two pastoralist communities. Those who rely directly on pastureland for their livelihood are vulnerable to the joint effects of pastureland degradation and climate change. The authors argue that a 'top-down' governance structure with no participation from local communities and a 'one size fits all' institutional solution are a poor fit for pastoralism management. The authors conclude that the current institutional environment in China may be leading to decreasing populations, reduced livestock rearing, impoverishment and increasing inequality within pastoral communities. Bearing in mind that pastoral systems have characteristics that are specific to their areas and tailored to their local context, the authors recommend paying greater attention to 'bottom-up', locally specified strategies which can be combined with long-term institutional arrangements that have historically provided pastoralists and agro-pastoralists with the resources to adapt to change.

Bioenergy Development Policy and Practice Must Recognize Potential Hydrologic Impacts: Lessons from the Americas.

PubMed

Watkins, David W; de Moraes, Márcia M G Alcoforado; Asbjornsen, Heidi; Mayer, Alex S; Licata, Julian; Lopez, Jose Gutierrez; Pypker, Thomas G; Molina, Vivianna Gamez; Marques, Guilherme Fernandes; Carneiro, Ana Cristina Guimaraes; Nuñez, Hector M; Önal, Hayri; da Nobrega Germano, Bruna

2015-12-01

Large-scale bioenergy production will affect the hydrologic cycle in multiple ways, including changes in canopy interception, evapotranspiration, infiltration, and the quantity and quality of surface runoff and groundwater recharge. As such, the water footprints of bioenergy sources vary significantly by type of feedstock, soil characteristics, cultivation practices, and hydro-climatic regime. Furthermore, water management implications of bioenergy production depend on existing land use, relative water availability, and competing water uses at a watershed scale. This paper reviews previous research on the water resource impacts of bioenergy production-from plot-scale hydrologic and nutrient cycling impacts to watershed and regional scale hydro-economic systems relationships. Primary gaps in knowledge that hinder policy development for integrated management of water-bioenergy systems are highlighted. Four case studies in the Americas are analyzed to illustrate relevant spatial and temporal scales for impact assessment, along with unique aspects of biofuel production compared to other agroforestry systems, such as energy-related conflicts and tradeoffs. Based on the case studies, the potential benefits of integrated resource management are assessed, as is the need for further case-specific research.

Micro Thermal and Chemical Systems for In Situ Resource Utilization on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wegeng, Robert S.; Sanders, Gerald

2000-01-01

Robotic sample return missions and postulated human missions to Mars can be greatly aided through the development and utilization of compact chemical processing systems that process atmospheric gases and other indigenous resources to produce hydrocarbon propellants/fuels, oxygen, and other needed chemicals. When used to reduce earth launch mass, substantial cost savings can result. Process Intensification and Process Miniaturization can simultaneously be achieved through the application of microfabricated chemical process systems, based on the rapid heat and mass transport in engineered microchannels. Researchers at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) and the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are collaboratively developing micro thermal and chemical systems for NASA's Mission to Mars program. Preliminary results show that many standard chemical process components (e.g., heat exchangers, chemical reactors and chemical separations units) can be reduced in hardware volume without a corresponding reduction in chemical production rates. Low pressure drops are also achievable when appropriate scaling rules are applied. This paper will discuss current progress in the development of engineered microchemical systems for space and terrestrial applications, including fabrication methods, expected operating characteristics, and specific experimental results.

Expert searching in public health

PubMed Central

Alpi, Kristine M.

2005-01-01

Objective: The article explores the characteristics of public health information needs and the resources available to address those needs that distinguish it as an area of searching requiring particular expertise. Methods: Public health searching activities from reference questions and literature search requests at a large, urban health department library were reviewed to identify the challenges in finding relevant public health information. Results: The terminology of the information request frequently differed from the vocabularies available in the databases. Searches required the use of multiple databases and/or Web resources with diverse interfaces. Issues of the scope and features of the databases relevant to the search questions were considered. Conclusion: Expert searching in public health differs from other types of expert searching in the subject breadth and technical demands of the databases to be searched, the fluidity and lack of standardization of the vocabulary, and the relative scarcity of high-quality investigations at the appropriate level of geographic specificity. Health sciences librarians require a broad exposure to databases, gray literature, and public health terminology to perform as expert searchers in public health. PMID:15685281

Spatial Modelling Tools to Integrate Public Health and Environmental Science, Illustrated with Infectious Cryptosporidiosis

PubMed Central

Lal, Aparna

2016-01-01

Contemporary spatial modelling tools can help examine how environmental exposures such as climate and land use together with socio-economic factors sustain infectious disease transmission in humans. Spatial methods can account for interactions across global and local scales, geographic clustering and continuity of the exposure surface, key characteristics of many environmental influences. Using cryptosporidiosis as an example, this review illustrates how, in resource rich settings, spatial tools have been used to inform targeted intervention strategies and forecast future disease risk with scenarios of environmental change. When used in conjunction with molecular studies, they have helped determine location-specific infection sources and environmental transmission pathways. There is considerable scope for such methods to be used to identify data/infrastructure gaps and establish a baseline of disease burden in resource-limited settings. Spatial methods can help integrate public health and environmental science by identifying the linkages between the physical and socio-economic environment and health outcomes. Understanding the environmental and social context for disease spread is important for assessing the public health implications of projected environmental change. PMID:26848669

Spatial Modelling Tools to Integrate Public Health and Environmental Science, Illustrated with Infectious Cryptosporidiosis.

PubMed

Lal, Aparna

2016-02-02

Contemporary spatial modelling tools can help examine how environmental exposures such as climate and land use together with socio-economic factors sustain infectious disease transmission in humans. Spatial methods can account for interactions across global and local scales, geographic clustering and continuity of the exposure surface, key characteristics of many environmental influences. Using cryptosporidiosis as an example, this review illustrates how, in resource rich settings, spatial tools have been used to inform targeted intervention strategies and forecast future disease risk with scenarios of environmental change. When used in conjunction with molecular studies, they have helped determine location-specific infection sources and environmental transmission pathways. There is considerable scope for such methods to be used to identify data/infrastructure gaps and establish a baseline of disease burden in resource-limited settings. Spatial methods can help integrate public health and environmental science by identifying the linkages between the physical and socio-economic environment and health outcomes. Understanding the environmental and social context for disease spread is important for assessing the public health implications of projected environmental change.

Independent technical review and analysis of hydraulic modeling and hydrology under low-flow conditions of the Des Plaines River near Riverside, Illinois

USGS Publications Warehouse

Over, Thomas M.; Straub, Timothy D.; Hortness, Jon E.; Murphy, Elizabeth A.

2012-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has operated a streamgage and published daily flows for the Des Plaines River at Riverside since Oct. 1, 1943. A HEC-RAS model has been developed to estimate the effect of the removal of Hofmann Dam near the gage on low-flow elevations in the reach approximately 3 miles upstream from the dam. The Village of Riverside, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources-Office of Water Resources (IDNR-OWR), and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers-Chicago District (USACE-Chicago) are interested in verifying the performance of the HEC-RAS model for specific low-flow conditions, and obtaining an estimate of selected daily flow quantiles and other low-flow statistics for a selected period of record that best represents current hydrologic conditions. Because the USGS publishes streamflow records for the Des Plaines River system and provides unbiased analyses of flows and stream hydraulic characteristics, the USGS served as an Independent Technical Reviewer (ITR) for this study.

Is neighbourhood obesogenicity associated with body mass index in women? Application of an obesogenicity index in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

PubMed

Tseng, Marilyn; Thornton, Lukar E; Lamb, Karen E; Ball, Kylie; Crawford, David

2014-11-01

An aggregate index is potentially useful to represent neighbourhood obesogenicity. We created a conceptually-based obesogenicity index and examined its association with body mass index (BMI) among 3786 women (age 18-45y) in socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Victoria, Australia. The index included 3 items from each of 3 domains: food resources (supermarkets, green grocers, fast food restaurants), recreational activity resources (gyms, pools, park space), and walkability (4+ leg intersections, neighbourhood walking environment, neighbourhood safety), with a possible range from 0 to 18 reflecting 0-2 for each of the 9 items. Using generalised estimating equations, neighbourhood obesogenicity was not associated with BMI in the overall sample. However, stratified analyses revealed generally positive associations with BMI in urban areas and inverse associations in rural areas (interaction p=0.02). These analyses are a first step towards combining neighbourhood characteristics into an aggregate obesogenicity index that is transparent enough to be adopted elsewhere and to allow examination of the relevance of its specific components in different settings. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vocabulary learning in primary school children: working memory and long-term memory components.

PubMed

Morra, Sergio; Camba, Roberta

2009-10-01

The goal of this study was to investigate which working memory and long-term memory components predict vocabulary learning. We used a nonword learning paradigm in which 8- to 10-year-olds learned picture-nonword pairs. The nonwords varied in length (two vs. four syllables) and phonology (native sounding vs. including one Russian phoneme). Short, phonologically native nonwords were learned best, whereas learning long nonwords leveled off after a few presentation cycles. Linear structural equation analyses showed an influence of three constructs-phonological sensitivity, vocabulary knowledge, and central attentional resources (M capacity)-on nonword learning, but the extent of their contributions depended on specific characteristics of the nonwords to be learned. Phonological sensitivity predicted learning of all nonword types except short native nonwords, vocabulary predicted learning of only short native nonwords, and M capacity predicted learning of short nonwords but not long nonwords. The discussion considers three learning processes-effortful activation of phonological representations, lexical mediation, and passive associative learning-that use different cognitive resources and could be involved in learning different nonword types.

Bioenergy Development Policy and Practice Must Recognize Potential Hydrologic Impacts: Lessons from the Americas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watkins, David W.; de Moraes, Márcia M. G. Alcoforado; Asbjornsen, Heidi; Mayer, Alex S.; Licata, Julian; Lopez, Jose Gutierrez; Pypker, Thomas G.; Molina, Vivianna Gamez; Marques, Guilherme Fernandes; Carneiro, Ana Cristina Guimaraes; Nuñez, Hector M.; Önal, Hayri; da Nobrega Germano, Bruna

2015-12-01

Large-scale bioenergy production will affect the hydrologic cycle in multiple ways, including changes in canopy interception, evapotranspiration, infiltration, and the quantity and quality of surface runoff and groundwater recharge. As such, the water footprints of bioenergy sources vary significantly by type of feedstock, soil characteristics, cultivation practices, and hydro-climatic regime. Furthermore, water management implications of bioenergy production depend on existing land use, relative water availability, and competing water uses at a watershed scale. This paper reviews previous research on the water resource impacts of bioenergy production—from plot-scale hydrologic and nutrient cycling impacts to watershed and regional scale hydro-economic systems relationships. Primary gaps in knowledge that hinder policy development for integrated management of water-bioenergy systems are highlighted. Four case studies in the Americas are analyzed to illustrate relevant spatial and temporal scales for impact assessment, along with unique aspects of biofuel production compared to other agroforestry systems, such as energy-related conflicts and tradeoffs. Based on the case studies, the potential benefits of integrated resource management are assessed, as is the need for further case-specific research.

Connecting Projects to Complete the In Situ Resource Utilization Paradigm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Linne, Diane L.; Sanders, Gerald B.

2017-01-01

Terrain Identify specifics such as slope, rockiness, traction parameters Identify what part of ISRU needs each Physical Geotechnical Hardness, density, cohesion, etc. Identify what part of ISRU needs each (e.g., excavation needs to know hardness, density; soil processing needs to know density, cohesion; etc.)Mineral Identify specifics Identify what part of ISRU needs each Volatile Identify specifics Identify what part of ISRU needs each Atmosphere Identify specifics Identify what part of ISRU needs each Environment Identify specifics Identify what part of ISRU needs each Resource Characterization What: Develop an instrument suite to locate and evaluate the physical, mineral, and volatile resources at the lunar poles Neutron Spectrometer Near Infrared (IR) to locate subsurface hydrogen surface water Near IR for mineral identification Auger drill for sample removal down to 1 m Oven with Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer to quantify volatiles present ISRU relevance: Water volatile resource characterization and subsurface material access removal Site Evaluation Resource Mapping What: Develop and utilize new data products and tools for evaluating potential exploration sites for selection and overlay mission data to map terrain, environment, and resource information e.g., New techniques applied to generate Digital Elevation Map (DEMs) at native scale of images (1mpxl)ISRU relevance: Resource mapping and estimation with terrain and environment information is needed for extraction planning Mission Planning and Operations What: Develop and utilize tools and procedures for planning mission operations and real time changes Planning tools include detailed engineering models (e.g., power and data) of surface segment systems allows evaluation of designs ISRU relevance: Allows for iterative engineering as a function of environment and hardware performance.

Bibliography on Multicultural Activities in the Classroom: A Listing of Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brady, Mary Lou; Geile, Carole

This bibliography contains information on multicultural activities in the classroom. It is divided into three sections: a list of 97 book resources, a list of 59 journal articles, and a list of 17 ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) resources. The resources include general multicultural teaching guides and specific topical resources:…

[An analysis of the diabetic population in a Spanish rural are: morbidity profile, use of resources, complications and metabolic control].

PubMed

Inoriza, José M; Pérez, Marc; Cols, Montse; Sánchez, Inma; Carreras, Marc; Coderch, Jordi

2013-11-01

To describe the characteristics of a diabetic population, morbidity profile, resource consumption, complications and degree of metabolic control. Cross-sectional study during 2010. Four Health Areas (91.301 people) where the integrated management organization Serveis de Salut integrated Baix Empordà completely provide healthcare assistance. 4.985 diabetic individuals, identified through clinical codes using the ICD-9-MC classification and the 3M? Clinical Risk Groups software. Morbidity profile, related complications and degree of metabolic control were obtained for the target diabetic population. We analyzed the consumption of healthcare resources, pharmaceutical and blood glucose reagent strips. All measurements obtained at individual level. 99.3% of the diabetic population were attended at least once at a primary care center (14.9% of visits). 39.5% of primary care visits and less than 10% of the other scanned resources were related to the management of diabetes. The pharmaceutical expenditure was 25.4% of the population consumption (average cost ?1.014,57). 36.5% of diabetics consumed reagents strips (average cost ?120,65). The more frequent CRG are 5424-Diabetes (27%); 6144-Diabetes and Hypertension (25,5%) and 6143-Diabetes and Other Moderate Chronic Disease (17,2%). The degree of disease control is better in patients not consumers of antidiabetic drugs or treated with oral antidiabetic agents not secretagogues. Comorbidity is decisive in the consumption of resources. Just a few part of this consumption is specifically related to the management of diabetes. Results obtained provide a whole population approach to the main existing studies in our national and regional context. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

Assessment of Mud-Capped Dredge Pit Evolution Offshore Louisiana: Implications to Sand Excavation and Coastal Restoration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, K.; Miner, M. D.; Bentley, S. J.; Li, C.; Obelcz, J.; O'Connor, M. C.

2016-02-01

The shelf offshore Louisiana is characterized by a dominantly muddy seafloor with a paucity of restoration-quality sand proximal to shore. Discrete sand deposits associated with ancient rivers that incised the shelf during lower sea-level positions occur close to shore. These shelf channel sands have been targeted for coastal restoration projects resulting in significant cost savings over more distal deposits. Several recent projects targeted shelf paleo-fluvial deposits comprising relatively deep (10 m) channel sands underlying a muddy overburden. Because of contrasting characteristics of cohesive mud vs. non-cohesive sand and potential modern fluvial mud supply from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers, long term pit evolution is poorly understood relative to their more common sand-only counterparts. Alterations to seafloor topography from dredging shelf sediment resources can potentially affect oil and gas infrastructure or other resources of concern (i.e. historic shipwrecks) located proximal to dredge pits. Site-specific data required to make accurate predictions and empirical measurements to test and validate predictive models were only available for Peveto Channel offshore Holly Beach, Louisiana. Here we present new geophysical and geological data (bathymetry, sidescan, subbottom, and radionuclide of sediment cores) and physical oceanographic observations (hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics) collected at Raccoon Island (dredged in 2013) dredge pit in Louisiana. These field data collections along with pre-existing data provide a time-series to capture evolution at Raccoon Island post-excavation. Conceptual morphological models will be developed for dredge pit evolution and testing effectiveness of setback buffers protecting pipelines, habitats, and cultural resources. Our results will increase decision making ability regarding safety and protecting environmental and cultural resources, and better management of valuable sand resources.

Professionals' perceptions about healthcare resources for co-occuring disorders in Spain.

PubMed

Roncero, Carlos; Vega, Pablo; Martínez-Raga, Jose; Barral, Carmen; Basurte-Villamor, Ignacio; Rodríguez-Cintas, Laia; Mesías, Beatriz; Grau-López, Lara; Casas, Miguel; Szerman, Nestor

2014-01-01

Since provision of integrated services for patients with dual pathology or dual disorders (coexistence of an addictive disorder and other psychiatric disorders) constitutes an important challenge, this study compared the perceptions of health-care professionals with the existing, current state of specific resources for patients with dual pathology in Spain. Epidemiological, observational, cross-sectional, multicenter study with a large, representative sample of health care professionals attending patients with dual pathology in treatment resources throughout Spain. Participants completed a specifically designed ad-hoc on-line questionnaire about their perceptions on the existence of available resources and treatment needs for patients with dual pathology. To compare professionals' perceptions with existing available resources, the same on-line questionnaire was also completed by commissioners and managers responsible for national and regional healthcare plans on drug abuse. A total of 659 professionals, mostly psychologists (43.40%) or psychiatrists (32.93%) agreed to participate in the study. The highest degree of concordance between the perceptions of professional and the actual situation was found regarding the existence of mental health and addiction networks (either separately or unified) (74.48%), followed by specific workshops (73.08%) and sub-acute inpatient units (67.38%), specific hospitalization units (66.26%), detoxification units (63.15%) and outpatient programs (60.73%). We detected a lower degree of agreement regarding specific occupational rehabilitation centers (59.34%) day hospitals (58.93%), day centers (57.88%), outpatient intermediate resources (48.87%), psychiatric acute admission units (46.54%) and therapeutic communities (43.77%). In addition, on average, health care professionals underestimated the number of resources present in their respective communities. Relevant differences exist between the perceptions of professional and existing available resources for dual pathology patients in Spain, thus supporting the need of additional efforts and strategies to establish a registry and clearly inform about available resources for patients with dual diagnosis.

Contribution of case-mix classification to profiling hospital characteristics and productivity.

PubMed

Kuwabara, Kazuaki; Matsuda, Shinya; Fushimi, Kiyohide; Ishikawa, Koichi B; Horiguchi, Hiromasa; Hayashida, Kenshi; Fujimori, Kenji

2011-01-01

Case-mix classification has made it possible to analyze acute care delivery case volumes and resources. Data arising from observed differences have a role in planning health policy. Aggregated length of hospital stay (LOS) and total charges (TC) as measures of resource use were calculated from 34 case-mix groups at 469 hospitals (1,721,274 eligible patients). The difference between mean resource use of all hospitals and the mean resource use of each hospital was subdivided into three components: amount of variation attributable to hospital practice behavior (efficiency); amount attributable to hospital case-mix (complexity); and amount attributable to the interaction. Hospital characteristics were teaching status (academic or community), ownership, disease coverage, patients, and hospital volume. Multivariate analysis was employed to determine the impact of hospital characteristics on efficiency. Mean LOS and TC were greater for academic than community hospitals. Academic hospitals were least associated with LOS and TC efficiency. Low disease coverage was a predictor of TC efficiency while low patient volume was a predictor of unnecessarily long hospital stays. There was an inverse correlation between complexity and efficiency for both LOS and TC. Policy makers should acknowledge that differentiation of hospital function needs careful consideration when measuring efficiency. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[On eco-ethics and sustainable development of natural resources].

PubMed

Wang, Qingli; Deng, Hongbing

2002-07-01

In this paper, definition of natural resources was discussed at first, and chief characteristics of natural resources were concluded and summarized systematically. Then, in point of eco-ethics, relationship between natural resources and human was discussed. Human in the contemporary era should hold the responsibilities and commitments to remain abundant resources for survival and development of the offspring, and it is the same important to meet the requirement of human in the contemporary era and the offspring. Bringing eco-ethics into the practice of protection, exploitation, and sustainable development of natural resources has very important theoretic and practical significance undoubtedly. Therefore, approaches and main measures to sustainable development of natural resources were also discussed in this paper.

Characteristics of the Nursing Practice Environment Associated With Lower Unit-Level RN Turnover.

PubMed

Nelson-Brantley, Heather V; Park, Shin Hye; Bergquist-Beringer, Sandra

2018-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine characteristics of the nursing practice environment associated with lower RN turnover. Identifying characteristics of the practice environment that contribute to lower RN turnover is important for meeting the national quality strategy priority of reducing healthcare costs. Data from 1002 adult care units in 162 National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators participating hospitals were analyzed using multivariate linear regression. The Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index was used to measure practice environment characteristics. RN turnover was measured at the unit level. Nursing units with higher overall ratings of the nursing practice environment had lower rates of RN turnover. Units with higher RN perceived staffing and resource adequacy experienced significantly lower RN turnover. Unit managers and hospital administrators should consider RN perception of staffing and resource adequacy and the overall practice environment when developing targeted strategies for decreasing RN turnover.

Building an Information Resource Center for Competitive Intelligence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, J. Sperling

1992-01-01

Outlines considerations in the design of a Competitive Intelligence Information Resource Center (CIIRC), which is needed by business organizations for effective strategic decision making. Discussed are user needs, user participation, information sources, technology and interface design, operational characteristics, and planning for implementation.…

Porphyry copper assessment of northeast Asia: Far East Russia and northeasternmost China: Chapter W in Global mineral resource assessment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mihalasky, Mark J.; Ludington, Stephen; Alexeiev, Dmitriy V.; Frost, Thomas P.; Light, Thomas D.; Briggs, Deborah A.; Hammarstrom, Jane M.; Wallis, John C.; Bookstrom, Arthur A.; Panteleyev, Andre

2015-01-01

The database of known deposits, significant prospects, and prospects includes an inventory of mineral resources in two known porphyry copper deposits, as well as key characteristics derived from available exploration reports for 70 significant porphyry copper prospects and 86 other prospects. Resource and exploration and development activity are updated with information current through February 2013.

Emission & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) is an integrated source of data on environmental characteristics of electric power generation. Twelve federal databases are represented by eGRID, which provides air emission and resource mix information for thousands of power plants and generating companies. eGRID allows direct comparison of the environmental attributes of electricity from different plants, companies, States, or regions of the power grid.

Image degradation in aerial imagery duplicates. [photographic processing of photographic film and reproduction (copying)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lockwood, H. E.

1975-01-01

A series of Earth Resources Aircraft Program data flights were made over an aerial test range in Arizona for the evaluation of large cameras. Specifically, both medium altitude and high altitude flights were made to test and evaluate a series of color as well as black-and-white films. Image degradation, inherent in duplication processing, was studied. Resolution losses resulting from resolution characteristics of the film types are given. Color duplicates, in general, are shown to be degraded more than black-and-white films because of the limitations imposed by available aerial color duplicating stock. Results indicate that a greater resolution loss may be expected when the original has higher resolution. Photographs of the duplications are shown.

Metocean Data Needs Assessment for U.S. Offshore Wind Energy

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

Bailey, Bruce H.; Filippelli, Matthew; Baker, Matthew

2015-01-01

A potential barrier to developing offshore wind energy in the United States is the general lack of accurate information in most offshore areas about the wind resource characteristics and external metocean design conditions at the heights and depths relevant to wind turbines and their associated structures and components. Knowledge of these conditions enables specification of the appropriate design basis for wind turbine structures and components so they can withstand the loads expected over a project’s lifetime. Human safety, vessel navigation, and project construction and maintenance activities are equally tied to the metocean environment. Currently, metocean data is sparse in potentialmore » development areas and even when available, does not include the detail or quality required to make informed decisions.« less

An overview of self-administered health literacy instruments.

PubMed

O Neill, Braden; Gonçalves, Daniela; Ricci-Cabello, Ignacio; Ziebland, Sue; Valderas, Jose

2014-01-01

With the increasing recognition of health literacy as a worldwide research priority, the development and refinement of indices to measure the construct is an important area of inquiry. Furthermore, the proliferation of online resources and research means that there is a growing need for self-administered instruments. We undertook a systematic overview to identify all published self-administered health literacy assessment indices to report their content and considerations associated with their administration. A primary aim of this study was to assist those seeking to employ a self-reported health literacy index to select one that has been developed and validated for an appropriate context, as well as with desired administration characteristics. Systematic searches were carried out in four electronic databases, and studies were included if they reported the development and/or validation of a novel health literacy assessment measure. Data were systematically extracted on key characteristics of the instruments: breadth of construct ("generic" vs. "content- or context- specific" health literacy), whether it was an original instrument or a derivative, country of origin, administration characteristics, age of target population (adult vs. pediatric), and evidence for validity. 35 articles met the inclusion criteria. There were 27 original instruments (27/35; 77.1%) and 8 derivative instruments (8/35; 22.9%). 22 indices measured "general" health literacy (22/35; 62.9%) while the remainder measured condition- or context- specific health literacy (13/35; 37.1%). Most health literacy measures were developed in the United States (22/35; 62.9%), and about half had adequate face, content, and construct validity (16/35; 45.7%). Given the number of measures available for many specific conditions and contexts, and that several have acceptable validity, our findings suggest that the research agenda should shift towards the investigation and elaboration of health literacy as a construct itself, in order for research in health literacy measurement to progress.

Language influences music harmony perception: effects of shared syntactic integration resources beyond attention

PubMed Central

Willems, Roel M.; Hagoort, Peter

2016-01-01

Many studies have revealed shared music–language processing resources by finding an influence of music harmony manipulations on concurrent language processing. However, the nature of the shared resources has remained ambiguous. They have been argued to be syntax specific and thus due to shared syntactic integration resources. An alternative view regards them as related to general attention and, thus, not specific to syntax. The present experiments evaluated these accounts by investigating the influence of language on music. Participants were asked to provide closure judgements on harmonic sequences in order to assess the appropriateness of sequence endings. At the same time participants read syntactic garden-path sentences. Closure judgements revealed a change in harmonic processing as the result of reading a syntactically challenging word. We found no influence of an arithmetic control manipulation (experiment 1) or semantic garden-path sentences (experiment 2). Our results provide behavioural evidence for a specific influence of linguistic syntax processing on musical harmony judgements. A closer look reveals that the shared resources appear to be needed to hold a harmonic key online in some form of syntactic working memory or unification workspace related to the integration of chords and words. Overall, our results support the syntax specificity of shared music–language processing resources. PMID:26998339

Work Stress Interventions in Hospital Care: Effectiveness of the DISCovery Method

PubMed Central

Niks, Irene; Gevers, Josette

2018-01-01

Effective interventions to prevent work stress and to improve health, well-being, and performance of employees are of the utmost importance. This quasi-experimental intervention study presents a specific method for diagnosis of psychosocial risk factors at work and subsequent development and implementation of tailored work stress interventions, the so-called DISCovery method. This method aims at improving employee health, well-being, and performance by optimizing the balance between job demands, job resources, and recovery from work. The aim of the study is to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of the DISCovery method in hospital care. Specifically, we used a three-wave longitudinal, quasi-experimental multiple-case study approach with intervention and comparison groups in health care work. Positive changes were found for members of the intervention groups, relative to members of the corresponding comparison groups, with respect to targeted work-related characteristics and targeted health, well-being, and performance outcomes. Overall, results lend support for the effectiveness of the DISCovery method in hospital care. PMID:29438350

Monterey Bay study. [analysis of Landsat 1 multispectral band scanner data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bizzell, R. M.; Wade, L. C.

1975-01-01

The multispectral scanner capabilities of LANDSAT 1 were tested over California's Monterey Bay area and portions of the San Joaquin Valley. Using both computer aided and image interpretive processing techniques, the LANDSAT 1 data were analyzed to determine their potential application in terms of land use and agriculture. Utilizing LANDSAT 1 data, analysts were able to provide the identifications and areal extent of the individual land use categories ranging from very general to highly specific levels (e.g., from agricultural lands to specific field crop types and even the different stages of growth). It is shown that the LANDSAT system is useful in the identification of major crop species and the delineation of numerous land use categories on a global basis and that repeated surveillance would permit the monitoring of changes in seasonal growth characteristics of crops as well as the assessment of various cultivation practices with a minimum of onsite observation. The LANDSAT system is demonstrated to be useful in the planning and development of resource programs on earth.

Water-quality and lake-stage data for Wisconsin lakes, water year 1996

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1997-01-01

The purpose of this report is to provide information about the physical and chemical characteristics of Wisconsin lakes. Data that have been collected at specific lakes, and information to aid in the interpretation of those data, are included in this report. Data collected includes measurements of lake stage and in-lake water quality. Graphs of Secchi depths, surface totalphosphorus and chlorophyll-a concentrations versus time are included for lakes with two or more years of data. Graphs of vertical profiles of temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and specific conductance are included for sites where these parameters were measured. Descriptive information for each lake includes: location of the lake, drainage area of the lake's watershed, period for which data are available, revisions to previously published records, and pertinent remarks. Additional data, such as streamflow and water quality in tributary and outlet streams of some of the lakes, are published in another volume: "Water Resources Data-Wisconsin, 1996."

The transcriptional landscape of hematopoietic stem cell ontogeny

PubMed Central

McKinney-Freeman, Shannon; Cahan, Patrick; Li, Hu; Lacadie, Scott A.; Huang, Hsuan-Ting; Curran, Matthew; Loewer, Sabine; Naveiras, Olaia; Kathrein, Katie L.; Konantz, Martina; Langdon, Erin M.; Lengerke, Claudia; Zon, Leonard I.; Collins, James J.; Daley, George Q.

2012-01-01

Transcriptome analysis of adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and their progeny has revealed mechanisms of blood differentiation and leukemogenesis, but a similar analysis of HSC development is lacking. Here, we acquired the transcriptomes of developing HSC purified from >2500 murine embryos and adult mice. We found that embryonic hematopoietic elements clustered into three distinct transcriptional states characteristic of the definitive yolk sac, HSCs undergoing specification, and definitive HSCs. We applied a network biology-based analysis to reconstruct the gene regulatory networks of sequential stages of HSC development and functionally validated candidate transcriptional regulators of HSC ontogeny by morpholino-mediated knock-down in zebrafish embryos. Moreover, we found that HSCs from in vitro differentiated embryonic stem cells closely resemble definitive HSC, yet lack a Notch-signaling signature, likely accounting for their defective lymphopoiesis. Our analysis and web resource (http://hsc.hms.harvard.edu) will enhance efforts to identify regulators of HSC ontogeny and facilitate the engineering of hematopoietic specification. PMID:23122293

Distribution characteristics of the fish assemblages to varying environmental conditions in artificial reefs of the Jeju Island, Korea.

PubMed

Noh, Junsung; Ryu, Jongseong; Lee, Dowon; Khim, Jong Seong

2017-05-15

Artificial reefs (ARs) have long been practiced to manage and enhance fisheries resources worldwide. Here, we aimed to identify relevant indicator species for the specific environmental conditions of ARs by comparing fish diversity against control sites (Conts). We used a combination of non-metric multidimensional scaling and indicator value analysis to identify the indicator species of the specific AR environments. More individuals and species of fish were present in ARs compared to Conts. Water temperature over the seasons was the most important environmental factor associated with the trophic group composition of fish. In particular, macrocarnivores and benthic invertivores/cleaners closely reflected habitat conditions in a consistent manner. Some dominant fish species were detected at all sites, while the indicator species were more predominant under certain environmental conditions. Altogether, ARs should be monitored at regular intervals to optimize management of their health by detecting the community representativeness via indicator species. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Osteoarthritis in Siberia's Cis-Baikal: Skeletal indicators of hunter-gatherer adaptation and cultural change.

PubMed

Lieverse, Angela R; Weber, Andrzej W; Bazaliiskiy, Vladimir Ivanovich; Goriunova, Olga Ivanovna; Savel'ev, Nikolai Aleksandrovich

2007-01-01

This examination of osteoarthritis in Siberia's Cis-Baikal region focuses on the reconstruction of mid-Holocene mobility and activity patterns with particular interest in an alleged fifth millennium BC biocultural hiatus. Five cemetery populations--two representing the pre-hiatus Kitoi culture (6800-4900 BC) and three the post-hiatus Serovo-Glaskovo (4200-1000 BC)-are considered. The objective is to investigate osteoarthritic prevalence and distribution (patterning) within and among these populations in order to reconstruct mobility and activity patterns among the Cis-Baikal foragers, and to test for possible disparities that may reflect differing adaptive strategies. The data reveal that levels of activity remained relatively constant throughout the mid-Holocene but that mobility and specific activity patterns did not. Although results are consistent with the current understanding of distinct Kitoi and Serovo-Glaskovo subsistence regimes, specifically the lower residential mobility and narrower resource base of the former, they also draw attention to adaptive characteristics shared by all occupants of the Cis-Baikal. (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Work Stress Interventions in Hospital Care: Effectiveness of the DISCovery Method.

PubMed

Niks, Irene; de Jonge, Jan; Gevers, Josette; Houtman, Irene

2018-02-13

Effective interventions to prevent work stress and to improve health, well-being, and performance of employees are of the utmost importance. This quasi-experimental intervention study presents a specific method for diagnosis of psychosocial risk factors at work and subsequent development and implementation of tailored work stress interventions, the so-called DISCovery method. This method aims at improving employee health, well-being, and performance by optimizing the balance between job demands, job resources, and recovery from work. The aim of the study is to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of the DISCovery method in hospital care. Specifically, we used a three-wave longitudinal, quasi-experimental multiple-case study approach with intervention and comparison groups in health care work. Positive changes were found for members of the intervention groups, relative to members of the corresponding comparison groups, with respect to targeted work-related characteristics and targeted health, well-being, and performance outcomes. Overall, results lend support for the effectiveness of the DISCovery method in hospital care.

Perceptions of Natural Social Landscape Characteristics Between Cities and Across Scales

EPA Science Inventory

As the global population becomes increasingly urban, there is greater attention toward human-natural resources interactions in urban areas. Multiple disciplines have explored synergies and dynamics between community characteristics and individual preferences that vary across sca...

Quality risk management in pharmaceutical development.

PubMed

Charoo, Naseem Ahmad; Ali, Areeg Anwer

2013-07-01

The objective of ICH Q8, Q9 and Q10 documents is application of systemic and science based approach to formulation development for building quality into product. There is always some uncertainty in new product development. Good risk management practice is essential for success of new product development in decreasing this uncertainty. In quality by design paradigm, the product performance properties relevant to the patient are predefined in target product profile (TPP). Together with prior knowledge and experience, TPP helps in identification of critical quality attributes (CQA's). Initial risk assessment which identifies risks to these CQA's provides impetus for product development. Product and process are designed to gain knowledge about these risks, devise strategies to eliminate or mitigate these risks and meet objectives set in TPP. By laying more emphasis on high risk events the protection level of patient is increased. The process being scientifically driven improves the transparency and reliability of the manufacturer. The focus on risk to the patient together with flexible development approach saves invaluable resources, increases confidence on quality and reduces compliance risk. The knowledge acquired in analysing risks to CQA's permits construction of meaningful design space. Within the boundaries of the design space, variation in critical material characteristics and process parameters must be managed in order to yield a product having the desired characteristics. Specifications based on product and process understanding are established such that product will meet the specifications if tested. In this way, the product is amenable to real time release, since specifications only confirm quality but they do not serve as a means of effective process control.

Wind Energy Resource Atlas of the Dominican Republic

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

Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; George, R.

2001-10-01

The Wind Energy Resource Atlas of the Dominican Republic identifies the wind characteristics and the distribution of the wind resource in this country. This major project is the first of its kind undertaken for the Dominican Republic. The information contained in the atlas is necessary to facilitate the use of wind energy technologies, both for utility-scale power generation and off-grid wind energy applications. A computerized wind mapping system developed by NREL generated detailed wind resource maps for the entire country. This technique uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to produce high-resolution (1-square kilometer) annual average wind resource maps.

Clinical audit of COPD patients requiring hospital admissions in Spain: AUDIPOC study.

PubMed

Pozo-Rodríguez, Francisco; López-Campos, Jose Luis; Alvarez-Martínez, Carlos J; Castro-Acosta, Ady; Agüero, Ramón; Hueto, Javier; Hernández-Hernández, Jesús; Barrón, Manuel; Abraira, Victor; Forte, Anabel; Sanchez Nieto, Juan Miguel; Lopez-Gabaldón, Encarnación; Cosío, Borja G; Agustí, Alvar

2012-01-01

AUDIPOC is a nationwide clinical audit that describes the characteristics, interventions and outcomes of patients admitted to Spanish hospitals because of an exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (ECOPD), assessing the compliance of these parameters with current international guidelines. The present study describes hospital resources, hospital factors related to case recruitment variability, patients' characteristics, and adherence to guidelines. An organisational database was completed by all participant hospitals recording resources and organisation. Over an 8-week period 11,564 consecutive ECOPD admissions to 129 Spanish hospitals covering 70% of the Spanish population were prospectively identified. At hospital discharge, 5,178 patients (45% of eligible) were finally included, and thus constituted the audited population. Audited patients were reassessed 90 days after admission for survival and readmission rates. A wide variability was observed in relation to most variables, hospital adherence to guidelines, and readmissions and death. Median inpatient mortality was 5% (across-hospital range 0-35%). Among discharged patients, 37% required readmission (0-62%) and 6.5% died (0-35%). The overall mortality rate was 11.6% (0-50%). Hospital size and complexity and aspects related to hospital COPD awareness were significantly associated with case recruitment. Clinical management most often complied with diagnosis and treatment recommendations but rarely (<50%) addressed guidance on healthy life-styles. The AUDIPOC study highlights the large across-hospital variability in resources and organization of hospitals, patient characteristics, process of care, and outcomes. The study also identifies resources and organizational characteristics associated with the admission of COPD cases, as well as aspects of daily clinical care amenable to improvement.

Declining Use of Wild Resources by Indigenous Peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

PubMed

Gray, Clark L; Bozigar, Matthew; Bilsborrow, Richard E

2015-02-01

Wild product harvesting by forest-dwelling peoples, including hunting, fishing, forest product collection and timber harvesting, is believed to be a major threat to the biodiversity of tropical forests worldwide. Despite this threat, few studies have attempted to quantify these activities across time or across large spatial scales. We use a unique longitudinal household survey (n = 480) to describe changes in these activities over time in 32 indigenous communities from five ethnicities in the northern Ecuadorian Amazon. To provide insight into the drivers of these changes, we also estimate multilevel statistical models of these activities as a function of household and community characteristics. These analyses reveal that participation in hunting, fishing, and forest product collection is high but declining across time and across ethnicities, with no evidence for a parallel decline in resource quality. However, participation in timber harvesting did not significantly decline and there is evidence of a decline in resource quality. Multilevel statistical models additionally reveal that household and community characteristics such as ethnicity, demographic characteristics, wealth, livelihood diversification, access to forest, participation in conservation programs and exposure to external markets are significant predictors of wild product harvesting. These characteristics have changed over time but cannot account for declining participation in resource harvesting. This finding suggests that participation is declining due to changes in the regional-scale social and economic context, including urbanization and the expansion of government infrastructure and services. The lesson for conservationists is that macro-scale social and economic conditions can drive reductions in wild product harvesting even in the absence of successful conservation interventions.

Declining Use of Wild Resources by Indigenous Peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon

PubMed Central

Gray, Clark L.; Bozigar, Matthew; Bilsborrow, Richard E.

2015-01-01

Wild product harvesting by forest-dwelling peoples, including hunting, fishing, forest product collection and timber harvesting, is believed to be a major threat to the biodiversity of tropical forests worldwide. Despite this threat, few studies have attempted to quantify these activities across time or across large spatial scales. We use a unique longitudinal household survey (n = 480) to describe changes in these activities over time in 32 indigenous communities from five ethnicities in the northern Ecuadorian Amazon. To provide insight into the drivers of these changes, we also estimate multilevel statistical models of these activities as a function of household and community characteristics. These analyses reveal that participation in hunting, fishing, and forest product collection is high but declining across time and across ethnicities, with no evidence for a parallel decline in resource quality. However, participation in timber harvesting did not significantly decline and there is evidence of a decline in resource quality. Multilevel statistical models additionally reveal that household and community characteristics such as ethnicity, demographic characteristics, wealth, livelihood diversification, access to forest, participation in conservation programs and exposure to external markets are significant predictors of wild product harvesting. These characteristics have changed over time but cannot account for declining participation in resource harvesting. This finding suggests that participation is declining due to changes in the regional-scale social and economic context, including urbanization and the expansion of government infrastructure and services. The lesson for conservationists is that macro-scale social and economic conditions can drive reductions in wild product harvesting even in the absence of successful conservation interventions. PMID:25620805

Kin investment in wage-labor economies : Effects on child and marriage market outcomes.

PubMed

Shenk, Mary K

2005-03-01

Various human groups, from food foragers to inner-city urban Americans, have used widespread sharing of resources through kin networks as a means of buffering themselves against fluctuations in resource availability in their environments. This paper addresses the effects of progressive incorporation into a wage-labor economy on the benefits of traditional kin networks for two social classes in urban South India. Predictions regarding the effects of kin network wealth, education, and size on child and spouse characteristics and methods of financing marriages are tested using various regression techniques. Despite the rapid growth of participation in a wage-labor economy, it is found that kin network characteristics still have an important impact on investment behavior among families in Bangalore in both social classes. Network wealth is found to have a positive effect on child and spouse characteristics, and large networks are found to act as significant drains on family resources. However, the results for education are broadly consistent with an interpretation of increasing family autonomy as parents' education has a far stronger influence on child and spouse characteristics across categories than network education does. Finally, professional-class parents are found to prefer financing marriages using formal mechanisms such as savings and bank loans while working-class parents preferentially finance marriages using credit from relatives and friends.

Revolution or Revelation? Acquisitions for the Digital Library

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Kathleen; Larson, Betsy

2006-01-01

Libraries are responding to customer preferences for electronic research materials through the acquisition and management of these products. Electronic resources have significantly different characteristics than print resources when it comes to technical services management. This paper addresses aspects of a corporate research library's evaluation…