Search for a Neutron Electric Dipole Moment

PubMed Central

Golub, R.; Huffman, P. R.

2005-01-01

The possible existence of a nonzero electric dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron is of great fundamental interest in itself and directly impacts our understanding of the nature of electro-weak and strong interactions. The experimental search for this moment has the potential to reveal new sources of T and CP violation and to challenge calculations that propose extensions to the Standard Model. The goal of the current experiment is to significantly improve the measurement sensitivity to the neutron EDM over what is reported in the literature. The experiment has the potential to either measure the magnitude of the neutron EDM or to lower the current experimental limit by two orders of magnitude. Achieving these objectives will have a major impact on our understanding of the physics of both weak and strong interactions. PMID:27308116

Assessment of Research Interests of First-Year Osteopathic Medical Students.

PubMed

Carter, John; McClellan, Nicholas; McFaul, Derek; Massey, Blaine; Guenther, Elisabeth; Kisby, Glen

2016-07-01

According to a 2014 survey, 59% of students entering allopathic medical school reported previous research experience. However, limited data exist on the amount of research experience that students have before entering osteopathic medical school. A strong understanding of the research skills and level of interest of first-year osteopathic medical students is essential for developing research programs at osteopathic medical schools. Limited data exist on the amount of research experience that students have before starting osteopathic medical school. A strong understanding of the research skills and level of interest of first-year medical students is essential for developing research programs at osteopathic medical schools. To determine the amount of previous research experience of first-year osteopathic medical students, their level of interest in participating in research during medical school, the factors influencing their interest in research, and their research fields of interest. First-year osteopathic medical students (class of 2019) at the Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific in Pomona, California (WesternU/COMP), and Pacific-Northwest in Lebanon, Oregon (WesternU/COMP-Northwest), campuses were surveyed about their previous research experiences and whether they were interested in participating in research during medical school. Surveys were administered through an anonymous online portal. Responses were evaluated for evidence of interest in conducting research. Of the 346 osteopathic medical students invited to participate in the study, the response rate was 77% (N=266). A total of 167 from WesternU/COMP and 99 from the WesternU/COMP-Northwest responded. More than 215 students (81%) reported they had participated in research before entering medical school. In addition, 200 students (75%) either expressed a strong interest in participating in research during medical school or were currently conducting research. Among research areas, clinical research was the overwhelming favorite, with 218 students (82%) expressing interest. First-year osteopathic students may have comparable amounts of research experience as allopathic medical students. Although these findings are limited to 2 campuses of 1 osteopathic medical school, they suggest that first-year osteopathic medical students are highly motivated to participate in research while in medical school.

Seeking science information online: Data mining Google to better understand the roles of the media and the education system.

PubMed

Segev, Elad; Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet

2012-10-01

Which extrinsic cues motivate people to search for science-related information? For many science-related search queries, media attention and time during the academic year are highly correlated with changes in information seeking behavior (expressed by changes in the proportion of Google science-related searches). The data mining analysis presented here shows that changes in the volume of searches for general and well-established science terms are strongly linked to the education system. By contrast, ad-hoc events and current concerns were better aligned with media coverage. The interest and ability to independently seek science knowledge in response to current events or concerns is one of the fundamental goals of the science literacy movement. This method provides a mirror of extrapolated behavior and as such can assist researchers in assessing the role of the media in shaping science interests, and inform the ways in which lifelong interests in science are manifested in real world situations.

"Just Be Quiet and Listen to Exactly What He's Saying": Conceptualising Power Relations in Inquiry-Oriented Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donnelly, Dermot Francis; McGarr, Oliver; O'Reilly, John

2014-01-01

Interest in inquiry-based science education (IBSE) often pays little heed to the complex power relations that exist within classrooms. A common obstacle to inquiry is that it strongly diverges from current classroom culture and hence, is outside the sphere of teachers' and students' experiences. Teachers and students bring expectations to the…

Polarization recovery through scattering media.

PubMed

de Aguiar, Hilton B; Gigan, Sylvain; Brasselet, Sophie

2017-09-01

The control and use of light polarization in optical sciences and engineering are widespread. Despite remarkable developments in polarization-resolved imaging for life sciences, their transposition to strongly scattering media is currently not possible, because of the inherent depolarization effects arising from multiple scattering. We show an unprecedented phenomenon that opens new possibilities for polarization-resolved microscopy in strongly scattering media: polarization recovery via broadband wavefront shaping. We demonstrate focusing and recovery of the original injected polarization state without using any polarizing optics at the detection. To enable molecular-level structural imaging, an arbitrary rotation of the input polarization does not degrade the quality of the focus. We further exploit the robustness of polarization recovery for structural imaging of biological tissues through scattering media. We retrieve molecular-level organization information of collagen fibers by polarization-resolved second harmonic generation, a topic of wide interest for diagnosis in biomedical optics. Ultimately, the observation of this new phenomenon paves the way for extending current polarization-based methods to strongly scattering environments.

Features of polar cusp electron precipitation associated with a large magnetic storm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berko, F. W.

1974-01-01

Measurements of precipitating electrons made by the OGO-4 satellite reveal several interesting phenomena in the polar cusp. Extremely high fluxes of 0.7 keV electrons were observed in the polar cusp ninety minutes following the sudden commencement of a very large magnetic storm. Structured, fairly high fluxes of 7.3 keV electrons were also observed in the cusp region, accompanied by very strong search coil magnetometer fluctuations, indicative of strong field-aligned currents. The observations confirm previously reported latitudinal shifts in the location of the polar cusp in response to southward interplanetary magnetic fields.

Diabetic Cardiomyopathy: Bench to Bedside

PubMed Central

Schilling, Joel D.; Mann, Douglas L.

2012-01-01

The study of diabetic cardiomyopathy (diabetic CM) is an area of significant interest given the strong association between diabetes and the risk of heart failure. Many unanswered questions remain regarding the clinical definition and pathogenesis of this metabolic cardiomyopathy. This article reviews the current understanding of diabetic CM with a particular emphasis on the unresolved issues that have limited translation of scientific discovery to patient bedside. PMID:22999244

User evaluation of ride technology research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mckenzie, J. R.; Brumaghim, S. H.

1976-01-01

The 23 organizations queried represent government, carrier, and manufacturing interests in air, marine, rail, and surface transportation systems. Results indicate a strong need for common terminology and data analysis/reporting techniques. The various types of ride criteria currently in use are discussed, particularly in terms of their respective data base requirements. A plan of action is proposed for fulfilling the ride technology needs identified by this study.

Human papillomavirus vaccination of males: attitudes and perceptions of physicians who vaccinate females.

PubMed

Weiss, Thomas W; Zimet, Gregory D; Rosenthal, Susan L; Brenneman, Susan K; Klein, Jonathan D

2010-07-01

We assessed U.S. physicians' attitudes and perceptions regarding potential human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of males. We surveyed a random sample of 2,714 pediatricians and family practitioners identified in administrative claims of a U.S. health plan as HPV vaccinators of females; 595 pediatricians and 499 family practitioners participated. Most physicians would recommend HPV vaccination to males aged 11-12 (63.9%), 13-18 (93.4%), and 19-26 (92.7%) years. Physicians agreed that males should be vaccinated to prevent them from getting genital and anal warts (52.9% strongly and 36.0% somewhat) and to protect females from cervical cancer (75.3% strongly and 20.8% somewhat). Physicians agreed that an HPV vaccine recommendation for males would increase opportunities to discuss sexual health with adolescent male patients (58.7% strongly, 35.3% somewhat). Most did not strongly agree (15.4% strongly, 45.4% somewhat) that parents of adolescent male patients would be interested in HPV vaccination for males, that a gender-neutral HPV vaccine recommendation would increase acceptance by adolescent females and their parents (19.6% strongly, 42.0% somewhat), or that a gender-neutral recommendation would improve current female vaccination rates (10.4% strongly, 26.0% somewhat). Physicians who currently vaccinate females against HPV supported the concept of vaccinating males for its benefits for both sexes. They agreed that a gender-neutral HPV vaccination recommendation would be appropriate with regard to public health and believed that it would increase opportunities for sexual health discussions, but were less sure that such a recommendation would change patient or parental attitudes toward HPV vaccination or improve current HPV vaccination efforts. Copyright (c) 2010 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Promoting innovation: Enhancing transdisciplinary opportunities for medical and engineering students.

PubMed

Brazile, Tiffany; Hostetter Shoop, Glenda; McDonough, Christine M; Van Citters, Douglas W

2018-01-30

Addressing current healthcare challenges requires innovation and collaboration. Current literature provides limited guidance in promoting these skills in medical school. One approach involves transdisciplinary training in which students from different disciplines work together toward a shared goal. We assessed the need for such a curriculum at Dartmouth College. We surveyed medical and engineering students' educational values; learning experiences; professional goals; and interest in transdisciplinary education and innovation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Shared values among student groups included leadership development, innovation, collaboration, and resource sharing. Medical students felt their curriculum inadequately addressed creativity and innovation relative to their engineering counterparts (p < 0.05). Medical students felt less prepared for entrepreneurial activities (p < 0.05), while engineering students indicated a need for basic medical knowledge and patient-oriented design factors. Despite strong interest, collaboration was less than 50% of indicated interest. Medical and engineering students share an interest in the innovation process and need a shared curriculum to facilitate collaboration. A transdisciplinary course that familiarizes students with this process has the potential to promote physicians and engineers as leaders and innovators who can effectively work across industry lines. A transdisciplinary course was piloted in Spring 2017.

Heat current through an artificial Kondo impurity beyond linear response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sierra, Miguel A.; Sánchez, David

2018-03-01

We investigate the heat current of a strongly interacting quantum dot in the presence of a voltage bias in the Kondo regime. Using the slave-boson mean-field theory, we discuss the behavior of the energy flow and the Joule heating. We find that both contributions to the heat current display interesting symmetry properties under reversal of the applied dc bias. We show that the symmetries arise from the behavior of the dot transmission function. Importantly, the transmission probability is a function of both energy and voltage. This allows us to analyze the heat current in the nonlinear regime of transport. We observe that nonlinearities appear already for voltages smaller than the Kondo temperature. Finally, we suggest to use the contact and electric symmetry coefficients as a way to measure pure energy currents.

How to provide tailored career coaching for medical students.

PubMed

Hur, Yera; Cho, A Ra; Kim, Sun

2015-03-01

This study was performed to develop a counseling strategy, based on the profiles of medical students' Strong Interest Inventory (STRONG) and Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) results, focusing on the three following questions: Into what distinct levels are students categorized by STRONG and MBTI? and What is the dispersion of the integrated profiles? Freshmen students from Konyang University College of Medicine who matriculated between March 2011 and 2013 were administered the MBTI personality type test and the STRONG interest inventory assessment. The integrated profiles were categorized per Kim et al. (2006), and frequency analysis was performed with the collected data, using SPSS version 21.0. Regarding MBTI types, 16.9% of students were categorized as ESTJ, and 12.9% was ISTJ. Further, 62.4% of students were Investigative (I) according to STRONG. The integrated profiles were divided into four types, according to their unclear/clear preference in the STRONG and MBTI results. Most students had 'clear preference and clear interest' (n=144, 80.9%), six students (3.4%) had 'clear interest but unclear preference,' and 28 students (15.7%) showed 'unclear interest but clear preference.' Using the combined results of the STRONG interest inventory assessment and MBTI tools, we can purvey more tailored information to students.

Cross-currents in French Defense and U.S. Interests (Strategic Perspectives, no. 10)

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-01

defense in- vestments, particularly in advanced technologies, have synergistic benefits for French civilian markets . Hence, issues related to defense...coalition with the French (Operation Odyssey Dawn) to NATO drew strong support from Norway , Denmark, Belgium, Italy, and Canada; these Allies were...collaboration with British, Spanish, and Italian partners) directly competes with France’s Rafale in third-party markets such as India.32 More- over

Photodissociation Studies of Polyatomic Free Radicals

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-08-01

photofragment, that varies with vibrational level, and appears to have a strong J dependence. We are currently in the process of modelling these effects, as well...have also begun to study the photodissociation dynamics of thionyl halides, The photodissociation of thionyl chloride (C12SO) is of interest as a model ...concerted three-body fragmentation mechanism as the primary dissociation channel. A Franck- Condon/golden rule model elucidates the geometry prior to

Flight- and Ground-Based Materials Science Programs at NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gillies, Donald C.

1999-01-01

The Microgravity Research Division of NASA funds research programs in all branches of materials science including ceramics and glasses. A NASA Research Announcement (NRA)is currently planned with proposals due in March 1999. Proposals are accepted for both flight- definition and ground- based research projects with a main criterion being a strong justification for microgravity. A review of the program in its entirety will be given, with special emphasis on microgravity related ceramics research. The topics of current interest in the NRA will be discussed in terms of International Space Station research and NASA's Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) initiative.

Geometric scalings for the electrostatically driven helical plasma state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akçay, Cihan; Finn, John M.; Nebel, Richard A.; Barnes, Daniel C.

2017-12-01

A new plasma state has been investigated [Akcay et al., Phys. Plasmas 24, 052503 (2017)], with a uniform applied axial magnetic field in a periodic cylinder of length L = 2 π R , driven by helical electrodes. The drive is single helicity, depending on m θ + k z = m θ - n ζ , where ζ = z / R and k = - n / R . For strong ( m , n ) = ( 1 , 1 ) drive, the state was found to have a strong axial mean current density, with a mean-field safety factor q 0 ( r ) just above the pitch of the electrodes m / n = 1 in the interior. This state has possible applications to DC electrical transformers and tailoring of the current profile in tokamaks. We study two geometric issues of interest for these applications: (i) scaling of properties with the plasma length or aspect ratio and (ii) behavior for different helicities, specifically ( m , n ) = ( 1 , n ) for n > 1 and ( m , n ) = ( 2 , 1 ) .

Correlation analysis between the current fluctuation characteristics and the conductive filament morphology of HfO2-based memristor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yi; Yin, Kang-Sheng; Zhang, Mei-Yun; Cheng, Long; Lu, Ke; Long, Shi-Bing; Zhou, Yaxiong; Wang, Zhuorui; Xue, Kan-Hao; Liu, Ming; Miao, Xiang-Shui

2017-11-01

Memristors are attracting considerable interest for their prospective applications in nonvolatile memory, neuromorphic computing, and in-memory computing. However, the nature of resistance switching is still under debate, and current fluctuation in memristors is one of the critical concerns for stable performance. In this work, random telegraph noise (RTN) as the indication of current instabilities in distinct resistance states of the Pt/Ti/HfO2/W memristor is thoroughly investigated. Standard two-level digital-like RTN, multilevel current instabilities with non-correlation/correlation defects, and irreversible current transitions are observed and analyzed. The dependence of RTN on the resistance and read bias reveals that the current fluctuation depends strongly on the morphology and evolution of the conductive filament composed of oxygen vacancies. Our results link the current fluctuation behaviors to the evolution of the conductive filament and will guide continuous optimization of memristive devices.

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

2008-01-01

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

Interest and preferences for contingency management design among addiction treatment clientele.

PubMed

Hartzler, Bryan; Garrett, Sharon

2016-05-01

Despite strong support for its efficacy, debates persist about how dissemination of contingency management is most effectively undertaken. Currently-promoted contingency management methods are empirically-validated, yet their congruence with interests and preferences of addiction treatment clientele is unknown. Such client input is a foundational support for evidence-based clinical practice. This study documented interest in incentives and preferences for fixed-ratio vs. variable-ratio and immediate vs. distal distribution of earned incentives among clients enrolled at three community programs affiliated with the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network. This multi-site study included anonymous survey completion by an aggregate sample of 358 treatment enrollees. Analyses first ruled out site differences in survey responses, and then tested age and gender as influences on client interest in financial incentives, and preferences for fixed-ratio vs. variable-ratio reinforcement and immediate vs. distal incentive distribution. Interest in different types of $50 incentives (i.e. retail vouchers, transportation vouchers, cash) was highly inter-correlated, with a mean sample rating of 3.49 (0.83) on a five-point scale. While consistent across client gender, age was an inverse predictor of client interest in incentives. A majority of clients stated preference for fixed-ratio incentive magnitude and distal incentive distribution (67% and 63%, respectively), with these preferences voiced by a larger proportion of females. Sample preferences contradict currently-promoted contingency management design features. Future efforts to disseminate contingency management may be more successful if flexibly undertaken in a manner that incorporates the interests and preferences of local client populations.

Measurement of Apparent Temperature in Post-Detonation Fireballs Using Atomic Emission Spectroscopy

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-01

thermometric species into burners.3,12 Interestingly, Wilkin- son et al.6 have recently observed Al atomic emission lines in the spectrum of aluminum...candidate thermometric species must produce several strong emission lines in the spectrum that originate from different upper energy levels in order to...allow the populations of the associated states to be determined. Barium nitrate was chosen as a thermometric impurity for the current work since Ba

Alliances and Legitimacy: Walking the Operational Tightrope

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-05-23

powers. In effect , this describes a dynamic whereby alliances serve the interests of both strong 111Brett Ashley Leeds, “Alliance Reliability in...comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number . PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS...ALLIANCES AND LEGITIMACY: WALKING THE OPERATIONAL TIGHTROPE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S

Current induced multi-mode propagating spin waves in a spin transfer torque nano-contact with strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohseni, S. Morteza; Yazdi, H. F.; Hamdi, M.; Brächer, T.; Mohseni, S. Majid

2018-03-01

Current induced spin wave excitations in spin transfer torque nano-contacts are known as a promising way to generate exchange-dominated spin waves at the nano-scale. It has been shown that when these systems are magnetized in the film plane, broken spatial symmetry of the field around the nano-contact induced by the Oersted field opens the possibility for spin wave mode co-existence including a non-linear self-localized spin-wave bullet and a propagating mode. By means of micromagnetic simulations, here we show that in systems with strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in the free layer, two propagating spin wave modes with different frequency and spatial distribution can be excited simultaneously. Our results indicate that in-plane magnetized spin transfer nano-contacts in PMA materials do not host a solitonic self-localized spin-wave bullet, which is different from previous studies for systems with in plane magnetic anisotropy. This feature renders them interesting for nano-scale magnonic waveguides and crystals since magnon transport can be configured by tuning the applied current.

Design and short-term impact of an event to promote careers in clinical pharmacy.

PubMed

Ray, Sarah; Ticcioni, Andrew; Mueller, Robert; Battaglia, Jessica

2018-03-01

There is a role for local pharmacy organizations to promote clinical pharmacy and increase awareness to both potential and current pharmacy students. The Greater Milwaukee College of Clinical Pharmacy (GMCCP) chapter sought to promote clinical pharmacy amongst current and prospective pharmacy students to increase the knowledge, awareness, and interest in clinical pharmacy. Subcommittee members designed programming to introduce the basics of clinical pharmacy. Students from three schools of pharmacy and more than 40 colleges in the region were invited to the event. Didactic and discussion-based content was developed. Pharmacists from GMCCP were solicited as presenters, along with a current pharmacy student and resident. Participants were asked to complete pre-event and post-event surveys to assess their awareness of and interest in clinical pharmacy. Volunteer pharmacists were also surveyed after the event. Twenty-eight individuals attended the event. Nineteen students completed both the pre- and post-survey. The comparison between median score pre- and post-event was analyzed with the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test. Students' awareness and knowledge of clinical pharmacy improved after attending the event. Students' interest in a career in clinical pharmacy also increased after attending the event. Nine of the thirteen volunteer breakout session pharmacists (69%) responded to the post-event survey. The majority strongly agreed that participants were interested in learning about their area of practice and asked meaningful questions appropriate for their area of practice. The Exploring Careers in Clinical Pharmacy event increased awareness of clinical pharmacy career choices available within the profession of pharmacy. Local, regional, and national pharmacy organizations may consider utilizing the diverse talent of their membership and collaborate with colleges of pharmacy or other organizations to impact the knowledge, awareness, and interest in clinical pharmacy as a future career choice for pre-pharmacy and current pharmacy students. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Structure of Vocational Interests for Diverse Groups on the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kantamneni, Neeta; Fouad, Nadya

2011-01-01

This study was designed to examine the structure of vocational interests in a diverse sample of individuals who completed the 2005 revision of the Strong Interest Inventory. We examined the fit of three racial/ethnic groups (African American, Caucasian, and Latino/a), both genders, and three levels of professional status (GRS participant, student,…

The human-animal bond in academic veterinary medicine.

PubMed

Rowan, Andrew N

2008-01-01

This article outlines the development of academic veterinary interest in the human-animal bond (HAB) and provides short summaries of the various centers currently studying the HAB at North American universities. Although most of these centers are at veterinary schools, the level of involvement by veterinarians is surprisingly low, considering how important a strong HAB is for the average veterinary practitioner (the stronger the bond, the more the client will be willing to pay for veterinary services).

A T-shaped double quantum dot system as a Fano interferometer: Interplay of coherence and correlation upon spin currents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandes, I. L.; Cabrera, G. G.

2018-05-01

Based on Keldysh non-equilibrium Green function method, we have investigated spin current production in a hybrid T-shaped device, consisting of a central quantum dot connected to the leads and a side dot which only couples to the central dot. The topology of this structure allows for quantum interference of the different paths that go across the device, yielding Fano resonances in the spin dependent transport properties. Correlation effects are taken into account at the central dot and handled within a mean field approximation. Its interplay with the Fano effect is analyzed in the strong coupling regime. Non-vanishing spin currents are only obtained when the leads are ferromagnetic, the current being strongly dependent on the relative orientation of the lead polarizations. We calculate the conductance (spin and charge) by numerically differentiating the current, and a rich structure is obtained as a manifestation of quantum coherence and correlation effects. Increase of the Coulomb interaction produces localization of states at the side dot, largely suppressing Fano resonances. The interaction is also responsible for the negative values of the spin conductance in some regions of the voltage near resonances, effect which is the spin analog of the Esaki tunnel diode. We also analyze control of the currents via gate voltages applied to the dots, possibility which is interesting for practical operations.

Attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of Australia dietitians regarding dietary supplements: A cross-sectional survey.

PubMed

Marx, Wolfgang; Kiss, Nicole; McKavanagh, Daniel; Isenring, Elisabeth

2016-11-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of Australian dietitians regarding dietary supplements. An online survey was disseminated through the mailing lists of multiple healthcare organizations. There were 231 Australian dietitians that replied to the online survey. The results indicate that Australian dietitians are interested in dietary supplements (65%); however, the results also indicate that Australian dietitians are tentative about integrating dietary supplements into their dietetic practice. Concerns regarding potential drug-nutrient/herbal interactions were reported as the primary barrier (67%) to utilizing dietary supplements as part of clinical practice. In addition, there was a strong interest in additional training in dietary supplements (79%). In summary, Australian dietitians are interested in the use of dietary supplements; however, due to current barriers, few dietitians utilize dietary supplements as part of dietetic practice. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Knowledge, attitudes and practice of final-year student pharmacists in public health in Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe: an exploratory survey.

PubMed

Law, Miranda G; Maposa, Prosper; Chambula, Elias; Steeb, David R; Eckel, Stephen F; Duncan, Gregory

2018-05-06

To explore the knowledge, attitudes and practice of final-year student pharmacists about public health. Knowledge, attitudes and practice of all final-year student pharmacists (N = 158) in Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe were assessed through a quantitative 12-item survey. The survey assessed personal interest and attitude towards public health activities, self-assessed ability to perform basic public health activities, perspectives towards current pharmacist practices within public health activities in their country, and student involvement in public health activities during pharmacy school. Eighty-two per cent of students responded to the survey (n = 129). The majority (95%) of all final-year student pharmacists are interested in contributing to public health activities in both health promotion and disease prevention and feel, as pharmacists, they have the responsibility to do so. Additionally, the majority of students would like more education during pharmacy school on health promotion (93%) and disease prevention (89%). Despite their interest, low numbers of student pharmacists feel that pharmacists are currently utilised in disease prevention (35%) and health promotion (42%). Final-year student pharmacists in Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe express strong interest in public health education and involvement in public health activities. This interest and enthusiasm can serve as evidence for advancing public health education in the pharmacy curricula and for developing pharmacist opportunities in public health efforts that match the needs of the country. © 2018 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Optical Diode Effect at Spin-Wave Excitations of the Room-Temperature Multiferroic BiFeO_{3}.

PubMed

Kézsmárki, I; Nagel, U; Bordács, S; Fishman, R S; Lee, J H; Yi, Hee Taek; Cheong, S-W; Rõõm, T

2015-09-18

Multiferroics permit the magnetic control of the electric polarization and the electric control of the magnetization. These static magnetoelectric (ME) effects are of enormous interest: The ability to read and write a magnetic state current-free by an electric voltage would provide a huge technological advantage. Dynamic or optical ME effects are equally interesting, because they give rise to unidirectional light propagation as recently observed in low-temperature multiferroics. This phenomenon, if realized at room temperature, would allow the development of optical diodes which transmit unpolarized light in one, but not in the opposite, direction. Here, we report strong unidirectional transmission in the room-temperature multiferroic BiFeO_{3} over the gigahertz-terahertz frequency range. The supporting theory attributes the observed unidirectional transmission to the spin-current-driven dynamic ME effect. These findings are an important step toward the realization of optical diodes, supplemented by the ability to switch the transmission direction with a magnetic or electric field.

Many-body Tunneling and Nonequilibrium Dynamics of Doublons in Strongly Correlated Quantum Dots.

PubMed

Hou, WenJie; Wang, YuanDong; Wei, JianHua; Zhu, ZhenGang; Yan, YiJing

2017-05-30

Quantum tunneling dominates coherent transport at low temperatures in many systems of great interest. In this work we report a many-body tunneling (MBT), by nonperturbatively solving the Anderson multi-impurity model, and identify it a fundamental tunneling process on top of the well-acknowledged sequential tunneling and cotunneling. We show that the MBT involves the dynamics of doublons in strongly correlated systems. Proportional to the numbers of dynamical doublons, the MBT can dominate the off-resonant transport in the strongly correlated regime. A T 3/2 -dependence of the MBT current on temperature is uncovered and can be identified as a fingerprint of the MBT in experiments. We also prove that the MBT can support the coherent long-range tunneling of doublons, which is well consistent with recent experiments on ultracold atoms. As a fundamental physical process, the MBT is expected to play important roles in general quantum systems.

Some Data Concerning the Vocational Preference Inventory Scales and the Strong Vocational Interest Blank

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cockriel, Irvin W.

1972-01-01

Occupational scales of the Vocational Preference Inventory were correlated with the Basic Interest scales of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank. The 285 subjects were women freshmen in a College of Education. The results indicate that the scales are not highly correlated. (Author)

Relativistic direct Urca processes in cooling neutron stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leinson, L. B.; Pérez, A.

2001-10-01

We derive a relativistic expression for neutrino energy losses caused by the direct Urca processes in degenerate baryon matter of neutron stars. We use two different ways to calculate the emissivity caused by the reactions to our interest. First we perform a standard calculation by Fermi's ``golden'' rule. The second calculation, resulting in the same expression, is performed with the aid of polarization functions of the medium. Our result for neutrino energy losses strongly differs from previous nonrelativistic results. We also discuss nonconservation of the baryon vector current in reactions through weak charged currents in the medium, when the asymmetry between protons and neutrons is considered. The above effects, not discussed in the literature before, substantially modify the polarization functions responsible for the induced weak charged currents in baryon matter.

Infrared Dyes For Optical Storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jipson, V. B.; Jones, C. R.

1981-06-01

There is current interest in developing optical storage materials that can be written with GaAlAs lasers. Dyes which absorb strongly at those wavelengths are potential candidates for this application due to their attractive thermal properties. Through optical and thermal modelling, the properties that are necessary if they are to be writeable at energies of <=1 nJ are examined. A specific class of infrared absorbing dyes, squarylium, is discussed and preliminary data on optical characteristics, writing energy, and stability are presented.

The Strong Ring: A Basic Interest Model of Occupational Structure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Armstrong, Patrick Ian; Smith, Thomas J.; Donnay, David A. C.; Rounds, James

2004-01-01

A classification system and spatial map of occupations were developed using the Basic Interest Scale profiles of 198 occupational incumbent samples (31,010 women; 32,421 men) from the Strong Interest Inventory. Profile shape was found to be similar for incumbents of both genders, allowing for an analysis of combined-gender samples. Using…

The Rehabilitation Counselor Scale: A New Scale for the Revised Strong Interest Inventory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leierer, Stephen J.; Strohmer, Douglas C.; Blackwell, Terry L.; Thompson, Richard C.; Donnay, David A. C.

2008-01-01

The vocational interests of rehabilitation counselors were explored by developing an occupational scale for the "Strong Interest Inventory, Revised Edition" (SII; 2004). A sample of 414 rehabilitation counselors who were satisfied with rehabilitation counseling as their profession completed an experimental version of the SII. Based on these data,…

Who wants to be a surgeon? Patterns of medical student career choice.

PubMed

Shirley, Otis C; Addison, Ben; Poole, Phillippa

2014-11-07

NZ needs a surgical workforce with the capacity to meet the increasing health demands of an aging population. This study determined longitudinal patterns of medical student interest in a surgical career and factors influencing that choice. We studied medical students entering the Auckland medical programme from 2006-2008 who completed an entry and exit questionnaire on career intentions. Four notional groups were created, depending on the level of interest at entry and at exit. Demographic factors for each category were compared. Analysis of influencing factors was also undertaken. Of 488 students, 310 (64%) completed both an entry and exit questionnaire. Over 50% of students had a strong interest in a surgical career at entry, dropping to 26% at exit. The 'Never Evers' (No interest at entry /No interest at exit) made up 39%,'Divergers' (Strong/No) 35%, 'Die Hards' (Strong/Strong) 18%, and 'Convertibles' (No/Strong) 8%. Less interest in a surgical career was seen among female (P=0.001) and older students (P=0.017). Influencing factors differentiating the 'Die Hards' from the 'Divergers' were work hours and flexibility (less influence among 'Die Hards'), with procedural nature and consultants/mentors (higher). There is a significant reduction in interest in a surgical career over the course of the undergraduate programme, especially among female and older students. Yet the level appears sufficient for available training places. Consultant role models are an important career influence. Lack of flexibility in work and training programmes continue to provide challenges in creating a diverse surgical workforce.

A β-Ta system for current induced magnetic switching in the absence of external magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Wenzhe; Qian, Lijuan; Xiao, Gang

2018-05-01

Magnetic switching via Giant Spin Hall Effect (GSHE) has received great interest for its role in developing future spintronics logic or memory devices. In this work, a new material system (i.e. a transition metal sandwiched between two ferromagnetic layers) with interlayer exchange coupling is introduced to realize the deterministic field-free perpendicular magnetic switching. This system uses β-Ta, as the GSHE agent to generate a spin current and as the interlayer exchange coupling medium to generate an internal field. The critical switching current density at zero field is on the order of 106 A/cm2 due to the large spin Hall angle of β-Ta. The internal field, along with switching efficiency, depends strongly on the orthogonal magnetization states of two ferromagnetic coupling layers in this system.

Conduction mechanism change with transport oxide layer thickness in oxide hetero-interface diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nam, Bu-il; Park, Jong Seo; Lim, Keon-Hee; Ahn, Yong-keon; Lee, Jinwon; Park, Jun-woo; Cho, Nam-Kwang; Lee, Donggun; Lee, Han-Bo-Ram; Kim, Youn Sang

2017-07-01

An effective and facile strategy is proposed to demonstrate an engineered oxide hetero-interface of a thin film diode with a high current density and low operating voltage. The electrical characteristics of an oxide hetero-interface thin film diode are governed by two theoretical models: the space charge-limited current model and the Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) tunneling model. Interestingly, the dominant mechanism strongly depends on the insulator thickness, and the mechanism change occurs at a critical thickness. This paper shows that conduction mechanisms of oxide hetero-interface thin film diodes depend on thicknesses of transport oxide layers and that current densities of these can be exponentially increased through quantum tunneling in the diodes with the thicknesses less than 10 nm. These oxide hetero-interface diodes have great potential for low-powered transparent nanoscale applications.

The burn surgeon: an endangered species. Can exposure in medical school increase interest in burn surgery?

PubMed

Kahn, Steven Alexander; Goldman, Matthew; Daul, Matthew; Lentz, Christopher W

2011-01-01

The nation is faced with a shortage of subspecialty physicians, including burn surgeons. Exposure to a specialty in medical school has been shown to influence students' career choices. The authors postulate that exposure to burn surgery increases their interest in the field. Students from a medical school with an American Burn Association-verified burn center and from a school without a burn center were anonymously surveyed and asked to report their interest and knowledge regarding burn surgery using a 5-point Likert scale. They were asked about their current year in school, gender, overall interest in surgery, and any prior exposure to burn surgery (eg, preceptorship or rotation). Students were asked whether exposure to burn surgery or to a strong mentor might increase their interest in the field. Finally, they were asked to pick the most important factor in a list of deterrents to pursuing a career in burn surgery. Predictors of interest in burn surgery were determined with regression analyses. A total of 380 of 662 students responded to the survey (57.4%). Significant predictors of interest in burn surgery were an interest in surgery (P < .001, odds ratio [OR] = 56.3), prior exposure to burn surgery (P = .02, OR = 5.7), and year in school (P = .006, OR = 1.7). First- and second-year students were more likely to report interest in burn surgery (P < .001). Gender and medical school attended were not significant predictors. Prior exposure to burn surgery became a stronger predictor in subgroup analysis of the fourth-year students (P < .001, OR = 24.5). The majority of students reported that exposure to burn surgery (76%) and a strong mentor (87%) would make them more likely to consider burn surgery as a career. "Not interested in surgery" was the most important deterrent to pursuing a career in burn surgery, which was selected by 33% of students. However, 25% of students chose "I don't know anything about burn surgery" as the most important deterrent. Factors specific to burn surgery were less frequently selected (eg, wound care and hot operating room). The majority of students reported ignorance of the field of burns: 64% disagreed that they understood what a burn surgeon does on a daily basis, and 74% agreed they did not know enough about the field to consider it as a career. Exposure to burn surgery in the form of a clinical rotation fosters medical student interest. However, the majority of medical students lack knowledge about the field of burn surgery. Many consider this a deterrent to selecting it as a career. More exposure during medical school and strong mentorship may influence more students to become burn surgeons. Mentorship and recruiting efforts should be focused on students with a general interest in surgery.

Drag suppression in anomalous chiral media

DOE PAGES

Sadofyev, Andrey V.; Yin, Yi

2016-06-01

We study a heavy impurity moving longitudinal with the direction of an external magnetic field in an anomalous chiral medium. Such system would carry a non-dissipative current of chiral magnetic effect associated with the anomaly. We show, by generalizing Landau's criterion for super fluidity, that the "anomalous component" which gives rise to the anomalous transport will not contribute to the drag experienced by an impurity. We argue on a very general basis that those systems with a strong magnetic field would exhibit an interesting transport phenomenon$-$the motion of the heavy impurity is frictionless, in analogy to the case of amore » super fluid. Finally, we demonstrate and confirm our general results with two complementary examples: weakly coupled chiral fermion gases and strongly interacting chiral liquids.« less

Characterization of Low-Molecular-Weight Heparins by Strong Anion-Exchange Chromatography.

PubMed

Sadowski, Radosław; Gadzała-Kopciuch, Renata; Kowalkowski, Tomasz; Widomski, Paweł; Jujeczka, Ludwik; Buszewski, Bogusław

2017-11-01

Currently, detailed structural characterization of low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) products is an analytical subject of great interest. In this work, we carried out a comprehensive structural analysis of LMWHs and applied a modified pharmacopeial method, as well as methods developed by other researchers, to the analysis of novel biosimilar LMWH products; and, for the first time, compared the qualitative and quantitative composition of commercially available drugs (enoxaparin, nadroparin, and dalteparin). For this purpose, we used strong anion-exchange (SAX) chromatography with spectrophotometric detection because this method is more helpful, easier, and faster than other separation techniques for the detailed disaccharide analysis of new LMWH drugs. In addition, we subjected the obtained results to statistical analysis (factor analysis, t-test, and Newman-Keuls post hoc test).

Alternating currents and shear waves in viscous electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Semenyakin, M.; Falkovich, G.

2018-02-01

Strong interaction among charge carriers can make them move like viscous fluid. Here we explore alternating current (ac) effects in viscous electronics. In the Ohmic case, incompressible current distribution in a sample adjusts fast to a time-dependent voltage on the electrodes, while in the viscous case, momentum diffusion makes for retardation and for the possibility of propagating slow shear waves. We focus on specific geometries that showcase interesting aspects of such waves: current parallel to a one-dimensional defect and current applied across a long strip. We find that the phase velocity of the wave propagating along the strip respectively increases/decreases with the frequency for no-slip/no-stress boundary conditions. This is so because when the frequency or strip width goes to zero (alternatively, viscosity go to infinity), the wavelength of the current pattern tends to infinity in the no-stress case and to a finite value in a general case. We also show that for dc current across a strip with a no-stress boundary, there are only one pair of vortices, while there is an infinite vortex chain for all other types of boundary conditions.

Nonlocality and the critical Reynolds numbers of the minimum state magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

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

Zhou Ye; Oughton, Sean

2011-07-15

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) systems can be strongly nonlinear (turbulent) when their kinetic and magnetic Reynolds numbers are high, as is the case in many astrophysical and space plasma flows. Unfortunately these high Reynolds numbers are typically much greater than those currently attainable in numerical simulations of MHD turbulence. A natural question to ask is how can researchers be sure that their simulations have reproduced all of the most influential physics of the flows and magnetic fields? In this paper, a metric is defined to indicate whether the necessary physics of interest has been captured. It is found that current computing resourcesmore » will typically not be sufficient to achieve this minimum state metric.« less

A Mid-Level Dental Provider in Oregon: Dental hygienists' perceptions.

PubMed

Coplen, Amy E; Bell, Kathryn; Aamodt, Gail L; Ironside, Lynn

2017-10-01

Purpose: Many states are exploring alternative provider models and examining the role of the dental hygienist to address access to care challenges as the United States continues to face increasing demands for oral healthcare services. The purpose of this study was to assess dental hygienists' opinions in the state of Oregon regarding the current limitations of dental hygienists' scope of practice, perceived need for a mid-level provider in Oregon, and personal interest in becoming a mid-level provider. Methods: In December 2013 a survey was mailed to a sample of 1,231 dental hygienists registered in Oregon representing 30% of the licentiates. All licentiates holding expanded practice permits (EPP) were included in the sample (n=351). The following categories were included in the 32-question survey: scope of practice, mid-level provider, current practice, and demographics. Results: A total of 440 surveys were returned for a response rate of 36%. Of the EPP holders, 51% responded to the survey. Over half of respondents (59%) believe that a mid-level provider is needed in the state. Respondents holding membership in the American Dental Hygienists' Association, as well as EPP holders, were significantly more likely to respond that a mid-level dental provider was needed in the state (p<0.0001). Ninety-one percent (n=400) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that if a mid-level provider was introduced in Oregon, the new provider should be a registered dental hygienist model. Forty-three percent (n=186) of respondents were interested in becoming mid-level providers and 47% (n=203) of respondents believed that the minimum education for a mid-level provider should be a bachelor's degree. The majority, 74% (n=137), of those interested in becoming a mid-level provider indicated a preference in completing their education through online teaching combined with a clinical internship. Conclusion: There is strong support from dental hygienists in Oregon that a need exists for a mid-level dental provider and that this provider model should be dental hygiene based. Individuals interested in developing a curriculum for a mid-level provider should consider including online teaching components with a clinical internship component. Copyright © 2017 The American Dental Hygienists’ Association.

Survey shows continued strong interest in UNIX applications for healthcare.

PubMed

Dunbar, C

1993-03-01

As part of the general computer industry movement toward open systems, many are predicting UNIX will become the dominant host operating system of the late 1990s. To better understand this prediction within the healthcare setting, Computers in Healthcare surveyed our readership about their opinions of UNIX, its current use and its relative importance as an information services strategy. The upshot? CIH readers definitely want more systems on UNIX, more healthcare applications written for UNIX and more trained resource people to help them with faster installation and more useful applications.

Discovery of Par 1802 as a Low-Mass, Pre-Main-Sequence Eclipsing Binary in the Orion Star-Forming Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cargile, P. A.; Stassun, K. G.; Mathieu, R. D.

2008-02-01

We report the discovery of a pre-main-sequence (PMS), low-mass, double-lined, spectroscopic, eclipsing binary in the Orion star-forming region. We present our observations, including radial velocities derived from optical high-resolution spectroscopy, and present an orbit solution that permits the determination of precise empirical masses for both components of the system. We find that Par 1802 is composed of two equal-mass (0.39 +/- 0.03, 0.40 +/- 0.03 M⊙) stars in a circular, 4.7 day orbit. There is strong evidence, such as the system exhibiting strong Li lines and a center-of-mass velocity consistent with cluster membership, that this system is a member of the Orion star-forming region and quite possibly the Orion Nebula Cluster, and therefore has an age of only a few million years. As there are currently only a few empirical mass and radius measurements for low-mass, PMS stars, this system presents an interesting test for the predictions of current theoretical models of PMS stellar evolution.

Does power corrupt or enable? When and why power facilitates self-interested behavior.

PubMed

DeCelles, Katherine A; DeRue, D Scott; Margolis, Joshua D; Ceranic, Tara L

2012-05-01

Does power corrupt a moral identity, or does it enable a moral identity to emerge? Drawing from the power literature, we propose that the psychological experience of power, although often associated with promoting self-interest, is associated with greater self-interest only in the presence of a weak moral identity. Furthermore, we propose that the psychological experience of power is associated with less self-interest in the presence of a strong moral identity. Across a field survey of working adults and in a lab experiment, individuals with a strong moral identity were less likely to act in self-interest, yet individuals with a weak moral identity were more likely to act in self-interest, when subjectively experiencing power. Finally, we predict and demonstrate an explanatory mechanism behind this effect: The psychological experience of power enhances moral awareness among those with a strong moral identity, yet decreases the moral awareness among those with a weak moral identity. In turn, individuals' moral awareness affects how they behave in relation to their self-interest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

Dynamics of tokamak plasma surface current in 3D ideal MHD model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galkin, Sergei A.; Svidzinski, V. A.; Zakharov, L. E.

2013-10-01

Interest in the surface current which can arise on perturbed sharp plasma vacuum interface in tokamaks was recently generated by a few papers (see and references therein). In dangerous disruption events with plasma-touching-wall scenarios, the surface current can be shared with the wall leading to the strong, damaging forces acting on the wall A relatively simple analytic definition of δ-function surface current proportional to a jump of tangential component of magnetic field nevertheless leads to a complex computational problem on the moving plasma-vacuum interface, requiring the incorporation of non-linear 3D plasma dynamics even in one-fluid ideal MHD. The Disruption Simulation Code (DSC), which had recently been developed in a fully 3D toroidal geometry with adaptation to the moving plasma boundary, is an appropriate tool for accurate self-consistent δfunction surface current calculation. Progress on the DSC-3D development will be presented. Self-consistent surface current calculation under non-linear dynamics of low m kink mode and VDE will be discussed. Work is supported by the US DOE SBIR grant #DE-SC0004487.

Landauer’s formula with finite-time relaxation: Kramers’ crossover in electronic transport

DOE PAGES

Gruss, Daniel; Velizhanin, Kirill A.; Zwolak, Michael

2016-04-20

Landauer’s formula is the standard theoretical tool to examine ballistic transport in nano- and meso-scale junctions, but it necessitates that any variation of the junction with time must be slow compared to characteristic times of the system, e.g., the relaxation time of local excitations. Transport through structurally dynamic junctions is, however, increasingly of interest for sensing, harnessing fluctuations, and real-time control. Here, we calculate the steady-state current when relaxation of electrons in the reservoirs is present and demonstrate that it gives rise to three regimes of behavior: weak relaxation gives a contact-limited current; strong relaxation localizes electrons, distorting their naturalmore » dynamics and reducing the current; and in an intermediate regime the Landauer view of the system only is recovered. Lastly, we also demonstrate that a simple equation of motion emerges, which is suitable for efficiently simulating time-dependent transport.« less

Ultra-low current beams in UMER to model space-charge effects in high-energy proton and ion machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernal, S.; Beaudoin, B.; Baumgartner, H.; Ehrenstein, S.; Haber, I.; Koeth, T.; Montgomery, E.; Ruisard, K.; Sutter, D.; Yun, D.; Kishek, R. A.

2017-03-01

The University of Maryland Electron Ring (UMER) has operated traditionally in the regime of strong space-charge dominated beam transport, but small-current beams are desirable to significantly reduce the direct (incoherent) space-charge tune shift as well as the tune depression. This regime is of interest to model space-charge effects in large proton and ion rings similar to those used in nuclear physics and spallation neutron sources, and also for nonlinear dynamics studies of lattices inspired on the Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA). We review the definitions of beam vs. space-charge intensities and discuss three methods for producing very small beam currents in UMER. We aim at generating 60µA - 1.0mA, 100 ns, 10 keV beams with normalized rms emittances of the order of 0.1 - 1.0µm.

Ion diffusion may introduce spurious current sources in current-source density (CSD) analysis.

PubMed

Halnes, Geir; Mäki-Marttunen, Tuomo; Pettersen, Klas H; Andreassen, Ole A; Einevoll, Gaute T

2017-07-01

Current-source density (CSD) analysis is a well-established method for analyzing recorded local field potentials (LFPs), that is, the low-frequency part of extracellular potentials. Standard CSD theory is based on the assumption that all extracellular currents are purely ohmic, and thus neglects the possible impact from ionic diffusion on recorded potentials. However, it has previously been shown that in physiological conditions with large ion-concentration gradients, diffusive currents can evoke slow shifts in extracellular potentials. Using computer simulations, we here show that diffusion-evoked potential shifts can introduce errors in standard CSD analysis, and can lead to prediction of spurious current sources. Further, we here show that the diffusion-evoked prediction errors can be removed by using an improved CSD estimator which accounts for concentration-dependent effects. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Standard CSD analysis does not account for ionic diffusion. Using biophysically realistic computer simulations, we show that unaccounted-for diffusive currents can lead to the prediction of spurious current sources. This finding may be of strong interest for in vivo electrophysiologists doing extracellular recordings in general, and CSD analysis in particular. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Psychodynamic Inferences from the Strong Vocational Interest Blank

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldberg, Robert W.; Gechman, Arthur S.

1976-01-01

A systematic psychodynamic approach to personality appraisals using the Strong Vocational Interest Bank (SVIB) is presented. A method for making psychodynamic inferences using the SVIB profiles of three young adults is also presented. Each appraisal is discussed in relation to independent information about the client and the counseling process.…

Template-grown NiFe/Cu/NiFe nanowires for spin transfer devices.

PubMed

Piraux, Luc; Renard, Krystel; Guillemet, Raphael; Matéfi-Tempfli, Stefan; Matéfi-Tempfli, Maria; Antohe, Vlad Andrei; Fusil, Stéphane; Bouzehouane, Karim; Cros, Vincent

2007-09-01

We have developed a new reliable method combining template synthesis and nanolithography-based contacting technique to elaborate current perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance spin valve nanowires, which are very promising for the exploration of electrical spin transfer phenomena. The method allows the electrical connection of one single nanowire in a large assembly of wires embedded in anodic porous alumina supported on Si substrate with diameters and periodicities to be controllable to a large extent. Both magnetic excitations and switching phenomena driven by a spin-polarized current were clearly demonstrated in our electrodeposited NiFe/Cu/ NiFe trilayer nanowires. This novel approach promises to be of strong interest for subsequent fabrication of phase-locked arrays of spin transfer nano-oscillators with increased output power for microwave applications.

Factors that determine academic versus private practice career interest in radiation oncology residents in the United States: results of a nationwide survey.

PubMed

Chang, Daniel T; Shaffer, Jenny L; Haffty, Bruce G; Wilson, Lynn D

2013-11-01

To determine what factors US radiation oncology residents consider when choosing academic or nonacademic careers. A 20-question online survey was developed and sent to all US radiation oncology residents to assess factors that influence their career interest. Residents were asked to rate their interest in academics (A) versus private practice (PP) on a 0 (strong interest in A) to 100 (strong interest in PP) scale. Responses were classified as A (0-30), undecided (40-60), and PP (70-100). Residents were also asked to rank 10 factors that most strongly influenced their career interest. Three hundred thirty-one responses were collected, of which 264 were complete and form the basis for this analysis. Factors that correlated with interest in A included having a PhD (P=.018), postgraduate year level (P=.0006), research elective time (P=.0003), obtaining grant funding during residency (P=.012), and number of publications before residency (P=.0001), but not number of abstracts accepted in the past year (P=.65) or publications during residency (P=.67). The 3 most influential factors for residents interested in A were: (1) baseline interest before residency; (2) academic role models; and (3) research opportunities during residency. The 3 most influential factors for residents interested in PP were: (1) baseline interest before residency; (2) academic role models; and (3) academic pressure and obligations. Interest in A correlated with postgraduate year level, degree, and research time during residency. Publications before but not during residency correlated with academic interest, and baseline interest was the most influential factor. These data can be used by residency program directors to better understand what influences residents' career interest. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Factors that Determine Academic Versus Private Practice Career Interest in Radiation Oncology Residents in the United States: Results of a Nationwide Survey

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

Chang, Daniel T., E-mail: dtchang@stanford.edu; Shaffer, Jenny L.; Haffty, Bruce G.

Purpose: To determine what factors US radiation oncology residents consider when choosing academic or nonacademic careers. Methods and Materials: A 20-question online survey was developed and sent to all US radiation oncology residents to assess factors that influence their career interest. Residents were asked to rate their interest in academics (A) versus private practice (PP) on a 0 (strong interest in A) to 100 (strong interest in PP) scale. Responses were classified as A (0-30), undecided (40-60), and PP (70-100). Residents were also asked to rank 10 factors that most strongly influenced their career interest. Results: Three hundred thirty-one responsesmore » were collected, of which 264 were complete and form the basis for this analysis. Factors that correlated with interest in A included having a PhD (P=.018), postgraduate year level (P=.0006), research elective time (P=.0003), obtaining grant funding during residency (P=.012), and number of publications before residency (P=.0001), but not number of abstracts accepted in the past year (P=.65) or publications during residency (P=.67). The 3 most influential factors for residents interested in A were: (1) baseline interest before residency; (2) academic role models; and (3) research opportunities during residency. The 3 most influential factors for residents interested in PP were: (1) baseline interest before residency; (2) academic role models; and (3) academic pressure and obligations. Conclusions: Interest in A correlated with postgraduate year level, degree, and research time during residency. Publications before but not during residency correlated with academic interest, and baseline interest was the most influential factor. These data can be used by residency program directors to better understand what influences residents' career interest.« less

Analysis in natural time domain of geoelectric time series monitored prior two strong earthquakes occurred in Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramírez-Rojas, A.; Flores-Marquez, L. E.

2009-12-01

The short-time prediction of seismic phenomena is currently an important problem in the scientific community. In particular, the electromagnetic processes associated with seismic events take in great interest since the VAN method was implemented. The most important features of this methodology are the seismic electrical signals (SES) observed prior to strong earthquakes. SES has been observed in the electromagnetic series linked to EQs in Greece, Japan and Mexico. By mean of the so-called natural time domain, introduced by Varotsos et al. (2001), they could characterize signals of dichotomic nature observed in different systems, like SES and ionic current fluctuations in membrane channels. In this work we analyze SES observed in geoelectric time series monitored in Guerrero, México. Our analysis concern with two strong earthquakes occurred, on October 24, 1993 (M=6.6) and September 14, 1995 (M=7.3). The time series of the first one displayed a seismic electric signal six days before the main shock and for the second case the time series displayed dichotomous-like fluctuations some months before the EQ. In this work we present the first results of the analysis in natural time domain for the two cases which seems to be agreeing with the results reported by Varotsos. P. Varotsos, N. Sarlis, and E. Skordas, Practica of the Athens Academy 76, 388 (2001).

Interests, Effort, Achievement and Vocational Preference.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sjoberg, L.

1984-01-01

Relationships between interest in natural sciences and technology and perceived ability, success, and invested effort were studied in Swedish secondary school students. Interests were accounted for by logical orientation and practical value. Interests and grades were strongly correlated, but correlations between interests and effort and vocational…

Birth Order and Vocational Interest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gandy, Gerald L.

1973-01-01

Investigated birth order differences and the vocational interests of 150 male college students, making use of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank. Sibling sex and interaction effects were also investigated. (DP)

Vocational interests by gender and race 10 years after spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Clark, Jillian M R; Krause, James S

2017-11-01

To examine and compare vocational interests as a function of gender and race among 247 participants with spinal cord injury (SCI) approximately 10 years after SCI onset utilizing the 2004 edition of the Strong Interest Inventory (SII). For this cross-sectional analysis nested within a prospective cohort study, data were collected via mail and analyzed at a medical university in the Southeastern United States. Among the 563 adults with traumatic SCI initially enrolled during inpatient rehabilitation at a specialty hospital, 247 met current study eligibility criteria and completed the SII approximately 10 years postinjury. The SII is a 291-item measure of vocational interests. Male participants scored highest on the Realistic theme and females scored highest on the Social theme. White participants scored highest on the Realistic theme, whereas Black participants scored highest on the Conventional theme. Differences in vocational interests by gender were seen on two of the six General Occupational Themes (GOT; Realistic and Social) and 12 of the 30 Basic Interest Scales (BIS). Race differences were observed on the Enterprising and Conventional GOT and 11 of 30 BIS. For both female and Black participants, interests are more physically compatible with employment post-SCI than male and White participants. Yet, employment rates in White males with SCI are greater than those of female and Black individuals with SCI. These data suggest further research on factors influencing gender and racial disparities in employment among those with SCI is indicated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

National center for airborne laser mapping proposed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carter, Bill; Shrestha, Ramesh L.; Dietrich, Bill

Researchers from universities, U.S. government agencies, U.S. national laboratories, and private industry met in the spring to learn about the current capabilities of Airborne Laser Swath Mapping (ALSM), share their experiences in using the technology for a wide variety of research applications, outline research that would be made possible by research-grade ALSM data, and discuss the proposed operation and management of the brand new National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM).The workshop successfully identified a community of researchers with common interests in the advancement and use of ALSM—a community which strongly supports the immediate establishment of the NCALM.

Emerging roles for neurosteroids in sexual behavior and function.

PubMed

King, Steven R

2008-01-01

Although gonadal and adrenal steroids heavily impact sexual function at the level of the brain, the nervous system also produces its own steroids de novo that may regulate sexual behavior and reproduction. Current evidence points to important roles for neurosteroids in sexual and gender-typical behaviors, control of ovulation, and behaviors that strongly influence sexual interest and motivation like aggression, anxiety and depression. At the cellular level, neurosteroids act through stimulating rapid changes in excitability and direct activation of membrane receptors in neurons. Thus, unlike peripheral steroids, neurosteroids can have immediate and specific effects on select neuronal pathways to regulate sexual function.

Serum IGF-1 linking visceral obesity with esophageal adenocarcinoma: unconvincing evidence.

PubMed

McColl, K E L

2012-02-01

There is a strong positive association between body mass index (BMI) and risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. This is likely to be largely or entirely explained by the established association between central obesity and gastroesophageal reflux and between the latter and risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. Visceral fat is also metabolically active and there is interest in the possibility that humoral factors released by this fat might promote esophageal carcinogenesis. Insulin growth factor I (IGF-1) has been studied but current data do not support circulating total IGF-1 as a humoral factor linking BMI and esophageal carcinogenesis.

Evaluating some computer exhancement algorithms that improve the visibility of cometary morphology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Larson, Stephen M.; Slaughter, Charles D.

1992-01-01

Digital enhancement of cometary images is a necessary tool in studying cometary morphology. Many image processing algorithms, some developed specifically for comets, have been used to enhance the subtle, low contrast coma and tail features. We compare some of the most commonly used algorithms on two different images to evaluate their strong and weak points, and conclude that there currently exists no single 'ideal' algorithm, although the radial gradient spatial filter gives the best overall result. This comparison should aid users in selecting the best algorithm to enhance particular features of interest.

Did Janet Frame have high-functioning autism?

PubMed

Abrahamson, Sarah

2007-10-12

Janet Frame (1924-2004) was one of New Zealand's most well-known authors and unusual personalities. Her formal psychiatric diagnosis, however, has not been clear. Some have suggested that she was simply "different". This paper proposes that there is a name for her difference: high-functioning autism. The features of this condition apparent on analysis of her autobiographies are examined. Janet Frame was an interesting example of what may be achieved by those with strong autistic features. It is to be hoped that current and future generations of New Zealanders with autism spectrum disorders are recognised early and given appropriate advice.

Strong Vocational Interest Blank Scores for Junior College Students in Five Curricula.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Stuart E.

An investigation was conducted to determine if students in five junior college curricula could be differentiated by the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) scores and if such differentiation could be improved by using several scores in combination rather than single scores separately. The SVIB was administered to 130 students at Alfred…

Validity of the Strong Interest Inventory: Gender and Personal Styles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindley, Lori D.; Borgen, Fred H.

The gender validity of the Strong Interest Inventory's Personal Style Scales (Work Style, Learning Environment, Leadership Style, and Risk Taking/Adventure) was examined through a study of 458 female and 282 male college students at Iowa State University. The students completed the Personal Style Scales and the Adjective Check List (ACL), which is…

Naming, blaming and shaming?

PubMed

Bismark, M; Paterson, R

2006-03-01

Few doctors at the centre of complaints or disciplinary proceedings wish to be publicly named. Publication of a doctor's name can adversely affect his or her reputation, patients, and family members, even if the allegation is ultimately not upheld. Yet, there is a strong public interest in freedom of speech and transparency of complaints and disciplinary processes. In determining whether to grant name suppression, complaints agencies and disciplinary tribunals are required to balance competing public and private interests. In New Zealand, the Health and Disability Commissioner has responsibility for investigating complaints about the quality of medical care. The Commissioner's current practice is not to publicly name doctors under investigation, or even those who are found to have breached a patient's rights. This approach fits well the non-punitive, rehabilitative focus of New Zealand's medical regulatory system. In the rare cases where a matter reaches the threshold for disciplinary action, the balance tips in favour of disclosure.

Tacky COC: a solvent bonding technique for fabrication of microfluidic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keller, Nico; Nargang, Tobias M.; Helmer, Dorothea; Rapp, Bastian E.

2016-03-01

The academic community knows cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) as a well suited material for microfluidic applications because COC has numerous interesting properties such as high transmittance, good chemical resistance and good biocompatibility. Here we present a fast and cost-effective method for bonding of two COC substrates: exposure to appropriate solvents gives a tacky COC surface which when brought in contact with untreated COC forms a strong and optical clear bond. The bonding process is carried out at room temperature and takes less than three minutes which makes it significantly faster than currently described methods: This method does not require special lab equipment such as hot plates or hydraulic presses. The mild conditions of the bond process also allow for such "tacky COC" lids to be used for sealing of microfluidic chips containing immobilized protein patterns which is of high interest for immunodiagnostic testing inside microfluidic chips.

The impact of user centered design on student motivation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Locker, Craig T.

There is a current push for STEM education within the U.S.; however current studies show that students' interest to pursue STEM fields is decreasing as they progress through high school. This lose in interest has shown to have a strong tie to students' perceived levels of motivation towards the subject. The question that this studied set out to answer was if user centered design (UCD) would affect students perceived level of motivation. For this study a treatment of UCD was compared to a traditional high school engineering design curriculum, with the goal to identify if UCD would have a positive effect on the students perceived level of motivation. 59 9th grade high school students from an urban Midwestern city were selected to participate. Students were given a pre and posttest to determine their levels of motivation before and after the comparison or treatment. Analysis showed that students perceived level of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation significantly went up in the treatment group. The study concluded that due to the ease of implementation and low cost of deployment that UCD should be introduced into high school design challenges that focus on developing a solution for an external stakeholder.

Exploring Greenland: science and technology in Cold War settings.

PubMed

Heymann, Matthias; Knudsen, Henrik; Lolck, Maiken L; Nielsen, Henry; Nielsen, Kristian H; Ries, Christopher J

2010-01-01

This paper explores a vacant spot in the Cold War history of science: the development of research activities in the physical environmental sciences and in nuclear science and technology in Greenland. In the post-war period, scientific exploration of the polar areas became a strategically important element in American and Soviet defence policy. Particularly geophysical fields like meteorology, geology, seismology, oceanography, and others profited greatly from military interest. While Denmark maintained formal sovereignty over Greenland, research activities were strongly dominated by U.S. military interests. This paper sets out to summarize the limited current state of knowledge about activities in the environmental physical sciences in Greenland and their entanglement with military, geopolitical, and colonial interests of both the USA and Denmark. We describe geophysical research in the Cold War in Greenland as a multidimensional colonial endeavour. In a period of decolonization after World War II, Greenland, being a Danish colony, became additionally colonized by the American military. Concurrently, in a period of emerging scientific internationalism, the U.S. military "colonized" geophysical research in the Arctic, which increasingly became subject to military directions, culture, and rules.

TASEP of interacting particles of arbitrary size

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Narasimhan, S. L.; Baumgaertner, A.

2017-10-01

A mean-field description of the stationary state behaviour of interacting k-mers performing totally asymmetric exclusion processes (TASEP) on an open lattice segment is presented employing the discrete Takahashi formalism. It is shown how the maximal current and the phase diagram, including triple-points, depend on the strength of repulsive and attractive interactions. We compare the mean-field results with Monte Carlo simulation of three types interacting k-mers: monomers, dimers and trimers. (a) We find that the Takahashi estimates of the maximal current agree quantitatively with those of the Monte Carlo simulation in the absence of interaction as well as in both the the attractive and the strongly repulsive regimes. However, theory and Monte Carlo results disagree in the range of weak repulsion, where the Takahashi estimates of the maximal current show a monotonic behaviour, whereas the Monte Carlo data show a peaking behaviour. It is argued that the peaking of the maximal current is due to a correlated motion of the particles. In the limit of very strong repulsion the theory predicts a universal behavior: th maximal currents of k-mers correspond to that of non-interacting (k+1) -mers; (b) Monte Carlo estimates of the triple-points for monomers, dimers and trimers show an interesting general behaviour : (i) the phase boundaries α * and β* for entry and exit current, respectively, as function of interaction strengths show maxima for α* whereas β * exhibit minima at the same strength; (ii) in the attractive regime, however, the trend is reversed (β * > α * ). The Takahashi estimates of the triple-point for monomers show a similar trend as the Monte Carlo data except for the peaking of α * ; for dimers and trimers, however, the Takahashi estimates show an opposite trend as compared to the Monte Carlo data.

The historic origins of nursing centers.

PubMed

Glass, L K

1989-01-01

The four examples presented are representative of nursing service organizations at the turn of the century that fit our current definition of nursing center. They share commonalities that led to their creation and continuation. These nursing centers were created to respond to a recognized need: There was a clientele that was not being served; the clientele served were generally poor, of low socioeconomic status; and income generation (money) was not a motivating factor for the nurses. There was a strong leader for each center who championed the cause and took the risks, and these centers were all very successful at what they set out to do. It is interesting to note that the commonalities from the turn of the century can also be applied to the 1980s. Using this history to refresh our memory can help us build on the strong base that these early nursing centers provided.

Electrically Injected UV-Visible Nanowire Lasers

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

Wang, George T.; Li, Changyi; Li, Qiming

2015-09-01

There is strong interest in minimizing the volume of lasers to enable ultracompact, low-power, coherent light sources. Nanowires represent an ideal candidate for such nanolasers as stand-alone optical cavities and gain media, and optically pumped nanowire lasing has been demonstrated in several semiconductor systems. Electrically injected nanowire lasers are needed to realize actual working devices but have been elusive due to limitations of current methods to address the requirement for nanowire device heterostructures with high material quality, controlled doping and geometry, low optical loss, and efficient carrier injection. In this project we proposed to demonstrate electrically injected single nanowire lasersmore » emitting in the important UV to visible wavelengths. Our approach to simultaneously address these challenges is based on high quality III-nitride nanowire device heterostructures with precisely controlled geometries and strong gain and mode confinement to minimize lasing thresholds, enabled by a unique top-down nanowire fabrication technique.« less

Turbulence in high-beta ASDEX upgrade advanced scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doerk, H.; Bock, A.; Di Siena, A.; Fable, E.; Görler, T.; Jenko, F.; Stober, J.; The ASDEX Upgrade Team

2018-01-01

Recent experiments at ASDEX Upgrade achieve non-inductive operation in full tungsten wall conditions by applying electron cyclotron and neutral beam current drive. These discharges are characterised by a well-measured safety factor profile, which does not drop below one, and a good energy confinement. By reproducing the experimental heat fluxes, nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations suggest that the observed strong peaking of the ion temperature in the core is caused by the stabilising impact of a significant beam ion content, as well as strong electromagnetic effects on turbulent transport. Quasilinear transport models are not yet applicable in this interesting and reactor relevant parameter regime, but available simulation data may serve as a testbed for improvements. As the present plasma is close to the kinetic ballooning (KBM) threshold, elevating the safety factor profile under otherwise identical conditions is proposed to clarify, whether profiles are ultimately limited by KBM turbulence, or by global stability constraints.

Childhood adversity, mental disorder comorbidity, and suicidal behavior in schizotypal personality disorder.

PubMed

Lentz, Vanessa; Robinson, Jennifer; Bolton, James M

2010-11-01

Schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) is a serious and relatively common psychiatric disorder, yet remains understudied among the personality disorders. The current study examines the psychiatric correlates of SPD in a representative epidemiologic sample, utilizing data from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (N = 34,653). Multiple logistic regression compared people with SPD to the general population across a broad range of childhood adversities, comorbid psychiatric disorders, and suicidal behavior. SPD was strongly associated with many adverse childhood experiences. After adjusting for confounding factors, SPD was independently associated with major depression and several anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder. Interestingly, SPD was more strongly associated with borderline and narcissistic personality disorders than cluster A personality disorders. Individuals with SPD were also more likely to attempt suicide. As a whole, these results suggest that individuals with SPD experience significant morbidity and may be at increased risk of mortality.

Processing of strong flux trapping high T(subc) oxide superconductors: Center director's discretionary fund

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, M. K.; Higgins, C. A.; Leong, P. T.; Chou, H.; Loo, B. H.; Curreri, P. A.; Peters, P. N.; Sisk, R. C.; Huang, C. Y.; Shapira, Y.

1989-01-01

Magnetic suspension effect was first observed in samples of YBa2Cu3O7/AgO(Y-123/AgO) composites. Magnetization measurements of these samples show a much larger hysteresis which corresponds to a large critical current density. In addition to the Y-123AgO composites, recently similar suspension effects in other RE-123/AgO, where RE stands for rare-Earth elements, were also observed. Some samples exhibit even stronger flux pinning than that of the Y-123/AgO sample. An interesting observation was that in order to form the composite which exhibits strong flux trapping effect the sintering temperature depends on the particular RE-123 compound used. The paper presents the detailed processing conditions for the formation of these RE-123/AgO composites, as well as the magnetization and critical field data.

Inside pyroclastic density currents - uncovering the enigmatic flow structure and transport behaviour in large-scale experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Breard, Eric C. P.; Lube, Gert

2017-01-01

Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) are the most lethal threat from volcanoes. While there are two main types of PDCs (fully turbulent, fully dilute pyroclastic surges and more concentrated pyroclastic flows encompassing non-turbulent to turbulent transport) pyroclastic flows, which are the subject of the present study, are far more complex than dilute pyroclastic surges and remain the least understood type despite their far greater hazard, greater runout length and ability to transport vast quantities of material across the Earth's surface. Here we present large-scale experiments of natural volcanic material and gas in order to provide the missing quantitative view of the internal structure and gas-particle transport mechanisms in pyroclastic flows. We show that the outer flow structure with head, body and wake regions broadly resembles current PDC analogues of dilute gravity currents. However, the internal structure, in which lower levels consist of a concentrated granular fluid and upper levels are more dilute, contrasts significantly with the internal structure of fully dilute gravity currents. This bipartite vertical structure shows strong analogy to current conceptual models of high-density turbidity currents, which are responsible for the distribution of coarse sediment in marine basins and of great interest to the hydrocarbon industry. The lower concentrated and non-turbulent levels of the PDC (granular-fluid basal flow) act as a fast-flowing carrier for the more dilute and turbulent upper levels of the current (ash-cloud surge). Strong kinematic coupling between these flow parts reduces viscous dissipation and entrainment of ambient air into the lower part of the ash-cloud surge. This leads to a state of forced super-criticality whereby fast and destructive PDCs can endure even at large distances from volcanoes. Importantly, the basal flow/ash-cloud surge coupling yields a characteristically smooth rheological boundary across the non-turbulent/turbulent interface, as well as vertical velocity and density profiles in the ash-cloud surge, which strongly differ from current theoretical predictions. Observed generation of successive pulses of high dynamic pressure within the upper dilute levels of the PDC may be important to understand the destructive potential of PDCs. The experiments further show that a wide range in the degree of coupling between particle and gas phases is critical to the vertical and longitudinal segregation of the currents into reaches that have starkly contrasting sediment transport capacities. In particular, the formation of mesoscale turbulence clusters under strong particle-gas feedback controls vertical stratification inside the turbulent upper levels of the current (ash-cloud surge) and triggers significant transfers of mass and momentum from the ash-cloud surge onto the granular-fluid basal flow. These results open up new pathways to advance current computational PDC hazard models and to describe and interpret PDCs as well as other types of high-density gravity currents transported across the surfaces of Earth and other planets and across marine basins.

Performance Evaluation of NWChem Ab-Initio Molecular Dynamics (AIMD) Simulations on the Intel® Xeon Phi™ Processor

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

Bylaska, Eric J.; Jacquelin, Mathias; De Jong, Wibe A.

2017-10-20

Ab-initio Molecular Dynamics (AIMD) methods are an important class of algorithms, as they enable scientists to understand the chemistry and dynamics of molecular and condensed phase systems while retaining a first-principles-based description of their interactions. Many-core architectures such as the Intel® Xeon Phi™ processor are an interesting and promising target for these algorithms, as they can provide the computational power that is needed to solve interesting problems in chemistry. In this paper, we describe the efforts of refactoring the existing AIMD plane-wave method of NWChem from an MPI-only implementation to a scalable, hybrid code that employs MPI and OpenMP tomore » exploit the capabilities of current and future many-core architectures. We describe the optimizations required to get close to optimal performance for the multiplication of the tall-and-skinny matrices that form the core of the computational algorithm. We present strong scaling results on the complete AIMD simulation for a test case that simulates 256 water molecules and that strong-scales well on a cluster of 1024 nodes of Intel Xeon Phi processors. We compare the performance obtained with a cluster of dual-socket Intel® Xeon® E5–2698v3 processors.« less

Activation and modulation of human α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by the neonicotinoids clothianidin and imidacloprid

PubMed Central

Li, Ping; Ann, Jason; Akk, Gustav

2013-01-01

Neonicotinoids are synthetic, nicotine-derived insecticides used for agricultural and household pest control. While highly effective at activating insect nicotinic receptors, many neonicotinoids are also capable of directly activating and/or modulating the activation of vertebrate nicotinic receptors. In this study, we have investigated the actions of the neonicotinoids clothianidin (CTD) and imidacloprid (IMI) on human neuronal α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The data demonstrate that the compounds are weak agonists of the human receptors with relative peak currents of 1–4 % of the response to 1 mM acetylcholine (ACh). Coapplication of IMI strongly inhibited currents elicited by ACh. From Schild plot analysis, we estimate that the affinity of IMI to the human α4β2 receptor is 18 µM. The application of low concentrations of CTD potentiated responses to low concentrations of ACh, suggesting that receptors occupied by one ACh and one CTD molecule have a higher gating efficacy than receptors with one ACh bound. Interestingly, subunit stoichiometry affected inhibition by CTD, with (α4)2(β2)3 receptors significantly more strongly inhibited than the (α4)3(β2)2 receptors. PMID:21538459

Too fast or not too fast: the FDA's approval of Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil.

PubMed

Tomljenovic, Lucija; Shaw, Christopher A

2012-01-01

There are not many public health issues where views are as extremely polarized as those concerning vaccines, and Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil is a case in point. Ever since gaining the FDA's approval in 2006, Merck has been heavily criticized for their overly aggressive marketing strategies and lobbying campaigns aimed at promoting Gardasil as a mandatory vaccine. Subsequently, questions have been raised as to whether it was appropriate for vaccine manufacturers to partake in public health policies when their conflicts of interests are so obvious. Some of their advertising campaign slogans, such as "cervical cancer kills x women per year" and "your daughter could become one less life affected by cervical cancer," seemed more designed to promote fear rather than evidence-based decision making about the potential benefits of the vaccine. Although, conflicts of interests do not necessarily mean that the product itself is faulty, marketing claims should be carefully examined against factual science data. Currently Gardasil vaccination is strongly recommended by the U.S. and other health authorities while public concerns about safety and efficacy of the vaccine appear to be increasing. This discrepancy leads to some important questions that need to be resolved. The current review examines key issues of this debate in light of currently available research evidence. © 2012 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

Planning for success: desired characteristics of special operations surgeons, a pilot study.

PubMed

Campbell, Barrett H; Alderman, Shawn M

2012-01-01

Selection criteria for Special Operations Forces (SOF) physicians are often unclear to potential candidates without prior SOF experience. To date, no published career resource exists to guide the careers of physicians interested in becoming a SOF surgeon. Using a survey tool, desirable characteristics and personal attributes were identified that can be used to inform candidate career decisions and better prepare them for a future position in Special Operations. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey instrument was developed and distributed to current Army SOF Command Surgeons for further distribution to subordinate surgeons. RESULTS were analyzed as a cohort and by subordinate command. Respondents consisted of current SOF Surgeons. Uniformly, the individual characteristics most strongly desired are professionalism, being a team player, and leadership. Possessing or obtaining Airborne and Flight Surgeon qualifications prior to consideration for a surgeon position was highly desired. Residency training within Family Medicine or Emergency Medicine constituted the vast majority of specialty preference. Understanding which characteristics and attributes are desirable to current surgeons and commanders can aid physicians interested in SOF surgeon positions. Using this study and future studies can guide career planning and foster the selection of ideally trained physicians who will operate at the tip of the spear. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. 2012.

Students Who Demonstrate Strong Talent and Interest in STEM Are Initially Attracted to STEM through Extracurricular Experiences

PubMed Central

Frankenfeld, Cara L.; Bases, Jessica; Espina, Virginia; Liotta, Lance A.

2014-01-01

What early experiences attract students to pursue an education and career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)? Does hands-on research influence them to persevere and complete a major course of academic study in STEM? We evaluated survey responses from 149 high school and undergraduate students who gained hands-on research experience in the 2007–2013 Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Programs (ASSIP) at George Mason University. Participants demonstrated their strong interest in STEM by volunteering to participate in ASSIP and completing 300 h of summer research. The survey queried extracurricular experiences, classroom factors, and hands-on projects that first cultivated students’ interest in the STEM fields, and separately evaluated experiences that sustained their interest in pursuing a STEM degree. The majority of students (65.5%, p < 0.0001) reported extracurricular encounters, such as the influence of a relative or family member and childhood experiences, as the most significant factors that initially ignited their interest in STEM, while hands-on lab work was stated as sustaining their interest in STEM (92.6%). Based on these findings collected from a cohort of students who demonstrated a strong talent and interest in STEM, community-based programs that create awareness about STEM for both children and their family members may be key components for igniting long-term academic interest in STEM. PMID:25452491

Discussion about photodiode architectures for space applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gravrand, O.; Destefanis, G.; Cervera, C.; Zanatta, J.-P.; Baier, N.; Ferron, A.; Boulade, O.

2017-11-01

Detection for space application is very demanding on the IR detector: all wavelengths, from visible-NIR (2- 3um cutoff) to LWIR (10-12.5um cutoff), even sometimes VLWIR (15um cutoff) may be of interest. Moreover, various scenarii are usually considered. Some are imaging applications where the focal plane array (FPA) is used as an optical element to sense an image. However, the FPA may also be used in spectrometric applications where light is triggered on the different pixels depending on its wavelength. In some cases, star pointing is another use of FPAs where the retina is used to sense the position of the satellite. In all those configurations, we might distinguish several categories of applications: • low flux applications where the FPA is staring at space and the detection occurs with only a few number of photons. • high flux applications where the FPA is usually staring at the earth. In this case, the black body emission of the earth and its atmosphere ensures usually a large number of photons to perform the detection. Those two different categories are highly dimensioning for the detector as it usually determines the level of dark current and quantum efficiency (QE) requirements. Indeed, high detection performance usually requires a large number of integrated photons such that high QE is needed for low flux applications, in order to limit the integration time as much as possible. Moreover, dark current requirement is also directly linked to the expected incoming flux, in order to limit as much as possible the SNR degradation due to dark charges vs photocharges. Note that in most cases, this dark current is highly depending on operating temperature which dominates detector consumption. A classical way to mitigate dark current is to cool down the detector to very low temperatures. This paper won't discuss the need for wavefront sensing where the number of detected photons is low because of a very narrow integration window. Rigorously, this kind of configuration is a low flux application but the need for speed distinguishes it from other low flux applications as it usually requires a different ROIC architecture and a photodiode optimized for high response speed.

Shaping the future medical workforce: take care with selection tools.

PubMed

Poole, Phillippa; Shulruf, Boaz

2013-12-01

Medical school selection is a first step in developing a general practice workforce. To determine the relationship between medical school selection scores and intention to pursue a career in general practice. A longitudinal cohort study of students selected in 2006 and 2007 for The University of Auckland medical programme, who completed an exit survey on career intentions. Students are ranked for selection into year 2 of a six-year programme by combining grade point average from prior university achievement (60%), interview (25%) and Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test (UMAT) scores (15%). The main outcome measure was level of interest in general practice at exit. Logistic regression assessed whether any demographic variables or admission scores predicted a 'strong' interest in general practice. None of interview scores, grade point average, age, gender, or entry pathway predicted a 'strong' interest in general practice. Only UMAT scores differentiated between those with a 'strong' interest versus those with 'some' or 'no' interest, but in an inverse fashion. The best predictor of a 'strong' interest in general practice was a low UMAT score of between 45 and 55 on all three UMAT sections (OR 3.37, p=0.020). Yet, the academic scores at entry of students with these UMAT scores were not lower than those of their classmates. Setting inappropriately high cut-points for medical school selection may exclude applicants with a propensity for general practice. These findings support the use of a wider lens through which to view medical school selection tools.

Seismic Readings from the Deepest Borehole in the New Madrid Seismic Zone

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

Woolery, Edward W; Wang, Zhenming; Sturchio, Neil C

2006-03-01

Since the 1980s, the research associated with the UK network has been primarily strong-motion seismology of engineering interest. Currently the University of Kentucky operates a strong-motion network of nine stations in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. A unique feature of the network is the inclusions of vertical strong-motion arrays, each with one or two downhole accelerometers. The deepest borehole array is 260 m below the surfaces at station VASA in Fulton County, Kentucky. A preliminary surface seismic refraction survey was conducted at the site before drilling the hole at VSAS (Woolery and Wang, 2002). The depth to the Paleozoic bedrockmore » at the site was estimated to be approximately 595 m, and the depth to the first very stiff layer (i.e. Porters Creek Clay) was found to be about 260 m. These depths and stratigraphic interpretation correlated well with a proprietary seismic reflection line and the Ken-Ten Oil Exploration No. 1 Sanger hole (Schwalb, 1969), as well as our experience in the area (Street et al., 1995; Woolery et al., 1999).« less

Dynamics and Melting of Finite Plasma Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ludwig, Patrick; K"Ahlert, Hanno; Baumgartner, Henning; Thomsen, Hauke; Bonitz, Michael

2009-11-01

Interacting few-particle systems in external trapping potentials are of strong current interest since they allow to realize and control strong correlation and quantum effects [1]. Here, we present our recent results on the structural and thermodynamic properties of the crystal-like Wigner phase of complex plasma confined in a 3D harmonic potential. We discuss the linear response of the strongly correlated system to external excitations, which can be described in terms of normal modes [2]. By means of first-principle simulations the details of the melting phase transitions of these mesoscopic systems are systematically analysed with the melting temperatures being determined by a modified Lindemann parameter for the pair distance fluctuations [3]. The critical temperatures turn out to be utmost sensitive to finite size effects (i.e., the exact particle number), and form of the (screened) interaction potential.[4pt] [1] PhD Thesis, P. Ludwig, U Rostock (2008)[0pt] [2] C. Henning et al., J. Phys. A 42, 214023 (2009)[0pt] [3] B"oning et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 113401 (2008)

Broken Time-Reversal Symmetry in Strongly Correlated Ladder Structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Troyer, Matthias

2004-03-01

A decade after the first detailed numerical investigations of strongly correlated ladder models, exotic and interesting phases are still being discovered. Besides charge and spin density wave states with broken translational symmetry, and resonating valence bond (RVB) type superconductivity, a time reversal symmetry borken phase was recently found at half filling [J.B. Marston et al., Phys. Rev. Lett 89, 056404 (2002)]. In this talk I will present our recent results of density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) calculations [Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 186401 (2003)], where we provide, for the first time, in a doped strongly correlated system (two-leg ladder), a controlled theoretical demonstration of the existence of this state in which long-range ordered orbital currents are arranged in a staggered pattern. This phase, which we found to coexist with a charge density wave, is known in the literature under the names ``staggered flux phase'', ``orbital antiferromagnetism'' or ``d-density wave (DDW)''. This brings us closer to recent proposals that this order might be realized in the enigmatic pseudogap phase of the cuprate high temperature superconductors.

Multispacecraft Observations and 3D Structure of Electromagnetic Electron Phase-Space Holes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holmes, J.; Ahmadi, N.; Ergun, R.; Wilder, F. D.; Newman, D. L.; Le Contel, O.; Torbert, R. B.; Burch, J. L.

2017-12-01

Electron phase-space holes are nonlinear plasma structures characterized by a unipolar trapping potential with a radial electric field. They commonly form from beam instabilities and other turbulent processes in many plasma environments. Due to their strong fields and long lifetimes, it has been hypothesized that phase-space holes can carry energy over long distances, contribute to large-scale currents, and accelerate individual particles to high energies. With electromagnetic field measurements at high cadence and precision on more than two spacecraft, we can compare the real 3D structure of electron phase-space holes to the models suggested by Andersson et al. (2009) and Treumann and Baumjohann (2012). In this case study, we consider a train of correlated electron phase-space holes observed by all four MMS spacecraft on the dusk flank within the magnetosphere. A number of the holes appear to pass directly through the 7 km tetrahedron formation. We use this data to compute the holes' phase velocity vector relative to the background magnetic field, and quantify their internal currents and associated magnetic moments. For these weak magnetic signatures, we find that the contribution from internal E×B0 currents is comparable to the v×E effect. This study will be interesting to compare with MMS observations in the magnetotail, which are expected to capture large, semi-relativistic phase-space holes with a strong magnetic component.

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

Jordanova, Vania K

Understanding the response at Earth of the Sun's varying energy output and forecasting geomagnetic activity is of central interest to space science, since intense geomagnetic storms may cause severe damages on technological systems and affect communications. Episodes of southward (Bz

Threat Perception and Attitudes of Adolescents Towards Re-Introduced Wild Animals: A qualitative study of young learners from affected regions in Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hermann, Nadin; Menzel, Susanne

2013-12-01

Conservation efforts such as the restoration of European bison or the support of wolf immigration into Germany are often socio-scientifically controversial. In many cases, disputes are based on individuals' threat perception and attitudes towards the animal involved. The herewith reported study provides qualitative insights into German adolescents' (n = 31, Mage = 16.6 years) attitudes towards animal reintroduction, their threat and coping appraisal about wildlife and their knowledge of local endangered species. We found that students had rather limited knowledge of local endangered species. After Kellert's categories of animal attitudes, the adolescents showed a strong moralistic view on wildlife return. Naturalistic, ecologistic and utilitarian views were also strongly apparent. According to the Protection Motivation Theory, perceived threats could be identified as threats to animals on the one hand and threats to human interests on the other. Such threat perceptions often lead to a dilemma, which made it difficult to decide upon the priorities of wildlife protection versus protection of human interests. Coping mechanism to reduce threats to human interests as mentioned by the participants included restrictions of the animal as well as strategies that focused on responsibility by humans. Regarding coping mechanism to prevent the species' extinction, participants showed a relatively superficial understanding. Furthermore, we found that participants from regions where wolves are currently immigrating or European bison are being reintroduced showed a more positive understanding of the respective animal. Our findings are discussed in the light of this topic's potential as an example of a real-life socio-scientific issue in classroom discussions.

On-chip and freestanding elastic carbon films for micro-supercapacitors

DOE PAGES

Huang, Peihua; Lethien, C.; Pinaud, S.; ...

2016-02-11

Integration of electrochemical capacitors with silicon-based electronics is a major challenge, limiting energy storage on a chip. We describe a wafer-scale process for manufacturing strongly adhering carbide-derived carbon films and interdigitated micro-supercapacitors with embedded titanium carbide current collectors, fully compatible with current microfabrication and silicon-based device technology. Capacitance of those films reaches 410 farads per cubic centimeter/200 millifarads per square centimeter in aqueous electrolyte and 170 farads per cubic centimeter/85 millifarads per square centimeter in organic electrolyte. We also demonstrate preparation of self-supported, mechanically stable, micrometer-thick porous carbon films with a Young’s modulus of 14.5 gigapascals, with the possibility ofmore » further transfer onto flexible substrates. Lastly, these materials are interesting for applications in structural energy storage, tribology, and gas separation.« less

Expectations of Students about Astronomy in High School

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peixoto, Denis Eduardo; Kleinke, Maurício Urban

2016-12-01

Current literature reports that the astronomy education is motivating and interesting for basic education, but the content suggested by the national curriculum guidelines do not seem to attract students and teachers in order to transcend the discipline of Science in the elementary School or Physics in High School. By applying a questionnaire to 80 students of High School and participants of Brazilian Olympiad of Astronomy and Astronautics of two schools of São Paulo state, we obtained results that indicate that astronomy topics that really motivate students are topics linked to science fiction and current research, which are the subject of extensive media release and have a strong interdisciplinary character. At the end of the work we suggest a new context for astronomy education, by inserting topics combined with other areas of knowledge to what we call “interdisciplinary astrophysics teaching”.

On-chip and freestanding elastic carbon films for micro-supercapacitors

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

Huang, Peihua; Lethien, C.; Pinaud, S.

Integration of electrochemical capacitors with silicon-based electronics is a major challenge, limiting energy storage on a chip. We describe a wafer-scale process for manufacturing strongly adhering carbide-derived carbon films and interdigitated micro-supercapacitors with embedded titanium carbide current collectors, fully compatible with current microfabrication and silicon-based device technology. Capacitance of those films reaches 410 farads per cubic centimeter/200 millifarads per square centimeter in aqueous electrolyte and 170 farads per cubic centimeter/85 millifarads per square centimeter in organic electrolyte. We also demonstrate preparation of self-supported, mechanically stable, micrometer-thick porous carbon films with a Young’s modulus of 14.5 gigapascals, with the possibility ofmore » further transfer onto flexible substrates. Lastly, these materials are interesting for applications in structural energy storage, tribology, and gas separation.« less

Meeting Report: The Fourth Artificial Pancreas Workshop: Testing and Adoption of Current and Emerging Technologies

PubMed Central

Ginsberg, Barry H.; Klonoff, David C.; Crabtree, Vincent P.

2017-01-01

On July 6 and 7, 2016 the Fourth Artificial Pancreas Workshop: Testing and Adoption of Current and Emerging Technologies was held on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Campus at the Lister Hill Auditorium. The meeting was sponsored by a group of governmental organizations and NGOs, listed in Appendix A. This was a very timely meeting as the artificial pancreas appears to be growing from academic studies to commercial projects. The first artificial pancreas may be marketed within 12 months and a few may be approved within 24 months. The NIH, the FDA, the JDRF, Helmsley Trust, Diabetes Technology Society, and other agencies, funders, and organizations have been strongly supportive of advancing artificial pancreas technology and usability, and thus the proceedings from this conference should be of exceptional interest to the diabetes technology community. PMID:28349709

Graduating med-peds residents' interest in part-time employment.

PubMed

Fix, Amy L; Kaelber, David C; Melgar, Thomas A; Chamberlain, John; Cull, William; Robbins, Brett W

2011-01-01

As part-time work is becoming more popular among the primary care specialties, we examined the demographic descriptors of med-peds residents seeking and finding part-time employment upon completion of residency training. As part of the 2006 annual American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Graduating Med-Peds Residents Survey, we surveyed the graduating residents of all med-peds programs about their interest in and plans for part-time employment. A total of 199 (60%) of the residents responded. Of the resident respondents applying for nonfellowship jobs, 19% sought part-time positions and 10% actually accepted a part-time position. Female residents were significantly more likely than male residents to apply for part-time jobs (26% vs. 7%, P = .034). Sixty percent of female residents immediately seeking work and 58% of those going on to fellowship reported an interest in arranging a part-time or reduced-hours position at some point in the next 5 years. Part-time employment among med-peds residents applying for nonfellowship positions after graduation is similar to the current incidence of part-time employment in other fields of primary care. A much higher percentage of med-peds residents are interested in arranging part-time work within 5 years after graduation. This strong interest in part-time work has many implications for the primary care workforce. Copyright © 2011 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Avian research in the U.S. Forest Service

Treesearch

Beatrice Van Horne

2005-01-01

Avian research in the Federal Government is in a crisis. Yes, there is a strong interest in avian research, as evidenced by the size and level of interest in this conference. But political parties increasingly see wildlife research as expendable. At the same time, the reaction to environment-friendly legislation of the 1970s and 1980s has been strong from both sides....

Vocational interest types of medical students and its usage in student career counseling program.

PubMed

Hur, Yera; Lee, Keumho

2012-12-01

It is very important to consider student's personality, aptitudes, and interest to choose an appropriate major or career. This study explored three overarching topics: Are there difference in vocational interest types by gender? Do students' vocational interest type concur with type related to medicine? Are the results of Strong Interest Inventory useful in student career counseling? The subjects were 124 freshmen in Konyang University College of Medicine. The Strong Interest Inventory (Korean version) was used. This were divided into three scales: general occupational themes (GOT), basic interest scales (BIS), and personal style scales (PSS). The data were analyzed by the frequency analysis, chi-square test and t-test. From GOT six interest types, male and female showed significant differences in realistic (t=2.71, p=0.008), artist (t=-3.33, p=0.001), and social (t=-2.08, p=0.039) types. From PSS, the score of work style was below 50 points, it is mean they prefer to work alone, with the ideas, materials rather than work with people. Investigative type was the most frequent type (63.7%) and social type was the least (8.1%). The interest test results were very useful in student career counseling with professors (n=53). The satisfaction survey results showed 58.5% of professors were very satisfied as the data was "helpful in understanding the students," "useful in leading natural conversation (41.5%)," and "helpful in creating rapport (39.6%)." Strong vocational interest types explains an individual's career interests, and reflect the characteristics of medical students are. The finding of the study can be used to provide student counseling and developing a tailored student career guidance program.

Ethnopharmacology in the work of Melville William Hilton-Simpson (1881-1938)--historical analysis and current research opportunities.

PubMed

Helmstädter, A

2016-06-01

In the early 20th century, the British anthropologist Melville William Hilton-Simpson (1881-1938) did explorations in Africa, mainly the Congo region and the Aurès region in Algeria. He showed considerable interest in local medicinal practices and plants used by the natives, mainly the Algerian Berbers. He left notes, letters and publications about traditional medicine which were screened for relevant information about medicinal plant use. His reports were compared with current knowledge and recent study results. Many plants described by Hilton-Simpson as therapeutically relevant could prove their efficacy in current studies which again shows that historical sources may exert some reliability. The study, however, unveiled a couple of plants reported as traditionally used, but neglected by modern science so far. These, including Marrubium supinum, Cynoglossum pictum (= C. creticum), Sonchus maritimus, and two Erodium species, are strongly recommended to be further studied. Foresightedly, this approach was already intended by Hilton-Simpson himself.

Optical Estimation of Depth and Current in a Ebb Tidal Delta Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holman, R. A.; Stanley, J.

2012-12-01

A key limitation to our ability to make nearshore environmental predictions is the difficulty of obtaining up-to-date bathymetry measurements at a reasonable cost and frequency. Due to the high cost and complex logistics of in-situ methods, research into remote sensing approaches has been steady and has finally yielded fairly robust methods like the cBathy algorithm for optical Argus data that show good performance on simple barred beach profiles and near immunity to noise and signal problems. In May, 2012, data were collected in a more complex ebb tidal delta environment during the RIVET field experiment at New River Inlet, NC. The presence of strong reversing tidal currents led to significant errors in cBathy depths that were phase-locked to the tide. In this paper we will test methods for the robust estimation of both depths and vector currents in a tidal delta domain. In contrast to previous Fourier methods, wavenumber estimation in cBathy can be done on small enough scales to resolve interesting nearshore features.

Rhynchophylline from Uncaria rhynchophylla functionally turns delayed rectifiers into A-Type K+ channels.

PubMed

Chou, Chun-Hsiao; Gong, Chi-Li; Chao, Chia-Chia; Lin, Chia-Huei; Kwan, Chiu-Yin; Hsieh, Ching-Liang; Leung, Yuk-Man

2009-05-22

Rhynchophylline (1), a neuroprotective agent isolated from the traditional Chinese medicinal herb Uncaria rhynchophylla, was shown to affect voltage-gated K(+) (Kv) channel slow inactivation in mouse neuroblastoma N2A cells. Extracellular 1 (30 microM) accelerated the slow decay of Kv currents and shifted the steady-state inactivation curve to the left. Intracellular dialysis of 1 did not accelerate the slow current decay, suggesting that this compound acts extracellularly. In addition, the percent blockage of Kv currents by this substance was independent of the degree of depolarization and the intracellular K(+) concentration. Therefore, 1 did not appear to directly block the outer channel pore, with the results obtained suggesting that it drastically accelerated Kv channel slow inactivation. Interestingly, 1 also shifted the activation curve to the left. This alkaloid also strongly accelerated slow inactivation and caused a left shift of the activation curve of Kv1.2 channels heterologously expressed in HEK293 cells. Thus, this compound functionally turned delayed rectifiers into A-type K(+) channels.

Communication: Relaxation-limited electronic currents in extended reservoir simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gruss, Daniel; Smolyanitsky, Alex; Zwolak, Michael

2017-10-01

Open-system approaches are gaining traction in the simulation of charge transport in nanoscale and molecular electronic devices. In particular, "extended reservoir" simulations, where explicit reservoir degrees of freedom are present, allow for the computation of both real-time and steady-state properties but require relaxation of the extended reservoirs. The strength of this relaxation, γ, influences the conductance, giving rise to a "turnover" behavior analogous to Kramers turnover in chemical reaction rates. We derive explicit, general expressions for the weak and strong relaxation limits. For weak relaxation, the conductance increases linearly with γ and every electronic state of the total explicit system contributes to the electronic current according to its "reduced" weight in the two extended reservoir regions. Essentially, this represents two conductors in series—one at each interface with the implicit reservoirs that provide the relaxation. For strong relaxation, a "dual" expression-one with the same functional form-results, except now proportional to 1/γ and dependent on the system of interest's electronic states, reflecting that the strong relaxation is localizing electrons in the extended reservoirs. Higher order behavior (e.g., γ2 or 1/γ2) can occur when there is a gap in the frequency spectrum. Moreover, inhomogeneity in the frequency spacing can give rise to a pseudo-plateau regime. These findings yield a physically motivated approach to diagnosing numerical simulations and understanding the influence of relaxation, and we examine their occurrence in both simple models and a realistic, fluctuating graphene nanoribbon.

The potential for military diets to reduce depression, suicide, and impulsive aggression: a review of current evidence for omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

PubMed

Hibbeln, Joseph R; Gow, Rachel V

2014-11-01

The current burden of psychological distress and illness poses as a significant barrier to optimal force efficacy. Here we assess nutrients in military diets, specifically highly unsaturated essential fatty acids, in the reduction of risk or treatment of psychiatric distress. Moderate to strong evidence from several meta-analyses of prospective cohort trials indicate that Mediterranean diet patterns reduce risk of clinical depressions. Specific nutrients and foods of biological interest in relation to mental health outcomes are then discussed and evaluated. Moderate evidence indicates that when fish consumption decreases and simultaneously omega-6 increases, the risk of clinical depressive symptoms are elevated. One meta-analysis examining tissue compositions provides moderate to strong evidence that higher levels of omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) (eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid) are associated with decreased risk of clinical depressions. Other meta-analytic reviews of randomized placebo-controlled trials provide moderate to strong evidence of significantly improving clinically depressive symptoms when the formulation given was >50% in eicosapentaenoic acid. Finally, a meta-analysis of omega-3 HUFAs provides modest evidence of clinical efficacy for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. This article recommends that a rebalancing of the essential fatty acid composition of U.S. military diets, achieve tissue compositions of HUFAs consistent with traditional Mediterranean diets, may help reduce military psychiatric distress and simultaneously increase force efficacy substantially. Reprint & Copyright © 2014 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Examining interest in secondary abstinence among young African American females at risk for HIV or STIs.

PubMed

Bradley, Erin L P; Sales, Jessica M; Murray, Colleen C; DiClemente, Ralph J

2012-12-01

Sexually active African American females are at increased risk for acquiring HIV or STIs. However, some reduce their risk by abstaining from sex for various periods of time following initiation, a practice known as secondary abstinence. Although this may be a valuable mechanism for reducing HIV or STI rates in this population, little is known about those interested in secondary abstinence. Baseline data were obtained from a sample of African American adolescent females, ages 14-20 years, prior to participation in an HIV-risk reduction intervention trial (N = 701). Differences in individual-level and interpersonal-level factors, as well as sociodemographic variables were examined between participants who reported strong interest in secondary abstinence and those who did not. 144 (20.5%) participants reported strong interest in secondary abstinence. Young women with strong interest in abstinence had higher odds of reporting a history of STIs and feeling negative emotions following sex because of their religious beliefs. They also had higher odds of believing their partner may be interested in abstaining and being less invested in their relationship with their main partner. Additionally, adolescents reported less interpersonal stress and more social support. African American females who are interested in practicing secondary abstinence and those who are not differ in their sexual health education needs. Findings from this study characterizing young women interested in secondary abstinence can help researchers provide more targeted health education by identifying those who may be more responsive to abstinence-promoting messages.

Differences in the Vocational Interests of Research and Development Managers versus Technical Specialists.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Raymond E.; Roselle, Pamela F.

1985-01-01

Compared the occupational interests of research and development managers (N=110) and technical specialists (N=55). Analysis on the general occupational themes and basic interest scales of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory indicated the social, enterprising, and conventional areas predicted managerial group membership, whereas the artistic…

Exploring Situational Interest Sources in the French Physical Education Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roure, Cédric; Pasco, Denis

2018-01-01

Based on the framework of interest, studies have shown that situational interest possesses strong motivation potential for students in physical education. Understanding how teachers can use situational interest in a classroom context is critical to motivate students. However, such investigations have been exclusively conducted in the United States…

Meta-analyses of Big Six Interests and Big Five Personality Factors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larson, Lisa M.; Rottinghaus, Patrick J.; Borgen, Fred H.

2002-01-01

Meta-analysis of 24 samples demonstrated overlap between Holland's vocational interest domains (measured by Self Directed Search, Strong Interest Inventory, and Vocational Preference Inventory) and Big Five personality factors (measured by Revised NEO Personalty Inventory). The link is stronger for five interest-personality pairs:…

Teacher Misbehavior and Its Effects on Student Interest and Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broeckelman-Post, Melissa Ann; Tacconelli, Angelica; Guzmán, Jaime; Rios, Maritza; Calero, Beverly; Latif, Farah

2016-01-01

This study sought to investigate whether there was any relationship between teacher misbehaviors and student interest and engagement. Consistent with Emotional Response Theory and models for how teacher behavior impacts student interest and engagement, teacher misbehaviors were strongly correlated with student interest and weakly correlated with…

Gender-related individual differences and the structure of vocational interests: the importance of the people-things dimension.

PubMed

Lippa, R

1998-04-01

In 3 studies (respective Ns = 289, 394, and 1,678), males and females were assessed on Big Five traits, masculine instrumentality (M), feminine expressiveness (F), gender diagnosticity (GD), and RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional) vocational interest scales. Factor analyses of RIASEC scores consistently showed evidence for D.J. Prediger's (1982) People-Things and Ideas-Data dimensions, and participants' factor scores on these dimensions were computed. In all studies Big Five Openness was related to Ideas-Data but not to People-Things. Gender was strongly related to People-Things but not to Ideas-Data. Within each sex, GD correlated strongly with People-Things but not with Ideas-Data. M, F, and Big Five measures other than Openness tended not to correlate strongly with RIASEC scales or dimensions. The results suggest that gender and gender-related individual differences within the sexes are strongly linked to the People-Things dimension of vocational interests.

Harnessing Poly(ionic liquid)s for Sensing Applications.

PubMed

Guterman, Ryan; Ambrogi, Martina; Yuan, Jiayin

2016-07-01

The interest in poly(ionic liquid)s for sensing applications is derived from their strong interactions to a variety of analytes. By combining the desirable mechanical properties of polymers with the physical and chemical properties of ILs, new materials can be created. The tunable nature of both ionic liquids and polymers allows for incredible diversity, which is exemplified in their broad applicability. In this article we examine the new field of poly(ionic liquid) sensors by providing a detailed look at the current state-of-the-art sensing devices for solvents, gases, biomolecules, pH, and anions. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The role of fluctuation-induced transport in a toroidal plasma with strong radial electric fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roth, J. R.; Krawczonek, W. M.; Powers, E. J.; Hong, J. Y.; Kim, Y. C.

1981-01-01

Previous work employing digitally implemented spectral analysis techniques is extended to demonstrate that radial fluctuation-induced transport is the dominant ion transport mechanism in an electric field dominated toroidal plasma. Such transport can be made to occur against a density gradient, and hence may have a very beneficial effect on confinement in toroidal plasmas of fusion interest. It is shown that Bohm or classical diffusion down a density gradient, the collisional Pedersen-current mechanism, and the collisionless electric field gradient mechanism described by Cole (1976) all played a minor role, if any, in the radial transport of this plasma.

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

Blackmore, W. J.A.; Goddard, P. A.; Xiao, F.

Low-dimensional quantum magnetism is currently of great interest due to the fact that reduced dimensionality can support strong quantum fluctuations, which may lead to unusual phenomena and quantum-critical behavior. The effect of random exchange strengths in two-dimensional (2D) antiferromagnets is still not fully understood despite much effort. This project aims to rectify this by investigating the high-field properties of the 2D coordination polymer (QuinH) 2Cu(Cl xBr 1-x) 4.2H 2O. The exchange pathway is through Cu-Halide-Cu bonds, and by randomizing the proportion of chlorine and bromine atoms in the unit cell, disorder can be introduced into the system.

Gold Nanorods as Nanodevices for Bioimaging, Photothermal Therapeutics, and Drug Delivery.

PubMed

Haine, Aung Thu; Niidome, Takuro

2017-01-01

Gold nanorods are promising metals in several biomedical applications such as bioimaging, thermal therapy, and drug delivery. Gold nanorods have strong absorption bands in near-infrared (NIR) light region and show photothermal effects. Since NIR light can penetrate deeply into tissues, their unique optical, chemical, and biological properties have attracted considerable clinical interest. Gold nanorods are expected to act not only as on-demand thermal converters for photothermal therapy but also as mediators of a controlled drug-release system responding to light irradiation. In this review, we discuss current progress using gold nanorods as bioimaging platform, phototherapeutic agents, and drug delivery vehicles.

A curricular frame for physics education: Development, comparison with students' interests, and impact on students' achievement and self-concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Häussler, Peter; Hoffmann, Lore

2000-11-01

This article presents three interlinked studies aimed at: (1) developing a curricular frame for physics education; (2) assessing the students' interest in the contents, contexts, and activities that are suggested by that curricular frame; and (3) developing a curriculum that is in line with that frame and measuring its cognitive and emotional effects on students. The curricular frame was developed by adopting the Delphi technique and drawing on the expertise of 73 persons selected according to specified selection criteria. Interest data of some 8000 students and information of the presently taught physics curriculum were sampled longitudinally as well as cross-sectionally in various German Länder (states) by questionnaire. The third study comprised 23 experimental and 7 control classes. As a result of the comparison between the features of the curricular frame, the interest structure of students, and the current physics curriculum, there is a remarkable congruency between students' interest in physics and the kind of physics education identified in the Delphi study as being relevant. However, there is a considerable discrepancy between students' interest and the kind of physics instruction practiced in the physics classroom. Regression analysis revealed that students' interest in physics as a school subject is hardly related to their interest in physics, but mainly to the students' self-esteem of being good achievers. The data strongly suggest physics be taught so that students have a chance to develop a positive physics-related self-concept and to link physics with situations they encounter outside the classroom. A curriculum based on these principles proved superior compared to a traditional curriculum.

Current driven instabilities of an electromagnetically accelerated plasma

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chouetri, E. Y.; Kelly, A. J.; Jahn, R. G.

1988-01-01

A plasma instability that strongly influences the efficiency and lifetime of electromagnetic plasma accelerators was quantitatively measured. Experimental measurements of dispersion relations (wave phase velocities), spatial growth rates, and stability boundaries are reported. The measured critical wave parameters are in excellent agreement with theoretical instability boundary predictions. The instability is current driven and affects a wide spectrum of longitudinal (electrostatic) oscillations. Current driven instabilities, which are intrinsic to the high-current-carrying magnetized plasma of the magnetoplasmadynmic (MPD) accelerator, were investigated with a kinetic theoretical model based on first principles. Analytical limits of the appropriate dispersion relation yield unstable ion acoustic waves for T(i)/T(e) much less than 1 and electron acoustic waves for T(i)/T(e) much greater than 1. The resulting set of nonlinear equations for the case of T(i)/T(e) = 1, of most interest to the MPD thruster Plasma Wave Experiment, was numerically solved to yield a multiparameter set of stability boundaries. Under certain conditions, marginally stable waves traveling almost perpendicular to the magnetic field would travel at a velocity equal to that of the electron current. Such waves were termed current waves. Unstable current waves near the upper stability boundary were observed experimentally and are in accordance with theoretical predictions. This provides unambiguous proof of the existence of such instabilites in electromagnetic plasma accelerators.

Majorana splitting from critical currents in Josephson junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cayao, Jorge; San-Jose, Pablo; Black-Schaffer, Annica M.; Aguado, Ramón; Prada, Elsa

2017-11-01

A semiconducting nanowire with strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling and coupled to a superconductor can be tuned by an external Zeeman field into a topological phase with Majorana zero modes. Here we theoretically investigate how this exotic topological superconductor phase manifests in Josephson junctions based on such proximitized nanowires. In particular, we focus on critical currents in the short junction limit (LN≪ξ , where LN is the junction length and ξ is the superconducting coherence length) and show that they contain important information about nontrivial topology and Majoranas. This includes signatures of the gap inversion at the topological transition and a unique oscillatory pattern that originates from Majorana interference. Interestingly, this pattern can be modified by tuning the transmission across the junction, thus providing complementary evidence of Majoranas and their energy splittings beyond standard tunnel spectroscopy experiments, while offering further tunability by virtue of the Josephson effect.

Current-Current Interactions, Dynamical Symmetry - and Quantum Chromodynamics.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neuenschwander, Dwight Edward, Jr.

Quantum Chromodynamics with massive gluons (gluon mass (TBOND) xm(,p)) in a contact-interaction limit called CQCD (strong coupling g (--->) (INFIN); x (--->) (INFIN)), despite its non-renormalizability and lack of hope of confinement, is nevertheless interesting for at least two reasons. (1) Some authors have suggested a relation between 4-Fermi and Yang-Mills theories. If g/x('2) << 1, then CQCD is not merely a 4-Fermi interaction, but includes 4, 6, 8, ...-Fermi non-Abelian contact interactions. (2) With the possibility of infrared slavery, perturbative evaluation of QCD in the infrared is a dubious practice. However, if g('2)/x('2) << 1 in CQCD, then the simplest 4-Fermi interaction is dominant, and CQCD admits perturbative treatment, but only in the infrared. With the dominant interaction, a dynamical Nambu-Goldstone realization of chiral symmetry -breaking (XSB) is found. Although in QCD the relation between confinement and XSB is controversial, XSB occurs in CQCD provided confinement is sacrificed.

Skyrmions in magnetic multilayers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Wanjun; Chen, Gong; Liu, Kai; Zang, Jiadong; te Velthuis, Suzanne G. E.; Hoffmann, Axel

2017-08-01

Symmetry breaking together with strong spin-orbit interaction gives rise to many exciting phenomena within condensed matter physics. A recent example is the existence of chiral spin textures, which are observed in magnetic systems lacking inversion symmetry. These chiral spin textures, including domain walls and magnetic skyrmions, are both fundamentally interesting and technologically promising. For example, they can be driven very efficiently by electrical currents, and exhibit many new physical properties determined by their real-space topological characteristics. Depending on the details of the competing interactions, these spin textures exist in different parameter spaces. However, the governing mechanism underlying their physical behaviors remains essentially the same. In this review article, the fundamental topological physics underlying these chiral spin textures, the key factors for materials optimization, and current developments and future challenges will be discussed. In the end, a few promising directions that will advance the development of skyrmion based spintronics will be highlighted.

Medical and psychology students' knowledge and attitudes regarding aging and sexuality.

PubMed

Snyder, Rachel J; Zweig, Richard A

2010-01-01

The current study surveys medical and doctoral psychology students (N = 100) from an urban northeastern university regarding knowledge and attitudes toward elderly sexuality and aging using the Facts on Aging Quiz, the Aging Sexuality Knowledge and Attitudes Scale, and measures of interest in gerontology, academic/clinical exposure to aging and sexuality, and contact with elders. The current study found that psychology students demonstrated greater aging knowledge than medical students; however, both groups showed gaps in knowledge about sexuality. Married students had greater academic/clinical exposure and greater knowledge about aging but less permissive attitudes toward elderly sexuality. Generally, knowledge about aging was the strongest correlate of knowledge about sexuality. Level of knowledge about sexuality was not associated with attitudes. Attitudes toward sexuality and aging may be more strongly tied to demographic variables reflective of religious beliefs or adherence to sociocultural norms.

Constraining viscous dark energy models with the latest cosmological data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Deng; Yan, Yang-Jie; Meng, Xin-He

2017-10-01

Based on the assumption that the dark energy possessing bulk viscosity is homogeneously and isotropically permeated in the universe, we propose three new viscous dark energy (VDE) models to characterize the accelerating universe. By constraining these three models with the latest cosmological observations, we find that they just deviate very slightly from the standard cosmological model and can alleviate effectively the current H_0 tension between the local observation by the Hubble Space Telescope and the global measurement by the Planck Satellite. Interestingly, we conclude that a spatially flat universe in our VDE model with cosmic curvature is still supported by current data, and the scale invariant primordial power spectrum is strongly excluded at least at the 5.5σ confidence level in the three VDE models as the Planck result. We also give the 95% upper limits of the typical bulk viscosity parameter η in the three VDE scenarios.

Optical diode effect at spin-wave excitations in the room-temperature multiferroic BiFeO 3.

DOE PAGES

Kezsmarki, I.; Nagel, U.; Bordacs, S.; ...

2015-09-15

The ability to read and write a magnetic state current-free by an electric voltage would provide a huge technological advantage. Dynamic or optical ME effects are equally interesting, because they give rise to unidirectional light propagation as recently observed in low-temperature multiferroics. This phenomenon, if realized at room temperature, would allow the development of optical diodes which transmit unpolarized light in one, but not in the opposite, direction. Here, we report strong unidirectional transmission in the room-temperature multiferroic BiFeO 3 over the gigahertz-terahertz frequency range. The supporting theory attributes the observed unidirectional transmission to the spin-current-driven dynamic ME effect. Ourmore » findings are an important step toward the realization of optical diodes, supplemented by the ability to switch the transmission direction with a magnetic or electric field.« less

Clinical and scientific impact of human papillomavirus on head and neck cancer.

PubMed

Friedman, Jeffrey M; Stavas, Mark J; Cmelak, Anthony J

2014-10-10

Head and neck cancer (HNC) arises from the skull base to the clavicles and is the fifth most common cancer in the world by incidence. Historically, in the developed world HNC was associated with tobacco use and alcohol consumption, and the combination of the two produced a synergistic increase in risk. However, beginning in 1983, investigators have found a significant and growing proportion of HNC patients with human papillomavirus-positive (HPV) tumors who neither drank nor used tobacco. Since that time, there has been increased interest in the molecular biology of HPV-positive HNC. Multiple studies now show that HPV has shifted the epidemiological landscape and prognosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). These studies provide strong evidence for improved survival outcomes in patients with HPV-positive HNSCC compared to those with HPV-negative HNSCC. In many reports, HPV status is the strongest predictor of locoregional control, disease specific survival and overall survival. In response to these findings, there has been significant interest in the best management of HPV-positive disease. Discussions within major cooperative groups consider new trials designed to maintain the current strong survival outcomes while reducing the long-term treatment-related toxicities. This review will highlight the epidemiological, clinical and molecular discoveries surrounding HPV-related HNSCC over the recent decades and we conclude by suggesting how these findings may guide future treatment approaches.

AUREOL-3 observations of new boundaries in the auroral ion precipitation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bosqued, Jean M.; Ashour-Abdalla, Maha; El Alaoui, Mostafa; Zelenyj, Lev M.; Berthlier, Annick

1993-01-01

Interesting and well-separated structures in the 1-20 keV ion precipitation pattern have been revealed by an analysis of more than 50 crossings of the nightside (21-03 MLT) auroral zone by the AUREOL-3 satellite. First, velocity-dispersed ion structures (VDIS) are crossed near the poleward edge of the oval, and are the best ionospheric signature of ion beams flowing along the plasma sheet boundary layer. Proceeding equatorward, a large majority of VDIS events are bounded by a new and interesting narrow band of strongly reduced precipitation, or a gap, which delineates VDIS from the diffuse precipitation region connected to the CPS. A statistical analysis shows that the gap has an extent of about 1-2 deg, which is almost independent of magnetic activity; its location, about 70 deg ILAT, shifts significantly equatorward with higher magnetic activity levels. Intense electron arcs are observed near the equatorward edge of the gap. An important result is that the overall sequence of VDIS-gap-CPS can be explained in terms of orbital dynamics in the tail. The gap in precipitation appears as the counterpart of the 'wall' regime in the equatorial plane, in which a cross-tail current carried by energetic ions is strongly enhanced between 8 and 12 R(E). This region has important consequences for the development of substorms.

Safety And Promotion in the Federal Aviation Administration- Enabling Safe and Successful Commercial Space Transportation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Repcheck, Randall J.

2010-09-01

The United States Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation(AST) authorizes the launch and reentry of expendable and reusable launch vehicles and the operation of launch and reentry sites by United States citizens or within the United States. It authorizes these activities consistent with public health and safety, the safety of property, and the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. In addition to its safety role, AST has the role to encourage, facilitate, and promote commercial space launches and reentries by the private sector. AST’s promotional role includes, among other things, the development of information of interest to industry, the sharing of information of interest through a variety of methods, and serving as an advocate for Commercial Space Transportation within the United States government. This dual safety and promotion role is viewed by some as conflicting. AST views these two roles as complementary, and important for the current state of commercial space transportation. This paper discusses how maintaining a sound safety decision-making process, maintaining a strong safety culture, and taking steps to avoid complacency can together enable safe and successful commercial space transportation.

Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities of the medicinal halophyte Reaumuria vermiculata

PubMed Central

Karker, Manel; Falleh, Hanen; Msaada, Kamel; Smaoui, Abderrazak; Abdelly, Chedly; Legault, Jean; Ksouri, Riadh

2016-01-01

Reaumuria vermiculata is a xero-halophytic specie widely distributed in the south of Tunisia. In the current study, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities of Reaumuria vermiculata shoot extracts as well as its phenolic compounds were investigated in different solvent extracts (hexane, dichloromethane, methanol and water). Results showed a strong antioxidant activity, using the ORAC method and a cell based-assay, in methanol extract as well as an important phenolic composition (117.12 mg GAE/g). Hexane and dichloromethane proved an interesting anticancer activity against A-549 lung carcinoma cells, with IC50 values of 17 and 23 µg/ml, respectively. Besides, dichloromethane extract displayed the utmost anti-inflammatory activity, inhibiting NO release over 100 % at 80 µg/ml in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7. Taken together, these finding suggest that R. vermiculata exhibited an interesting biological activities which may be related to the phenolic composition of this plant. Moreover, the identification of phenolic compounds in R. vermiculata dichloromethane extract using RP-HPLC revealed that myricetin was the major molecule. These results allow us to propose R. vermiculata as a valuable source for bioactive and natural compounds exhibiting interesting biological capacities. PMID:27298615

Increasing medical student interest in general practice in New Zealand: where to from here?

PubMed

Poole, Phillippa; Bourke, David; Shulruf, Boaz

2010-05-28

To meet increasing health demands, increasing the proportion of local graduates entering general practice is imperative. Students entering or exiting The University of Auckland's medical programme from 2006 to 2008 were invited to complete a tracking project survey. Levels of interest in general practice were determined along with characteristics associated with a greater or lesser interest in this career. 712 students replied--a response rate of 80%. At entry, 40% of students had a strong interest in a career in general practice, and at exit, 29% (P =0.003). A quarter at each time point had no interest. The proportion of domestic students born outside NZ or Australia was 160/376 (42.5%). There were significantly higher levels of interest in general practice among females, students born in NZ, and those from outside Auckland--especially rural origin. Flexibility in career was more important to students with a strong interest in general practice than those with no interest. Auckland medical students have levels of interest in general practice comparable with international data. Increasing this interest further may require admission of a greater proportion of students from those groups with higher interest levels, greater emphasis on the positive aspects of general practice, and on GPs as equals to other specialists.

Patient Use of Email, Facebook, and Physician Websites to Communicate with Physicians: A National Online Survey of Retail Pharmacy Users.

PubMed

Lee, Joy L; Choudhry, Niteesh K; Wu, Albert W; Matlin, Olga S; Brennan, Troyen A; Shrank, William H

2016-01-01

Patient-physician communication often occurs outside the clinic setting; many institutions discourage electronic communication outside of established electronic health record systems. Little empirical data are available on patient interest in electronic communication and Web-based health tools that are technically feasible but not widely available. To explore patient behavior and interest in using the Internet to contact physicians. National cross-sectional online survey. A sample of 4,510 CVS customers with at least one chronic condition in the household was used to target patients with chronic conditions and their caregivers. Subjects were identified from a national panel of over 100,000 retail pharmacy customers. Of those sampled, 2,252 responded (50.0 % response rate). Survey measures included demographic and health information, patient use of email and Facebook to contact physicians, and patient interest in and use of Web-based tools for health. A total of 37 % of patients reported contacting their physicians via email within the last six months, and 18 % via Facebook. Older age was negatively associated with contacting physicians using email (OR 0.57 [95 % CI 0.41-0.78]) or Facebook (OR 0.28 [0.17-0.45]). Non-white race (OR 1.61 [1.18-2.18] and OR 1.82 [1.24-2.67]) and caregiver status (OR 1.58 [1.27-1.96] and OR 1.71 [1.31- 2.23]) were positively associated with using email and Facebook, respectively. Patients were interested in using Web-based tools to fill prescriptions, track their own health, and access health information (37-57 %), but few were currently doing so (4-8 %). In this population of retail pharmacy users, there is strong interest among patients in the use of email and Facebook to communicate with their physicians. The findings highlight the gap between patient interest for online communication and what physicians may currently provide. Improving and accelerating the adoption of secure Web messaging systems is a possible solution that addresses both institutional concerns and patient demand.

Solar causes of strong geomagnetic disturbances during the period 1996—2013

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hejda, Pavel; Bochníček, Josef; Valach, Fridrich; Revallo, Miloš

2017-04-01

The purpose of this research is to assess the contribution of CMEs and CIRs to geomagnetic activity during the period 1996—2013, covering the 23rd solar cycle, the solar minimum between the 23rd and the 24th solar cycles as well as the ascending part of the current 24th solar cycle. Both CMEs and CIRs are capable of driving significant space weather effects on the Earth. Current study is not primarily aimed at construction of prediction models but can contribute to this topic by answering two principal questions: (1) what is the contribution of CME and CIR type solar events to various levels of geomagnetic disturbances and how it varies during the solar cycle (2) how does the successive emergence of CME and CIR events influence the geomagnetic response. Sometimes it can be difficult to assign the response to a particular event properly, especially in the case of several successive events. We noticed that the CIRs appeared to play important role also in years when strongly geoeffective CMEs occurred. An interesting finding, which we have revealed on this subject, concerned the year 2009; then the extremely low geomagnetic activity was probably caused by very slow solar wind from coronal holes along with the rare occurrences of CIRs.

The health effects of economic insecurity.

PubMed Central

Catalano, R

1991-01-01

BACKGROUND. Interest in the health and behavioral effects of economic insecurity appears to vary with the performance of the economy. The current recession in the United States and Western Europe and growing unemployment in Eastern Europe make it timely to analytically review the recent research concerned with the health effects of economic contraction. METHODS. The research concerned with the health and behavioral effects of economic insecurity is organized by dependent variable and method. Rules for determining which effects are supported by strong and which by weak evidence are developed and applied to the literature. RESULTS. Evidence for effects on symptoms of psychological distress, seeking help for psychological distress, and nonspecific physiological illness is strong. Evidence for effects on suicide, child abuse, adverse birth outcomes, and heart disease is characterized as weak or sufficiently controversial to warrant skepticism. CONCLUSIONS. The health effects of economic security are undoubtedly mediated by economic policies. Estimating the effect of policy alternatives on the incidence of various outcomes is, however, very difficult given the current state of the research. The effect of rising unemployment on health in Eastern Europe cannot, moreover, be estimated from existing research. Effects estimated from Western economies probably do not generalize to situations in which the meaning of economic insecurity is conditioned by profound social and political reforms. PMID:1951825

Room-temperature InP/InAsP Quantum Discs-in-Nanowire Infrared Photodetectors.

PubMed

Karimi, Mohammad; Jain, Vishal; Heurlin, Magnus; Nowzari, Ali; Hussain, Laiq; Lindgren, David; Stehr, Jan Eric; Buyanova, Irina A; Gustafsson, Anders; Samuelson, Lars; Borgström, Magnus T; Pettersson, Håkan

2017-06-14

The possibility to engineer nanowire heterostructures with large bandgap variations is particularly interesting for technologically important broadband photodetector applications. Here we report on a combined study of design, fabrication, and optoelectronic properties of infrared photodetectors comprising four million n + -i-n + InP nanowires periodically ordered in arrays. The nanowires were grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy on InP substrates, with either a single or 20 InAsP quantum discs embedded in the i-segment. By Zn compensation of the residual n-dopants in the i-segment, the room-temperature dark current is strongly suppressed to a level of pA/NW at 1 V bias. The low dark current is manifested in the spectrally resolved photocurrent measurements, which reveal strong photocurrent contributions from the InAsP quantum discs at room temperature with a threshold wavelength of about 2.0 μm and a bias-tunable responsivity reaching 7 A/W@1.38 μm at 2 V bias. Two different processing schemes were implemented to study the effects of radial self-gating in the nanowires induced by the nanowire/SiO x /ITO wrap-gate geometry. Summarized, our results show that properly designed axial InP/InAsP nanowire heterostructures are promising candidates for broadband photodetectors.

Current experiments in germanium 0 ν β β search -- GERDA and MAJORANA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Sturm, K.

2015-01-01

There are unanswered questions regarding neutrino physics that are of great interest for the scientific community. For example the absolute masses, the mass hierarchy and the nature of neutrinos are unknown up to now. The discovery of neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) would prove the existence of a Majorana mass, which would be linked to the half-life of the decay, and would in addition provide an elegant solution for the small mass of the neutrinos via the seesaw mechanism. Because of an existing discovery claim of 0νββ of 76Ge and the excellent energy resolution achievable, germanium is of special interest in the search for 0νββ . In this article the state of the art of germanium 0νββ search, namely the GERDA experiment and MAJORANA demonstrator, is presented. In particular, recent results of the GERDA collaboration, which strongly disfavour the above mentioned claim, are discussed.

An Investigation of Vocational Interests and Noctcaelador

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly, William E.

2005-01-01

This study explored the relationship between vocational interests and noctcaelador, defined as strong interest in, and psychological attachment to, the night sky. University students (N = 134) completed the Vocational Preference Inventory (Form C) and the Noctcaelador Inventory. The results indicated that students scoring higher on noctcaelador…

Tobacco Industry Influence on the American Law Institute’s Restatements of Torts and Implications for Its Conflict of Interest Policies†

PubMed Central

Laposata, Elizabeth; Barnes, Richard; Glantz, Stanton

2012-01-01

The American Law Institute (“ALI”) is a prestigious and influential organization that creates treatises on the current state of the law, including “Restatements” of case law that guide judicial decisions and legislation. This paper uses previously secret tobacco industry documents made available as the result of state and federal litigation against the industry to describe how the tobacco companies, acting both indirectly through their trade organization, the Tobacco Institute, and directly, using influential lawyers, quietly influenced the ALI’s writing of the Restatements. The tobacco industry’s ease of access to the ALI calls into question the Institute’s independence, the preparation of major policy documents such as the Restatements, as well as the Institute’s ability to monitor and control conflicts of interest. The ALI’s conflict of interest policies lag behind comparable organizations such as the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, and are insufficient to protect Institute projects from significant outside influence. Because of the undisclosed influence of the tobacco industry over the ALI, courts and legislatures should not apply the principles embodied in the Restatements in tort cases against the tobacco companies for injuries suffered from tobacco use. Until the ALI implements strong conflict of interest policies to ensure independence from private-interest manipulation, courts and legislatures should not rely on Institute reports and recommendations as neutral scholarly summaries of the law that should guide judicial and legislative decision-making. PMID:23633723

Stability of vocational interests after recent spinal cord injury: comparisons related to sex and race.

PubMed

Krause, James S; Ricks, Jillian M

2012-04-01

To identify the stability of vocational interests first assessed during inpatient rehabilitation for spinal cord injury and again an average of 834.9 days postinjury to determine the extent to which stability of interest varies as a function of race and sex. Longitudinal. Data were collected at a specialty hospital. At enrollment, participants were a minimum of 16 years of age, were currently hospitalized for inpatient rehabilitation, were less than 6 months postinjury, had residual impairment after traumatic spinal cord injury, and were either white or black, and non-Hispanic. Participants (N=304) were assessed an average ± SD of 50±26.6 days after injury and again an average ± SD of 834.9±192.7 days postinjury (averaged 785.1 d between assessments). Not applicable. The Strong Interest Inventory, a 317-item vocational interests measure. A repeated-measures general linear model was used with 4 groups based on a combination of race and sex. Significant cohort by time interactions were observed on 4 general occupational themes (investigative, artistic, enterprising, and conventional). In nearly all cases, black women showed decreases in average interest scores compared with the other groups. There was a clear pattern of change in the direction of greater homogeneity of interests over time as measured by the range of theme scores between cohorts based on sex and race. Although changes in mean interest profiles varied as a function of sex and race, less consistent differences were observed when stability coefficients were the measure of change. The direction and degree of change in mean scores for vocational interests was related to sex and race. With the exception of black women, vocational interests increased from baseline to follow-up. Copyright © 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

We strongly support childhood immunisation-statement from the European Academy of Paediatrics (EAP).

PubMed

Dornbusch, Hans Juergen; Hadjipanayis, Adamos; Del Torso, Stefano; Mercier, Jean-Christophe; Wyder, Corinne; Schrier, Lenneke; Ross-Russell, Robert; Stiris, Tom; Ludvigsson, Jonas F

2017-05-01

The eradication of smallpox and the elimination of several other infectious diseases from much of the world has provided convincing evidence that vaccines are among the most effective interventions for promoting health. The current scepticism about immunisation among members of the new US administration carries a risk of decreasing immunisation rates also in Europe. While only a small minority of the population are strongly anti-vaccine, their public activities have significantly influenced an uncertainty among the general population about both the safety of and the necessity for vaccination. Therefore, the EAP calls for greater publically available, scientifically supported information on vaccination, particularly targeted at health care providers, for the further development of electronically based immunisation information systems (IIS). We further call on all European countries to work together both in legislative and public health arenas in order to increase vaccination coverage among the paediatric population. In the interest of children and their parents, the EAP expresses its strong support for childhood immunisation and recommended vaccination schedules. We are prepared to work with governments and media and share the extensive evidence demonstrating the effectiveness and safety of vaccines.

Fake facts and alternative truths in medical research.

PubMed

Hofmann, Bjørn

2018-01-27

Fake news and alternative facts have become commonplace in these so-called "post-factual times." What about medical research - are scientific facts fake as well? Many recent disclosures have fueled the claim that scientific facts are suspect and that science is in crisis. Scientists appear to engage in facting interests instead of revealing interesting facts. This can be observed in terms of what has been called polarised research, where some researchers continuously publish positive results while others publish negative results on the same issue - even when based on the same data. In order to identify and address this challenge, the objective of this study is to investigate how polarised research produce "polarised facts." Mammography screening for breast cancer is applied as an example. The main benefit with mammography screening is the reduced breast cancer mortality, while the main harm is overdiagnosis and subsequent overtreatment. Accordingly, the Overdiagnosis to Mortality Reduction Ratio (OMRR) is an estimate of the risk-benefit-ratio for mammography screening. As there are intense interests involved as well as strong opinions in debates on mammography screening, one could expect polarisation in published results on OMRR. A literature search identifies 8 studies publishing results for OMRR and reveals that OMRR varies 25-fold, from 0.4 to 10. Two experts in polarised research were asked to rank the attitudes of the corresponding authors to mammography screening of the identified publications. The results show a strong correlation between the OMRR and the authors' attitudes to screening (R = 0.9). Mammography screening for breast cancer appears as an exemplary field of strongly polarised research. This is but one example of how scientists' strong professional interests can polarise research. Instead of revealing interesting facts researchers may come to fact interests. In order to avoid this and sustain trust in science, researchers should disclose professional and not only financial interests when submitting and publishing research.

The role of the hydrophobic phase in the unique rheological properties of saponin adsorption layers.

PubMed

Golemanov, Konstantin; Tcholakova, Slavka; Denkov, Nikolai; Pelan, Eddie; Stoyanov, Simeon D

2014-09-28

Saponins are a diverse class of natural, plant derived surfactants, with peculiar molecular structure consisting of a hydrophobic scaffold and one or several hydrophilic oligosaccharide chains. Saponins have strong surface activity and are used as natural emulsifiers and foaming agents in food and beverage, pharmaceutical, ore processing, and other industries. Many saponins form adsorption layers at the air-water interface with extremely high surface elasticity and viscosity. The molecular origin of the observed unique interfacial visco-elasticity of saponin adsorption layers is of great interest from both scientific and application viewpoints. In the current study we demonstrate that the hydrophobic phase in contact with water has a very strong effect on the interfacial properties of saponins and that the interfacial elasticity and viscosity of the saponin adsorption layers decrease in the order: air > hexadecane ≫ tricaprylin. The molecular mechanisms behind these trends are analyzed and discussed in the context of the general structure of the surfactant adsorption layers at various nonpolar phase-water interfaces.

Single-species microbial biofilm screening for industrial applications.

PubMed

Li, Xuan Zhong; Hauer, Bernhard; Rosche, Bettina

2007-10-01

While natural microbial biofilms often consist of multiple species, single-species biofilms are of great interest to biotechnology. The current study evaluates biofilm formation for common industrial and laboratory microorganisms. A total of 68 species of biosafety level one bacteria and yeasts from over 40 different genera and five phyla were screened by growing them in microtiter plates and estimating attached biomass by crystal violet staining. Most organisms showed biofilm formation on surfaces of polystyrene within 24 h. By changing a few simple conditions such as substratum characteristics, inoculum and nutrient availability, 66 strains (97%) demonstrated biofilm formation under at least one of the experimental conditions and over half of these strains were classified as strong biofilm formers, potentially suitable as catalysts in biofilm applications. Many non-motile bacteria were also strong biofilm formers. Biofilm morphologies were visualized for selected strains. A model organism, Zymomonas mobilis, easily established itself as a biofilm on various reactor packing materials, including stainless steel.

Generation of strong pulsed magnetic fields using a compact, short pulse generator

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

Yanuka, D.; Efimov, S.; Nitishinskiy, M.

2016-04-14

The generation of strong magnetic fields (∼50 T) using single- or multi-turn coils immersed in water was studied. A pulse generator with stored energy of ∼3.6 kJ, discharge current amplitude of ∼220 kA, and rise time of ∼1.5 μs was used in these experiments. Using the advantage of water that it has a large Verdet constant, the magnetic field was measured using the non-disturbing method of Faraday rotation of a polarized collimated laser beam. This approach does not require the use of magnetic probes, which are sensitive to electromagnetic noise and damaged in each shot. It also avoids the possible formation of plasma bymore » either a flashover along the conductor or gas breakdown inside the coil caused by an induced electric field. In addition, it was shown that this approach can be used successfully to investigate the interesting phenomenon of magnetic field enhanced diffusion into a conductor.« less

Theoretical models for stellar X-ray polarization in compact objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meszaros, P.

1991-01-01

Degenerate stellar objects are expected to be strong sources of polarized X-ray emission. This is particularly true for strongly magnetized neutron stars, e.g. accretion or rotation powered pulsars, and gamma ray bursters. In these, linear polarization degrees well in excess of 30 percent are expected. Weaker magnetic field stellar sources, such as old neutron stars in low mass binary systems, white dwarfs and black holes are expected to have polarization degrees in the range 1-3 percent. A great interest attaches to the detection of polarization in these objects, since this would provide invaluable information concerning the geometry, radiation mechanism and magnetic field strength, necessary for testing and proving models of the structure and evolution of stars in their late stages. In this paper we review the theoretical models of the production of polarized radiation in compact stellar X-ray sources, and discuss the possibility of detecting these properties using currently planned detectors to be flown in space.

Generation of strong pulsed magnetic fields using a compact, short pulse generator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yanuka, D.; Efimov, S.; Nitishinskiy, M.; Rososhek, A.; Krasik, Ya. E.

2016-04-01

The generation of strong magnetic fields (˜50 T) using single- or multi-turn coils immersed in water was studied. A pulse generator with stored energy of ˜3.6 kJ, discharge current amplitude of ˜220 kA, and rise time of ˜1.5 μs was used in these experiments. Using the advantage of water that it has a large Verdet constant, the magnetic field was measured using the non-disturbing method of Faraday rotation of a polarized collimated laser beam. This approach does not require the use of magnetic probes, which are sensitive to electromagnetic noise and damaged in each shot. It also avoids the possible formation of plasma by either a flashover along the conductor or gas breakdown inside the coil caused by an induced electric field. In addition, it was shown that this approach can be used successfully to investigate the interesting phenomenon of magnetic field enhanced diffusion into a conductor.

Interest in over-the-counter access to oral contraceptives among women in the United States.

PubMed

Grossman, Daniel; Grindlay, Kate; Li, Rick; Potter, Joseph E; Trussell, James; Blanchard, Kelly

2013-10-01

A growing body of evidence indicates that over-the-counter (OTC) access to oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) is safe and effective. We performed a nationally representative survey of adult women at risk of unintended pregnancy using a probability-based online panel. In November-December 2011, 2046 eligible women completed the survey. Weighted proportions were calculated, and logistic regression was used to identify covariates associated with support for and interest in using an OTC OCP. A total of 62.2% said they were strongly (31.4%) or somewhat (30.9%) in favor of OCPs being available OTC. A total of 37.1% of participants reported being likely to use OCPs if available OTC, including 58.7% of current users, 28.0% using no method and 32.7% using a less effective method. Covariates associated with a higher odds of reporting interest in using OTC OCPs were younger age; being divorced, being separated or living with a partner (versus married); being uninsured or having private insurance (versus public insurance); living in the south (versus northeast); and current use of OCPs or less effective methods, or nonuse of contraception (versus use of another hormonal method or intrauterine device). Among respondents who said they were likely to use OTC OCPs, the highest amount they were willing to pay was on average $20. US women are supportive of OTC access to OCPs, and many would obtain refills OTC or start using OCPs if they were available OTC. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Magnetoacoustic Tomography with Magnetic Induction for Electrical Conductivity based Tissue imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mariappan, Leo

Electrical conductivity imaging of biological tissue has attracted considerable interest in recent years owing to research indicating that electrical properties, especially electrical conductivity and permittivity, are indicators of underlying physiological and pathological conditions in biological tissue. Also, the knowledge of electrical conductivity of biological tissue is of interest to researchers conducting electromagnetic source imaging and in design of devices that apply electromagnetic energy to the body such as MRI. So, the need for a non-invasive, high resolution impedance imaging method is highly desired. To address this need we have studied the magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction (MAT-MI) method. In MAT-MI, the object is placed in a static and a dynamic magnetic field giving rise to ultrasound waves. The dynamic field induces eddy currents in the object, and the static field leads to generation of acoustic vibrations from Lorentz force on the induced currents. The acoustic vibrations are at the same frequency as the dynamic magnetic field, which is chosen to match the ultrasound frequency range. These ultrasound signals can be measured by ultrasound probes and are used to reconstruct MAT-MI acoustic source images using possible ultrasound imaging approaches .The reconstructed high spatial resolution image is indicative of the object's electrical conductivity contrast. We have investigated ultrasound imaging methods to reliably reconstruct the MAT-MI image under the practical conditions of limited bandwidth and transducer geometry. The corresponding imaging algorithm, computer simulation and experiments are developed to test the feasibility of these different methods. Also, in experiments, we have developed a system with the strong static field of an MRI magnet and a strong pulsed magnetic field to evaluate MAT-MI in biological tissue imaging. It can be seen from these simulations and experiments that conductivity boundary images with millimeter resolution can be reliably reconstructed with MAT-MI. Further, to estimate the conductivity distribution throughout the object, we reconstruct a vector source image corresponding to the induced eddy currents. As the current source is uniformly present throughout the object, we are able to reliably estimate the internal conductivity distribution for a more complete imaging. From the computer simulations and experiments it can be seen that MAT-MI method has the potential to be a clinically applicable, high resolution, non-invasive method for electrical conductivity imaging.

Interests in School Subjects and Vocational Preference.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sjoberg, Lennart; Drottz, Britt-Marie

1983-01-01

Reports a study in which Swedish high school students' academic interests were related to perceived effort, ability, and perceived vocational job prospects. Notes that academic interests were based on subjects' logical appeal and practical value. Notes that vocational preferences correlated strongly with individual job prospects but weakly with…

A comparison of the job attitudes and interest patterns of air traffic and airway facility personnel.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1979-03-01

Air traffic control specialists (ATCSs) and airway facility technicians (AFTs) were compared on measures of job attitudes and interests. A total of 792 ATCSs and 2,366 AFTs completed the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) and questionnaires conc...

Effects of media stray field on electromigration characteristics in current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance spin-valve read sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gui Zeng, Ding; Lee, Kyoung-il; Chung, Kyung-Won; Bae, Seongtae

2012-05-01

Effects of magnetic stray field retrieved from both longitudinal and perpendicular magnetic recording media (denoted by "media stray field") on electromigration (EM) characteristics of current-perpendicular-to-plane (CPP) giant magnetoresistance spin-valve (GMR SV) read sensors have been numerically studied to explore the electrical and magnetic stability of the read sensor under real operation. The mean-time-to-failure (MTTF) of the CPP GMR SV read sensors was found to have a strong dependence on the physical parameters of the recording media and recorded information status, such as the pulse width of media stray field, the bit length, and the head moving velocity. According to the numerical calculation results, it was confirmed that in the longitudinal media, the shorter the stray field pulse width (i.e., the sharper the media transition) allows for the longer MTTF of the CPP GMR SV read sensors; while in the perpendicular media, the sharper the media transition gives rise to a shorter MTTF. Interestingly, it was also revealed that the MTTF could be improved by reducing the bit length as well as increasing the head velocity in both longitudinal and perpendicular media. Furthermore, the bit distribution patterns, especially the number of consecutive `0' bits strongly affected the MTTF of GMR SV read sensors. The strong dependences of MTTF on the media stray field during CPP GMR SV sensor operation are thought to be mainly attributed to the thermal cycling (temperature rise and fall) caused by the resistance change due to GMR effects.

Characteristics of University of Auckland medical students intending to work in the regional/rural setting.

PubMed

Pasley, Thomas; Poole, Phillippa

2009-04-03

To assess the level of interest in regional/rural (RR) practice in final year Auckland medical students and to investigate the demographic characteristics and speciality intentions of these students. A questionnaire was distributed to all graduating students from The University of Auckland's School of Medicine (SOM) in 2006 and 2007. Students intending to work in a RR setting had their demographic data and intended specialty compared with students intending to work in the city. There were 186 respondents, with a response rate of 71%. Of this cohort, 58% stated an intention to work in a city, 15% in an RR setting, and 27% were undecided. RR-destined students were more likely to be Maori and less likely to be Asian then their city-destined counterparts. RR students were more likely to have strong interests in general practice than students intending to work in the city. Prior to the introduction of a specific rural selection pathway, Auckland medical students have shown a similar level of interest in RR medicine when compared to previous studies. However the proportion of students interested in RR health is significantly below the current proportion of people living in RR areas. The large proportion of students undecided on career setting at graduation suggests there may be room to increase the proportion further through formative early postgraduate experiences, or other incentives.

Intentions to receive a potentially available Lyme disease vaccine in an urban sample

PubMed Central

Fogel, Joshua; Kusz, Martin

2016-01-01

Objectives: The only human Lyme disease vaccine of LYMErix was voluntarily removed from the market in the United States in 2002 for a number of reasons. A new human Lyme disease vaccine is currently being developed. We would like any future approved human Lyme disease vaccine to be of interest and marketable to consumers. Methods: We surveyed 714 participants to determine variables associated with intentions to receive a Lyme disease vaccine. Predictor variables included demographics, protection motivational theory, Lyme disease knowledge, Lyme disease preventive behaviors, beliefs and perceived health. Results: We found in multivariate linear regression analyses that Asian/Asian American race/ethnicity (p < 0.001), South Asian race/ethnicity (p = 0.01) and coping appraisal variables of response efficacy (p < 0.001) and self-efficacy (p < 0.001) were each significantly associated with increased intentions. The belief that vaccines are typically not safe was significantly associated with decreased intentions (p = 0.03). Conclusions: Asian/Asian American and South Asian race/ethnicities have a strong interest in receiving a Lyme disease vaccine. Although pharmaceutical companies may benefit by advertising a Lyme disease vaccine to Asian/Asian Americans and South Asians, marketers need to address and use approaches to interest those from other race/ethnicities. Also, marketers need to address the erroneous belief that vaccines are typically not safe in order to interest those with such beliefs to use a Lyme disease vaccine. PMID:27551427

Intentions to receive a potentially available Lyme disease vaccine in an urban sample.

PubMed

Fogel, Joshua; Kusz, Martin

2016-01-01

The only human Lyme disease vaccine of LYMErix was voluntarily removed from the market in the United States in 2002 for a number of reasons. A new human Lyme disease vaccine is currently being developed. We would like any future approved human Lyme disease vaccine to be of interest and marketable to consumers. We surveyed 714 participants to determine variables associated with intentions to receive a Lyme disease vaccine. Predictor variables included demographics, protection motivational theory, Lyme disease knowledge, Lyme disease preventive behaviors, beliefs and perceived health. We found in multivariate linear regression analyses that Asian/Asian American race/ethnicity (p < 0.001), South Asian race/ethnicity (p = 0.01) and coping appraisal variables of response efficacy (p < 0.001) and self-efficacy (p < 0.001) were each significantly associated with increased intentions. The belief that vaccines are typically not safe was significantly associated with decreased intentions (p = 0.03). Asian/Asian American and South Asian race/ethnicities have a strong interest in receiving a Lyme disease vaccine. Although pharmaceutical companies may benefit by advertising a Lyme disease vaccine to Asian/Asian Americans and South Asians, marketers need to address and use approaches to interest those from other race/ethnicities. Also, marketers need to address the erroneous belief that vaccines are typically not safe in order to interest those with such beliefs to use a Lyme disease vaccine.

Towards practical implementation of biophotonics-based solutions for cost-effective monitoring of food quality control (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meglinski, Igor; Popov, Alexey; Bykov, Alexander

2017-03-01

Biophotonics-based diagnostic and imaging modalities have been widely used in various applications associated with the non-invasive imaging of the internal structure of a range biological media from a range of cells cultures to biological tissues. With the fast growing interest in food securities there remains strong demand to apply reliable and cost effective biophotonics-based technologies for rapid screening of freshness, internal defects and quality of major agricultural products. In current presentation the results of application of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and encapsulated optical bio-sensors for quantitative assessment of freshness of agricultural products, such as meat and sea foods, are presented, and their further perspectives are discussed.

Steady state current fluctuations and dynamical control in a nonequilibrium single-site Bose-Hubbard system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xu-Min; Wang, Chen; Sun, Ke-Wei

2018-02-01

We investigate nonequilibrium energy transfer in a single-site Bose-Hubbard model coupled to two thermal baths. By including a quantum kinetic equation combined with full counting statistics, we investigate the steady state energy flux and noise power. The influence of the nonlinear Bose-Hubbard interaction on the transfer behaviors is analyzed, and the nonmonotonic features are clearly exhibited. Particularly, in the strong on-site repulsion limit, the results become identical with the nonequilibrium spin-boson model. We also extend the quantum kinetic equation to study the geometric-phase-induced energy pump. An interesting reversal behavior is unraveled by enhancing the Bose-Hubbard repulsion strength.

The Moon Village Concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Messina, Piero; Foing, Bernard H.; Hufenbach, Bernhard; Haignere, Claudie; Schrogl, Kai-Uwe

2016-07-01

The "Moon Village" concept Space exploration is anchored in the International Space Station and in the current and future automatic and planetary automatic and robotic missions that pave the way for future long-term exploration objectives. The Moon represents a prime choice for scientific, operational and programmatic reasons and could be the enterprise that federates all interested Nations. On these considerations ESA is currently elaborating the concept of a Moon Village as an ensemble where multiple users can carry out multiple activities. The Moon Village has the ambition to serve a number of objectives that have proven to be of interest (including astronomy, fundamental research, resources management, moon science, etc. ) to the space community and should be the catalyst of new alliances between public and private entities including non-space industries. Additionally the Moon Village should provide a strong inspirational and education tool for the younger generations . The Moon Village will rely both on automatic, robotic and human-tendered structures to achieve sustainable moon surface operations serving multiple purposes on an open-architecture basis. This Europe-inspired initiative should rally all communities (across scientific disciplines, nations, industries) and make it to the top of the political agendas as a the scientific and technological undertaking but also political and inspirational endeavour of the XXI century. The current reflections are of course based on the current activities and plans on board the ISS and the discussion held in international fora such as the ISECG. The paper will present the status of these reflections, also in view of the ESA Council at Ministerial Level 2016, and will give an overview of the on-going activities being carried out to enable the vision of a Moon Village.

Initial design for an experimental investigation of strongly coupled plasma behavior in the Atlas facility

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

Munson, C.P.; Benage, J.F. Jr.; Taylor, A.J.

Atlas is a high current ({approximately} 30 MA peak, with a current risetime {approximately} 4.5 {micro}sec), high energy (E{sub stored} = 24 MJ, E{sub load} = 3--6 MJ), pulsed power facility which is being constructed at Los Alamos National Laboratory with a scheduled completion date in the year 2000. When operational, this facility will provide a platform for experiments in high pressure shocks (> 20 Mbar), adiabatic compression ({rho}/{rho}{sub 0} > 5, P > 10 Mbar), high magnetic fields ({approximately} 2,000 T), high strain and strain rates ({var_epsilon} > 200%, d{var_epsilon}/dt {approximately} 10{sup 4} to 10{sup 6} s{sup {minus}1}), hydrodynamicmore » instabilities of materials in turbulent regimes, magnetized target fusion, equation of state, and strongly coupled plasmas. For the strongly coupled plasma experiments, an auxiliary capacitor bank will be used to generate a moderate density (< 0.1 solid), relatively cold ({approximately} 1 eV) plasma by ohmic heating of a conducting material of interest such as titanium. This stargate plasma will be compressed against a central column containing diagnostic instrumentation by a cylindrical conducting liner that is driven radially inward by current from the main Atlas capacitor bank. The plasma is predicted to reach densities of {approximately} 1.1 times solid, achieve ion and electron temperatures of {approximately} 10 eV, and pressures of {approximately} 4--5 Mbar. This is a density/temperature regime which is expected to experience strong coupling, but only partial degeneracy. X-ray radiography is planned for measurements of the material density at discrete times during the experiments; diamond Raman measurements are anticipated for determination of the pressure. In addition, a neutron resonance spectroscopic technique is being evaluated for possible determination of the temperature (through low percentage doping of the titanium with a suitable resonant material). Initial target plasma formation experiments are being planned on an existing pulsed power facility at LANL and will be completed before the start of operation of Atlas.« less

Students who demonstrate strong talent and interest in STEM are initially attracted to STEM through extracurricular experiences.

PubMed

VanMeter-Adams, Amy; Frankenfeld, Cara L; Bases, Jessica; Espina, Virginia; Liotta, Lance A

2014-01-01

What early experiences attract students to pursue an education and career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)? Does hands-on research influence them to persevere and complete a major course of academic study in STEM? We evaluated survey responses from 149 high school and undergraduate students who gained hands-on research experience in the 2007-2013 Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Programs (ASSIP) at George Mason University. Participants demonstrated their strong interest in STEM by volunteering to participate in ASSIP and completing 300 h of summer research. The survey queried extracurricular experiences, classroom factors, and hands-on projects that first cultivated students' interest in the STEM fields, and separately evaluated experiences that sustained their interest in pursuing a STEM degree. The majority of students (65.5%, p < 0.0001) reported extracurricular encounters, such as the influence of a relative or family member and childhood experiences, as the most significant factors that initially ignited their interest in STEM, while hands-on lab work was stated as sustaining their interest in STEM (92.6%). Based on these findings collected from a cohort of students who demonstrated a strong talent and interest in STEM, community-based programs that create awareness about STEM for both children and their family members may be key components for igniting long-term academic interest in STEM. © 2014 A. VanMeter-Adams et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2014 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Life-History and Developmental Antecedents of Female Vocational Preferences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reichel, Laura S.; Muchinsky, Paul M.

1995-01-01

A group of 296 female undergraduates completed the Strong Interest Inventory, Biographical Questionnaire, Bem Sex-Role Inventory, and Self-Esteem Inventory. Life history was a better predictor of vocational interests than either sex-role orientation or self-esteem. The only significant exception was that Femininity correlated with interest in…

Diverse Pathways of Psychology Majors: Vocational Interests, Self-Efficacy, and Intentions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rottinghaus, Patrick J.; Gaffey, Abigail R.; Borgen, Fred H.; Ralston, Christopher A.

2006-01-01

The authors examine the differences in vocational interests and self-efficacy of 254 undergraduate psychology majors organized by 7 career intention groups (e.g., psychological research). The explanatory power of individual General Occupational Themes (GOTs), Basic Interest Scales (BISs), and Personal Style Scales (PPSs) of the Strong Interest…

Vocational interests of intellectually gifted and highly achieving young adults.

PubMed

Vock, Miriam; Köller, Olaf; Nagy, Gabriel

2013-06-01

Vocational interests play a central role in the vocational decision-making process and are decisive for the later job satisfaction and vocational success. Based on Ackerman's (1996) notion of trait complexes, specific interest profiles of gifted high-school graduates can be expected. Vocational interests of gifted and highly achieving adolescents were compared to those of their less intelligent/achieving peers according to Holland's (1997) RIASEC model. Further, the impact of intelligence and achievement on interests were analysed while statistically controlling for potentially influencing variables. Changes in interests over time were investigated. N= 4,694 German students (age: M= 19.5, SD= .80; 54.6% females) participated in the study (TOSCA; Köller, Watermann, Trautwein, & Lüdtke, 2004). Interests were assessed in participants' final year at school and again 2 years later (N= 2,318). Gifted participants reported stronger investigative and realistic interests, but lower social interests than less intelligent participants. Highly achieving participants reported higher investigative and (in wave 2) higher artistic interests. Considerable gender differences were found: gifted girls had a flat interest profile, while gifted boys had pronounced realistic and investigative and low social interests. Multilevel multiple regression analyses predicting interests by intelligence and school achievement revealed stable interest profiles. Beyond a strong gender effect, intelligence and school achievement each contributed substantially to the prediction of vocational interests. At the time around graduation from high school, gifted young adults show stable interest profiles, which strongly differ between gender and intelligence groups. These differences are relevant for programmes for the gifted and for vocational counselling. ©2012 The British Psychological Society.

Synchronization of Lienard-Type Oscillators in Uniform Electrical Networks

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

Sinha, Mohit; Dorfler, Florian; Johnson, Brian B.

2016-08-01

This paper presents a condition for global asymptotic synchronization of Lienard-type nonlinear oscillators in uniform LTI electrical networks with series R-L circuits modeling interconnections. By uniform electrical networks, we mean that the per-unit-length impedances are identical for the interconnecting lines. We derive conditions for global asymptotic synchronization for a particular feedback architecture where the derivative of the oscillator output current supplements the innate current feedback induced by simply interconnecting the oscillator to the network. Our proof leverages a coordinate transformation to a set of differential coordinates that emphasizes signal differences and the particular form of feedback permits the formulation ofmore » a quadratic Lyapunov function for this class of networks. This approach is particularly interesting since synchronization conditions are difficult to obtain by means of quadratic Lyapunov functions when only current feedback is used and for networks composed of series R-L circuits. Our synchronization condition depends on the algebraic connectivity of the underlying network, and reiterates the conventional wisdom from Lyapunov- and passivity-based arguments that strong coupling is required to ensure synchronization.« less

An approach to the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome by the multi-electrode impedance method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furuya, N.; Sakamoto, K.; Kanai, H.

2010-04-01

It is well known that metabolic syndrome can induce myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction. So, it is very important to measure the visceral fat volume. In the electric impedance method, information in the vicinity of the electrodes is strongly reflected. Therefore, we propose a new multi-electrode arrangement method based on the impedance sensitivity theorem to measure the visceral fat volume. This electrode arrangement is designed to enable high impedance sensitivity in the visceral and subcutaneous fat regions. Currents are simultaneously applied to several current electrodes on the body surface, and one voltage electrode pair is arranged on the body surface near the organ of interest to obtain the visceral fat information and another voltage electrode pair is arranged on the body surface near the current electrodes to obtain the subcutaneous fat information. A simulation study indicates that by weighting the impedance sensitivity distribution, as in our method, a high-sensitivity region in the visceral and the subcutaneous fat regions can be formed. In addition, it was confirmed that the visceral fat volume can be estimated by the measured impedance data.

Enhancing current-induced torques by abutting additional spin polarizer layer to nonmagnetic metal layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Go, Gyungchoon; Lee, Kyung-Jin; Kim, Young Keun

2017-04-01

Recently, the switching of a perpendicularly magnetized ferromagnet (FM) by injecting an in-plane current into an attached non-magnet (NM) has become of emerging technological interest. This magnetization switching is attributed to the spin-orbit torque (SOT) originating from the strong spin-orbit coupling of the NM layer. However, the switching efficiency of the NM/FM structure itself may be insufficient for practical use, as for example, in spin transfer torque (STT)-based magnetic random access memory (MRAM) devices. Here we investigate spin torque in an NM/FM structure with an additional spin polarizer (SP) layer abutted to the NM layer. In addition to the SOT contribution, a spin-polarized current from the SP layer creates an extra spin chemical potential difference at the NM/FM interface and gives rise to a STT on the FM layer. We show that, using typical parameters including device width, thickness, spin diffusion length, and the spin Hall angle, the spin torque from the SP layer can be much larger than that from the spin Hall effect (SHE) of the NM.

Enhancing situational interest in pediatrics.

PubMed

Beck, Gary L; Finken, David A; Stoolman, Sharon R

2012-01-01

Individual interest, something that persists regardless of the situation, and situational interest, finding personal value in an educational context, have not been studied in medical student education. To determine if individualized case discussions enhance interest in pediatric medicine. During the 2008/2009 academic year, 88 clerkship students participated in clinical case discussions. At orientation, students completed an Interest in Pediatrics (IIP) questionnaire, responding 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Intervention and control groups were randomly assigned. The intervention group personalized cases to students' medical specialty interests. The control group discussed the case presentation. Groups met twice during the 8-week clerkships, completing a post-IIP at the end of the clerkship. Intervention group interest increased from pre-IIP, mean = 3.64, to post-IIP, mean = 4.22 (z = -2.994, p < 0.05, r = -0.44). On post-IIP, application of pediatric medicine increased for both groups; the intervention group was most significant from pre-IIP, mean = 1.09, to post-IIP, mean = 4.33 (z = -6.038, p < 0.05, r = -0.88). Enhanced interest in pediatrics from the intervention group indicates that creating a learning environment personally relevant to students' careers facilitates interest to learn.

Nonlinear transport behavior of low dimensional electron systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jingqiao

The nonlinear behavior of low-dimensional electron systems attracts a great deal of attention for its fundamental interest as well as for potentially important applications in nanoelectronics. In response to microwave radiation and dc bias, strongly nonlinear electron transport that gives rise to unusual electron states has been reported in two-dimensional systems of electrons in high magnetic fields. There has also been great interest in the nonlinear response of quantum ballistic constrictions, where the effects of quantum interference, spatial dispersion and electron-electron interactions play crucial roles. In this thesis, experimental results of the research of low dimensional electron gas systems are presented. The first nonlinear phenomena were observed in samples of highly mobile two dimensional electrons in GaAs heavily doped quantum wells at different magnitudes of DC and AC (10 KHz to 20 GHz) excitations. We found that in the DC excitation regime the differential resistance oscillates with the DC current and external magnetic field, similar behavior was observed earlier in AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures [C.L. Yang et al. ]. At external AC excitations the resistance is found to be also oscillating as a function of the magnetic field. However the form of the oscillations is considerably different from the DC case. We show that at frequencies below 100 KHz the difference is a result of a specific average of the DC differential resistance during the period of the external AC excitations. Secondly, in similar samples, strong suppression of the resistance by the electric field is observed in magnetic fields at which the Landau quantization of electron motion occurs. The phenomenon survives at high temperatures at which the Shubnikov de Haas oscillations are absent. The scale of the electric fields essential for the effect, is found to be proportional to temperature in the low temperature limit. We suggest that the strong reduction of the longitudinal resistance is a result of a nontrivial distribution function of the electrons induced by the DC electric field. We compare our results with a theory proposed recently. The comparison allows us to find the quantum scattering time of 2D electron gas at high temperatures, in a regime, where previous methods were not successful. In addition, we observed a zero differential resistance state (ZDRS) in response to a direct current above a threshold value I > Ith applied to a two-dimensional system of electrons at low temperatures in a strong magnetic field. Entry into the ZDRS, which is not observable above several Kelvins, is accompanied by a sharp dip in the differential resistance. Additional analysis reveals instability of the electrons for I > Ith and an inhomogeneous, non-stationary pattern of the electric current. We suggest that the dominant mechanism leading to the new electron state is the redistribution of electrons in energy space induced by the direct current. Finally, we present the results of rectification of microwave radiation generated by an asymmetric, ballistic dot at different frequencies (1-40GHz), temperatures (0.3K-6K) and magnetic fields. A strong reduction of the microwave rectification is found in magnetic fields at which the cyclotron radius of electron orbits at the Fermi level is smaller than the size of the dot. With respect to the magnetic field, both symmetric and anti-symmetric contributions to the directed transport are presented in this thesis. The symmetric part of the rectified voltage changes significantly with microwave frequency o at otauf ≥ 1, where tau f is the time of a ballistic electron flight across the dot. The results lead consistently toward the ballistic origin of the effect, and can be explained by the strong nonlocal electron response to the microwave electric field, which affects both the speed and the direction of the electron motion inside the dot.

Initiation of long, free-standing z discharges by CO2 laser gas heating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niemann, C.; Tauschwitz, A.; Penache, D.; Neff, S.; Knobloch, R.; Birkner, R.; Presura, R.; Hoffmann, D. H. H.; Yu, S. S.; Sharp, W. M.

2002-01-01

High current discharge channels can neutralize both current and space charge of very intense ion beams. Therefore, they are considered an interesting solution for final focus and beam transport in a heavy ion beam fusion reactor. At the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung accelerator facility, 50 cm long, free-standing discharge channels were created in a 60 cm diameter metallic chamber. Discharges with currents of 45 kA in 2 to 25 mbar ammonia (NH3) gas are initiated by a CO2 laser pulse along the channel axis before the capacitor bank is triggered. Resonant absorption of the laser, tuned to the v2 vibration of the ammonia molecule, causes strong gas heating. Subsequent expansion and rarefaction of the gas prepare the conditions for a stable discharge to fulfill the requirements for ion beam transport. The influence of an electric prepulse on the high current discharge was investigated. This article describes the laser-gas interaction and the discharge initiation mechanism. We found that channels are magnetohydrodynamic stable up to currents of 45 kA, measured by fast shutter and streak imaging techniques. The rarefaction of the laser heated gas is studied by means of a one-dimensional Lagrangian fluid code (CYCLOPS) and is identified as the dominant initiation mechanism of the discharge.

Nonlinear MHD simulation of current drive by multi-pulsed coaxial helicity injection in spherical torus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanki, Takashi; Nagata, Masayoshi; Kagei, Yasuhiro

2011-10-01

The dynamics of structures of magnetic field, current density, and plasma flow generated during multi-pulsed coaxial helicity injection in spherical torus is investigated by 3-D nonlinear MHD simulations. During the driven phase, the flux and current amplifications occur due to the merging and magnetic reconnection between the preexisting plasma in the confinement region and the ejected plasma from the gun region involving the n = 1 helical kink distortion of the central open flux column (COFC). Interestingly, the diamagnetic poloidal flow which tends toward the gun region is then observed due to the steep pressure gradients of the COFC generated by ohmic heating through an injection current winding around the inboard field lines, resulting in the formation of the strong poloidal flow shear at the interface between the COFC and the core region. This result is consistent with the flow shear observed in the HIST. During the decay phase, the configuration approaches the axisymmetric MHD equilibrium state without flow because of the dissipation of magnetic fluctuation energy to increase the closed flux surfaces, suggesting the generation of ordered magnetic field structure. The parallel current density λ concentrated in the COFC then diffuses to the core region so as to reduce the gradient in λ, relaxing in the direction of the Taylor state.

Personality, Vocational Interests, and Work Values of Medical Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duffy, Ryan D.; Borges, Nicole J.; Hartung, Paul J.

2009-01-01

Interests, personality, and values figure prominently in work motivation, yet little research has examined the combined influence of these factors on vocational behavior. The present study therefore examined relationships among these variables in a sample of 282 medical students (169 women, 113 men) who responded to the Strong Interest Inventory,…

Global Patterns in Students' Views of Science and Interest in Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Griethuijsen, Ralf A. L. F.; van Eijck, Michiel W.; Haste, Helen; den Brok, Perry J.; Skinner, Nigel C.; Mansour, Nasser; Savran Gencer, Ayse; BouJaoude, Saouma

2015-01-01

International studies have shown that interest in science and technology among primary and secondary school students in Western European countries is low and seems to be decreasing. In many countries outside Europe, and especially in developing countries, interest in science and technology remains strong. As part of the large-scale European Union…

The different audiences of science communication: A segmentation analysis of the Swiss population's perceptions of science and their information and media use patterns.

PubMed

Schäfer, Mike S; Füchslin, Tobias; Metag, Julia; Kristiansen, Silje; Rauchfleisch, Adrian

2018-01-01

Few studies have assessed whether populations can be divided into segments with different perceptions of science. We provide such an analysis and assess whether these segments exhibit specific patterns of media and information use. Based on representative survey data from Switzerland, we use latent class analysis to reconstruct four segments: the "Sciencephiles," with strong interest for science, extensive knowledge, and a pronounced belief in its potential, who use a variety of sources intensively; the "Critically Interested," also with strong interest and support for science but with less trust in it, who use similar sources but are more cautious toward them; the "Passive Supporters" with moderate levels of interest, trust, and knowledge and tempered perceptions of science, who use fewer sources; and the "Disengaged," who are not interested in science, do not know much about it, harbor critical views toward it, and encounter it-if at all-mostly through television.

Is news media related to civic engagement? The effects of interest in and discussions about the news media on current and future civic engagement of adolescents.

PubMed

Erentaitė, Rasa; Žukauskienė, Rita; Beyers, Wim; Pilkauskaitė-Valickienė, Rasa

2012-06-01

This study explored whether discussions about the media, when positively linked to interest in the news media, were related to adolescents' current and future civic engagement. A sample of 2638 adolescents (age M = 17, SD = 1.2), who participated in a school-based study on positive socialization, completed self-report measures on interest in the news media and discussions about the media with parents and friends. Current civic engagement was measured by involvement in volunteering and civic commitments. Future civic engagement was measured by intentions to participate in civic activities in the future. The results showed that more interpersonal discussions about the media and higher interest in the news media both predicted higher civic engagement. Positive links between discussions about the media and current civic engagement were partly mediated by interest in the news media. In addition, interest in the news media together with current civic engagement fully mediated a positive link between discussions about the media and future civic engagement. Moderating effects of gender were observed, with discussions about the media a better predictor of boys' interest in the news media, and current civic engagement a better predictor of girls' future civic engagement. Copyright © 2011 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pt/Cr and Pt/Ni catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction: to alloy or not to alloy?

PubMed

Escaño, Mary Clare; Gyenge, Elod; Nakanishi, Hiroshi; Kasai, Hideaki

2011-04-01

Bimetallic systems such as Pt-based alloys or non-alloys have exhibited interesting catalytic properties but pose a major challenge of not knowing a priori how the electronic and chemical properties will be modified relative to the parent metals. In this work, we present the origin of the changes in the reactivity of Pt/Cr and Pt/Ni catalysts, which have been of wide interest in fuel cell research. Using spin-polarized density functional theory calculations, we have shown that the modification of Pt surface reactivity in Pt/Ni is purely of geometric origin (strain). We have also found that the Pt-Ni bonding is very weak, which explains the observed instability of Pt-Ni catalysts under electrochemical measurements. On the other hand, Pt/Cr systems are governed by strong ligand effect (metal-metal interaction), which explains the experimentally observed reactivity dependence on the relative composition of the alloying components. The general characteristics of the potential energy curves for O2 dissociative adsorption on the bimetallic systems and the pure Pt clarify why the d-band center still works for Pt/Cr despite the strong Pt-Cr bonding and high spin polarization of Pt d-states. On the basis of the above clarifications, viable Pt-Cr and Pt-Ni structures, which involve nano-sized alloys and non-alloy bulk catalyst, which may strike higher than the currently observed oxidation reduction reaction activity are proposed.

Sodium-to-Potassium Ratio and Blood Pressure, Hypertension, and Related Factors12

PubMed Central

Perez, Vanessa; Chang, Ellen T.

2014-01-01

The potential cost-effectiveness and feasibility of dietary interventions aimed at reducing hypertension risk are of considerable interest and significance in public health. In particular, the effectiveness of restricted sodium or increased potassium intake on mitigating hypertension risk has been demonstrated in clinical and observational research. The role that modified sodium or potassium intake plays in influencing the renin-angiotensin system, arterial stiffness, and endothelial dysfunction remains of interest in current research. Up to the present date, no known systematic review has examined whether the sodium-to-potassium ratio or either sodium or potassium alone is more strongly associated with blood pressure and related factors, including the renin-angiotensin system, arterial stiffness, the augmentation index, and endothelial dysfunction, in humans. This article presents a systematic review and synthesis of the randomized controlled trials and observational research related to this issue. The main findings show that, among the randomized controlled trials reviewed, the sodium-to-potassium ratio appears to be more strongly associated with blood pressure outcomes than either sodium or potassium alone in hypertensive adult populations. Recent data from the observational studies reviewed provide additional support for the sodium-to-potassium ratio as a superior metric to either sodium or potassium alone in the evaluation of blood pressure outcomes and incident hypertension. It remains unclear whether this is true in normotensive populations and in children and for related outcomes including the renin-angiotensin system, arterial stiffness, the augmentation index, and endothelial dysfunction. Future study in these populations is warranted. PMID:25398734

The Association Between School Bonding and Smoking Amongst Chilean Adolescents.

PubMed

Gaete, Jorge; Montgomery, Alan; Araya, Ricardo

2015-01-01

The objective of the research was to study the association between school bonding dimensions (school commitment and school attachment) and current adolescent smoking in Chile, controlling for confounding variables using the fifth Chilean School Population National Substance Use Survey, 2003 (CHSS-2003) data set. The CHSS-2003 is a stratified cross-sectional survey that gathers information about personal, familial, peer, and school factors and cigarette use using a self-reported questionnaire. Complete data from 21,956 adolescent students for all the variables of interest were used in the analyses. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed in order to explore the construct validity of the questionnaire and create the main exposure and potential confounding variables. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were undertaken to study the association between school bonding and smoking. The construct validity of the school attachment and school commitment scales was mainly supported by the EFA. Multivariable analyses showed strong evidence that, after adjusting for factors from different domains, school commitment (student's good grades and school attendance) appears to have a clear inverse association with current smoking (odds ratio [OR]=0.46, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.38-0.56). On the other hand, school attachment (their feelings towards their school and their teachers) was not associated with adolescent smoking (OR=1.16, 95% CI: 0.88-1.53). School commitment was strongly associated with current smoking. It is important to further study this variable with the aim of ascertaining whether or not interventions that improve school commitment may prevent or reduce smoking amongst adolescent students.

Using Brain–Computer Interfaces and Brain-State Dependent Stimulation as Tools in Cognitive Neuroscience

PubMed Central

Jensen, Ole; Bahramisharif, Ali; Oostenveld, Robert; Klanke, Stefan; Hadjipapas, Avgis; Okazaki, Yuka O.; van Gerven, Marcel A. J.

2011-01-01

Large efforts are currently being made to develop and improve online analysis of brain activity which can be used, e.g., for brain–computer interfacing (BCI). A BCI allows a subject to control a device by willfully changing his/her own brain activity. BCI therefore holds the promise as a tool for aiding the disabled and for augmenting human performance. While technical developments obviously are important, we will here argue that new insight gained from cognitive neuroscience can be used to identify signatures of neural activation which reliably can be modulated by the subject at will. This review will focus mainly on oscillatory activity in the alpha band which is strongly modulated by changes in covert attention. Besides developing BCIs for their traditional purpose, they might also be used as a research tool for cognitive neuroscience. There is currently a strong interest in how brain-state fluctuations impact cognition. These state fluctuations are partly reflected by ongoing oscillatory activity. The functional role of the brain state can be investigated by introducing stimuli in real-time to subjects depending on the actual state of the brain. This principle of brain-state dependent stimulation may also be used as a practical tool for augmenting human behavior. In conclusion, new approaches based on online analysis of ongoing brain activity are currently in rapid development. These approaches are amongst others informed by new insight gained from electroencephalography/magnetoencephalography studies in cognitive neuroscience and hold the promise of providing new ways for investigating the brain at work. PMID:21687463

Rapid Assessment of Wave Height Transformation through a Tidal Inlet via Radar Remote Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Díaz Méndez, G.; Haller, M. C.; Raubenheimer, B.; Elgar, S.; Honegger, D.

2014-12-01

Radar has the potential to enable temporally and spatially dense, continuous monitoring of waves and currents in nearshore environments. If quantitative relationships between the remote sensing signals and the hydrodynamic parameters of interest can be found, remote sensing techniques can mitigate the challenges of continuous in situ sampling and possibly enable a better understanding of wave transformation in areas with strongly inhomogeneous along and across-shore bathymetry, currents, and dissipation. As part of the DARLA experiment (New River Inlet, NC), the accuracy of a rapid assessment of wave height transformation via radar remote sensing is tested. Wave breaking events are identified in the radar image time series (Catalán et al. 2011). Once the total number of breaking waves (per radar collection) is mapped throughout the imaging domain, radar-derived bathymetry and wave frequency are used to compute wave breaking dissipation (Janssen and Battjes 2007). Given the wave breaking dissipation, the wave height transformation is calculated by finding an inverse solution to the 1D cross-shore energy flux equation (including the effect of refraction). The predicted wave height transformation is consistent (correlation R > 0.9 and rmse as low as 0.1 m) with the transformation observed with in situ sensors in an area of complex morphology and strong (> 1 m/s) tidal currents over a nine-day period. The wave forcing (i.e., radiation stress gradients) determined from the remote sensing methodology will be compared with values estimated with in situ sensors. Funded by ONR and ASD(R&E)

Roadmap to clinical use of gold nanoparticles for radiosensitization

PubMed Central

Schuemann, J.; Berbeco, R.; Chithrani, B. D.; Cho, S.; Kumar, R.; McMahon, S.; Sridhar, S.; Krishnan, S.

2015-01-01

The past decade has seen a dramatic increase in interest in the use of Gold Nanoparticles (GNPs) as radiation sensitizers for radiotherapy. This interest was initially driven by their strong absorption of ionizing radiation and the resulting ability to increase dose deposited within target volumes even at relatively low concentrations. These early observations are supported by extensive experimental validation, showing GNPs’ efficacy at sensitizing tumors in both in vitro and in vivo systems to a range of types of ionizing radiation, including kilovoltage and megavoltage X-rays as well as charged particles. Despite this experimental validation, there has been limited translation of GNP-mediated radiosensitization to a clinical setting. One of the key challenges in this area is the wide range of experimental systems that have been investigated, spanning a range of particle sizes, shapes and preparations. As a result, mechanisms of uptake and radiosensitization have remained difficult to clearly identify. This has proven a significant impediment to the identification of optimal GNP formulations which strike a balance among their radiosensitizing properties, their specificity to the tumors, their biocompatibility, and their imageability in vivo. This white paper reviews the current state of knowledge in each of the areas concerning the use of GNPs as radiosensitizers, and outlines the steps which will be required to advance GNP-enhanced radiation therapy from their current pre-clinical setting to clinical trials and eventual routine usage. PMID:26700713

Headache in epilepsy patients: the (un)awareness of this phenomenon among Dutch neurologists.

PubMed

Hofstra, W A; Hageman, G; de Weerd, A W

2015-02-01

Headache is a frequently heard complaint that can strongly influence quality of life. This is probably even more so in people with a chronic illness. Knowing that headache, and especially migraine, is more frequent among epilepsy patients, the knowledge concerning this problem has been studied among Dutch neurologists. Seven hundred and seventy two neurologists, working in 89 hospitals and two tertiary epilepsy clinics were asked to participate. Using a questionnaire, neurologists were surveyed on different subjects, e.g. whether they thought current headaches are more frequent in people with epilepsy than in the general population, their interest for epilepsy and how many patients with epilepsy visited their polyclinic per month. In total, 334 questionnaires were returned (response rate of 43%) of which 18 were excluded. One third of neurologists responded affirmatively that current headaches are more prevalent among people with epilepsy and eight percent knows that this is, more specified, migraine. The number of years of experience does not influence knowledge on headaches in epilepsy patients. The interest in epilepsy and the number of epilepsy patients per month on the polyclinic does. These results show that the occurrence of headache in people with epilepsy is underestimated by Dutch neurologists. This leaves an often bothersome and potentially treatable condition underexposed. Copyright © 2014 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cigarette Users’ Interest in Using or Switching to Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems for Smokeless Tobacco for Harm Reduction, Cessation, or Novelty: A Cross-Sectional Survey of US Adults

PubMed Central

Haardoerfer, Regine; Escoffery, Cam; Zheng, Pinpin; Kegler, Michelle

2015-01-01

Introduction: We examined: (a) current (past 30-day) smokers’ interest in using or switching to electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) or smokeless tobacco for various reasons; (b) correlates of interest in these products; and (c) subgroups of current smokers in relation to interest in these products. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey assessing sociodemographics, tobacco use, interest in ENDS and smokeless tobacco among smokers, and knowledge about ENDS among 2,501US adults recruited through an online consumer panel. We oversampled tobacco users (36.7% current cigarette smokers), ethnic minorities, and southeastern US state residents. Results: On average, participants were more interested in ENDS than smokeless tobacco across all reasons provided. Additionally, they were less interested in either product because of their potential use in places prohibiting smoking or due to curiosity and more interested in reducing health risk or cigarette consumption or to aid in cessation. We documented high rates (27.9%) of misbeliefs about Food and Drug Administration approval of ENDS for cessation, particularly among current smokers (38.5%). Also, 27.2% of current smokers had talked with a health care provider about ENDS, with 18.0% reporting that their provider endorsed ENDS use for cessation. Furthermore, cluster analyses revealed 3 groups distinct in their interest in the products, sociodemographics, and smoking-related characteristics. Conclusions: This study highlights higher interest in ENDS versus smokeless tobacco and greater interest in both for harm reduction and cessation than due to novelty or smoking restrictions. Developing educational campaigns and informing practitioners about caveats around ENDS as cessation or harm reduction aids are critical. PMID:24951496

Current Flow in the Bubble and Stripe Phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friess, B.; Umansky, V.; von Klitzing, K.; Smet, J. H.

2018-03-01

The spontaneous ordering of spins and charges in geometric patterns is currently under scrutiny in a number of different material systems. A topic of particular interest is the interaction of such ordered phases with itinerant electrons driven by an externally imposed current. It not only provides important information on the charge ordering itself but potentially also allows manipulating the shape and symmetry of the underlying pattern if current flow is strong enough. Unfortunately, conventional transport methods probing the macroscopic resistance suffer from the fact that the voltage drop along the sample edges provides only indirect information on the bulk properties because a complex current distribution is elicited by the inhomogeneous ground state. Here, we promote the use of surface acoustic waves to study these broken-symmetry phases and specifically address the bubble and stripe phases emerging in high-quality two-dimensional electron systems in GaAs /AlGaAs heterostructures as prototypical examples. When driving a unidirectional current, we find a surprising discrepancy between the sound propagation probing the bulk of the sample and the voltage drop along the sample edges. Our results prove that the current-induced modifications observed in resistive transport measurements are in fact a local phenomenon only, leaving the majority of the sample unaltered. More generally, our findings shed new light on the extent to which these ordered electron phases are impacted by an external current and underline the intrinsic advantages of acoustic measurements for the study of such inhomogeneous phases.

Sedimentological regimes for turbidity currents: Depth-averaged theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halsey, Thomas C.; Kumar, Amit; Perillo, Mauricio M.

2017-07-01

Turbidity currents are one of the most significant means by which sediment is moved from the continents into the deep ocean; their properties are interesting both as elements of the global sediment cycle and due to their role in contributing to the formation of deep water oil and gas reservoirs. One of the simplest models of the dynamics of turbidity current flow was introduced three decades ago, and is based on depth-averaging of the fluid mechanical equations governing the turbulent gravity-driven flow of relatively dilute turbidity currents. We examine the sedimentological regimes of a simplified version of this model, focusing on the role of the Richardson number Ri [dimensionless inertia] and Rouse number Ro [dimensionless sedimentation velocity] in determining whether a current is net depositional or net erosional. We find that for large Rouse numbers, the currents are strongly net depositional due to the disappearance of local equilibria between erosion and deposition. At lower Rouse numbers, the Richardson number also plays a role in determining the degree of erosion versus deposition. The currents become more erosive at lower values of the product Ro × Ri, due to the effect of clear water entrainment. At higher values of this product, the turbulence becomes insufficient to maintain the sediment in suspension, as first pointed out by Knapp and Bagnold. We speculate on the potential for two-layer solutions in this insufficiently turbulent regime, which would comprise substantial bedload flow with an overlying turbidity current.

Child obesity prevention in primary health care: investigating practice nurse roles, attitudes and current practices.

PubMed

Robinson, Alison; Denney-Wilson, Elizabeth; Laws, Rachel; Harris, Mark

2013-04-01

Overweight and obesity affects approximately 20% of Australian pre-schoolers. The general practice nurse (PN) workforce has increased in recent years; however, little is known of PN capacity and potential to provide routine advice for the prevention of child obesity. This mixed methods pilot study aims to explore the current practices, attitudes, confidence and training needs of Australian PNs surrounding child obesity prevention in the general practice setting. PNs from three Divisions of General Practice in New South Wales were invited to complete a questionnaire investigating PN roles, attitudes and practices in preventive care with a focus on child obesity. A total of 59 questionnaires were returned (response rate 22%). Semi-structured qualitative interviews were also conducted with a subsample of PNs (n = 10). Questionnaire respondent demographics were similar to that of national PN data. PNs described preventive work as enjoyable despite some perceived barriers including lack of confidence. Number of years working in general practice did not appear to strongly influence nurses' perceived barriers. Seventy per cent of PNs were interested in being more involved in conducting child health checks in practice, and 85% expressed an interest in taking part in child obesity prevention training. Findings from this pilot study suggest that PNs are interested in prevention of child obesity despite barriers to practice and low confidence levels. More research is needed to determine the effect of training on PN confidence and behaviours in providing routine healthy life-style messages for the prevention of child obesity. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health © 2013 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

On-orbit spacecraft servicing: An element in the evolution of space robotics applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anders, Carl J.; Roy, Claude H.

1994-01-01

This paper addresses the renewed interest in on-orbit spacecraft servicing (OSS), and how it fits into the evolution of space applications for intelligent robots. Investment in the development of space robotics and associated technologies is growing as nations recognize that it is a critical component of the exploration and commercial development of space. At the same time, changes in world conditions have generated a renewal of the interest in OSS. This is reflected in the level of activity in the U.S., Japan and Europe in the form of studies and technology demonstration programs. OSS is becoming widely accepted as an opportunity in the evolution of space robotics applications. Importantly, it is a feasible proposition with current technologies and the direction of ongoing research and development activities. Interest in OSS dates back more than two decades, and several programs have been initiated, but no operational system has come on line, arguably with the Shuttle as the exception. With new opportunities arising, however, a fresh look at the feasibility of OSS is warranted. This involves the resolution of complex market, technical and political issues, through market studies, economic analyses, mission requirement definitions, trade studies, concept designs and technology demonstrations. System architectures for OSS are strongly dependent on target spacecraft design and launch delivery systems. Performance and cost factors are currently forcing significant changes in these areas. This presents both challenges and opportunities in the provision of OSS services. In conclusion, there is no question OSS will become a reality, but only when the technical feasibility is combined with either economic viability or political will. In the evolution of space robotics satellite servicing can become the next step towards its eventual role in support of planetary exploration and human beings' journey out into the universe.

Reticular pseudodrusen in age-related macular degeneration.

PubMed

Hogg, Ruth Esther

2014-08-01

Historically, drusen, which are recognized as the hallmark of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), have been described in terms of size, margins, and texture, and several studies have emphasized the importance of large soft drusen particularly when combined with focal pigmentary irregularities in determining the risk of progression to neovascular AMD. However, recent developments in imaging over the past decade have revealed a further distinct phenotype strongly associated with the development of late AMD, namely, reticular pseudodrusen (RPD) or reticular drusen. Reticular pseudodrusen appear as yellowish interlacing networks in the fundus and, although visible on color photography, are better visualized using infrared imaging or spectral domain optical coherence tomography. Studies correlating spectral domain optical coherence tomography and confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy have shown that RPD are subretinal deposits located internal to the retinal pigment epithelium in contrast to traditional drusen, which are located external to the retinal pigment epithelium. As multiple longitudinal studies have revealed RPD are strong predictors for progression to both neovascular AMD and geographic atrophy, the interest in understanding the role that RPD play in the pathogenesis of AMD has grown. This review focuses on the current literature concerning RPD and considers what is currently known regarding their epidemiology, risk factors, appearance in both retinal imaging and histology, impact on visual function, relationship to other AMD lesions, and association with the development of late AMD.

Effect of interactions for one-dimensional asymmetric exclusion processes under periodic and bath-adapted coupling environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Midha, Tripti; Kolomeisky, Anatoly B.; Gupta, Arvind Kumar

2018-04-01

Stimulated by the effect of the nearest neighbor interactions in vehicular traffic and motor proteins, we study a 1D driven lattice gas model, in which the nearest neighbor particle interactions are taken in accordance with the thermodynamic concepts. The non-equilibrium steady-state properties of the system are analyzed under both open and periodic boundary conditions using a combination of cluster mean-field analysis and Monte Carlo simulations. Interestingly, the fundamental diagram of current versus density shows a complex behavior with a unimodal dependence for attractions and weak repulsions that turns into the bimodal behavior for stronger repulsive interactions. Specific details of system-reservoir coupling for the open system have a strong effect on the stationary phases. We produce the steady-state phase diagrams for the bulk-adapted coupling to the reservoir using the minimum and maximum current principles. The strength and nature of interaction energy has a striking influence on the number of stationary phases. We observe that interactions lead to correlations having a strong impact on the system dynamical properties. The correlation between any two sites decays exponentially as the distance between the sites increases. Moreover, they are found to be short-range for repulsions and long-range for attractions. Our results also suggest that repulsions and attractions asymmetrically modify the dynamics of interacting particles in exclusion processes.

Understanding Molecular Conduction: Old Wine in a New Bottle?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Avik

2007-03-01

Molecules provide an opportunity to test our understanding of fundamental non-equilibrium transport processes, as well as explore new device possibilities. We have developed a unified approach to nanoscale conduction, coupling bandstructure and electrostatics of the channel and contacts with a quantum kinetic theory of current flow. This allows us to describe molecular conduction at various levels of detail, -- from quantum corrected compact models, to semi-empirical models for quick physical insights, and `first-principles' calculations of current-voltage (I-V) characteristics with no adjustable parameters. Using this suite of tools, we can quantitatively explain various experimental I-Vs, including complex reconstructed silicon substrates. We find that conduction in most molecules is contact dominated, and limited by fundamental electrostatic and thermodynamic restrictions quite analogous to those faced by the silicon industry, barring a few interesting exceptions. The distinction between molecular and silicon electronics must therefore be probed at a more fundamental level. Ultra-short molecules are unique in that they possess large Coulomb energies as well as anomalous vibronic couplings with current flow -- in other words, strong non-equilibrium electron-electron and electron-phonon correlations. These effects yield prominent experimental signatures, but require a completely different modeling approach -- in fact, popular approaches to include correlation typically do not work for non-equilibrium. Molecules exhibit rich physics, including the ability to function both as weakly interacting current conduits (quantum wires) as well as strongly correlated charge storage centers (quantum dots). Theoretical treatment of the intermediate coupling regime is particularly challenging, with a large `fine structure constant' for transport that negates orthodox theories of Coulomb Blockade and phonon-assisted tunneling. It is in this regime that the scientific and technological merits of molecular conductors may need to be explored. For instance, the tunable quantum coupling of current flow in silicon transistors with engineered molecular scatterers could lead to devices that operate on completely novel principles.

Gender Differences in Interest and Knowledge Acquisition: The United States, Taiwan, and Japan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, E. Margaret; Schweingruber, Heidi; Stevenson, Harold W.

2002-01-01

Investigated the relationship between interest and knowledge among 11th graders from cultures differing in strength of gender-role stereotypes and endorsement of effort- versus interest-based learning. Data on Japanese, Taiwanese, and U.S. students indicated that gender more strongly related to Asian students' than U.S. students' scores. There…

Male and Female College Students' College Majors: The Contribution of Basic Vocational Confidence and Interests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larson, Lisa M.; Wu, Tsui-Feng; Bailey, Donna C.; Borgen, Fred H.; Gasser, Courtney E.

2010-01-01

The first purpose was to determine if overall gender differences in basic confidence as measured by the Expanded Skills Confidence Inventory (ESCI) and basic interests as measured by the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory (SII) would be present within eight college major families. As expected, anticipated overall gender differences in confidence and…

Interest Inventory Items as Reinforcing Stimuli: A Test of the A-R-D Theory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Staats, Arthur W.; And Others

An experiement was conducted to test the hypothesis that interest inventory items would function as reinforcing stimuli in a visual discrimination task. When previously rated liked and disliked items from the Strong Vocational Interest Blank were differentially presented following one of two responses, subjects learned to respond to the stimulus…

A picture is worth a thousand words: needs assessment for multimedia radiology reports in a large tertiary care medical center.

PubMed

Nayak, Lina; Beaulieu, Christopher F; Rubin, Daniel L; Lipson, Jafi A

2013-12-01

Radiology reports are the major, and often only, means of communication between radiologists and their referring clinicians. The purposes of this study are to identify referring physicians' preferences about radiology reports and to quantify their perceived value of multimedia reports (with embedded images) compared with narrative text reports. We contacted 1800 attending physicians from a range of specialties at large tertiary care medical center via e-mail and a hospital newsletter linking to a 24-question electronic survey between July and November 2012. One hundred sixty physicians responded, yielding a response rate of 8.9%. Survey results were analyzed using Statistical Analysis Software (SAS Institute Inc, Cary, NC). Of the 160 referring physicians respondents, 142 (89%) indicated a general interest in reports with embedded images and completed the remainder of the survey questions. Of 142 respondents, 103 (73%) agreed or strongly agreed that reports with embedded images could improve the quality of interactions with radiologists; 129 respondents (91%) agreed or strongly agreed that having access to significant images enhances understanding of a text-based report; 110 respondents (77%) agreed or strongly agreed that multimedia reports would significantly improve referring physician satisfaction; and 85 respondents (60%) felt strongly or very strongly that multimedia reports would significantly improve patient care and outcomes. Creating accessible, readable, and automatic multimedia reports should be a high priority to enhance the practice and satisfaction of referring physicians, improve patient care, and emphasize the critical role radiology plays in current medical care. Copyright © 2013 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Cross-State Analysis of Renewable Portfolio Standard Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marchand, Mariel

As of December 2016, thirty-seven states have a renewable portfolio standard (RPS). RPS require that utilities provide a certain percentage of electricity generated using renewable sources by a certain date. This thesis builds on diffusion of innovation literature to understand how factors within a state, such as its political climate and the strength of interest groups, appear to influence the adoption process and structure of the RPS in five states--Connecticut, New Jersey, Michigan, Colorado, and Washington. Each of these states has a strong RPS as measured by its renewable energy goal over its current renewable energy production, the time frame in which this goal must be met, and the percentage of the electric load that is included in the regulation. This thesis uses both within-case and cross-case analysis to understand which combinations of internal state factors potentially lead to the adoption of a strong RPS. It finds that there are a number of combinations of factors that appear to contribute to strong RPS, depending on the internal circumstances of each state. However, more important is that without the opportunity to tailor the policy to meet the needs of the state, it is likely that states with unfavorable internal factors may not choose to adopt a RPS at all, let alone a strong RPS. While the innovation factors identified through the RPS diffusion research often contribute to states adopting a strong RPS, this thesis finds that the influence of these factors depends on a combination of the internal state factors with the RPS adoption process in shaping the structure of the RPS.

Can nanotechnology improve cancer diagnosis through miRNA detection?

PubMed

Fiammengo, Roberto

2017-01-01

miRNAs are key regulators of gene expression, and alterations in their expression levels correlate with the onset and progression of cancer. Although miRNAs have been proposed as biomarkers for cancer diagnosis, their application in routine clinical praxis is yet to come. Current quantification strategies have limitation, and there is a great interest in developing innovative ones. Since a few years, nanotechnology-based approaches for miRNA quantification are emerging at fast pace but there is urgent need to go beyond the proof-of-concept stage. Nanotechnology will have a strong impact on cancer diagnosis through miRNA detection only if it is demonstrated that the newly developed approaches are indeed working on 'real-world' samples under standardized conditions.

Noninvasive detection of macular pigments in the human eye.

PubMed

Gellermann, Werner; Bernstein, Paul S

2004-01-01

There is currently strong interest in developing noninvasive technologies for the detection of macular carotenoid pigments in the human eye. These pigments, consisting of lutein and zeaxanthin, are taken up from the diet and are thought to play an important role in the prevention of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly in the Western world. It may be possible to prevent or delay the onset of this debilitating disease with suitable dietary intervention strategies. We review the most commonly used detection techniques based on heterochromatic flicker photometry, fundus reflectometry, and autofluorescense techniques and put them in perspective with recently developed more molecule-specific Raman detection methods. (c) 2004 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Antimicrobial peptides and plant disease control.

PubMed

Montesinos, Emilio

2007-05-01

Several diseases caused by viruses, bacteria and fungi affect plant crops, resulting in losses and decreasing the quality and safety of agricultural products. Plant disease control relies mainly on chemical pesticides that are currently subject to strong restrictions and regulatory requirements. Antimicrobial peptides are interesting compounds in plant health because there is a need for new products in plant protection that fit into the new regulations. Living organisms secrete a wide range of antimicrobial peptides produced through ribosomal (defensins and small bacteriocins) or non-ribosomal synthesis (peptaibols, cyclopeptides and pseudopeptides). Several antimicrobial peptides are the basis for the design of new synthetic analogues, have been expressed in transgenic plants to confer disease protection or are secreted by microorganisms that are active ingredients of commercial biopesticides.

Visual Working Memory Capacity: From Psychophysics and Neurobiology to Individual Differences

PubMed Central

Luck, Steven J.; Vogel, Edward K.

2013-01-01

Visual working memory capacity is of great interest because it is strongly correlated with overall cognitive ability, can be understood at the level of neural circuits, and is easily measured. Recent studies have shown that capacity influences tasks ranging from saccade targeting to analogical reasoning. A debate has arisen over whether capacity is constrained by a limited number of discrete representations or by an infinitely divisible resource, but the empirical evidence and neural network models currently favor a discrete item limit. Capacity differs markedly across individuals and groups, and recent research indicates that some of these differences reflect true differences in storage capacity whereas others reflect variations in the ability to use memory capacity efficiently. PMID:23850263

Subradiant spontaneous undulator emission through collective suppression of shot noise

DOE PAGES

Ratner, D.; Hemsing, E.; Gover, A.; ...

2015-05-01

The phenomenon of Dicke’s subradiance, in which the collective properties of a system suppress radiation, has received broad interest in atomic physics. Recent theoretical papers in the field of relativistic electron beams have proposed schemes to achieve subradiance through suppression of shot noise current fluctuations. The resulting “quiet” beam generates less spontaneous radiation than emitted even by a shot noise beam when oscillating in an undulator. Quiet beams could have diverse accelerator applications, including lowering power requirements for seeded free-electron lasers and improving efficiency of hadron cooling. In this paper we present experimental observation of a strong reduction in undulatormore » radiation, demonstrating the feasibility of noise suppression as a practical tool in accelerator physics.« less

[Respect and tutelage of children in Christianity].

PubMed

Leone, Salvino; Lo Giudice, Milena

2005-01-01

Christian religion, since its beginning, has been strongly interested about infant world, in defending and promoting it. Evangelic stories show Jesus' attention for children even against his disciples and the current culture of that very time that didn't consider them in a special way. Some of healing miracles and most of reanimation ones have, as characters, just children or young people. This particular care has continued after in ecclesial life by the creation of many charitable institutions for children and, recently, also in an sort of re-arrangement of Christian thought about bioethical problems, most of which are really shared with not Christian world. Nevertheless some of them present several patterns (an-encephaly, neonatal care, assisted reproduction, etc.) involving some specific considerations discussed by Authors.

Subradiant spontaneous undulator emission through collective suppression of shot noise

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

Ratner, D.; Hemsing, E.; Gover, A.

The phenomenon of Dicke’s subradiance, in which the collective properties of a system suppress radiation, has received broad interest in atomic physics. Recent theoretical papers in the field of relativistic electron beams have proposed schemes to achieve subradiance through suppression of shot noise current fluctuations. The resulting “quiet” beam generates less spontaneous radiation than emitted even by a shot noise beam when oscillating in an undulator. Quiet beams could have diverse accelerator applications, including lowering power requirements for seeded free-electron lasers and improving efficiency of hadron cooling. In this paper we present experimental observation of a strong reduction in undulatormore » radiation, demonstrating the feasibility of noise suppression as a practical tool in accelerator physics.« less

Polarity-Dependent Vortex Pinning and Spontaneous Vortex-Antivortex Structures in Superconductor/Ferromagnet Hybrids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bending, Simon J.; Milošević, Milorad V.; Moshchalkov, Victor V.

Hybrid structures composed of superconducting films that are magnetically coupled to arrays of nanoscale ferromagnetic dots have attracted enormous interest in recent years. Broadly speaking, such systems fall into one of two distinct regimes. Ferromagnetic dots with weak moments pin free vortices, leading to enhanced superconducting critical currents, particularly when the conditions for commensurability are satisfied. Dots with strong moments spontaneously generate one or more vortex-antivortex (V-AV) pairs which lead to a rich variety of pinning, anti-pinning and annihilation phenomena. We describe high resolution Hall probe microscopy of flux structures in various hybrid samples composed of superconducting Pb films deposited on arrays of ferromagnetic Co or Co/Pt dots with both weak and strong moments. We show directly that dots with very weak perpendicular magnetic moments do not induce vortex-antivortex pairs, but still act as strong polarity-dependent vortex pinning centres for free vortices. In contrast, we have directly observed spontaneous V-AV pairs induced by large moment dots with both in-plane and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, and studied the rich physical phenomena that arise when they interact with added "free" (anti)fluxons in an applied magnetic field. The interpretation of our imaging results is supported by bulk magnetometry measurements and state-of-the-art Ginzburg-Landau and London theory calculations.

Thermal decomposition of nano-enabled thermoplastics: Possible environmental health and safety implications

PubMed Central

Sotiriou, Georgios A.; Singh, Dilpreet; Zhang, Fang; Chalbot, Marie-Cecile G.; Spielman-Sun, Eleanor; Hoering, Lutz; Kavouras, Ilias G.; Lowry, Gregory V.; Wohlleben, Wendel; Demokritou, Philip

2015-01-01

Nano-enabled products (NEPs) are currently part of our life prompting for detailed investigation of potential nano-release across their life-cycle. Particularly interesting is their end-of-life thermal decomposition scenario. Here, we examine the thermal decomposition of a widely used NEP, namely thermoplastic nanocomposites, and assess the properties of the byproducts (released aerosol and residual ash) and possible environmental health and safety implications. We focus on establishing a fundamental understanding on the effect of thermal decomposition parameters, such as polymer matrix, nanofiller properties, decomposition temperature, on the properties of byproducts using a recently-developed lab-based experimental integrated platform. Our results indicate that thermoplastic polymer matrix strongly influences size and morphology of released aerosol, while there was minimal but detectable nano-release, especially when inorganic nanofillers were used. The chemical composition of the released aerosol was found not to be strongly influenced by the presence of nanofiller at least for the low, industry-relevant loadings assessed here. Furthermore, the morphology and composition of residual ash was found to be strongly influenced by the presence of nanofiller. The findings presented here on thermal decomposition/incineration of NEPs raise important questions and concerns regarding the potential fate and transport of released engineered nanomaterials in environmental media and potential environmental health and safety implications. PMID:26642449

Recent Progress on High-Current SRF Cavities at Jlab

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

Robert Rimmer, William Clemens, James Henry, Peter Kneisel, Kurt Macha, Frank Marhauser, Larry Turlington, Haipeng Wang, Daniel Forehand

2010-05-01

JLab has designed and fabricated several prototype SRF cavities with cell shapes optimized for high current beams and with strong damping of unwanted higher order modes. We report on the latest test results of these cavities and on developments of concepts for new variants optimized for particular applications such as light sources and high-power proton accelerators, including betas less than one. We also report on progress towards a first beam test of this design in the recirculation loop of the JLab ERL based FEL. With growing interest worldwide in applications of SRF for high-average power electron and hadron machines, amore » practical test of these concepts is highly desirable. We plan to package two prototype cavities in a de-mountable cryomodule for temporary installation into the JLab FEL for testing with RF and beam. This will allow verification of all critical design and operational parameters paving the way to a full-scale prototype cryomodule.« less

Scaling laws for positron production in laser-electron beam collisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blackburn, Tom; Ilderton, Anton; Murphy, Christopher; Marklund, Mattias

2017-10-01

Showers of gamma rays and positrons are produced when a multi-GeV electron beam collides with a super-intense laser pulse. All-optical realisation of this geometry, where the electron beam is generated by laser-wakefield acceleration, is currently attracting much experimental interest as a probe of radiation reaction and QED effects. These interactions may be modelled theoretically in the framework of strong-field QED or numerically by large-scale PIC simulation. To complement these, we present analytical scaling laws for the electron beam energy loss, gamma ray spectrum, and the positron yield and energy that are valid in the radiation-reaction-dominated regime. These indicate that by employing the collision of a 2 GeV electron beam with a laser pulse of intensity 5 ×1021Wcm-2 , it is possible to produce 10,000 positrons in a single shot at currently available laser facilities. The authors acknowledge support from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.

Current-current interactions, dynamical symmetry-breaking, and quantum chromodynamics

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

Neuenschwander, D.E. Jr.

1983-01-01

Quantum Chromodynamics with massive gluons (gluon mass triple bond xm/sub p/) in a contact-interaction limit called CQCD (strong coupling g..-->..infinity; x..-->..infinity), despite its non-renormalizability and lack of hope of confinement, is nevertheless interesting for at least two reasons. Some authors have suggested a relation between 4-Fermi and Yang-Mills theories. If g/x/sup 2/ much less than 1, then CQCD is not merely a 4-Fermi interaction, but includes 4,6,8 etc-Fermi non-Abelian contact interactions. With possibility of infrared slavery, perturbative evaluation of QCD in the infrared is a dubious practice. However, if g/sup 2//x/sup 2/ much less than 1 in CQCD, then themore » simplest 4-Fermi interaction is dominant, and CQCD admits perturbative treatment, but only in the infrared. With the dominant interaction, a dynamical Nambu-Goldstone realization of chiral symmetry-breaking (XSB) is found. Although in QCD the relation between confinement and XSB is controversial, XSB occurs in CQCD provided confinement is sacrificed.« less

Electromagnetic and neutral-weak response functions of light nuclei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lovato, Alessandro

2015-10-01

A major goal of nuclear theory is to understand the strong interaction in nuclei as it manifests itself in terms of two- and many-body forces among the nuclear constituents, the protons and neutrons, and the interactions of these constituents with external electroweak probes via one- and many-body currents. Using imaginary-time projection technique, quantum Monte Carlo allows for solving the time-independent Schrödinger equation even for Hamiltonians including highly spin-isospin dependent two- and three- body forces. I will present a recent Green's function Monte Carlo calculation of the quasi-elastic electroweak response functions in light nuclei, needed to describe electron and neutrino scattering. We found that meson-exchange two-body currents generate excess transverse strength from threshold to the quasielastic to the dip region and beyond. These results challenge the conventional picture of quasi elastic inclusive scattering as being largely dominated by single-nucleon knockout processes. These findings are of particular interest for the interpretation of neutrino oscillation signals.

Current Advances in Lanthanide‐Doped Upconversion Nanostructures for Detection and Bioapplication

PubMed Central

Chen, Cailing

2016-01-01

Along with the development of science and technology, lanthanide‐doped upconversion nanostructures as a new type of materials have taken their place in the field of nanomaterials. Upconversion luminescence is a nonlinear optical phenomenon, which absorbs two or more photons and emits one photon. Compared with traditional luminescence materials, upconversion nanostructures have many advantages, such as weak background interference, long lifetime, low excitation energy, and strong tissue penetration. These interesting nanostructures can be applied in anticounterfeit, solar cell, detection, bioimaging, therapy, and so on. This review is focused on the current advances in lanthanide‐doped upconversion nanostructures, covering not only basic luminescence mechanism, synthesis, and modification methods but also the design and fabrication of upconversion nanostructures, like core–shell nanoparticles or nanocomposites. At last, this review emphasizes the application of upconversion nanostructure in detection and bioimaging and therapy. Learning more about the advances of upconversion nanostructures can help us better exploit their excellent performance and use them in practice. PMID:27840794

Arctic sea-ice variability and its implication to the path of pollutants under a changing climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castro-Morales, K.; Gerdes, R.; Riemann-Campe, K.; Köberle, C.; Losch, M.

2012-04-01

The increasing concentration of pollutants from anthropogenic origin in the Arctic atmosphere, water, sediments and biota has been evident during the last decade. The sea-ice is an important vehicle for pollutants in the Arctic Ocean. Pollutants are taken up by precipitation and dry atmospheric deposition over the snow and ice cover during winter and released to the ocean during melting. Recent changes in the sea-ice cover of the Arctic Ocean affect the fresh water balance and the oceanic circulation, and with it, the fate of pollutants in the system. The Arctic Ocean is characterized by complex dynamics and strong stratification. Thus, to evaluate the current and future changes in the Arctic circulation high-resolution models are needed. As part of the EU FP7 project ArcRisk (under the scope of the IPY), we use a high resolution regional sea-ice-ocean coupled model covering the Arctic Ocean and the subpolar North Atlantic based on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - circulation model (MITgcm). Under realistic atmospheric forcing we obtain hindcast results of circulation patterns for the period 1990 - 2010 for validation of the model. We evaluate possible consequences on the pathways and transport of contaminants by downscaling future climate scenario runs available in the coupled model intercomparison project (CMIP3) for the following fifty years. Particular interest is set in the Barents Sea. In this shallow region strong river runoff, sea-ice delivered from the interior of the Arctic Ocean and warm waters from the North Atlantic current are main sources of contaminants. Under a changing climate, a higher input of contaminants delivered to surface waters is expected, remaining in the interior of the Arctic Ocean in a strongly stratified water column remaining.

Nutritional information and health warnings on wine labels: Exploring consumer interest and preferences.

PubMed

Annunziata, A; Pomarici, E; Vecchio, R; Mariani, A

2016-11-01

This paper aims to contribute to the current debate on the inclusion of nutritional information and health warnings on wine labels, exploring consumers' interest and preferences. The results of a survey conducted on a sample of Italian wine consumers (N = 300) show the strong interest of respondents in the inclusion of such information on the label. Conjoint analysis reveals that consumers assign greater utility to health warnings, followed by nutritional information. Cluster analysis shows the existence of three different consumer segments. The first cluster, which included mainly female consumers (over 55) and those with high wine involvement, revealed greater awareness of the links between wine and health and better knowledge of wine nutritional properties, preferring a more detailed nutritional label, such as a panel with GDA%. By contrast, the other two clusters, consisting of individuals who generally find it more difficult to understand nutritional labels, preferred the less detailed label of a glass showing calories. The second and largest cluster comprising mainly younger men (under 44), showed the highest interest in health warnings while the third cluster - with a relatively low level of education - preferred the specification of the number of glasses not to exceed. Our results support the idea that the policy maker should consider introducing a mandatory nutritional label in the easier-to-implement and not-too-costly form of a glass with calories, rotating health warnings and the maximum number of glasses not to exceed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Detection of in vitro S-Nitrosylated Compounds with Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rad, Mary Lynn; Mezher, Monique Michele; Gaston, Benjamin M.; Lehmann, Kevin

2016-06-01

Nitric oxide has been of strong biological interest for nearly 40 years due to its role in cardiovascular and nervous signaling. It has been shown that S-nitrosocompounds are the main carrier molecule for nitric oxide in biological systems. These compounds are also of interest due to their relationship to several diseases including muscular dystrophy, stroke, myocardial infarction, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, cystic fibrosis, asthma, and pulmonary arterial hypertension. Understanding the role of these S-nitrosocompounds in these diseases requires concentration studies in healthy and diseased tissues as well as metabolic studies using isotopically labeled S-nitroso precursors such at 15N-arginine. The current widely used techniques for these studies include chemiluminescence, which is blind to isotopic substitution, and mass spectrometry, which is known to artificially create and break S-NO bonds in the sample preparation stages. To this end we have designed and constructed a mid-IR cavity ring-down spectrometer for the detection of nitric oxide released from the target S-nitrosocompounds. Progress toward measuring S-NO groups in biological samples using the CRDS instrument will be presented.

Listening comprehension in preschoolers: the role of memory.

PubMed

Florit, Elena; Roch, Maja; Altoè, Gianmarco; Levorato, Maria Chiara

2009-11-01

The current study analyzed the relationship between text comprehension and memory skills in preschoolers. We were interested in verifying the hypothesis that memory is a specific contributor to listening comprehension in preschool children after controlling for verbal abilities. We were also interested in analyzing the developmental path of the relationship between memory skills and listening comprehension in the age range considered. Forty-four, 4-year-olds (mean age = 4 years and 6 months, SD = 4 months) and 40, 5-year-olds (mean age = 5 years and 4 months, SD = 5 months) participated in the study. The children were administered measures to evaluate listening comprehension ability (story comprehension), short-term and working memory skills (forward and backward word span), verbal intelligence and receptive vocabulary. Results showed that both short-term and working memory predicted unique and independent variance in listening comprehension after controlling for verbal abilities, with working memory explaining additional variance over and above short-term memory. The predictive power of memory skills was stable in the age range considered. Results also confirm a strong relation between verbal abilities and listening comprehension in 4- and 5-year-old children.

Post-retirement intentions of nurses and midwives living and working in the Northern Territory of Australia.

PubMed

Voit, Katharina; Carson, D B

2014-01-01

Previous research undertaken in the Northern Territory of Australia has identified interest among nurses in engaging in the active workforce post-retirement. Relatively little is known about which nurses are interested in such engagement, and the types of work arrangements that might be of interest. This study aims to provide an enhanced understanding of the retirement plans and post-retirement employment intentions of nurses and midwives living and working in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia. An online survey was developed to examine retirement intentions, and investigate the types and facilitators significant for post-retirement engagement. The results indicated a strong interest among nurses and midwives in engaging in post-retirement work, with 73.2% of respondents (n=207) having considered continuing in the active workforce. The most preferred types of engagement included the gradual reduction of hours in current workplaces, part-year or seasonal employment, short-term placements, job-sharing or job-rotation, mentoring, research and policy development or acting as 'Northern Territory representatives' promoting jobs to prospective nurses and midwives elsewhere in Australia. A range of facilitators for post-retirement engagement was found, including for nurses who had not currently considered such engagement. The data collected from this research also identified barriers to post-retirement employment. The most favoured facilitators were financial incentives (90.0% of respondents identified it as a facilitator for post-retirement engagement), followed by support from line management (82.0%). Regardless of whether they had considered engaging post-retirement, the largest proportion of respondents intended to leave the NT for the time of their retirement (33.7%). The most prominent barrier to post-retirement engagement was that only a smaller proportion intended to retire in the NT (24.1%). Importantly, many nurses who had not currently considered post-retirement engagement were interested in some of the opportunities listed in the survey, and may therefore be tempted to consider continued engagement in the future. This study has provided an enhanced understanding of the retirement intentions of nurses and midwives living and working in the NT, and the significant types and facilitators of post-retirement engagement. The barriers arising from the inability of workplaces to cater to the needs of older workers potentially continuing their employment post-retirement are consistent with previous research. The types and facilitators of engagement presented in this study might assist in overcoming these barriers.

Technology of Articulated Transit Buses

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1982-03-01

Since the first major demonstration of articulated buses in the mid 1970s and the first purchase in late 1978, interest in articulated buses in U.S. transit service has remained strong. This interest has been stimulated by the desire of public transi...

A statistical study of current-sheet formation above solar active regions based on selforganized criticality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dimitropoulou, M.; Isliker, H.; Vlahos, L.; Georgoulis, M.; Anastasiadis, A.; Toutountzi, A.

2013-09-01

We treat flaring solar active regions as physical systems having reached the self-organized critical state. Their evolving magnetic configurations in the low corona may satisfy an instability criterion, related to the excession of a specific threshold in the curl of the magnetic field. This imposed instability criterion implies an almost zero resistivity everywhere in the solar corona, except in regions where magnetic-field discontinuities and. hence, local currents, reach the critical value. In these areas, current-driven instabilities enhance the resistivity by many orders of magnitude forming structures which efficiently accelerate charged particles. Simulating the formation of such structures (thought of as current sheets) via a refined SOC cellular-automaton model provides interesting information regarding their statistical properties. It is shown that the current density in such unstable regions follows power-law scaling. Furthermore, the size distribution of the produced current sheets is best fitted by power laws, whereas their formation probability is investigated against the photospheric magnetic configuration (e.g. Polarity Inversion Lines, Plage). The average fractal dimension of the produced current sheets is deduced depending on the selected critical threshold. The above-mentioned statistical description of intermittent electric field structures can be used by collisional relativistic test particle simulations, aiming to interpret particle acceleration in flaring active regions and in strongly turbulent media in astrophysical plasmas. The above work is supported by the Hellenic National Space Weather Research Network (HNSWRN) via the THALIS Programme.

Effects of Source Self-Interest and Induced Similarity/Dissimilarity on Opinion Change, Credibility, and Likability.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dennis, Harry S., III

A laboratory experiment, using videotape, was designed to test the self-interest hypothesis, that is, that a subject will increase his effectiveness if he argues in favor of a position that is opposed to his best interests. Four hundred fifty-nine subjects participated in a Solomon Four-Group design for primary data acquisition. Strong opinion…

Exploring the Relational Efforts Making up a Curriculum Concept--An Actor-Network Theory Analysis of the Curriculum Concept of "Children's Interests"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moberg, Emilie

2018-01-01

This paper undertakes an investigation of the "life" of the curriculum concept of "children's interests" in a preschool practice. The concept of "children's interests" plays a vital role in the Swedish preschool curriculum text and in the preschool field. Strongly inspired by Actor-network theory readings, the paper…

A Comparison of Two Vocational Interest Tests Used With General College Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, Leslie A.; Bellezza, Francis

1970-01-01

A comparison of the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey (KOIS) and the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) was made by the General College of the University of Minnesota to determine which of the tests was more relevant to the vocational and occupational concerns of junior college students and more helpful from the counselors' point of view.…

California's hardwood resource: history and reasons for lack of a sustained hardwood industry

Treesearch

Dean W. Huber; Philip M. McDonald

1992-01-01

Interest in utilizing California's forest-zone hardwoods for lumber and wood products has waxed and waned for more than 140 years. In spite of many unsuccessful ventures, strong interest is once again evident from landowners, processors, consumers, and policy makers. Their interest suggests a need to know past pitfalls, to recognize some realities of hardwood...

JUPITER AS AN EXOPLANET: UV TO NIR TRANSMISSION SPECTRUM REVEALS HAZES, A Na LAYER, AND POSSIBLY STRATOSPHERIC H{sub 2}O-ICE CLOUDS

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

Montañés-Rodríguez, Pilar; González-Merino, B.; Pallé, E.

Currently, the analysis of transmission spectra is the most successful technique to probe the chemical composition of exoplanet atmospheres. However, the accuracy of these measurements is constrained by observational limitations and the diversity of possible atmospheric compositions. Here, we show the UV–VIS–IR transmission spectrum of Jupiter as if it were a transiting exoplanet, obtained by observing one of its satellites, Ganymede, while passing through Jupiter’s shadow, i.e., during a solar eclipse from Ganymede. The spectrum shows strong extinction due to the presence of clouds (aerosols) and haze in the atmosphere and strong absorption features from CH{sub 4}. More interestingly, themore » comparison with radiative transfer models reveals a spectral signature, which we attribute here to a Jupiter stratospheric layer of crystalline H{sub 2}O ice. The atomic transitions of Na are also present. These results are relevant for the modeling and interpretation of giant transiting exoplanets. They also open a new technique to explore the atmospheric composition of the upper layers of Jupiter’s atmosphere.« less

The influence of ENSO on an oceanic eddy pair in the South China Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Xiaoqing; Dong, Changming; Qi, Yiquan

2017-03-01

An eddy pair off the Vietnam coast is one of the most important features of the summertime South China Sea circulation. Its variability is of interest due to its profound impact on regional climate, ecosystems, biological processes, and fisheries. This study examines the influence of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a basin-scale climatic mode, on the interannual variability of this regional eddy pair using satellite observational data and historical hydrographic measurements. Over the last three decades, the eddy pair strengthened in 1994 and 2002, and weakened in 2006, 2007, and 2008. It was absent in 1988, 1995, 1998, and 2010, coinciding with strong El Nino-to-La Nina transitions. Composite analyses showed that the strong transition events of ENSO led to radical changes in the summer monsoon, through the forcing of a unique sea surface temperature anomaly structure over the tropical Indo-Pacific basin. With weaker zonal wind, a more northward wind direction, and the disappearance of a pair of positive and negative wind stress curls, the eastward current jet turns northward along the Vietnam coast and the eddy pair disappears.

Tolerance of ambiguity, perfectionism and resilience are associated with personality profiles of medical students oriented to rural practice.

PubMed

Eley, Diann S; Leung, Janni K; Campbell, Narelle; Cloninger, C Robert

2017-05-01

Resilience, coping with uncertainty and learning from mistakes are vital characteristics for all medical disciplines - particularly rural practice. Levels of coping constructs were examined in medical students with and without a rural background or an interest in rural practice. Cross-sectional surveys identified two personality profiles, and their association with levels of Tolerance of Ambiguity, Resilience, Perfectionism-High Standards and Concern over mistakes as constructs indicative of coping. Medical students (N = 797) were stratified by rural background and degree of rural interest. Mediation analysis tested the effect of personality profile on levels of the coping constructs. More (72%) rural background students had Profile 1 which was associated with higher levels of Tolerance of Ambiguity, High standards, and Resilience, but lower Concern over mistakes. Non-rural background students reporting a strong rural interest also had Profile 1 (64%) and similar levels of coping constructs. Personality profile mediated the association between rural interest and levels of coping constructs regardless of background. Having a rural background or strong rural interest are associated with a personality profile that indicates a better capacity for coping. Personality may play a part in an individual's interest in rural practice. Rural workforce initiatives through education should encourage and nurture students with a genuine interest in rural practice - regardless of background.

Agency-communion and interest in prosocial behavior: social motives for assimilation and contrast explain sociocultural inconsistencies.

PubMed

Gebauer, Jochen E; Sedikides, Constantine; Lüdtke, Oliver; Neberich, Wiebke

2014-10-01

Identifying the "prosocial personality" is a classic project in personality psychology. However, personality traits have been elusive predictors of prosocial behavior, with personality-prosociality relations varying widely across sociocultural contexts. We propose the social motives perspective to account for such sociocultural inconsistencies. According to this perspective, a focal quality of agency (e.g., competence, independence, openness) is the motive to swim against the social tide-agentic social contrast. Conversely, a focal quality of communion (e.g., warmth, interdependence, agreeableness) is the motive to swim with the social tide-communal social assimilation. We report two cross-sectional studies. Study 1 (N = 131,562) defined social context at the country level (11 European countries), whereas Study 2 (N = 56,395) defined it at the country level (11 European countries) and the city level (296 cities within these countries). Communion predicted interest in prosocial behavior comparatively strongly in sociocultural contexts where such interest was common and comparatively weakly where such interest was uncommon. Agency predicted interest in prosocial behavior comparatively strongly in sociocultural contexts where such interest was uncommon and comparatively weakly where such interest was common. The results supported the social motives perspective. Also, the findings help to reestablish the importance of personality for understanding prosociality. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

76 FR 66758 - Remedies for Small Copyright Claims

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-27

... legal system hinders or prevents copyright owners from pursuing copyright infringement claims that have... helpful and viable. A. Challenges of the Current Legal System Currently, copyright owners interested in... Office is interested in learning about alternatives to the current legal system that might help alleviate...

Celebrities: From Teachers to Friends : A Test of Two Hypotheses on the Adaptiveness of Celebrity Gossip.

PubMed

De Backer, Charlotte J S; Nelissen, Mark; Vyncke, Patrick; Braeckman, Johan; McAndrew, Francis T

2007-12-01

In this paper we present two compatible hypotheses to explain interest in celebrity gossip. The Learning Hypothesis explains interest in celebrity gossip as a by-product of an evolved mechanism useful for acquiring fitness-relevant survival information. The Parasocial Hypothesis sees celebrity gossip as a diversion of this mechanism, which leads individuals to misperceive celebrities as people who are part of their social network. Using two preliminary studies, we tested our predictions. In a survey with 838 respondents and in-depth interviews with 103 individuals, we investigated how interest in celebrity gossip was related to several dimensions of the participants' social lives. In support of the Learning Hypothesis, age proved to be a strong predictor of interest in celebrities. In partial support of the Parasocial Hypothesis, media exposure, but not social isolation, was a strong predictor of interest in celebrities. The preliminary results support both theories, indicate that across our life span celebrities move from being teachers to being friends, and open up a list of future research opportunities.

The Development of the STEM Career Interest Survey (STEM-CIS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kier, Meredith W.; Blanchard, Margaret R.; Osborne, Jason W.; Albert, Jennifer L.

2014-06-01

Internationally, efforts to increase student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers have been on the rise. It is often the goal of such efforts that increased interest in STEM careers should stimulate economic growth and enhance innovation. Scientific and educational organizations recommend that efforts to interest students in STEM majors and careers begin at the middle school level, a time when students are developing their own interests and recognizing their academic strengths. These factors have led scholars to call for instruments that effectively measure interest in STEM classes and careers, particularly for middle school students. In response, we leveraged the social cognitive career theory to develop a survey with subscales in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In this manuscript, we detail the six stages of development of the STEM Career Interest Survey. To investigate the instrument's reliability and psychometric properties, we administered this 44-item survey to over 1,000 middle school students (grades 6-8) who primarily were in rural, high-poverty districts in the southeastern USA. Confirmatory factor analyses indicate that the STEM-CIS is a strong, single factor instrument and also has four strong, discipline-specific subscales, which allow for the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subscales to be administered separately or in combination. This instrument should prove helpful in research, evaluation, and professional development to measure STEM career interest in secondary level students.

5 CFR 831.613 - Election of insurable interest annuity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... insurable interest annuity is cancelled if— (i) The retiree fails to qualify to receive the insurable... insurable interest is presumed to exist with— (i) The current spouse; (ii) The current same-sex domestic... same-sex domestic partner; (vi) A person to whom the employee or Member is engaged to be married, or a...

5 CFR 831.613 - Election of insurable interest annuity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... insurable interest annuity is cancelled if— (i) The retiree fails to qualify to receive the insurable... insurable interest is presumed to exist with— (i) The current spouse; (ii) The current same-sex domestic... same-sex domestic partner; (vi) A person to whom the employee or Member is engaged to be married, or a...

Field-aligned current and auroral Hall current characteristics derived from the Swarm constellation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Tao; Wang, Hui; Hermann, Luehr

2017-04-01

On the basis of field-aligned currents (FACs) and Hall currents derived from high-resolution magnetic field data of the Swarm constellation the average characteristics of these two current systems in the auroral regions are comprehensively investigated by statistical methods. This is the first study considering both current types simultaneously and for both hemispheres. The FAC distribution, derived from the Swarm dual-spacecraft approach, reveals the well-known features of Region 1 (R1) and Region 2 (R2) FACs. At high latitudes, Region 0 (R0) FACs appear on the dayside. Their direction depends on the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) By component. Of particular interest is the distribution of auroral Hall currents. The most prominent auroral electrojets are found to be closely controlled by the solar wind input. But there is no dependence on the IMF By orientation. The eastward electrojet is about twice as strong in summer as in winter. Conversely, the westward electrojet shows less dependence on season. Part of the electrojet current is closed over the polar cap. Here the seasonal variation of conductivity mainly controls the current density. There is a clear channeling of return currents over the polar cap. Depending on IMF By orientation most of the current is flowing either on the dawn or dusk side. The direction of Hall currents in the noon sector depends directly on the orientation of the IMF By. This is true for both signs of the IMF Bz component. But largest differences between summer and winter seasons are found for northward IMF Bz. Around the midnight sector the westward substorm electrojet is dominating. As expected, it is highly dependent on magnetic activity, but shows only little response to the IMF By polarity.

The prevalence, correlates and reasons for using electronic cigarettes among New Zealand adults.

PubMed

Li, Judy; Newcombe, Rhiannon; Walton, Darren

2015-06-01

There is strong interest in the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) globally. This paper is the first to report population-based data on ever-use and current use of e-cigarettes among New Zealand adults. The paper also extends previous international studies by exploring the reasons for trying e-cigarettes, ever users' recall of brand(s) they have ever tried, and current users' recall of their current brand. The Health and Lifestyles Survey (HLS) is a biennial face-to-face in-house survey of New Zealand adults aged 15 years or over. In 2014, 2594 participants completed the survey. Ever-use and current use of e-cigarettes were 13.1% and 0.8% respectively. Tobacco smoking status predicted the use of e-cigarettes, with current smokers reporting the highest rate of use (50% ever-use and 4% current use). Among current smokers who had tried an e-cigarette, curiosity (49%) and desire to quit smoking (37%) were the most common reasons for trying. About half of the ever-users could not name any of the brand(s) they had ever tried, and one-fifth of current users could not name their current brand. Compared with other countries, New Zealand has a high rate of ever-use. Among current smokers, one in two had tried an e-cigarette. However, progression to regular use appears to be rare. The finding that 18% of current e-cigarette users could not name their current brand highlights the importance of investigating users' knowledge of e-cigarettes in general and assessing the factors that influence brand choice such as advertising, price, and accessibility. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Vocational Interests of a Sample of Optometry Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emling, Robert C.; And Others

1981-01-01

The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory, with a vocational title called Optometry, was used to profile a sample of second-year optometry students and to compare them with samples of practicing optometrists. One conclusion questions these students' compatibility with older practitioners. (MLW)

Cigarette users' interest in using or switching to electronic nicotine delivery systems for smokeless tobacco for harm reduction, cessation, or novelty: a cross-sectional survey of US adults.

PubMed

Berg, Carla J; Haardoerfer, Regine; Escoffery, Cam; Zheng, Pinpin; Kegler, Michelle

2015-02-01

We examined: (a) current (past 30-day) smokers' interest in using or switching to electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) or smokeless tobacco for various reasons; (b) correlates of interest in these products; and (c) subgroups of current smokers in relation to interest in these products. We conducted a cross-sectional survey assessing sociodemographics, tobacco use, interest in ENDS and smokeless tobacco among smokers, and knowledge about ENDS among 2,501 US adults recruited through an online consumer panel. We oversampled tobacco users (36.7% current cigarette smokers), ethnic minorities, and southeastern US state residents. On average, participants were more interested in ENDS than smokeless tobacco across all reasons provided. Additionally, they were less interested in either product because of their potential use in places prohibiting smoking or due to curiosity and more interested in reducing health risk or cigarette consumption or to aid in cessation. We documented high rates (27.9%) of misbeliefs about Food and Drug Administration approval of ENDS for cessation, particularly among current smokers (38.5%). Also, 27.2% of current smokers had talked with a health care provider about ENDS, with 18.0% reporting that their provider endorsed ENDS use for cessation. Furthermore, cluster analyses revealed 3 groups distinct in their interest in the products, sociodemographics, and smoking-related characteristics. This study highlights higher interest in ENDS versus smokeless tobacco and greater interest in both for harm reduction and cessation than due to novelty or smoking restrictions. Developing educational campaigns and informing practitioners about caveats around ENDS as cessation or harm reduction aids are critical. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Reweaving the Tapestry: a Supertree of Birds

PubMed Central

Davis, Katie E; Page, Roderic D. M.

2014-01-01

Our knowledge of the avian tree of life remains uncertain, particularly at deeper levels due to the rapid diversification early in their evolutionary history. They are the most abundant land vertebrate on the planet and have been of great historical interest to systematists. Birds are also economically and ecologically important and as a result are intensively studied, yet despite their importance and interest to humans around 13% of taxa currently on the endangered species list perhaps as a result of human activity. Despite all this no comprehensive phylogeny that includes both extinct and extant species currently exists. Here we present a species-level supertree, constructed using the Matrix Representation with Parsimony method, of Aves containing approximately two thirds of all species from nearly 1000 source phylogenies with a broad taxonomic coverage. The source data for the tree were collected and processed according to a strict protocol to ensure robust and accurate data handling. The resulting tree topology is largely consistent with molecular hypotheses of avian phylogeny. We identify areas that are in broad agreement with current views on avian systematics and also those that require further work. We also highlight the need for leaf-based support measures to enable the identification of rogue taxa in supertrees. This is a first attempt at a supertree of both extinct and extant birds, it is not intended to be utilised in an overhaul of avian systematics or as a basis for taxonomic re-classification but provides a strong basis on which to base further studies on macroevolution, conservation, biodiversity, comparative biology and character evolution, in particular the inclusion of fossils will allow the study of bird evolution and diversification throughout deep time. PMID:24944845

Analyzing the Relationship of Strengths to Personality Preferences and Vocational Interests Utilizing Clifton StrengthsFinder, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and Strong Interest Inventory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schenck, Paulette M.

2009-01-01

Throughout the history of vocational psychology, career counselors have constantly searched for, devised, and implemented practices and techniques to best prepare clients for the world of work. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between strengths to personality preference and vocational interests utilizing the Myers-Briggs…

75 FR 58462 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of a Proposed Rule Change...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-24

... resting interest exceeds the Defined Limit, the Market Maker must enter new interest at a price not more than the Designated Percentage of 8% away from the NBBO (or identify to the Corporation current resting... Corporation current resting interest that satisfies the Market Maker's obligation). The Exchange proposes that...

Do specific NMDA receptor subunits act as gateways for addictive behaviors?

PubMed Central

Hopf, F. W.

2016-01-01

Addiction to alcohol and drugs is a major social and economic problem, and there is considerable interest in understanding the molecular mechanisms that promote addictive drives. A number of proteins have been identified that contribute to expression of addictive behaviors. NMDA receptors (NMDARs), a subclass of ionotropic glutamate receptors, have been of particular interest because their physiological properties make them an attractive candidate for gating induction of synaptic plasticity, a molecular change thought to mediate learning and memory. NMDARs are generally inactive at the hyperpolarized resting potentials of many neurons. However, given sufficient depolarization, NMDARs are activated and exhibit long-lasting currents with significant calcium permeability. Also, in addition to stimulating neurons by direct depolarization, NMDARs and their calcium signaling can allow strong and/or synchronized inputs to produce long-term changes in other molecules (such as AMPA-type glutamate receptors) which can last from days to years, binding internal and external stimuli in a long-term memory trace. Such memories could allow salient drug-related stimuli to exert strong control over future behaviors and thus promote addictive drives. Finally, NMDARs may themselves undergo plasticity, which can alter subsequent neuronal stimulation and/or the ability to induce plasticity. This review will address recent and past findings suggesting that NMDAR activity promotes drug- and alcohol-related behaviors, with a particular focus on GluN2B subunits as possible central regulators of many addictive behaviors, as well as newer studies examining the importance of non-canonical NMDAR subunits and endogenous NMDAR cofactors. PMID:27706932

Do specific NMDA receptor subunits act as gateways for addictive behaviors?

PubMed

Hopf, F W

2017-01-01

Addiction to alcohol and drugs is a major social and economic problem, and there is considerable interest in understanding the molecular mechanisms that promote addictive drives. A number of proteins have been identified that contribute to expression of addictive behaviors. NMDA receptors (NMDARs), a subclass of ionotropic glutamate receptors, have been of particular interest because their physiological properties make them an attractive candidate for gating induction of synaptic plasticity, a molecular change thought to mediate learning and memory. NMDARs are generally inactive at the hyperpolarized resting potentials of many neurons. However, given sufficient depolarization, NMDARs are activated and exhibit long-lasting currents with significant calcium permeability. Also, in addition to stimulating neurons by direct depolarization, NMDARs and their calcium signaling can allow strong and/or synchronized inputs to produce long-term changes in other molecules (such as AMPA-type glutamate receptors) which can last from days to years, binding internal and external stimuli in a long-term memory trace. Such memories could allow salient drug-related stimuli to exert strong control over future behaviors and thus promote addictive drives. Finally, NMDARs may themselves undergo plasticity, which can alter subsequent neuronal stimulation and/or the ability to induce plasticity. This review will address recent and past findings suggesting that NMDAR activity promotes drug- and alcohol-related behaviors, with a particular focus on GluN2B subunits as possible central regulators of many addictive behaviors, as well as newer studies examining the importance of non-canonical NMDAR subunits and endogenous NMDAR cofactors. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.

Electron transport in molecular wires with transition metal contacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalgleish, Hugh

A molecular wire is an organic molecule that forms a conducting bridge between electronic contacts. Single molecules are likely to be the smallest entities to conduct electricity and thus molecular wires present many interesting challenges to fundamental science as well as enormous potential for nanoelectronic technological applications. A particular challenge stems from the realization that the properties of molecular wires are strongly influenced by the combined characteristics of the molecule and the metal contacts. While gold has been the most studied contact material to date, interest in molecular wires with transition metal contacts that are electronically more complex than gold is growing. This thesis presents a theoretical investigation of electron transport and associated phenomena in molecular wires with transition metal contacts. An appropriate methodology is developed on the basis of Landauer theory and ab initio and semi-empirical considerations and new, physically important systems are identified. Spin-dependent transport mechanisms and device characteristics are explored for molecular wires with ferromagnetic iron contacts, systems that have not been considered previously, either theoretically or experimentally. Electron transport between iron point contacts bridged by iron atoms is also investigated. Spin-dependent transport is also studied for molecules bridging nickel contacts and a possible explanation of some experimentally observed phenomena is proposed. A novel physical phenomenon termed strong spin current rectification and a new controllable negative differential resistance mechanism with potential applications for molecular electronic technology are introduced. The phenomena predicted in this thesis should be accessible to present day experimental techniques and this work is intended to stimulate experiments directed at observing them. Keywords. molecular electronics; spintronics; electron transport; interface states.

Quality improvement and accreditation readiness in state public health agencies.

PubMed

Madamala, Kusuma; Sellers, Katie; Beitsch, Leslie M; Pearsol, Jim; Jarris, Paul

2012-01-01

There were 3 specific objectives of this study. The first objective was to examine the progress of state/territorial health assessment, health improvement planning, performance management, and quality improvement (QI) activities at state/territorial health agencies and compare findings to the 2007 findings when available. A second objective was to examine respondent interest and readiness for national voluntary accreditation. A final objective was to explore organizational factors (eg, leadership and capacity) that may influence QI or accreditation readiness. Cross-sectional study. State and Territorial Public Health Agencies. Survey respondents were organizational leaders at State and Territorial Public Health Agencies. Sixty-seven percent of respondents reported having a formal performance management process in place. Approximately 77% of respondents reported a QI process in place. Seventy-three percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they would seek accreditation and 36% agreed or strongly agreed that they would seek accreditation in the first 2 years of the program. In terms of accreditation prerequisites, a strategic plan was most frequently developed, followed by a state/territorial health assessment and health improvement plan, respectively. Advancements in the practice and applied research of QI in state public health agencies are necessary steps for improving performance. In particular, strengthening the measurement of the QI construct is essential for meaningfully assessing current practice patterns and informing future programming and policy decisions. Continued QI training and technical assistance to agency staff and leadership is also critical. Accreditation may be the pivotal factor to strengthen both QI practice and research. Respondent interest in seeking accreditation may indicate the perceived value of accreditation to the agency.

Return currents in solar flares - Collisionless effects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rowland, H. L.; Vlahos, L.

1985-01-01

If the primary, precipitating electrons in a solar flare are unstable to beam plasma interactions, it is shown that strong Langmuir turbulence can seriously modify the way in which a return current is carried by the background plasma. In particular, the return (or reverse) current will not be carried by the bulk of the electrons, but by a small number of high velocity electrons. For beam/plasma densities greater than 0.01, this can reduce the effects of collisions on the return current. For higher density beams where the return current could be unstable to current driven instabilities, the effects of strong turbulence anomalous resistivity is shown to prevent the appearance of such instabilities. Again in this regime, how the return current is carried is determined by the beam generated strong turbulence.

Stormtime coupling of the ring current, plasmasphere, and topside ionosphere: Electromagnetic and plasma disturbances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishin, E. V.; Burke, W. J.

2005-07-01

We compare plasma and field disturbances observed in the ring current/plasmasphere overlap region and in the conjugate ionosphere during the magnetic storm of 5 June 1991. Data come from the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) flying in a geostationary transfer orbit and three satellites of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) series in Sun-synchronous polar orbits. In the region between ring current nose structures and the electron plasma sheet, CRRES detected wave-like features in local electric and magnetic fields, embedded in structured cold plasmas. Mapped to the ionosphere, these fields should reflect structuring within subauroral plasma streams (SAPS). Indeed, during the period of interest, DMSP F8, F9, and F10 satellites observed highly structured SAPS in the evening ionosphere at topside altitudes. They were collocated with precipitating ring current ions, enhanced fluxes of suprathermal electrons and ions, elevated electron temperatures, and irregular plasma density troughs. Overall, these events are similar to electromagnetic structures observed by DMSP satellites within SAPS during recent geomagnetic storms (Mishin et al., 2003, 2004). Their features can be explained in terms of Alfvén and fast magnetosonic perturbations. We developed a scenario for the formation of elevated electron temperatures at the equatorward side of the SAPS. It includes a lower-hybrid drift instability driven by diamagnetic currents, consistent with strong lower- and upper-hybrid plasma wave activity and intense fluxes of the low-energy electrons and ions near the ring current's inner edge.

Career interest and perceptions of nephrology: A repeated cross-sectional survey of internal medicine residents.

PubMed

Daniels, Michael N; Maynard, Sharon; Porter, Ivan; Kincaid, Hope; Jain, Deepika; Aslam, Nabeel

2017-01-01

Interest in nephrology careers among internal medicine residents in the United States is declining. Our objective was to assess the impact of the presence of a nephrology fellowship training program on perceptions and career interest in nephrology among internal medicine residents. A secondary objective was to identify commonly endorsed negative perceptions of nephrology among internal medicine residents. This was a repeated cross-sectional survey of internal medicine residents before (Group 1) and 3 years after (Group 2) the establishment of nephrology fellowship programs at two institutions. The primary outcome was the percentage of residents indicating nephrology as a career interest in Group 1 vs. Group 2. Secondary outcomes included the frequency that residents agreed with negative statements about nephrology. 131 (80.9%) of 162 residents completed the survey. 19 (14.8%) residents indicated interest in a nephrology career, with 8 (6.3%) indicating nephrology as their first choice. There was no difference in career interest in nephrology between residents who were exposed to nephrology fellows during residency training (Group 2) and residents who were not (Group 1). The most commonly endorsed negative perceptions of nephrology were: nephrology fellows have long hours/burdensome call (36 [28.1%] of residents agreed or strongly agreed), practicing nephrologists must take frequent/difficult call (35 [27.6%] agreed or strongly agreed), and nephrology has few opportunities for procedures (35 [27.3%] agreed or strongly agreed). More residents in Group 2 agreed that nephrology is poorly paid (8.9% in Group 1 vs. 20.8% in Group 2, P = 0.04), whereas more residents in Group 1 agreed that nephrologists must take frequent/difficult call (40.0% in Group 1 vs. 18.1% in Group 2, P = 0.02). The initiation of a nephrology fellowship program was not associated with an increase in internal medicine residents' interest in nephrology careers. Residents endorsed several negative perceptions of nephrology, which may affect career choice.

Career interest and perceptions of nephrology: A repeated cross-sectional survey of internal medicine residents

PubMed Central

Daniels, Michael N.; Porter, Ivan; Kincaid, Hope; Jain, Deepika; Aslam, Nabeel

2017-01-01

Background Interest in nephrology careers among internal medicine residents in the United States is declining. Our objective was to assess the impact of the presence of a nephrology fellowship training program on perceptions and career interest in nephrology among internal medicine residents. A secondary objective was to identify commonly endorsed negative perceptions of nephrology among internal medicine residents. Methods This was a repeated cross-sectional survey of internal medicine residents before (Group 1) and 3 years after (Group 2) the establishment of nephrology fellowship programs at two institutions. The primary outcome was the percentage of residents indicating nephrology as a career interest in Group 1 vs. Group 2. Secondary outcomes included the frequency that residents agreed with negative statements about nephrology. Results 131 (80.9%) of 162 residents completed the survey. 19 (14.8%) residents indicated interest in a nephrology career, with 8 (6.3%) indicating nephrology as their first choice. There was no difference in career interest in nephrology between residents who were exposed to nephrology fellows during residency training (Group 2) and residents who were not (Group 1). The most commonly endorsed negative perceptions of nephrology were: nephrology fellows have long hours/burdensome call (36 [28.1%] of residents agreed or strongly agreed), practicing nephrologists must take frequent/difficult call (35 [27.6%] agreed or strongly agreed), and nephrology has few opportunities for procedures (35 [27.3%] agreed or strongly agreed). More residents in Group 2 agreed that nephrology is poorly paid (8.9% in Group 1 vs. 20.8% in Group 2, P = 0.04), whereas more residents in Group 1 agreed that nephrologists must take frequent/difficult call (40.0% in Group 1 vs. 18.1% in Group 2, P = 0.02). Conclusions The initiation of a nephrology fellowship program was not associated with an increase in internal medicine residents’ interest in nephrology careers. Residents endorsed several negative perceptions of nephrology, which may affect career choice. PMID:28207893

Roadmap to Clinical Use of Gold Nanoparticles for Radiation Sensitization

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

Schuemann, Jan, E-mail: jschuemann@mgh.harvard.edu; Berbeco, Ross; Chithrani, Devika B.

2016-01-01

The past decade has seen a dramatic increase in interest in the use of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) as radiation sensitizers for radiation therapy. This interest was initially driven by their strong absorption of ionizing radiation and the resulting ability to increase dose deposited within target volumes even at relatively low concentrations. These early observations are supported by extensive experimental validation, showing GNPs' efficacy at sensitizing tumors in both in vitro and in vivo systems to a range of types of ionizing radiation, including kilovoltage and megavoltage X rays as well as charged particles. Despite this experimental validation, there has been limited translationmore » of GNP-mediated radiation sensitization to a clinical setting. One of the key challenges in this area is the wide range of experimental systems that have been investigated, spanning a range of particle sizes, shapes, and preparations. As a result, mechanisms of uptake and radiation sensitization have remained difficult to clearly identify. This has proven a significant impediment to the identification of optimal GNP formulations which strike a balance among their radiation sensitizing properties, their specificity to the tumors, their biocompatibility, and their imageability in vivo. This white paper reviews the current state of knowledge in each of the areas concerning the use of GNPs as radiosensitizers, and outlines the steps which will be required to advance GNP-enhanced radiation therapy from their current pre-clinical setting to clinical trials and eventual routine usage.« less

Brettanomyces yeasts--From spoilage organisms to valuable contributors to industrial fermentations.

PubMed

Steensels, Jan; Daenen, Luk; Malcorps, Philippe; Derdelinckx, Guy; Verachtert, Hubert; Verstrepen, Kevin J

2015-08-03

Ever since the introduction of controlled fermentation processes, alcoholic fermentations and Saccharomyces cerevisiae starter cultures proved to be a match made in heaven. The ability of S. cerevisiae to produce and withstand high ethanol concentrations, its pleasant flavour profile and the absence of health-threatening toxin production are only a few of the features that make it the ideal alcoholic fermentation organism. However, in certain conditions or for certain specific fermentation processes, the physiological boundaries of this species limit its applicability. Therefore, there is currently a strong interest in non-Saccharomyces (or non-conventional) yeasts with peculiar features able to replace or accompany S. cerevisiae in specific industrial fermentations. Brettanomyces (teleomorph: Dekkera), with Brettanomyces bruxellensis as the most commonly encountered representative, is such a yeast. Whilst currently mainly considered a spoilage organism responsible for off-flavour production in wine, cider or dairy products, an increasing number of authors report that in some cases, these yeasts can add beneficial (or at least interesting) aromas that increase the flavour complexity of fermented beverages, such as specialty beers. Moreover, its intriguing physiology, with its exceptional stress tolerance and peculiar carbon- and nitrogen metabolism, holds great potential for the production of bioethanol in continuous fermentors. This review summarizes the most notable metabolic features of Brettanomyces, briefly highlights recent insights in its genetic and genomic characteristics and discusses its applications in industrial fermentation processes, such as the production of beer, wine and bioethanol. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Cold spray NDE for porosity and other process anomalies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glass, S. W.; Larche, M. R.; Prowant, M. S.; Suter, J. D.; Lareau, J. P.; Jiang, X.; Ross, K. A.

2018-04-01

This paper describes a technology review of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods that can be applied to cold spray coatings. Cold spray is a process for depositing metal powder at high velocity so that it bonds to the substrate metal without significant heating that would be likely to cause additional residual tensile stresses. Coatings in the range from millimeters to centimeters are possible at relatively high deposition rates. Cold spray coatings that may be used for hydroelectric components that are subject to erosion, corrosion, wear, and cavitation damage are of interest. The topic of cold spray NDE is treated generally, however, but may be considered applicable to virtually any cold spray application except where there are constraints of the hydroelectric component application that bear special consideration. Optical profilometry, eddy current, ultrasound, and hardness tests are shown for one set of good, fair, and poor nickel-chrome (NiCr) on 304 stainless steel (304SS) cold spray samples to demonstrate inspection possibilities. The primary indicator of cold spray quality is the cold spray porosity that is most directly measured with witness-sample destructive examinations (DE)—mostly photo-micrographs. These DE-generated porosity values are correlated with optical profilometry, eddy current, ultrasound, and hardness test NDE methods to infer the porosity and other information of interest. These parameters of interest primarily include: • Porosity primarily caused by improper process conditions (temperature, gas velocity, spray standoff, spray angle, powder size, condition, surface cleanliness, surface oxide, etc.) • Presence/absence of the cold spray coating including possible over-sprayed voids • Coating thicknessOptical profilometry measurements of surface roughness trended with porosity plus, if compared with a reference measurement or reference drawing, would provide information on the coating thickness. Ultrasound could provide similar surface profile information plus attenuation measurements trended with porosity. The ultrasound measurements, however, may be limited to geometries where the substrate back-wall is normal to the cold spray surface and not too thick. Eddy current showed a strong correlation with porosity. Eddy currents can also be sensitive to cracks and do not need fluid coupling to make measurements, but are not sensitive to coating thicknesses in most cases. Vickers hardness measurements also tracked well with porosity; however, these types of hardness measurements are also not sensitive to coating thickness. An NDE program may include multiple measurements.

Basic concepts of quantum interference and electron transport in single-molecule electronics.

PubMed

Lambert, C J

2015-02-21

This tutorial outlines the basic theoretical concepts and tools which underpin the fundamentals of phase-coherent electron transport through single molecules. The key quantity of interest is the transmission coefficient T(E), which yields the electrical conductance, current-voltage relations, the thermopower S and the thermoelectric figure of merit ZT of single-molecule devices. Since T(E) is strongly affected by quantum interference (QI), three manifestations of QI in single-molecules are discussed, namely Mach-Zehnder interferometry, Breit-Wigner resonances and Fano resonances. A simple MATLAB code is provided, which allows the novice reader to explore QI in multi-branched structures described by a tight-binding (Hückel) Hamiltonian. More generally, the strengths and limitations of materials-specific transport modelling based on density functional theory are discussed.

Elaboration of Copper-Oxygen Mediated C–H Activation Chemistry in Consideration of Future Fuel and Feedstock Generation

PubMed Central

Lee, Jung Yoon; Karlin, Kenneth D

2015-01-01

To contribute solutions for current energy concerns, improvements in the efficiency of C-H bond cleavage chemistry, e.g., selective oxidation of methane to methanol, could minimize losses in natural gas usage or produce feedstocks for fuels. Oxidative C-H activation is also a component of polysaccharide degradation, affording alternative biofuels from abundant biomass. Thus, an understanding of active-site chemistry in copper monooxygenases, those activating strong C-H bonds is briefly reviewed. Then, recent advances in the synthesis-generation and study of various copper-oxygen intermediates are highlighted. Of special interest are cupric-superoxide, Cu-hydroperoxo and Cu-oxy complexes. Such investigations can contribute to an enhanced future application of C-H oxidation or oxygenation processes using air, as concerning societal energy goals. PMID:25756327

International workshop on Chromosome 12 held at St. Catherine`s College, Oxford, England, September 18--20, 1992. Final report

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

Gemmill, R.

1992-12-31

The First International Mapping Workshop on Human Chromosome 12 was held on Sept. 18--20, 1992, at St Catherine`s College, Oxford, UK. The meeting was hosted by Ian Craig and organized by Drs. Craig, Gemmill and Kutcherlapati. It was attended by 50 participants primarily from Europe and the USA. The workshop was highly successful and achieved the major goal of fostering direct and personal interactions between investigators with strong research interests in this chromosome. Participants reviewed the status of several critical aspects of chromosome mapping and prepared consensus views of the current state of knowledge. In addition, lists of resources availablemore » for this chromosome including somatic cell hybrids, individual DNA clones and libraries and genetic markers were prepared.« less

[Ru(bipy)3]2+ nanoparticle-incorporate dental light cure resin to promote photobiomodulation therapy for enhanced vital pulp tissue repair

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mosca, Rodrigo C.; Young, Nicholas; Zeituni, Carlos A.; Arany, Praveen R.

2018-02-01

The use of nanoparticle on dental light cure resin is not new, currently several compounds (nanoadditives) are used to promote better communication between the restorative material and biological tissues. The interest for this application is growing up to enhance mechanical proprieties to dental tissue cells regeneration. Bioactive nanoparticles and complex compounds with multiple functions are the major target for optimizing the restorative materials. In this work, we incorporate [Ru(bipy)3]2+ nanoparticles, that absorbs energy at 450 nm (blue-light) and emits strongly at 620 nm (red-light), in PLGA Microspheres and insert it in Dental Light Cure Resin to promote the Photobiomodulation Therapy (PBM) effects to accelerate dental pulp repair by in vitro using cytotoxicity and proliferation assay.

Measurement and calculation of levitation forces between magnets and granular superconductors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johansen, T. H.; Bratsberg, H.; Baziljevich, M.; Hetland, P. O.; Riise, A. B.

1995-01-01

Recent developments indicate that exploitation of the phenomenon of magnetic levitation may become one of the most important near-term applications of high-T(sub c) superconductivity. Because of this, the interaction between a strong permanent magnet(PM) and bulk high-T(sub c) superconductor (HTSC) is currently a subject of much interest. We have studied central features of the mechanics of PM-HTSC systems of simple geometries. Here we report experimental results for the components of the levitation force, their associated stiffness and mechanical ac-loss. To analyze the observed behavior a theoretical framework based on critical-state considerations is developed. It will be shown that all the mechanical properties can be explained consistently at a quantitative level wing a minimum of model parameters.

Energy Efficient Commercial Refrigeration with Carbon Dioxide Refrigerant and Scroll Expanders

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

Dieckmann, John

Current supermarket refrigeration systems are built around conventional fluorocarbon refrigerants – HFC-134a and the HFC blends R-507 and R404A, which replaced the CFC refrigerants, R-12 and R-502, respectively, used prior to the Montreal Protocol phase out of ozone depleting substances. While the HFC refrigerants are non-ozone depleting, they are strong greenhouse gases, so there has been continued interest in replacing them, particularly in applications with above average refrigerant leakage. Large supermarket refrigeration systems have proven to be particularly difficult to maintain in a leak-tight condition. Refrigerant charge losses of 15% of total charge per year are the norm, making themore » global warming impact of refrigerant emissions comparable to that associated with the energy consumption of these systems.« less

Family interests and medical decisions for children.

PubMed

Baines, Paul

2017-10-01

Medical decisions for children are usually justified by the claim that they are in a child's best interests. More recently, following criticisms of the best interests standard, some advocate that the family's interests should influence medical decisions for children, although what is meant by family interests is often not made clear. I argue that at least two senses of family interests may be discerned. There is a 'weak' sense (as the amalgamated interests of family members) of family interests and a 'strong' sense (that the family itself has interests over and above the interests of individuals). I contend that there are problems with both approaches in making medical decisions for children but that the weak sense is more plausible. Despite this, I argue that claims for family interests are not helpful in making medical decisions for children. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Ultracold neutral plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyon, M.; Rolston, S. L.

2017-01-01

By photoionizing samples of laser-cooled atoms with laser light tuned just above the ionization limit, plasmas can be created with electron and ion temperatures below 10 K. These ultracold neutral plasmas have extended the temperature bounds of plasma physics by two orders of magnitude. Table-top experiments, using many of the tools from atomic physics, allow for the study of plasma phenomena in this new regime with independent control over the density and temperature of the plasma through the excitation process. Characteristic of these systems is an inhomogeneous density profile, inherited from the density distribution of the laser-cooled neutral atom sample. Most work has dealt with unconfined plasmas in vacuum, which expand outward at velocities of order 100 m/s, governed by electron pressure, and with lifetimes of order 100 μs, limited by stray electric fields. Using detection of charged particles and optical detection techniques, a wide variety of properties and phenomena have been observed, including expansion dynamics, collective excitations in both the electrons and ions, and collisional properties. Through three-body recombination collisions, the plasmas rapidly form Rydberg atoms, and clouds of cold Rydberg atoms have been observed to spontaneously avalanche ionize to form plasmas. Of particular interest is the possibility of the formation of strongly coupled plasmas, where Coulomb forces dominate thermal motion and correlations become important. The strongest impediment to strong coupling is disorder-induced heating, a process in which Coulomb energy from an initially disordered sample is converted into thermal energy. This restricts electrons to a weakly coupled regime and leaves the ions barely within the strongly coupled regime. This review will give an overview of the field of ultracold neutral plasmas, from its inception in 1999 to current work, including efforts to increase strong coupling and effects on plasma properties due to strong coupling.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PCB PLANERITY AND INTERACTIONS WITH SOOT CARBON

EPA Science Inventory

There is increasing interest in the role of soot carbon in the strong partitioning of organic contaminants to sediments. Primary interest has been focused on PAHs which have been shown to be affected by the presence of soot carbon in both their geochemical and bioavailability beh...

Towards a comprehensive model for the electronic and vibrational structure of the Creutz-Taube ion.

PubMed

Reimers, Jeffrey R; Wallace, Brett B; Hush, Noel S

2008-01-13

Since the synthesis of the Creutz-Taube ion, the nature of its charge localization has been of immense scientific interest, this molecule providing a model system for the understanding of the operation of biological photosynthetic and electron-transfer processes. However, recent work has shown that its nature remains an open question. Many systems of this type, including photosynthetic reaction centres, are of current research interest, and thereby the Creutz-Taube ion provides an important chemical paradigm: the key point of interest is the details of how such molecules behave. We lay the groundwork for the construction of a comprehensive model for its chemical and spectroscopic properties. Advances are described in some of the required areas including: simulation of electronic absorption spectra; quantitative depiction of the large interaction of the ion's electronic description with solvent motions; and the physics of Ru-NH3 spectator-mode vibrations. We show that details of the solvent electron-phonon coupling are critical in the interpretation of the spectator-mode vibrations, as these strongly mix with solvent motions when 0.75<2J/lambda<1. In this regime, a double-well potential exists which does not support localized zero-point vibration, and many observed properties of the Creutz-Taube ion are shown to be consistent with the hypothesis that the ion has this character.

Quitting activity and tobacco brand Switching: findings from the ITC-4 Country Survey

PubMed Central

Cowie, Genevieve A.; Swift, Elena; Partos, Timea; Borland, Ron

2015-01-01

Objective Among Australian smokers, to examine associations between cigarette brand switching, quitting activity and possible causal directions by lagging the relationships in different directions. Methods Current smokers from nine waves (2002 to early 2012) of the ITC-4 Country Survey Australian dataset were surveyed. Measures were brand switching, both brand family and product type (roll-your-own versus factory-made cigarettes) reported in adjacent waves, interest in quitting, recent quit attempts, and one month sustained abstinence. Results Switching at one interval was unrelated to concurrent quit interest. Quit interest predicted switching at the following interval, but the effect disappeared once subsequent quit attempts were controlled for. Recent quit attempts more strongly predicted switching at concurrent (OR 1.34, 95% CI=1.18–1.52, p<0.001) and subsequent intervals (OR 1.31, 95% CI= 1.12–1.53, p=0.001) than switching predicted quit attempts, with greater asymmetry when both types of switching were combined. One month sustained abstinence and switching were unrelated in the same interval; however after controlling for concurrent switching and excluding type switchers, sustained abstinence predicted lower chance of switching at the following interval (OR=0.66, 95% CI=0.47–0.93, p=0.016). Conclusions The asymmetry suggests brand switching does not affect subsequent quitting. Implications Brand switching does not appear to interfere with quitting. PMID:25827182

A Qualitative Study of Vulnerable Patient Views of Type 2 Diabetes Consumer Reports.

PubMed

Longo, Daniel R; Crabtree, Benjamin F; Pellerano, Maria B; Howard, Jenna; Saver, Barry; Hannan, Edward L; Lee, Justin; Lundberg, Michael T; Sabo, Roy

2016-06-01

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates the release of publicly available consumer reports to highlight differences in quality of care and reduce healthcare disparities. However, little is known about patient perceptions of the value of such reports. This study aims to identify whether vulnerable populations with type 2 diabetes perceive consumer reports as helpful in making decisions about diabetes care. We conducted a brief demographic survey and qualitative study of 18 focus groups: six each of African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White consumers diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (n = 92). We analysed focus group transcripts to identify recurring themes, which were summarized and compared across population groups. Participants expressed minimal interest in currently available consumer reports. They instead listed personal referrals and interpersonal interactions among the most important factors when choosing a physician. Further, in place of information to aid in physician selection, participants articulated strong desires for more basic, straightforward disease-specific information that would promote diabetes self-management. This study's results call into question the value of consumer reports as defined by the ACA. Participants reported little interest in comparative provider performance data. Instead, they were more interested in information to assist in diabetes self-management. This suggests that consumer reports may not be as important a tool to improve outcomes and reduce health disparities as policy makers imagine them to be.

Quitting activity and tobacco brand switching: findings from the ITC-4 Country Survey.

PubMed

Cowie, Genevieve A; Swift, Elena; Partos, Timea; Borland, Ron

2015-04-01

Among Australian smokers, to examine associations between cigarette brand switching, quitting activity and possible causal directions by lagging the relationships in different directions. Current smokers from nine waves (2002 to early 2012) of the ITC-4 Country Survey Australian dataset were surveyed. Measures were brand switching, both brand family and product type (roll-your-own versus factory-made cigarettes) reported in adjacent waves, interest in quitting, recent quit attempts, and one month sustained abstinence. Switching at one interval was unrelated to concurrent quit interest. Quit interest predicted switching at the following interval, but the effect disappeared once subsequent quit attempts were controlled for. Recent quit attempts more strongly predicted switching at concurrent (OR 1.34, 95%CI=1.18-1.52, p<0.001) and subsequent intervals (OR 1.31, 95%CI=1.12-1.53, p=0.001) than switching predicted quit attempts, with greater asymmetry when both types of switching were combined. One month sustained abstinence and switching were unrelated in the same interval; however, after controlling for concurrent switching and excluding type switchers, sustained abstinence predicted lower chance of switching at the following interval (OR=0.66, 95%CI=0.47-0.93, p=0.016). The asymmetry suggests brand switching does not affect subsequent quitting. Brand switching does not appear to interfere with quitting. © 2015 Public Health Association of Australia.

TOPICAL REVIEW: GaN-based diodes and transistors for chemical, gas, biological and pressure sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pearton, S. J.; Kang, B. S.; Kim, Suku; Ren, F.; Gila, B. P.; Abernathy, C. R.; Lin, Jenshan; Chu, S. N. G.

2004-07-01

There is renewed emphasis on development of robust solid-state sensors capable of uncooled operation in harsh environments. The sensors should be capable of detecting chemical, gas, biological or radiation releases as well as sending signals to central monitoring locations. We discuss the advances in use of GaN-based solid-state sensors for these applications. AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) show a strong dependence of source/drain current on the piezoelectric polarization-induced two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). Furthermore, spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization-induced surface and interface charges can be used to develop very sensitive but robust sensors to detect gases, polar liquids and mechanical pressure. AlGaN/GaN HEMT structures have been demonstrated to exhibit large changes in source-drain current upon exposing the gate region to various block co-polymer solutions. Pt-gated GaN Schottky diodes and Sc2O3/AlGaN/GaN metal-oxide semiconductor diodes also show large change in forward currents upon exposure to H2. Of particular interest is detection of ethylene (C2H4), which has strong double bonds and hence is difficult to dissociate at modest temperatures. Apart from combustion gas sensing, the AlGaN/GaN heterostructure devices can be used as sensitive detectors of pressure changes. In addition, large changes in source-drain current of the AlGaN/GaN HEMT sensors can be detected upon adsorption of biological species on the semiconductor surface. Finally, the nitrides provide an ideal platform for fabrication of surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices. The GaN-based devices thus appear promising for a wide range of chemical, biological, combustion gas, polar liquid, strain and high temperature pressure-sensing applications. In addition, the sensors are compatible with high bit-rate wireless communication systems that facilitate their use in remote arrays.

Can Personality-Type Instruments Profile Majors in Management Programs?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowe, Fred A.; And Others

1992-01-01

Results of completion of 4 instruments (Myers-Briggs Type Inventory, Strong Interest Inventory, Hermann Brain Dominance Inventory, and Learning Styles Inventory) by 75 accounting, business administration, and public administration graduate students suggest that the Hermann (and to some extent the Strong) inventory has potential value for…

General physicians: born or made? The use of a tracking database to answer medical workforce questions.

PubMed

Poole, P; McHardy, K; Janssen, A

2009-07-01

The aim of the study was to use a tracking database to investigate the perceived influence of various factors on career choices of New Zealand medical graduates and to examine specifically whether experiences at medical school may have an effect on a decision to become a general physician. Questionnaires were distributed to medical students in the current University of Auckland programme at entry and exit points. The surveys have been completed by two entry cohorts and an exit one since 2006. The response rates were 70 and 88% in the entry and exit groups, respectively. More than 75% of exiting students reported an interest in pursuing a career in general internal medicine. In 42%, this is a 'strong interest' in general medicine compared with 23% in the entry cohort (P < 0.0001). There is correlation between a positive experience in a clinical rotation and the reported level of interest in that specialty with those indicating a good experience likely to specify career intentions in that area. Having a positive experience in a clinical rotation, positive role models and flexibility in training are the most influential factors affecting career decisions in Auckland medical students. Only 11% of study respondents reported that student loan burden has a significant influence on career decisions. Quality experiences on attachments seem essential for undergraduates to promote interest in general medicine. There is potential for curriculum design and clinical experiences to be formulated to promote the 'making' of these doctors. Tracking databases will assist in answering some of these questions.

It's Not Just in High School--Agriculture Education in Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbs, Hope J.

2005-01-01

Traditionally, students have been strongly encouraged at the high school level to consider careers and choose courses that would fortify occupations of interest. Today, administrators and educators across the nation realize that developing students' interest must be addressed earlier--at the middle school level. Agriculture educators believe this…

Interest in School and Educational Success in Portugal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goulart, Pedro; Bedi, Arjun S.

2017-01-01

A large body of work in educational economics displays the tenuous relationship between school inputs and cognitive achievement. Among others, the inability to establish a strong link has been attributed to the difficulty of controlling for attributes such as ability, motivation, and interest. Against this background, and inspired by work in…

Global Patterns in Students' Views of Science and Interest in Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Griethuijsen, Ralf A. L. F.; van Eijck, Michiel W.; Haste, Helen; den Brok, Perry J.; Skinner, Nigel C.; Mansour, Nasser; Savran Gencer, Ayse; BouJaoude, Saouma

2015-08-01

International studies have shown that interest in science and technology among primary and secondary school students in Western European countries is low and seems to be decreasing. In many countries outside Europe, and especially in developing countries, interest in science and technology remains strong. As part of the large-scale European Union funded `Science Education for Diversity' project, a questionnaire probing potential reasons for this difference was completed by students in the UK, Netherlands, Turkey, Lebanon, India and Malaysia. This questionnaire sought information about favourite courses, extracurricular activities and views on the nature of science. Over 9,000 students aged mainly between 10 and 14 years completed the questionnaire. Results revealed that students in countries outside Western Europe showed a greater interest in school science, in careers related to science and in extracurricular activities related to science than did Western European students. Non-European students were also more likely to hold an empiricist view of the nature of science and to believe that science can solve many problems faced by the world. Multilevel analysis revealed a strong correlation between interest in science and having such a view of the Nature of Science.

The Roles of Ability, Personality, and Interests in Acquiring Current Events Knowledge: A Longitudinal Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hambrick, David Z.; Pink, Jeffrey E.; Meinz, Elizabeth J.; Pettibone, Jonathan C.; Oswald, Frederick L.

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate sources of inter-individual differences in current events knowledge. The study occurred in two sessions. In the initial session, 579 participants completed tests to ability, personality, and interest factors, as well as prior knowledge of current events. Approximately 10 weeks later, participants…

Assessing the Use of Mobile Health Technology by Patients: An Observational Study in Primary Care Clinics.

PubMed

Ramirez, Veronica; Johnson, Emily; Gonzalez, Cesar; Ramirez, Vanessa; Rubino, Barbara; Rossetti, Gina

2016-04-19

There is significant potential for mobile health technology to improve health outcomes for patients with chronic diseases. However, there is a need for further development of mobile health technology that would help to improve the health of lower-income communities. The study objective was to assess mobile phone and app usage among a culturally diverse patient population, and to determine whether patients would be interested in using mobile health technology to help manage their chronic diseases. An observational study was conducted with patients of the Internal Medicine resident primary care clinics of Los Angeles County and University of Southern California (LAC+USC) Medical Center. Self-reported information regarding demographics, current mobile phone usage, current mobile health app and social media usage, barriers to using mobile phones or mobile health apps, and interest in using a mobile health app was collected. Ninety-one percent of patients owned a mobile phone, with 76% (169/223) of these reporting having a mobile phone with Internet capability. Fifty-seven percent of subjects used mobile apps on their mobile phones, and 32% (41/130) of these used mobile apps related to their health. Eighty-six percent (207/241) of respondents voiced interest in using a mobile app to improve their health, and 40% (88/221) stated they would use such an app daily. Patients stated they would find the mobile health app most useful for nutrition, exercise, and obtaining general information on medical conditions. Despite the fact that the majority of our primary care patients were of lower socioeconomic status, they utilized mobile phones with Internet and mobile app capabilities to a great extent. There was substantial interest among our patients in using mobile health technology to both manage chronic disease and improve overall health. Given that cultural, educational, and socioeconomic disparities strongly correlate with higher rates of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension, access to culturally relevant mobile health tools may empower patients in these populations to improve health outcomes.

Assessing the Use of Mobile Health Technology by Patients: An Observational Study in Primary Care Clinics

PubMed Central

Johnson, Emily; Gonzalez, Cesar; Ramirez, Vanessa; Rubino, Barbara; Rossetti, Gina

2016-01-01

Background There is significant potential for mobile health technology to improve health outcomes for patients with chronic diseases. However, there is a need for further development of mobile health technology that would help to improve the health of lower-income communities. Objective The study objective was to assess mobile phone and app usage among a culturally diverse patient population, and to determine whether patients would be interested in using mobile health technology to help manage their chronic diseases. Methods An observational study was conducted with patients of the Internal Medicine resident primary care clinics of Los Angeles County and University of Southern California (LAC+USC) Medical Center. Self-reported information regarding demographics, current mobile phone usage, current mobile health app and social media usage, barriers to using mobile phones or mobile health apps, and interest in using a mobile health app was collected. Results Ninety-one percent of patients owned a mobile phone, with 76% (169/223) of these reporting having a mobile phone with Internet capability. Fifty-seven percent of subjects used mobile apps on their mobile phones, and 32% (41/130) of these used mobile apps related to their health. Eighty-six percent (207/241) of respondents voiced interest in using a mobile app to improve their health, and 40% (88/221) stated they would use such an app daily. Patients stated they would find the mobile health app most useful for nutrition, exercise, and obtaining general information on medical conditions. Conclusions Despite the fact that the majority of our primary care patients were of lower socioeconomic status, they utilized mobile phones with Internet and mobile app capabilities to a great extent. There was substantial interest among our patients in using mobile health technology to both manage chronic disease and improve overall health. Given that cultural, educational, and socioeconomic disparities strongly correlate with higher rates of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension, access to culturally relevant mobile health tools may empower patients in these populations to improve health outcomes. PMID:27095507

Ring Current Dynamics in Moderate and Strong Storms: Comparative Analysis of TWINS and IMAGE/HENA Data with the Comprehensive Ring Current Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buzulukova, N.; Fok, M.-C.; Goldstein, J.; Valek, P.; McComas, D. J.; Brandt, P. C.

2010-01-01

We present a comparative study of ring current dynamics during strong and moderate storms. The ring current during the strong storm is studied with IMAGE/HENA data near the solar cycle maximum in 2000. The ring current during the moderate storm is studied using energetic neutral atom (ENA) data from the Two Wide-Angle Imaging Neutral- Atom Spectrometers (TWINS) mission during the solar minimum in 2008. For both storms, the local time distributions of ENA emissions show signatures of postmidnight enhancement (PME) during the main phases. To model the ring current and ENA emissions, we use the Comprehensive Ring Current Model (CRCM). CRCM results show that the main-phase ring current pressure peaks in the premidnight-dusk sector, while the most intense CRCM-simulated ENA emissions show PME signatures. We analyze two factors to explain this difference: the dependence of charge-exchange cross section on energy and pitch angle distributions of ring current. We find that the IMF By effect (twisting of the convection pattern due to By) is not needed to form the PME. Additionally, the PME is more pronounced for the strong storm, although relative shielding and hence electric field skewing is well developed for both events.

Towards the definition of AMS facies in the deposits of pyroclastic density currents

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ort, M.H.; Newkirk, T.T.; Vilas, J.F.; Vazquez, J.A.; Ort, M.H.; Porreca, Massimiliano; Geissman, J.W.

2014-01-01

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) provides a statistically robust technique to characterize the fabrics of deposits of pyroclastic density currents (PDCs). AMS fabrics in two types of pyroclastic deposits (small-volume phreatomagmatic currents in the Hopi Buttes volcanic field, Arizona, USA, and large-volume caldera-forming currents, Caviahue Caldera, Neuquén, Argentina) show similar patterns. Near the vent and in areas of high topographical roughness, AMS depositional fabrics are poorly grouped, with weak lineations and foliations. In a densely welded proximal ignimbrite, this fabric is overprinted by a foliation formed as the rock compacted and deformed. Medial deposits have moderate–strong AMS lineations and foliations. The most distal deposits have strong foliations but weak lineations. Based on these facies and existing models for pyroclastic density currents, deposition in the medial areas occurs from the strongly sheared, high-particle-concentration base of a density-stratified current. In proximal areas and where topography mixes this denser base upwards into the current, deposition occurs rapidly from a current with little uniformity to the shear, in which particles fall and collide in a chaotic fashion. Distal deposits are emplaced by a slowing or stalled current so that the dominant particle motion is vertical, leading to weak lineation and strong foliation.

Strong Stackelberg reasoning in symmetric games: An experimental replication and extension

PubMed Central

Colman, Andrew M.; Lawrence, Catherine L.

2014-01-01

In common interest games in which players are motivated to coordinate their strategies to achieve a jointly optimal outcome, orthodox game theory provides no general reason or justification for choosing the required strategies. In the simplest cases, where the optimal strategies are intuitively obvious, human decision makers generally coordinate without difficulty, but how they achieve this is poorly understood. Most theories seeking to explain strategic coordination have limited applicability, or require changes to the game specification, or introduce implausible assumptions or radical departures from fundamental game-theoretic assumptions. The theory of strong Stackelberg reasoning, according to which players choose strategies that would maximize their own payoffs if their co-players could invariably anticipate any strategy and respond with a best reply to it, avoids these problems and explains strategic coordination in all dyadic common interest games. Previous experimental evidence has provided evidence for strong Stackelberg reasoning in asymmetric games. Here we report evidence from two experiments consistent with players being influenced by strong Stackelberg reasoning in a wide variety of symmetric 3 × 3 games but tending to revert to other choice criteria when strong Stackelberg reasoning generates small payoffs. PMID:24688846

Strong Stackelberg reasoning in symmetric games: An experimental replication and extension.

PubMed

Pulford, Briony D; Colman, Andrew M; Lawrence, Catherine L

2014-01-01

In common interest games in which players are motivated to coordinate their strategies to achieve a jointly optimal outcome, orthodox game theory provides no general reason or justification for choosing the required strategies. In the simplest cases, where the optimal strategies are intuitively obvious, human decision makers generally coordinate without difficulty, but how they achieve this is poorly understood. Most theories seeking to explain strategic coordination have limited applicability, or require changes to the game specification, or introduce implausible assumptions or radical departures from fundamental game-theoretic assumptions. The theory of strong Stackelberg reasoning, according to which players choose strategies that would maximize their own payoffs if their co-players could invariably anticipate any strategy and respond with a best reply to it, avoids these problems and explains strategic coordination in all dyadic common interest games. Previous experimental evidence has provided evidence for strong Stackelberg reasoning in asymmetric games. Here we report evidence from two experiments consistent with players being influenced by strong Stackelberg reasoning in a wide variety of symmetric 3 × 3 games but tending to revert to other choice criteria when strong Stackelberg reasoning generates small payoffs.

Microscopic enteritis: Bucharest consensus

PubMed Central

Rostami, Kamran; Aldulaimi, David; Holmes, Geoffrey; Johnson, Matt W; Robert, Marie; Srivastava, Amitabh; Fléjou, Jean-François; Sanders, David S; Volta, Umberto; Derakhshan, Mohammad H; Going, James J; Becheanu, Gabriel; Catassi, Carlo; Danciu, Mihai; Materacki, Luke; Ghafarzadegan, Kamran; Ishaq, Sauid; Rostami-Nejad, Mohammad; Peña, A Salvador; Bassotti, Gabrio; Marsh, Michael N; Villanacci, Vincenzo

2015-01-01

Microscopic enteritis (ME) is an inflammatory condition of the small bowel that leads to gastrointestinal symptoms, nutrient and micronutrient deficiency. It is characterised by microscopic or sub-microscopic abnormalities such as microvillus changes and enterocytic alterations in the absence of definite macroscopic changes using standard modern endoscopy. This work recognises a need to characterize disorders with microscopic and submicroscopic features, currently regarded as functional or non-specific entities, to obtain further understanding of their clinical relevance. The consensus working party reviewed statements about the aetiology, diagnosis and symptoms associated with ME and proposes an algorithm for its investigation and treatment. Following the 5th International Course in Digestive Pathology in Bucharest in November 2012, an international group of 21 interested pathologists and gastroenterologists formed a working party with a view to formulating a consensus statement on ME. A five-step agreement scale (from strong agreement to strong disagreement) was used to score 21 statements, independently. There was strong agreement on all statements about ME histology (95%-100%). Statements concerning diagnosis achieved 85% to 100% agreement. A statement on the management of ME elicited agreement from the lowest rate (60%) up to 100%. The remaining two categories showed general agreement between experts on clinical presentation (75%-95%) and pathogenesis (80%-90%) of ME. There was strong agreement on the histological definition of ME. Weaker agreement on management indicates a need for further investigations, better definitions and clinical trials to produce quality guidelines for management. This ME consensus is a step toward greater recognition of a significant entity affecting symptomatic patients previously labelled as non-specific or functional enteropathy. PMID:25759526

Microscopic enteritis: Bucharest consensus.

PubMed

Rostami, Kamran; Aldulaimi, David; Holmes, Geoffrey; Johnson, Matt W; Robert, Marie; Srivastava, Amitabh; Fléjou, Jean-François; Sanders, David S; Volta, Umberto; Derakhshan, Mohammad H; Going, James J; Becheanu, Gabriel; Catassi, Carlo; Danciu, Mihai; Materacki, Luke; Ghafarzadegan, Kamran; Ishaq, Sauid; Rostami-Nejad, Mohammad; Peña, A Salvador; Bassotti, Gabrio; Marsh, Michael N; Villanacci, Vincenzo

2015-03-07

Microscopic enteritis (ME) is an inflammatory condition of the small bowel that leads to gastrointestinal symptoms, nutrient and micronutrient deficiency. It is characterised by microscopic or sub-microscopic abnormalities such as microvillus changes and enterocytic alterations in the absence of definite macroscopic changes using standard modern endoscopy. This work recognises a need to characterize disorders with microscopic and submicroscopic features, currently regarded as functional or non-specific entities, to obtain further understanding of their clinical relevance. The consensus working party reviewed statements about the aetiology, diagnosis and symptoms associated with ME and proposes an algorithm for its investigation and treatment. Following the 5(th) International Course in Digestive Pathology in Bucharest in November 2012, an international group of 21 interested pathologists and gastroenterologists formed a working party with a view to formulating a consensus statement on ME. A five-step agreement scale (from strong agreement to strong disagreement) was used to score 21 statements, independently. There was strong agreement on all statements about ME histology (95%-100%). Statements concerning diagnosis achieved 85% to 100% agreement. A statement on the management of ME elicited agreement from the lowest rate (60%) up to 100%. The remaining two categories showed general agreement between experts on clinical presentation (75%-95%) and pathogenesis (80%-90%) of ME. There was strong agreement on the histological definition of ME. Weaker agreement on management indicates a need for further investigations, better definitions and clinical trials to produce quality guidelines for management. This ME consensus is a step toward greater recognition of a significant entity affecting symptomatic patients previously labelled as non-specific or functional enteropathy.

Development and Evaluation of Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory Scales to Measure Interests of Military Occupational Specialties of the Marine Corps.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-08-01

though the two groups were different in terms of SC!I scientific interests and academic orientation scores (the aviation supply sample scored higher on...51 Chemists/Physicists 50 MARINE OFFICERS- COMUNICATION 49 MARINE OFFICERS-DATA SYSTEMS 48 Engineers 47 Biologists 46 Systems Analysts/Computer...Base ( Scientific and Technical Information Office) Commander, Air Force Human Resources Laboratory, Lowry Air Force Base (Technical Training Branch

Interest Inventory Items as Attitude Eliciting Stimuli in Classical Conditioning: A Test of the A-R-D Theory. Language, Personality, and Cross-Cultural Study and Measurement of the Human A-R-D (Motivational) System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gross, Michael C.; Staats, Arthur W.

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that interest inventory items elicit classically conditionable attitudinal responses. A higher-order conditioning procedure was used in which items from the Strong Vocational Interest Blank were employed as unconditioned stimuli and nonsense syllables as conditioned stimuli. Items for which the…

Computational Analysis of Static and Dynamic Behaviour of Magnetic Suspensions and Magnetic Bearings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Britcher, Colin P. (Editor); Groom, Nelson J.

1996-01-01

Static modelling of magnetic bearings is often carried out using magnetic circuit theory. This theory cannot easily include nonlinear effects such as magnetic saturation or the fringing of flux in air-gaps. Modern computational tools are able to accurately model complex magnetic bearing geometries, provided some care is exercised. In magnetic suspension applications, the magnetic fields are highly three-dimensional and require computational tools for the solution of most problems of interest. The dynamics of a magnetic bearing or magnetic suspension system can be strongly affected by eddy currents. Eddy currents are present whenever a time-varying magnetic flux penetrates a conducting medium. The direction of flow of the eddy current is such as to reduce the rate-of-change of flux. Analytic solutions for eddy currents are available for some simplified geometries, but complex geometries must be solved by computation. It is only in recent years that such computations have been considered truly practical. At NASA Langley Research Center, state-of-the-art finite-element computer codes, 'OPERA', 'TOSCA' and 'ELEKTRA' have recently been installed and applied to the magnetostatic and eddy current problems. This paper reviews results of theoretical analyses which suggest general forms of mathematical models for eddy currents, together with computational results. A simplified circuit-based eddy current model proposed appears to predict the observed trends in the case of large eddy current circuits in conducting non-magnetic material. A much more difficult case is seen to be that of eddy currents in magnetic material, or in non-magnetic material at higher frequencies, due to the lower skin depths. Even here, the dissipative behavior has been shown to yield at least somewhat to linear modelling. Magnetostatic and eddy current computations have been carried out relating to the Annular Suspension and Pointing System, a prototype for a space payload pointing and vibration isolation system, where the magnetic actuator geometry resembles a conventional magnetic bearing. Magnetostatic computations provide estimates of flux density within airgaps and the iron core material, fringing at the pole faces and the net force generated. Eddy current computations provide coil inductance, power dissipation and the phase lag in the magnetic field, all as functions of excitation frequency. Here, the dynamics of the magnetic bearings, notably the rise time of forces with changing currents, are found to be very strongly affected by eddy currents, even at quite low frequencies. Results are also compared to experimental measurements of the performance of a large-gap magnetic suspension system, the Large Angle Magnetic Suspension Test Fixture (LAMSTF). Eddy current effects are again shown to significantly affect the dynamics of the system. Some consideration is given to the ease and accuracy of computation, specifically relating to OPERA/TOSCA/ELEKTRA.

The dynamics of health care opinion, 2008-2010: partisanship, self-interest, and racial resentment.

PubMed

Henderson, Michael; Hillygus, D Sunshine

2011-12-01

Recent debate over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act highlights the extent of party polarization in Washington. While the partisan divide on this issue is stark among political elites, it is less clear how the mass electorate has responded to this divisive conflict. In this article we examine individual-level dynamics in health care attitudes between 2008 and 2010. We find partisan attachments and self-interests strongly predict change in health care attitudes, with Republicans growing more opposed to universal health insurance between 2008 and 2010, and those personally worried about medical expenses less likely to abandon support. We find, however, that the effect of partisanship is moderated by self-interest, with strong Republicans significantly less likely to switch to opposition if they were personally worried about medical expenses. Finally, we find that health care policy preferences, already tinged with racial attitudes in 2008, became increasingly so by 2010.

Lightning Reporting at 45th Weather Squadron: Recent Improvements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Finn, Frank C.; Roeder, William P.; Buchanan, Michael D.; McNamara, Todd M.; McAllenan, Michael; Winters, Katherine A.; Fitzpatrick, Michael E.; Huddleston, Lisa L.

2010-01-01

The 45th Weather Squadron (45 WS) provides daily lightning reports to space launch customers at CCAFS/KSC. These reports are provided to assess the need to inspect the electronics of satellite payloads, space launch vehicles, and ground support equipment for induced current damage from nearby lightning strokes. The 45 WS has made several improvements to the lightning reports during 2008-2009. The 4DLSS, implemented in April 2008, provides all lightning strokes as opposed to just one stroke per flash as done by the previous system. The 45 WS discovered that the peak current was being truncated to the nearest kilo amp in the database used to generate the daily lightning reports, which led to an up to 4% underestimate in the peak current for average lightning. This error was corrected and led to elimination of this underestimate. The 45 WS and their mission partners developed lightning location error ellipses for 99% and 95% location accuracies tailored to each individual stroke and began providing them in the spring of 2009. The new procedure provides the distance from the point of interest to the best location of the stroke (the center of the error ellipse) and the distance to the closest edge of the ellipse. This information is now included in the lightning reports, along with the peak current of the stroke. The initial method of calculating the error ellipses could only be used during normal duty hours, i.e. not during nights, weekends, or holidays. This method was improved later to provide lightning reports in near real-time, 24/7. The calculation of the distance to the closest point on the ellipse was also significantly improved later. Other improvements were also implemented. A new method to calculate the probability of any nearby lightning stroke. being within any radius of any point of interest was developed and is being implemented. This may supersede the use of location error ellipses. The 45 WS is pursuing adding data from nine NLDN sensors into 4DLSS in real-time. This will overcome the problem of 4DLSS missing some of the strong local strokes. This will also improve the location accuracy, reduce the size and eccentricity of the location error ellipses, and reduce the probability of nearby strokes being inside the areas of interest when few of the 4DLSS sensors are used in the stroke solution. This will not reduce 4DLSS performance when most of the 4DLSS sensors are used in the stroke solution. Finally, several possible future improvements were discussed, especially for improving the peak current estimate and the error estimate for peak current, and upgrading the 4DLSS. Some possible approaches for both of these goals were discussed.

Deposition SnO(2)/nitrogen-doped graphene nanocomposites on the separator: a new type of flexible electrode for energy storage devices.

PubMed

Liang, Junfei; Cai, Zhi; Tian, Yu; Li, Lidong; Geng, Jianxin; Guo, Lin

2013-11-27

It is currently very urgent to develop flexible energy storage devices because of the growing academic interest in and strong technical demand of flexible electronics. Exploration of high-performance electrode materials and a corresponding assembly method for fabrication of flexible energy storage devices plays a critical role in fulfilling this demand. Here, we have developed a facile, economic, and green hydrothermal process to synthesize ultrasmall SnO2 nanocrystallites/nitrogen-doped graphene nanocomposites (USNGs) as a high-performance electrode material for Li-ion batteries (LIBs). Furthermore, using the glass microfiber filters (GMFs) as supporting substrate, the novel flexible USNG-GMF bilayered films have been prepared by depositing the as-prepared USNG on GMF through a simple vacuum filtration. Significantly, for the first time, the flexible USNG-GMF bilayered films have directly been used for assembling LIBs, where the GMF further functions as a separator. The obtained highly robust, binder-free, conducting agent-free, and current collector-free new type of flexible electrodes show excellent LIB performance.

Pipette-surface interaction: current enhancement and intrinsic force.

PubMed

Clarke, Richard W; Zhukov, Alexander; Richards, Owen; Johnson, Nicholas; Ostanin, Victor; Klenerman, David

2013-01-09

There is an intrinsic repulsion between glass and cell surfaces that allows noninvasive scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) of cells and which must be overcome in order to form the gigaseals used for patch clamping investigations of ion channels. However, the interactions of surfaces in physiological solutions of electrolytes, including the presence of this repulsion, for example, do not obviously agree with the standard Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) colloid theory accurate at much lower salt concentrations. In this paper we investigate the interactions of glass nanopipettes in this high-salt regime with a variety of surfaces and propose a way to resolve DLVO theory with the results. We demonstrate the utility of this understanding to SICM by topographically mapping a live cell's cytoskeleton. We also report an interesting effect whereby the ion current though a nanopipette can increase under certain conditions upon approaching an insulating surface, rather than decreasing as would be expected. We propose that this is due to electroosmotic flow separation, a high-salt electrokinetic effect. Overall these experiments yield key insights into the fundamental interactions that take place between surfaces in strong solutions of electrolytes.

Raspberry Shake- A World-Wide Citizen Seismograph Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christensen, B. C.; Blanco Chia, J. F.

2017-12-01

Raspberry Shake was conceived as an inexpensive plug-and-play solution to satisfy the need for universal, quick and accurate earthquake detections. First launched on Kickstarter's crowdfunding platform in July of 2016, the Raspberry Shake project was funded within hours of the launch date and, by the end of the campaign, reached more than 1000% of its initial funding goal. This demonstrated for the first time that there exists a strong interest among Makers, Hobbyists and Do It Yourselfers for personal seismographs. From here, a citizen scientist network was created and it has steadily been growing. The Raspberry Shake network is currently being used in conjunction with publicly available broadband data from the GSN and other state-run seismic networks available through the IRIS, Geoscope and GEOFON data centers to detect and locate earthquakes large and small around the globe. Raspberry Shake looks well positioned to improve local monitoring of earthquakes on a global scale, deepen community's understanding of earthquakes, and serve as a formidable teaching tool. We present the main results of the project, the current state of the network, and the new Raspberry Shake models that are being built.

Dynamical photo-induced electronic properties of molecular junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beltako, K.; Michelini, F.; Cavassilas, N.; Raymond, L.

2018-03-01

Nanoscale molecular-electronic devices and machines are emerging as promising functional elements, naturally flexible and efficient, for next-generation technologies. A deeper understanding of carrier dynamics in molecular junctions is expected to benefit many fields of nanoelectronics and power devices. We determine time-resolved charge current flowing at the donor-acceptor interface in molecular junctions connected to metallic electrodes by means of quantum transport simulations. The current is induced by the interaction of the donor with a Gaussian-shape femtosecond laser pulse. Effects of the molecular internal coupling, metal-molecule tunneling, and light-donor coupling on photocurrent are discussed. We then define the time-resolved local density of states which is proposed as an efficient tool to describe the absorbing molecule in contact with metallic electrodes. Non-equilibrium reorganization of hybridized molecular orbitals through the light-donor interaction gives rise to two phenomena: the dynamical Rabi shift and the appearance of Floquet-like states. Such insights into the dynamical photoelectronic structure of molecules are of strong interest for ultrafast spectroscopy and open avenues toward the possibility of analyzing and controlling the internal properties of quantum nanodevices with pump-push photocurrent spectroscopy.

Achieving the broader frequency electromagnetic absorber by development of magnetic core-shell composite with tunable shell/core sizes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Ye; Guo, Yuhang; Zhang, Zhenya; Dong, Songtao; Liu, Suwei; Wang, Hongying

2018-03-01

Magnetic absorber has been regarded as the advanced electromagnetic energy transfer material to solve the increasingly high frequency electromagnetic interference issue. Even so, the pure magnetic material, in particular magnetic metal nanoparticle, suffering from the poor chemical stability and strong eddy current effect, thus limits it further application. To overcome this shortage, surrounded the magnetic metal nanoparticle (MPs) with insulated oxide shell has been considered to be an efficient route to suppress such an eddy current effect. Meanwhile, the combined insulated shell with good impedance matching feature, shows a positive role on the electromagnetic energy transfer intensity. In this regard, the binary Fe@α-Fe2O3 composite with the average size of ∼ 20 nm was prepared by a facile self-oxidation reaction. Interestingly, both the core diameter and shell thickness is controllable by controlling the oxide degree. The electromagnetic energy transfer performance revealed the maximum absorption frequency bandwidth of the optimal Fe@α-Fe2O3 composite is up to 5.3 G(8.2-13.5 GHz)under a small coating thickness of 1.5 mm.

ICPMS analysis of proteins separated by Native-PAGE: Evaluation of metaloprotein profiles in human synovial fluid with acute and chronic arthritis.

PubMed

Moyano, Mario F; Mariño-Repizo, Leonardo; Tamashiro, Héctor; Villegas, Liliana; Acosta, Mariano; Gil, Raúl A

2016-07-01

The role of trace elements bound to proteins in the etiology and pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains unclear. In this sense, the identification and detection of metalloproteins has a strong and growing interest. Metalloprotein studies are currently carried out by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) associated to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS), and despite that complete information can be obtained for metals such as Fe, Cu and Zn, difficulties due to poor sensitivity for other trace elements such as Sn, As, etc, are currently faced. In the present work, a simple and fast method for the determination of trace metals bound to synovial fluid (SF) proteins was optimized. Proteins from SF (long and short-term RA) were separated in ten fractions by native PAGE, then dissolved in nitric acid and peroxide hydrogen, and analyzed by ICPMS. Fifteen metals were determined in each separated protein fraction (band). Adequate calibration of proteins molecular weight allowed stablishing which protein type were bound to different metals. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT): Beam Profiles and First SZ Cluster Maps

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hincks, A. D.; Acquaviva, V.; Ade, P. A.; Aguirre, P.; Amiri, M.; Appel, J. W.; Barrientos, L. F.; Battistelli, E. S.; Bond, J. R.; Brown, B.;

Assessment of United States and Japanese Athletic Trainers' Satisfaction with Current Ascension Pathways and Interest in Future Transnational Certification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Presuto, Dax A.

2013-01-01

Background: The purpose of this cross-system and cross-cultural study was to investigate the current athletic training systems in the US and Japan, to assess US and Japanese athletic trainers' satisfaction with current athletic training ascension pathways in their respective country and to determine their interest in future transnational…

Teaching the basics of electricity using a flexible piezoelectric generator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seveno, R.; Dufay, T.; El Gibari, M.; Guiffard, B.; Li, H. W.; Morsli, S.; Pichon, A.; Tanguy, E.

2018-07-01

Lecturer-researchers, because of the duality of their profession, can introduce students directly to their research. Stimulating student interest through practical research topics enables students to see the relevance of the teaching/learning process and thereby enhance their motivation. As a major societal issue, research on renewable energies is held in great esteem, particularly among young students with a strong interest in environmental issues. The work presented here relates to the realization of a practical class on the testing of a flexible piezoelectric generator studied as part of the ‘N-air-J’ regional research project. The particular characteristic of piezoelectric materials is that they produce electricity when compressed, which means that they can be used in energy recovery devices. The electrical model associated with this type of generator, consisting of an ideal current source in parallel with a linear capacitor and a load resistor, is sufficiently simple to understand following a course on electricity for first-year university students. High school students in their first year of a science and laboratory technology baccalaureate in France have already taken this practical class as part of a dissemination campaign on scientific culture.

The potential of Origanum vulgare L. (Lamiaceae) essential oil in inhibiting the growth of some food-related Aspergillus species

PubMed Central

Carmo, Egberto Santos; de Oliveira Lima, Edeltrudes; de Souza, Evandro Leite

2008-01-01

Origanum vulgare L. (Lamiaceae) has been currently known for their interesting antimicrobial activity being regarded as alternative antimicrobial for use is food conservation systems. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of O. vulgare essential oil in inhibiting the growth of some food-related Aspergillus species (A. flavus, A. parasiticus, A. terreus, A. ochraceus, A. fumigatus and A. niger). The essential oil revealed a strong anti-Aspergillus property providing an inhibition of all assayed mould strains. MIC values were between 80 and 20 μL/mL being found a MIC50 of 40 μL/mL. The essential oil at concentration of 80 and 40 μL/mL provided a fungicidal effect on A. flavus, A. fumigatus and A. niger noted by a total inhibition of the radial mycelial growth along 14 days of interaction. In addition, the essential oil was able to inhibit the mould spores germination when assayed at concentrations of 80 and 40 μL/mL. Our results showed the interesting anti-Aspergillus activity of O. vulgare essential oil supporting their possible use as anti-mould compound in food conservation. PMID:24031231

Graphene-like two-dimensional layered nanomaterials: applications in biosensors and nanomedicine.

PubMed

Yang, Guohai; Zhu, Chengzhou; Du, Dan; Zhu, Junjie; Lin, Yuehe

2015-09-14

The development of nanotechnology provides promising opportunities for various important applications. The recent discovery of atomically-thick two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials can offer manifold perspectives to construct versatile devices with high-performance to satisfy multiple requirements. Many studies directed at graphene have stimulated renewed interest on graphene-like 2D layered nanomaterials (GLNs). GLNs including boron nitride nanosheets, graphitic-carbon nitride nanosheets and transition metal dichalcogenides (e.g. MoS2 and WS2) have attracted significant interest in numerous research fields from physics and chemistry to biology and engineering, which has led to numerous interdisciplinary advances in nano science. Benefiting from the unique physical and chemical properties (e.g. strong mechanical strength, high surface area, unparalleled thermal conductivity, remarkable biocompatibility and ease of functionalization), these 2D layered nanomaterials have shown great potential in biochemistry and biomedicine. This review summarizes recent advances of GLNs in applications of biosensors and nanomedicine, including electrochemical biosensors, optical biosensors, bioimaging, drug delivery and cancer therapy. Current challenges and future perspectives in these rapidly developing areas are also outlined. It is expected that they will have great practical foundation in biomedical applications with future efforts.

Characteristics of School Districts That Participate in Rigorous National Educational Evaluations

PubMed Central

Stuart, Elizabeth A.; Bell, Stephen H.; Ebnesajjad, Cyrus; Olsen, Robert B.; Orr, Larry L.

2017-01-01

Given increasing interest in evidence-based policy, there is growing attention to how well the results from rigorous program evaluations may inform policy decisions. However, little attention has been paid to documenting the characteristics of schools or districts that participate in rigorous educational evaluations, and how they compare to potential target populations for the interventions that were evaluated. Utilizing a list of the actual districts that participated in 11 large-scale rigorous educational evaluations, we compare those districts to several different target populations of districts that could potentially be affected by policy decisions regarding the interventions under study. We find that school districts that participated in the 11 rigorous educational evaluations differ from the interventions’ target populations in several ways, including size, student performance on state assessments, and location (urban/rural). These findings raise questions about whether, as currently implemented, the results from rigorous impact studies in education are likely to generalize to the larger set of school districts—and thus schools and students—of potential interest to policymakers, and how we can improve our study designs to retain strong internal validity while also enhancing external validity. PMID:29276552

Electrically tunable transport and high-frequency dynamics in antiferromagnetic S r3I r2O7

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seinige, Heidi; Williamson, Morgan; Shen, Shida; Wang, Cheng; Cao, Gang; Zhou, Jianshi; Goodenough, John B.; Tsoi, Maxim

2016-12-01

We report dc and high-frequency transport properties of antiferromagnetic S r3I r2O7 . Temperature-dependent resistivity measurements show that the activation energy of this material can be tuned by an applied dc electrical bias. The latter allows for continuous variations in the sample resistivity of as much as 50% followed by a reversible resistive switching at higher biases. Such a switching is of high interest for antiferromagnetic applications in high-speed memory devices. Interestingly, we found the switching behavior to be strongly affected by a high-frequency (microwave) current applied to the sample. The microwaves at 3-7 GHz suppress the dc switching and produce resonancelike features that we tentatively associated with the dissipationless magnonics recently predicted to occur in antiferromagnetic insulators subject to ac electric fields. We have characterized the effects of microwave irradiation on electronic transport in S r3I r2O7 as a function of microwave frequency and power, strength and direction of external magnetic field, strength and polarity of applied dc bias, and temperature. Our observations support the potential of antiferromagnetic materials for high-speed/high-frequency spintronic applications.

Selfish mothers indeed! Resource-dependent conflict over extended parental care in free-ranging dogs

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Parent–offspring conflict (POC) theory provides an interesting premise for understanding social dynamics in facultatively social species. In free-ranging dogs, mothers increase conflict over extended parental care with their pups beyond the weaning stage. In this study, we investigated whether resource quality affects POC in the dogs that typically live in a highly competitive environment as scavengers. We built a theoretical model to predict the alternative options available to the mother in the context of food sharing with her pups when protein-rich food (meat) is provided, as compared to carbohydrate-rich food (biscuits). We fit the mothers’ response from experimental data to the model and show that the mothers choose a selfish strategy, which can in turn ensure higher lifetime reproductive success, while depriving the current litter access to better resources. These results have interesting implications for understanding the social dynamics of the dogs, and the emergence of facultative sociality in a species that evolved from strongly social ancestors. We speculate that the tendency of increased conflict in resource-rich conditions might have driven the process of domestication in the ancestors of dogs which defected from their groups in favour of richer resources around human settlements. PMID:27019741

A Developmental Neuroscience Perspective on Affect-Biased Attention

PubMed Central

Morales, Santiago; Fu, Xiaoxue; Pérez-Edgar, Koraly E.

2016-01-01

There is growing interest regarding the impact of affect-biased attention on psychopathology. However, most of the research to date lacks a developmental approach. In the present review, we examine the role affect-biased attention plays in shaping socioemotional trajectories within a developmental neuroscience framework. We propose that affect-biased attention, particularly if stable and entrenched, acts as a developmental tether that helps sustain early socioemotional and behavioral profiles over time, placing some individuals on maladaptive developmental trajectories. Although most of the evidence is found in the anxiety literature, we suggest that these relations may operate across multiple domains of interest, including positive affect, externalizing behaviors, drug use, and eating behaviors. We also review the general mechanisms and neural correlates of affect-biased attention, as well as the current evidence for the co-development of attention and affect. Based on the reviewed literature, we propose a model that may help us better understand the nuances of affect-biased attention across development. The model may serve as a strong foundation for ongoing attempts to identify neurocognitive mechanisms and intervene with individuals at risk. Finally, we discuss open issues for future research that may help bridge existing gaps in the literature. PMID:27606972

Quantitative spectral light scattering polarimetry for monitoring fractal growth pattern of Bacillus thuringiensis bacterial colonies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Paromita; Soni, Jalpa; Ghosh, Nirmalya; Sengupta, Tapas K.

2013-02-01

It is of considerable current interest to develop various methods which help to understand and quantify the cellular association in growing bacterial colonies and is also important in terms of detection and identification of a bacterial species. A novel approach is used here to probe the morphological structural changes occurring during the growth of the bacterial colony of Bacillus thuringiensis under different environmental conditions (in normal nutrient agar, in presence of glucose - acting as additional nutrient and additional 3mM arsenate as additional toxic material). This approach combines the quantitative Mueller matrix polarimetry to extract intrinsic polarization properties and inverse analysis of the polarization preserving part of the light scattering spectra to determine the fractal parameter H (Hurst exponent) using Born approximation. Interesting differences are observed in the intrinsic polarization parameters and also in the Hurst exponent, which is a measurement of the fractality of a pattern formed by bacteria while growing as a colony. These findings are further confirmed with optical microscopic studies of the same sample and the results indicate a very strong and distinct dependence on the environmental conditions during growth, which can be exploited to quantify different bacterial species and their growth patterns.

Graphene-like two-dimensional layered nanomaterials: applications in biosensors and nanomedicine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Guohai; Zhu, Chengzhou; Du, Dan; Zhu, Junjie; Lin, Yuehe

2015-08-01

The development of nanotechnology provides promising opportunities for various important applications. The recent discovery of atomically-thick two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials can offer manifold perspectives to construct versatile devices with high-performance to satisfy multiple requirements. Many studies directed at graphene have stimulated renewed interest on graphene-like 2D layered nanomaterials (GLNs). GLNs including boron nitride nanosheets, graphitic-carbon nitride nanosheets and transition metal dichalcogenides (e.g. MoS2 and WS2) have attracted significant interest in numerous research fields from physics and chemistry to biology and engineering, which has led to numerous interdisciplinary advances in nano science. Benefiting from the unique physical and chemical properties (e.g. strong mechanical strength, high surface area, unparalleled thermal conductivity, remarkable biocompatibility and ease of functionalization), these 2D layered nanomaterials have shown great potential in biochemistry and biomedicine. This review summarizes recent advances of GLNs in applications of biosensors and nanomedicine, including electrochemical biosensors, optical biosensors, bioimaging, drug delivery and cancer therapy. Current challenges and future perspectives in these rapidly developing areas are also outlined. It is expected that they will have great practical foundation in biomedical applications with future efforts.

Advancing the Aging and Technology Agenda in Gerontology

PubMed Central

Schulz, Richard; Wahl, Hans-Werner; Matthews, Judith T.; De Vito Dabbs, Annette; Beach, Scott R.; Czaja, Sara J.

2015-01-01

Interest in technology for older adults is driven by multiple converging trends: the rapid pace of technological development; the unprecedented growth of the aging population in the United States and worldwide; the increase in the number and survival of persons with disability; the growing and unsustainable costs of caring for the elderly people; and the increasing interest on the part of business, industry, and government agencies in addressing health care needs with technology. These trends have contributed to the strong conviction that technology can play an important role in enhancing quality of life and independence of older individuals with high levels of efficiency, potentially reducing individual and societal costs of caring for the elderly people. The purpose of this “Forum” position article is to integrate what we know about older adults and technology systems in order to provide direction to this vital enterprise. We define what we mean by technology for an aging population, provide a brief history of its development, introduce a taxonomy for characterizing current technology applications to older adults, summarize research in this area, describe existing development and evaluation processes, identify factors important for the acceptance of technology among older individuals, and recommend future directions for research in this area. PMID:25165042

Magnetic separation: its application in mining, waste purification, medicine, biochemistry and chemistry.

PubMed

Iranmanesh, M; Hulliger, J

2017-10-02

The use of strong magnetic field gradients and high magnetic fields generated by permanent magnets or superconducting coils has found applications in many fields such as mining, solid state chemistry, biochemistry and medical research. Lab scale or industrial implementations involve separation of macro- and nanoparticles, cells, proteins, and macromolecules down to small molecules and ions. Most promising are those attempts where the object to be separated is attached to a strong magnetic nanoparticle. Here, all kinds of specific affinity interactions are used to attach magnetic carrier particles to mainly objects of biological interest. Other attempts use a strong paramagnetic suspension for the separation of purely diamagnetic objects, such as bio-macromolecules or heavy metals. The application of magnetic separation to superconducting inorganic phases is of particular interest in combination with ceramic combinatorial chemistry to generate a library of e.g. cuprate superconductors.

High current densities above 100 K in the high-temperature superconductor HgBa2CaCu2O6+δ

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krusin-Elbaum, L.; Tsuei, C. C.; Gupta, A.

1995-02-01

THE recent discovery1,2 of a family of mercury-based copper oxide superconductors having transition temperatures1-3 above 130 K is of considerable technological interest. But the viability of high-temperature superconductors for many applications will ultimately depend on the size of the current density, Jc, that they are able to support, not only at high temperatures, but also in high magnetic fields. For the cuprate superconductors, and in particular for Hg-based materials, the combination of high transition temperature1-3 and large mass anisotropy implies that the transport properties will be intrinsically limited by large thermal fluctuations and short superconducting coherence lengths4. Here we report that high-quality c-axis-oriented epitaxial films of the compound HgBa2CaCu6O6+δ (Hg-1212; ref. 5) can support large in-plane current densities at temperatures higher than has been achieved for other superconductors. In low magnetic fields oriented normal to the film surface, we find Jc>~107 A cm-2 at 5 K and Jc~ 105 A cm-2 at 110 K, at least an order of magnitude larger than for Bi- or Tl-based films6-11. For in-plane magnetic fields, the critical current (~108 A cm-2) is close to the theoretical limit even at high fields, indicative of strong intrinsic pinning in this compound.

Getting in Touch: Dreaming, the Emotions and the Work of Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bullough, Robert V., Jr.; Bullough, Dawn Ann Mortensen; Mayes, Pamela Blackwell

2006-01-01

Despite growing interest in the emotional lives of teachers, teacher dreaming has received remarkably little researcher interest or attention. Drawing on recent studies of dreaming that demonstrate a strong connection between dream content and the life conditions of the dreamer, in this study the authors explored teacher dreaming as an avenue for…

William T. Grant Foundation 2012 Annual Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

William T. Grant Foundation, 2013

2013-01-01

The William T. Grant Foundation was founded in 1936 to support strong social science research focused on "the enrichment of life, with a primary interest in people and in their adjustment to the world in which they live." Today, its funding priorities reflect this interest in research that affects young people's lives. This Annual Report…

Hall Effect Spintronics

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

ferromagnetic films with perpendicular anisotropy were examined, and finally, the magnetoresistance and Hall effect in Manganese- doped Germanium was...interest in ferromagnetic semiconductors. Germanium doped with Mn is particularly interesting Distribution A: Approved for public release...unavoidable, and doped films are strongly inhomogeneous with GexMny, metallic precipitates coexisting with Mn-rich regions and Mn dilute matrix

Whitney and Bloomfield on American English.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andresen, Julie Tetel

An examination of the place of American English in the research of William Dwight Whitney and Leonard Bloomfield focuses on the divergence of their approaches to language. A review of their works looks at the way in which Whitney's interest in American English complemented his other strong interests (the social and political setting for language…

Increasing Student Engagement and Enthusiasm: A Projectile Motion Crime Scene

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonner, David

2010-01-01

Connecting physics concepts with real-world events allows students to establish a strong conceptual foundation. When such events are particularly interesting to students, it can greatly impact their engagement and enthusiasm in an activity. Activities that involve studying real-world events of high interest can provide students a long-lasting…

Developing Tools and Techniques to Increase Communication Effectiveness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hayes, Linda A.; Peterson, Doug

1997-01-01

The Public Affairs Office (PAO) of the Johnson Space Center (JSC) is responsible for communicating current JSC Space Program activities as well as goals and objectives to the American Public. As part of the 1996 Strategic Communications Plan, a review of PAO' s current communication procedures was conducted. The 1996 Summer Faculty Fellow performed research activities to support this effort by reviewing current research concerning NASA/JSC's customers' perceptions and interests, developing communications tools which enable PAO to more effectively inform JSC customers about the Space Program, and proposing a process for developing and using consistent messages throughout PAO. Note that this research does not attempt to change or influence customer perceptions or interests but, instead, incorporates current customer interests into PAO's communication process.

12 CFR 602.10 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... information for a use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade, or profit interests of that individual... higher education, an institution of professional education, or an institution of vocational education... means information about current events or of current interest to the public. Reproduce (or reproduction...

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Fermi blazars with Doppler factors (Fan+, 2017)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, J. H.; Yang, J. H.; Xiao, H. B.; Lin, C.; Constantin, D.; Luo, G. Y.; Pei, Z. Y.; Hao, J. M.; Mao, Y. W.

2017-09-01

Blazars are an extreme subclass of active galactic nuclei. Their rapid variability, luminous brightness, superluminal motion, and high and variable polarization are probably due to a beaming effect. However, this beaming factor (or Doppler factor) is very difficult to measure. Currently, a good way to estimate it is to use the timescale of their radio flares. In this Letter, we use multiwavelength data and Doppler factors reported in the literature for a sample of 86 flaring blazars detected by Fermi to compute their intrinsic multiwavelength data and intrinsic spectral energy distributions and investigate the correlations among observed and intrinsic data. Quite interestingly, intrinsic data show a positive correlation between luminosity and peak frequency, in contrast with the behavior of observed data, and a tighter correlation between γ-ray luminosity and the lower-energy ones. For flaring blazars detected by Fermi, we conclude that (1) observed emissions are strongly beamed; (2) the anti-correlation between luminosity and peak frequency from the observed data is an apparent result, the correlation between intrinsic data being positive; and (3) intrinsic γ-ray luminosity is strongly correlated with other intrinsic luminosities. (2 data files).

Kinetically Inhibited Order in a Diamond-Lattice Antiferromagnet

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

MacDougall, Gregory J; Gout, Delphine J; Zarestky, Jerel L

2011-01-01

Frustrated magnetic systems exhibit highly degenerate ground states and strong fluctuations, often leading to new physics. An intriguing example of current interest is the antiferromagnet on a diamond lattice, realized physically in the A-site spinel materials. This is a prototypical system in three dimensions where frustration arises from competing interactions rather than purely geometric constraints, and theory suggests the possibility of novel order at low temperature. Here we present a comprehensive single crystal neutron scattering study CoAl2O4, a highly frustrated A-site spinel. We observe strong diffuse scattering that peaks at wavevectors associated with Neel ordering. Below the temperature T*=6.5K, theremore » is a dramatic change in elastic scattering lineshape accompanied by the emergence of well-defined spin-wave excitations. T* had previously been associated with the onset of glassy behavior. Our new results suggest instead that in fact T* signifies a first-order phase transition, but with true long-range order inhibited by the kinetic freezing of domain walls. This scenario might be expected to occur widely in frustrated systems containing first-order phase transitions and is a natural explanation for existing reports of anomalous glassy behavior in other materials.« less

Supporting Sustainable Food Consumption: Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII) Aligns Intentions and Behavior

PubMed Central

Loy, Laura S.; Wieber, Frank; Gollwitzer, Peter M.; Oettingen, Gabriele

2016-01-01

With growing awareness that sustainable consumption is important for quality of life on earth, many individuals intend to act more sustainably. In this regard, interest in reducing meat consumption is on the rise. However, people often do not translate intentions into actual behavior change. To address this intention-behavior gap, we tested the self-regulation strategy of mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII). Here, people identify and imagine a desired future and current obstacles standing in its way. They address the obstacles with if-then plans specifying when, where, and how to act differently. In a 5-week randomized controlled experimental study, we compared an information + MCII intervention with an information-only control intervention. As hypothesized, only MCII participants’ intention of reducing their meat consumption was predictive of their actual reduction, while no correspondence between intention and behavior change was found for control participants. Participants with a moderate to strong intention to reduce their meat consumption reduced it more in the MCII than in the control condition. Thus, MCII helped to narrow the intention-behavior gap and supported behavior change for those holding moderate and strong respective intentions. PMID:27199840

[Equine dentistry: Survey on Swiss horse owners].

PubMed

Schiesser, E; Geyer, H; Kummer, M; Jackson, M

2017-08-01

The interest in equine dentistry has significantly increased in the last 15 years. On the part of the veterinarians as well as of the horse owners there is a strong attention to the topic. The aim of the questionnaire was to investigate amongst horse owners what their level of information and preferences about dental treatment are and how they are implemented. The questionnaire was translated into the three national languages and included 20 questions about level and sources of information, frequency of treatments and the horse owner's stance over sedation of the animals. With a return rate of 45% (1'466 of 3'250 sent questionnaires) significant conclusions could be drawn. Horse owners showed a strong demand for clarification regarding tooth problems, the causes, consequences and methods of treatment. More than half of the owners considered themselves not well informed. The treating person was in 66.7% a veterinarian with a special education. Horse owners indicated that information circulated most frequently by word of mouth recommendations and they explicitly wished information from professional and reliable sources. The questionnaire provided a clear result about current equine dental treatments. We suggest that they should be performed by veterinarians only with a special education.

Predicting Gene Expression Level from Relative Codon Usage Bias: An Application to Escherichia coli Genome

PubMed Central

Roymondal, Uttam; Das, Shibsankar; Sahoo, Satyabrata

2009-01-01

We present an expression measure of a gene, devised to predict the level of gene expression from relative codon bias (RCB). There are a number of measures currently in use that quantify codon usage in genes. Based on the hypothesis that gene expressivity and codon composition is strongly correlated, RCB has been defined to provide an intuitively meaningful measure of an extent of the codon preference in a gene. We outline a simple approach to assess the strength of RCB (RCBS) in genes as a guide to their likely expression levels and illustrate this with an analysis of Escherichia coli (E. coli) genome. Our efforts to quantitatively predict gene expression levels in E. coli met with a high level of success. Surprisingly, we observe a strong correlation between RCBS and protein length indicating natural selection in favour of the shorter genes to be expressed at higher level. The agreement of our result with high protein abundances, microarray data and radioactive data demonstrates that the genomic expression profile available in our method can be applied in a meaningful way to the study of cell physiology and also for more detailed studies of particular genes of interest. PMID:19131380

A moving target: responding to magnetic and structural disorder in lanthanide- and actinide-based superconductors

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

Bauer, Eric D; Mitchell, Jeremy N; Booth, C H

2009-01-01

The effects of various chemical substitutions and induced lattice disorder in the Ce- and Pu-based 115 superconductors are reviewed, with particular emphasis on results from x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) measurements. The competition between spin, charge, and lattice interactions is at the heart of many of the strongly-correlated ground states in materials of current interest, such as in colossal magnetoresistors and high-temperature superconductors. This relationship is particularly strong in the CeTIn{sub 5} and PuTGa{sub 5} series (T = Co, Rh, Ir) of heavy-fermion superconductors. In these systems (figure 1), competition between bulk magnetic and non-magnetic ground states, as well asmore » between superconducting and normal states, are directly related to local properties around the lanthanide or actinide ion, such as the nearest-neighbor bond lengths and the local density of states at the Fermi level. Tiny changes in the latter values can easily tip the balance from one ground state to another. This paper reviews recent work by the authors exploring the relationship between local crystal and electronic structure and ground state magnetic and conducting properties in the Ce- and Pu-based 115 materials.« less

Low-frequency fluctuation spectra and associated particle transport in the NASA Lewis bumpy-torus plasma

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Singh, C. M.; Krawczonek, W. M.; Roth, J. R.; Hong, J. Y.; Kim, Y. C.; Powers, E. J.

1978-01-01

The strong radial electric field associated with the Penning discharge and the strong toroidal magnetic field give rise to a diversity of E/B phenomena, such as rotating waves and spokes, which in turn manifest themselves as space-time fluctuations of the plasma density and potential. Work is done to further understand the nature and origin of the fluctuations and their connection with fluctuation-induced transport. The approach is to monitor the density and potential fluctuations; to digitize the data; and to generate, with the aid of a computer, various spectral properties by means of the fast fourier transform. Of particular interest is the computer-generated transport spectrum that indicates in a quantitative way which fluctuation spectral components contribute to transport and which do not. All experimental measurements of the spectral characteristics of the plasma are given in absolute units rather than as relative values. Preliminary measurements of the transport spectrum of the ion population are given, and it is shown that the fluctuation-induced transport is in order-of-magnitude agreement with that inferred from the steady state current flowing to the electrodes that generate the plasma.

The green roof dilemma - discussion of Francis and Lorimer (2011).

PubMed

Henry, Alexandre; Frascaria-Lacoste, Nathalie

2012-08-15

Urban ecosystems are the most complex mosaics of vegetative land cover that can be found. In a recent paper, Francis and Lorimer (2011) evaluated the reconciliation potential of living roofs and walls. For these authors, these two techniques for habitat improvement have strong potential for urban reconciliation ecology. However they have some ecological and societal limitations such as the physical extreme environmental characteristics, the monetary investment and the cultural perceptions of urban nature. We are interested in their results and support their conclusions. However, for a considerable time, green roofs have been designed to provide urban greenery for buildings and the green roof market has only focused on extensive roof at a restricted scale within cities. Thus, we have strong doubts about the relevance of their use as possible integrated elements of the network. Furthermore, without dynamic progress in research and the implementation of well-thought-out policies, what will be the real capital gain from green roofs with respect to land-use complementation in cities? If we agree with Francis and Lorimer (2011) considering that urban reconciliation ecology between nature and citizens is a current major challenge, then "adaptive collaborative management" is a fundamental requirement. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The shape of contention: adaptation, history, and contingency in ungulate mandibles.

PubMed

Raia, Pasquale; Carotenuto, Francesco; Meloro, Carlo; Piras, Paolo; Pushkina, Diana

2010-05-01

Mandibles and teeth of ungulates have been extensively studied to discern the functional significance of their design. Grazing ungulates have deeper mandibles, longer coronoid processes, flatter incisor arcades, and more hypsodont molars in comparison to browsers. If the functional significance of both mandible and teeth shapes is well-established, it remains uncertain to what extent mandible shapes are really adapted to grazing, meaning that they evolved either to serve their current biological function or just as a structural requirement to accommodate higher crowned molars. Here, we address this question by studying the contribution of phylogeny, hypsodonty, and body size to mandibular shape variation. The mandible shape appeared to be significantly influenced by hypsodonty but not by body size. Interestingly, hypsodonty-related changes influenced the tooth row in artiodactyls and perissodactyls significantly but in the opposite directions, which is ultimately related to their different digestive strategies. Yet, we obtained a strong phylogenetic effect in perissodactyls, suggesting that their mandible shape should be strongly inherited. The strength of this effect was not significant within artiodactyls (where hypsodonty explained much more variance in mandible shape). Digestive strategy is deemed to interplay with hypsodonty to produce different paths of adaptation to particular diets in ungulates.

Intrinsic Correlations for Flaring Blazars Detected by Fermi

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

Fan, J. H.; Xiao, H. B.; Lin, C.

2017-02-01

Blazars are an extreme subclass of active galactic nuclei. Their rapid variability, luminous brightness, superluminal motion, and high and variable polarization are probably due to a beaming effect. However, this beaming factor (or Doppler factor) is very difficult to measure. Currently, a good way to estimate it is to use the timescale of their radio flares. In this Letter, we use multiwavelength data and Doppler factors reported in the literature for a sample of 86 flaring blazars detected by Fermi to compute their intrinsic multiwavelength data and intrinsic spectral energy distributions and investigate the correlations among observed and intrinsic data.more » Quite interestingly, intrinsic data show a positive correlation between luminosity and peak frequency, in contrast with the behavior of observed data, and a tighter correlation between γ -ray luminosity and the lower-energy ones. For flaring blazars detected by Fermi , we conclude that (1) observed emissions are strongly beamed; (2) the anti-correlation between luminosity and peak frequency from the observed data is an apparent result, the correlation between intrinsic data being positive; and (3) intrinsic γ -ray luminosity is strongly correlated with other intrinsic luminosities.« less

Oil: Lessons from Comparative Perspectives for Ghana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osei-Boakye, Maame Frema

Oil as it relates to maintenance of energy consumption is becoming a very important acquired resource all around the world. This thesis focuses on Ghana as a place where recent oil discoveries have taken place, to assess the current policies being put in place to avoid the oil pitfalls of their other African counterparts and to examine oil models that could possibly work to reinforce a positive outcome for the new found oil industry in Ghana. These research aims were met through extensive research of relevant literature. The research resulted in the finding that the Ghanaian government would benefit from a combination of economic models that have been used in the past (spend all, save all and spend interest only). The main conclusion that has resulted from this research is that through strong fiscal policies towards the Ghanaian oil industry Ghana should be able to maintain a relatively stable economy which in turn will produce a stable country all around. This research argues that by creating strong policies and using a combination of the econometric oil models this will help Ghana account for the immediate need for things like infrastructure while also saving money for when/if the oil is no longer being produced in the country.

Building Resiliency: The Role of Anchor Institutions in Sustaining Community Economic Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Office of University Partnerships, 2013

2013-01-01

These days, the federal government is keenly interested in how to encourage the process of developing resiliency in the struggle to revitalize decayed urban communities. The White House, through the Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) initiative, is also seeking to create cross-agency collaborations "to strengthen neighborhoods, towns,…

A phantom-based JAFROC observer study of two CT reconstruction methods: the search for optimisation of lesion detection and effective dose

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, John D.; Chakraborty, Dev P.; Szczepura, Katy; Vamvakas, Ioannis; Tootell, Andrew; Manning, David J.; Hogg, Peter

2015-03-01

Purpose: To investigate the dose saving potential of iterative reconstruction (IR) in a computed tomography (CT) examination of the thorax. Materials and Methods: An anthropomorphic chest phantom containing various configurations of simulated lesions (5, 8, 10 and 12mm; +100, -630 and -800 Hounsfield Units, HU) was imaged on a modern CT system over a tube current range (20, 40, 60 and 80mA). Images were reconstructed with (IR) and filtered back projection (FBP). An ATOM 701D (CIRS, Norfolk, VA) dosimetry phantom was used to measure organ dose. Effective dose was calculated. Eleven observers (15.11+/-8.75 years of experience) completed a free response study, localizing lesions in 544 single CT image slices. A modified jackknife alternative free-response receiver operating characteristic (JAFROC) analysis was completed to look for a significant effect of two factors: reconstruction method and tube current. Alpha was set at 0.05 to control the Type I error in this study. Results: For modified JAFROC analysis of reconstruction method there was no statistically significant difference in lesion detection performance between FBP and IR when figures-of-merit were averaged over tube current (F(1,10)=0.08, p = 0.789). For tube current analysis, significant differences were revealed between multiple pairs of tube current settings (F(3,10) = 16.96, p<0.001) when averaged over image reconstruction method. Conclusion: The free-response study suggests that lesion detection can be optimized at 40mA in this phantom model, a measured effective dose of 0.97mSv. In high-contrast regions the diagnostic value of IR, compared to FBP, is less clear.

Equatorial ionospheric currents derived from MAGSAT data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roy, M. (Principal Investigator)

1983-01-01

The MAGSAT data on the three component's of the geomagnetic field are subjected to ring current correction and crustal anomaly elimination near the dip equator. The evidence of a strong west east electrojet current below the satellite height (approximately 350 km) is confirmed. Strong evidence of east-west component of the field suggests the existence of a vertical current originating at the jet level and extending upwards. A model calculation shows that such a current system can explain the satellite data as well as the ground data.

All-textile flexible supercapacitors using electrospun poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) nanofibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laforgue, Alexis

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanofibers were obtained by the combination of electrospinning and vapor-phase polymerization. The fibers had diameters around 350 nm, and were soldered at most intersections, providing a strong dimensional stability to the mats. The nanofiber mats demonstrated very high conductivity (60 ± 10 S cm -1, the highest value reported so far for polymer nanofibers) as well as improved electrochemical properties, due to the ultraporous nature of the electrospun mats. The mats were incorporated into all-textile flexible supercapacitors, using carbon cloths as the current collectors and electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibrous membranes as the separator. The textile layers were stacked and embedded in a solid electrolyte containing an ionic liquid and PVDF-co-HFP as the host polymer. The resulting supercapacitors were totally flexible and demonstrated interesting and stable performances in ambient conditions.

Neural and Cellular Mechanisms of Fear and Extinction Memory Formation

PubMed Central

Orsini, Caitlin A.; Maren, Stephen

2012-01-01

Over the course of natural history, countless animal species have evolved adaptive behavioral systems to cope with dangerous situations and promote survival. Emotional memories are central to these defense systems because they are rapidly acquired and prepare organisms for future threat. Unfortunately, the persistence and intrusion of memories of fearful experiences are quite common and can lead to pathogenic conditions, such as anxiety and phobias. Over the course of the last thirty years, neuroscientists and psychologists alike have attempted to understand the mechanisms by which the brain encodes and maintains these aversive memories. Of equal interest, though, is the neurobiology of extinction memory formation as this may shape current therapeutic techniques. Here we review the extant literature on the neurobiology of fear and extinction memory formation, with a strong focus on the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these processes. PMID:22230704

A fully-automated neural network analysis of AFM force-distance curves for cancer tissue diagnosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minelli, Eleonora; Ciasca, Gabriele; Sassun, Tanya Enny; Antonelli, Manila; Palmieri, Valentina; Papi, Massimiliano; Maulucci, Giuseppe; Santoro, Antonio; Giangaspero, Felice; Delfini, Roberto; Campi, Gaetano; De Spirito, Marco

2017-10-01

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) has the unique capability of probing the nanoscale mechanical properties of biological systems that affect and are affected by the occurrence of many pathologies, including cancer. This capability has triggered growing interest in the translational process of AFM from physics laboratories to clinical practice. A factor still hindering the current use of AFM in diagnostics is related to the complexity of AFM data analysis, which is time-consuming and needs highly specialized personnel with a strong physical and mathematical background. In this work, we demonstrate an operator-independent neural-network approach for the analysis of surgically removed brain cancer tissues. This approach allowed us to distinguish—in a fully automated fashion—cancer from healthy tissues with high accuracy, also highlighting the presence and the location of infiltrating tumor cells.

The ANTOSTRAT legacy: Science collaboration and international transparency in potential marine mineral resource exploitation of Antarctica

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cooper, Alan; Barker, Peter; Barrett, Peter; Behrendt, John; Brancolini, Giuliano; Childs, Jonathan R.; Escutia, Carlota; Jokat, Wilfried; Kristoffersen, Yngve; Leitchenkov, German; Stagg, Howard; Tanahashi, Manabu; Wardell, Nigel; Webb, Peter

2009-01-01

The Antarctic Offshore Stratigraphy project (ANTOSTRAT; 1989–2002) was an extremely successful collaboration in international marine geological science that also lifted the perceived “veil of secrecy” from studies of potential exploitation of Antarctic marine mineral resources. The project laid the groundwork for circum-Antarctic seismic, drilling, and rock coring programs designed to decipher Antarctica’s tectonic, stratigraphic, and climate histories. In 2002, ANTOSTRAT evolved into the equally successful and currently active Antarctic Climate Evolution research program. The need for, and evolution of, ANTOSTRAT was based on two simple tenets within SCAR and the Antarctic Treaty: international science collaboration and open access to data. The ANTOSTRAT project may be a helpful analog for other regions of strong international science and geopolitical interests, such as the Arctic. This is the ANTOSTRAT story.

Cherenkov sound on a surface of a topological insulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smirnov, Sergey

2013-11-01

Topological insulators are currently of considerable interest due to peculiar electronic properties originating from helical states on their surfaces. Here we demonstrate that the sound excited by helical particles on surfaces of topological insulators has several exotic properties fundamentally different from sound propagating in nonhelical or even isotropic helical systems. Specifically, the sound may have strictly forward propagation absent for isotropic helical states. Its dependence on the anisotropy of the realistic surface states is of distinguished behavior which may be used as an alternative experimental tool to measure the anisotropy strength. Fascinating from the fundamental point of view backward, or anomalous, Cherenkov sound is excited above the critical angle π/2 when the anisotropy exceeds a critical value. Strikingly, at strong anisotropy the sound localizes into a few forward and backward beams propagating along specific directions.

Chemical Functionalization of Graphene Family Members

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vacchi, Isabella Anna; Ménard-Moyon, Cécilia; Bianco, Alberto

2017-01-01

Thanks to their outstanding physicochemical properties, graphene and its derivatives are interesting nanomaterials with a high potential in several fields. Graphene, graphene oxide, and reduced graphene oxide, however, differ partially in their characteristics due to their diverse surface composition. Those differences influence the chemical reactivity of these materials. In the following chapter the reactivity and main functionalization reactions performed on graphene, graphene oxide, and reduced graphene oxide are discussed. A part is also dedicated to the main analytical techniques used for characterization of these materials. Functionalization of graphene and its derivatives is highly important to modulate their characteristics and design graphene-based conjugates with novel properties. Functionalization can be covalent by forming strong and stable bonds with the graphene surface, or non-covalent via π-π, electrostatic, hydrophobic, and/or van der Waals interactions. Both types of functionalization are currently exploited.

Is News Media Related to Civic Engagement? The Effects of Interest in and Discussions about the News Media on Current and Future Civic Engagement of Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erentaite, Rasa; Zukauskiene, Rita; Beyers, Wim; Pilkauskaite-Valickiene, Rasa

2012-01-01

This study explored whether discussions about the media, when positively linked to interest in the news media, were related to adolescents' current and future civic engagement. A sample of 2638 adolescents (age M = 17, SD = 1.2), who participated in a school-based study on positive socialization, completed self-report measures on interest in the…

Population mixtures and searches of lensed and extended quasars across photometric surveys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, Peter; Agnello, Adriano; Treu, Tommaso

2017-04-01

Wide-field photometric surveys enable searches of rare yet interesting objects, such as strongly lensed quasars or quasars with a bright host galaxy. Past searches for lensed quasars based on their optical and near-infrared properties have relied on photometric cuts and spectroscopic preselection (as in the Sloan Quasar Lens Search), or neural networks applied to photometric samples. These methods rely on cuts in morphology and colours, with the risk of losing many interesting objects due to scatter in their population properties, restrictive training sets, systematic uncertainties in catalogue-based magnitudes and survey-to-survey photometric variations. Here, we explore the performance of a Gaussian mixture model to separate point-like quasars, quasars with an extended host and strongly lensed quasars using griz psf and model magnitudes and WISE W1, W2. The choice of optical magnitudes is due to their presence in all current and upcoming releases of wide-field surveys, whereas UV information is not always available. We then assess the contamination from blue galaxies and the role of additional features such as W3 magnitudes or psf-model terms as morphological information. As a demonstration, we conduct a search in a random 10 per cent of the SDSS footprint, and provide the catalogue of the 43 SDSS object with the highest 'lens' score in our selection that survive visual inspection, and are spectroscopically confirmed to host active nuclei. We inspect archival data and find images of 5/43 objects in the Hubble Legacy Archive, including two known lenses. The code and materials are available to facilitate follow-up.

Detecting and developing youth athlete potential: different strokes for different folks are warranted.

PubMed

Suppiah, Haresh T; Low, Chee Yong; Chia, Michael

2015-07-01

Sport talent identification and development (TI and TD) in youth continues to attract strong interest among coaches, sport scientists and sport administrators. TI for sport in youth with the anticipation of future elite level sport achievement is both an art and a science, and is strongly influenced by within athlete and extraneous-to-athlete factors (ecosystem of support or the lack of). The returns from investment on current TI and TD models of sport in youth are subpar in that few continue in the sport to achieve podium positions at the elite sport level in adulthood. Why, where and how one succeeds in sport, and what that success means to the athlete and stakeholders are dependent on the culture and context of the country. We advocate harnessing the power of sport to help in youth development, to be holistic in its nurturance, to allow for individual idiosyncratic expressions of the athletes, to provide for talent transfer across sport, and to facilitate key stakeholders to 'join' hands to work for the common interest and understanding for as many youth and adults so as to provide them with opportunities through support and coaching to compete at the different levels of competition in sport. Governments, policy makers and administrators of sport must decide, within their specific circumstances, if TI and TD in sport in youth is serving a meaningful purpose and is a viable return on investment; in short, is it mission possible or is it… a quest for the Holy Grail for a podium finish in elite level sport competition? Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Assessment of Nutrition Education Among Pediatric Gastroenterologists: A Survey of NASPGHAN Members

PubMed Central

Lin, Henry C; Kahana, Doron; Vos, Miriam B; Black, Dennis; Port, Zack; Shulman, Robert; Scheimann, Ann; Mascarenhas, Maria R.

2012-01-01

Pediatric gastroenterology is the only pediatric subspecialty with nutrition as part of its official curriculum and objective. However, pediatric gastroenterology fellows feel that their baseline knowledge in nutrition is suboptimal. The purpose of this study was to assess the perceived effectiveness of nutrition training among pediatric gastroenterologists, identify areas of need for additional education, and determine the perceived role of the gastroenterologist in obesity management. Methods A survey was sent to members and fellows of the North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) to assess general nutrition education as well as obesity management and educational needs. Results A total of 272 responses were received, for an overall response rate of 15.2% (272/1,784). Most responders reported having average or above-average knowledge base in all nutritional topics. There was strong interest in additional resources and a continuing medical education (CME) module on several nutrition topics including: nutritional requirements in specific gastrointestinal (GI) disease, failure to thrive/growth failure, and parenteral nutrition support, with the format of CME dependent on the topic. There was also a strong interest in additional CME on the management of pediatric obesity (67%), as most responders felt that the management of obesity in children requires subspecialty care. However, the perceived role of the pediatric gastroenterologist was one of support to treat the gastrointestinal and hepatic co-morbidities of obesity rather than serve as the main provider of comprehensive obesity care. Conclusion Pediatric gastroenterologists identified gaps in their nutrition knowledge base that may be attributed to the current nutrition education training during fellowship. Multiple topics were identified for additional nutrition education, including obesity management. The nutrition management challenges of today necessitate improved baseline nutrition knowledge and this focus on nutrition should begin at the fellowship level. PMID:22699840

Evaluation of analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant and anti-coagulant properties of Lactuca sativa (CV. Grand Rapids) plant tissues and cell suspension in rats.

PubMed

Ismail, Hammad; Mirza, Bushra

2015-06-27

Lactuca sativa (lettuce) has been traditionally used for relieving pain, inflammation, stomach problems including indigestion and lack of appetite. Moreover, the therapeutic significance of L. sativa includes its anticonvulsant, sedative-hypnotic and antioxidant properties. In the present study, the MC (methanol and chloroform; 1:1) and aqueous extracts of seed and leaf along with cell suspension exudate were prepared. These extracts were explored for their analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antidepressant and anticoagulant effects by hot plate analgesic assay; carrageenan induced hind paw edema test, forced swimming test and capillary method for blood clotting respectively in a rat model. The results were analyzed using one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) followed by Turkey multiple comparison test. Interestingly, the extracts and the cell suspension exudate showed dual inhibition by reducing pain and inflammation. The results indicated that the aqueous extracts of leaf exhibited highest analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities followed by leaf MC, cell suspension exudate, seed aqueous and seed MC extracts. The current findings show that aqueous and MC extracts of seed have the least immobility time in the forced swimming test, which could act as an anti-depressant on the central nervous system. The leaf extracts and cell suspension exudate also expressed moderate anti-depressant activities. In anticoagulant assay, the coagulation time of aspirin (positive control) and MC extract of leaf was comparable, suggesting strong anti-coagulant effect. Additionally, no abnormal behavior or lethality was observed in any animal tested. Taken together, L. sativa can potentially act as a strong herbal drug due to its multiple pharmaceutical effects and is therefore of interest in drug discovery and development of formulations.

Can one trust quantum simulators?

PubMed

Hauke, Philipp; Cucchietti, Fernando M; Tagliacozzo, Luca; Deutsch, Ivan; Lewenstein, Maciej

2012-08-01

Various fundamental phenomena of strongly correlated quantum systems such as high-T(c) superconductivity, the fractional quantum-Hall effect and quark confinement are still awaiting a universally accepted explanation. The main obstacle is the computational complexity of solving even the most simplified theoretical models which are designed to capture the relevant quantum correlations of the many-body system of interest. In his seminal 1982 paper (Feynman 1982 Int. J. Theor. Phys. 21 467), Richard Feynman suggested that such models might be solved by 'simulation' with a new type of computer whose constituent parts are effectively governed by a desired quantum many-body dynamics. Measurements on this engineered machine, now known as a 'quantum simulator,' would reveal some unknown or difficult to compute properties of a model of interest. We argue that a useful quantum simulator must satisfy four conditions: relevance, controllability, reliability and efficiency. We review the current state of the art of digital and analog quantum simulators. Whereas so far the majority of the focus, both theoretically and experimentally, has been on controllability of relevant models, we emphasize here the need for a careful analysis of reliability and efficiency in the presence of imperfections. We discuss how disorder and noise can impact these conditions, and illustrate our concerns with novel numerical simulations of a paradigmatic example: a disordered quantum spin chain governed by the Ising model in a transverse magnetic field. We find that disorder can decrease the reliability of an analog quantum simulator of this model, although large errors in local observables are introduced only for strong levels of disorder. We conclude that the answer to the question 'Can we trust quantum simulators?' is … to some extent.

Can one trust quantum simulators?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hauke, Philipp; Cucchietti, Fernando M.; Tagliacozzo, Luca; Deutsch, Ivan; Lewenstein, Maciej

2012-08-01

Various fundamental phenomena of strongly correlated quantum systems such as high-Tc superconductivity, the fractional quantum-Hall effect and quark confinement are still awaiting a universally accepted explanation. The main obstacle is the computational complexity of solving even the most simplified theoretical models which are designed to capture the relevant quantum correlations of the many-body system of interest. In his seminal 1982 paper (Feynman 1982 Int. J. Theor. Phys. 21 467), Richard Feynman suggested that such models might be solved by ‘simulation’ with a new type of computer whose constituent parts are effectively governed by a desired quantum many-body dynamics. Measurements on this engineered machine, now known as a ‘quantum simulator,’ would reveal some unknown or difficult to compute properties of a model of interest. We argue that a useful quantum simulator must satisfy four conditions: relevance, controllability, reliability and efficiency. We review the current state of the art of digital and analog quantum simulators. Whereas so far the majority of the focus, both theoretically and experimentally, has been on controllability of relevant models, we emphasize here the need for a careful analysis of reliability and efficiency in the presence of imperfections. We discuss how disorder and noise can impact these conditions, and illustrate our concerns with novel numerical simulations of a paradigmatic example: a disordered quantum spin chain governed by the Ising model in a transverse magnetic field. We find that disorder can decrease the reliability of an analog quantum simulator of this model, although large errors in local observables are introduced only for strong levels of disorder. We conclude that the answer to the question ‘Can we trust quantum simulators?’ is … to some extent.

Current Events in Basic Business Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Hook, Barry L.

1974-01-01

The author suggests the use of current events to stimulate student interest in basic business courses. Suggested topics described are monetary devaluation, interest rate adjustments, Illinois no-fault automobile insurance, labor-management disputes, Dow-Jones average, Picasso's death, energy crisis, sale of surplus wheat, local consumer assistance…

Association between prescription drug misuse and injection among runaway and homeless youth

PubMed Central

Al-Tayyib, Alia A; Rice, Eric; Rhoades, Harmony; Riggs, Paula

2013-01-01

Background The nonmedical use of prescription drugs is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States, disproportionately impacting youth. Furthermore, the population prevalence of injection drug use among youth is also on the rise. This short communication examines the association between current prescription drug misuse (PDM) and injection among runaway and homeless youth. Methods Homeless youth were surveyed between October, 2011 and February, 2012 at two drop-in service agencies in Los Angeles, CA. Prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between current PDM and injection behavior were estimated. The outcome of interest was use of a needle to inject any illegal drug into the body during the past 30 days. Results Of 380 homeless youth (median age, 21; IQR, 17-25; 72% male), 84 (22%) reported current PDM and 48 (13%) reported currently injecting. PDM during the past 30 days was associated with a 7.7 (95% CI: 4.4, 13.5) fold increase in the risk of injecting during that same time. Among those reporting current PDM with concurrent heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine use, the PR with injection was 15.1 (95% CI: 8.5, 26.8). Conclusions Runaway and homeless youth are at increased risk for a myriad of negative outcomes. Our preliminary findings are among the first to show the strong association between current PDM and injection in this population. Our findings provide the basis for additional research to delineate specific patterns of PDM and factors that enable or inhibit transition to injection among homeless and runaway youth. PMID:24300900

Association between prescription drug misuse and injection among runaway and homeless youth.

PubMed

Al-Tayyib, Alia A; Rice, Eric; Rhoades, Harmony; Riggs, Paula

2014-01-01

The nonmedical use of prescription drugs is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States, disproportionately impacting youth. Furthermore, the population prevalence of injection drug use among youth is also on the rise. This short communication examines the association between current prescription drug misuse (PDM) and injection among runaway and homeless youth. Homeless youth were surveyed between October 2011 and February 2012 at two drop-in service agencies in Los Angeles, CA. Prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between current PDM and injection behavior were estimated. The outcome of interest was use of a needle to inject any illegal drug into the body during the past 30 days. Of 380 homeless youth (median age, 21; IQR, 17-25; 72% male), 84 (22%) reported current PDM and 48 (13%) reported currently injecting. PDM during the past 30 days was associated with a 7.7 (95% CI: 4.4, 13.5) fold increase in the risk of injecting during that same time. Among those reporting current PDM with concurrent heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine use, the PR with injection was 15.1 (95% CI: 8.5, 26.8). Runaway and homeless youth are at increased risk for a myriad of negative outcomes. Our preliminary findings are among the first to show the strong association between current PDM and injection in this population. Our findings provide the basis for additional research to delineate specific patterns of PDM and factors that enable or inhibit transition to injection among homeless and runaway youth. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

What do we really know about conflicts of interest in biomedical research?

PubMed

Warner, Teddy D; Gluck, John P

2003-12-01

Conflicts of interest in research have long been seen to pose serious threats to the integrity of research. Indeed, the past two decades have revealed increased attention to the possible influence of conflicts of interest as the number of research studies funded by private industry have increased. We review empirical findings directly pertinent to issues concerning financial conflicts of interest in biomedical research, and we provide an overview of the current issues and state of understanding concerning such conflicts in research. We searched Medline from January 1992 to January 2002 to locate current studies that have reported primary or secondary empirical data pertaining to conflicts of interest in research. The rate of potential conflicts of interest for researchers appears to be at least 30% in some situations although the accuracy of such a rate is untested, and the rate of disclosure of conflicts of interest is as low as 2%. Furthermore, some evidence exists to indicate that researchers with conflicting interests may indeed offer different professional opinions and judgments than those for whom such conflicts do not exist. The effectiveness of various disclosure and management methods for conflicts of interest is unknown. We summarize the current empirical literature, concluding that relatively little is known based on such data. We suggest a number of questions that need to be answered by future research, and we offer recommendations for policy makers to consider and evaluate in the future in identifying, revealing, and managing conflicts of interest.

Thirty Years of Nearshore Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanton, T. P.

2006-12-01

An assessment of Ed Thornton's contributions to nearshore wave, current and morphology research on the eve of his retirement reveals his ability to identify important unresolved processes, and to participate in multidisciplinary research programs that address those issues. While doing this, he has consistently helped foster the new generations of field scientists both by supervising strong masters and PhD students from around the world, and through working with successful postdoctoral students, many of whom will present talks in this session. This presentation will summarize the major field programs that he has very actively participated in starting from my first field work with him as a colleague/helper in the NSTS Blacks Beach and Santa Barbara experiments. In reviewing these experiments it is interesting to see the evolution of our understanding of the surf zone from simplified 2D wave breaking processes to the 3D wave/current/sediment transport problems seen in morphologically controlled rip currents, both through our ability to measure these processes, but also in the sophistication of numerical models of the nearshore. This review also shows how the consistent and well directed basic research funding from the Coastal Geosciences program at ONR has greatly benefited the Navy and the community at large. I know the nearshore community looks forward to continued associations with him during his very active retirement.

Serotonin modulates the population activity profile of olfactory bulb external tufted cells

PubMed Central

Liu, Shaolin; Aungst, Jason L.; Puche, Adam C.

2012-01-01

Serotonergic neurons in the raphe nuclei constitute one of the most prominent neuromodulatory systems in the brain. Projections from the dorsal and median raphe nuclei provide dense serotonergic innervation of the glomeruli of olfactory bulb. Odor information is initially processed by glomeruli, thus serotonergic modulation of glomerular circuits impacts all subsequent odor coding in the olfactory system. The present study discloses that serotonin (5-HT) produces excitatory modulation of external tufted (ET) cells, a pivotal neuron in the operation of glomerular circuits. The modulation is due to a transient receptor potential (TRP) channel-mediated inward current induced by activation of 5-HT2A receptors. This current produces membrane depolarization and increased bursting frequency in ET cells. Interestingly, the magnitude of the inward current and increased bursting inversely correlate with ET cell spontaneous (intrinsic) bursting frequency: slower bursting ET cells are more strongly modulated than faster bursting cells. Serotonin thus differentially impacts ET cells such that the mean bursting frequency of the population is increased. This centrifugal modulation could impact odor processing by: 1) increasing ET cell excitatory drive on inhibitory neurons to increase presynaptic inhibition of olfactory sensory inputs and postsynaptic inhibition of mitral/tufted cells; and/or 2) coordinating ET cell bursting with exploratory sniffing frequencies (5–8 Hz) to facilitate odor coding. PMID:22013233

High-performance integrated pick-up circuit for SPAD arrays in time-correlated single photon counting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acconcia, Giulia; Cominelli, Alessandro; Peronio, Pietro; Rech, Ivan; Ghioni, Massimo

2017-05-01

The analysis of optical signals by means of Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) has been subject to a widespread interest in recent years. The development of multichannel high-performance Time Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) acquisition systems has undergone a fast trend. Concerning the detector performance, best in class results have been obtained resorting to custom technologies leading also to a strong dependence of the detector timing jitter from the threshold used to determine the onset of the photogenerated current flow. In this scenario, the avalanche current pick-up circuit plays a key role in determining the timing performance of the TCSPC acquisition system, especially with a large array of SPAD detectors because of electrical crosstalk issues. We developed a new current pick-up circuit based on a transimpedance amplifier structure able to extract the timing information from a 50-μm-diameter custom technology SPAD with a state-of-art timing jitter as low as 32ps and suitable to be exploited with SPAD arrays. In this paper we discuss the key features of this structure and we present a new version of the pick-up circuit that also provides quenching capabilities in order to minimize the number of interconnections required, an aspect that becomes more and more crucial in densely integrated systems.

Benefit in liver transplantation: a survey among medical staff, patients, medical students and non-medical university staff and students.

PubMed

Englschalk, Christine; Eser, Daniela; Jox, Ralf J; Gerbes, Alexander; Frey, Lorenz; Dubay, Derek A; Angele, Martin; Stangl, Manfred; Meiser, Bruno; Werner, Jens; Guba, Markus

2018-02-12

The allocation of any scarce health care resource, especially a lifesaving resource, can create profound ethical and legal challenges. Liver transplant allocation currently is based upon urgency, a sickest-first approach, and does not utilize capacity to benefit. While urgency can be described reasonably well with the MELD system, benefit encompasses multiple dimensions of patients' well-being. Currently, the balance between both principles is ill-defined. This survey with 502 participants examines how urgency and benefit are weighted by different stakeholders (medical staff, patients on the liver transplant list or already transplanted, medical students and non-medical university staff and students). Liver transplant patients favored the sickest-first allocation, although all other groups tended to favor benefit. Criteria of a successful transplantation were a minimum survival of at least 1 year and recovery of functional status to being ambulatory and capable of all self-care (ECOG 2). An individual delisting decision was accepted when the 1-year survival probability would fall below 50%. Benefit was found to be a critical variable that may also trigger the willingness to donate organs. The strong interest of stakeholder for successful liver transplants is inadequately translated into current allocation rules.

Can mobile phones used in strong motion seismology?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Alessandro, Antonino; D'Anna, Giuseppe

2013-04-01

Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) accelerometers are electromechanical devices able to measure static or dynamic accelerations. In the 1990s MEMS accelerometers revolutionized the automotive-airbag system industry and are currently widely used in laptops, game controllers and mobile phones. Nowadays MEMS accelerometers seems provide adequate sensitivity, noise level and dynamic range to be applicable to earthquake strong motion acquisition. The current use of 3 axes MEMS accelerometers in mobile phone maybe provide a new means to easy increase the number of observations when a strong earthquake occurs. However, before utilize the signals recorded by a mobile phone equipped with a 3 axes MEMS accelerometer for any scientific porpoise, it is fundamental to verify that the signal collected provide reliable records of ground motion. For this reason we have investigated the suitability of the iPhone 5 mobile phone (one of the most popular mobile phone in the world) for strong motion acquisition. It is provided by several MEMS devise like a three-axis gyroscope, a three-axis electronic compass and a the LIS331DLH three-axis accelerometer. The LIS331DLH sensor is a low-cost high performance three axes linear accelerometer, with 16 bit digital output, produced by STMicroelectronics Inc. We have tested the LIS331DLH MEMS accelerometer using a vibrating table and the EpiSensor FBA ES-T as reference sensor. In our experiments the reference sensor was rigidly co-mounted with the LIS331DHL MEMS sensor on the vibrating table. We assessment the MEMS accelerometer in the frequency range 0.2-20 Hz, typical range of interesting in strong motion seismology and earthquake engineering. We generate both constant and damped sine waves with central frequency starting from 0.2 Hz until 20 Hz with step of 0.2 Hz. For each frequency analyzed we generate sine waves with mean amplitude 50, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600 mg0. For damped sine waves we generate waveforms with initial amplitude of 2 g0. Our tests show as, in the frequency and amplitude range analyzed (0.2-20 Hz, 10-2000 mg0), the LIS331DLH MEMS accelerometer have excellent frequency and phase response, comparable with that of some standard FBA accelerometer used in strong motion seismology. However, we found that the signal recorded by the LIS331DLH MEMS accelerometer slightly underestimates the real acceleration (of about 2.5%). This suggests that may be important to calibrate a MEMS sensor before using it in scientific applications. A drawback of the LIS331DLH MEMS accelerometer is its low sensitivity. This is an important limitation of all the low cost MEMS accelerometers; therefore nowadays they are desirable to use only in strong motion seismology. However, the rapid development of this technology will lead in the coming years to the development of high sensitivity and low noise digital MEMS sensors that may be replace the current seismic accelerometer used in seismology. Actually, the real main advantage of these sensors is their common use in the mobile phones.

Perceptions of conflict of interest: surgeons, internists, and learners compared.

PubMed

de Gara, Christopher J; Rennick, Kim C; Hanson, John

2013-05-01

Making a conflict of interest declaration is now mandatory at continuing medical education CME accredited events. However, these declarations tend to be largely perfunctory. This study sought to better understand physician perceptions surrounding conflict of interest. The same PowerPoint (Microsoft, Canada) presentation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQSOvch7Yg0&feature=g-upl) was delivered at multiple University of Alberta and Royal College CME-accredited events to surgeons, internists, and learners. After each talk, the audience was invited to complete an anonymous, pretested, and standardized 5-point Likert scale (strongly disagree to strongly agree) questionnaire. A total of 136 surveys were analyzed from 31 surgeons, 49 internists, and 56 learners. In response to the question regarding whether by simply making a declaration, the speaker had provided adequate proof of any conflicts of interest, 71% of surgeons thought so, whereas only 35% of internists and 39% of learners agreed or strongly agreed (P = .004). Further probing this theme, the audience was asked whether a speaker must declare fees or monies received from industry for consulting, speaking, and research support. Once again there was a variance of opinion, with only 43% of surgeons agreeing or strongly agreeing with this statement; yet, 80% of internists and 71% of learners felt that such a declaration was necessary (P = .013). On the topic of believability (a speaker declaration makes him or her and the presentation more credible), the 3 groups were less polarized: 50% of surgeons, 41% of internists, and 52% of learners (P = .2) felt that this was the case. Although two thirds of surgeons (68%) and learners (66%) and nearly all internists (84%) felt that industry-sponsored research was biased, these differences were not significant (P = .2). Even when they are completely open and honest, conflict of interest declarations do not negate the biases inherent in a speaker's talk or research when it is industry sponsored. The larger issue is how best to manage these conflicts. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Enhancement of runaway production by resonant magnetic perturbation on J-TEXT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Z. Y.; Huang, D. W.; Izzo, V. A.; Tong, R. H.; Jiang, Z. H.; Hu, Q. M.; Wei, Y. N.; Yan, W.; Rao, B.; Wang, S. Y.; Ma, T. K.; Li, S. C.; Yang, Z. J.; Ding, D. H.; Wang, Z. J.; Zhang, M.; Zhuang, G.; Pan, Y.; J-TEXT Team

2016-07-01

The suppression of runaways following disruptions is key for the safe operation of ITER. The massive gas injection (MGI) has been developed to mitigate heat loads, electromagnetic forces and runaway electrons (REs) during disruptions. However, MGI may not completely prevent the generation of REs during disruptions on ITER. Resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) has been applied to suppress runaway generation during disruptions on several machines. It was found that strong RMP results in the enhancement of runaway production instead of runaway suppression on J-TEXT. The runaway current was about 50% pre-disruption plasma current in argon induced reference disruptions. With moderate RMP, the runway current decreased to below 30% pre-disruption plasma current. The runaway current plateaus reach 80% of the pre-disruptive current when strong RMP was applied. Strong RMP may induce large size magnetic islands that could confine more runaway seed during disruptions. This has important implications for runaway suppression on large machines.

Modeling of the interest rate policy of the central bank of Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shelomentsev, A. G.; Berg, D. B.; Detkov, A. A.; Rylova, A. P.

2017-11-01

This paper investigates interactions among money supply, exchange rates, inflation, and nominal interest rates, which are regulating parameters of the Central bank policy. The study is based on the data received from Russian source in 2002-2016. The major findings are 1) the interest rate demonstrates almost no relation with inflation; 2) ties of money supply and the nominal interest rate are strong; 3) money supply and inflation show meaningful relations only in comparison to their growth rates. We have developed a dynamic model, which can be used in forecasting of macroeconomic processes.

Revisiting Studies of the Statistical Property of a Strong Gravitational Lens System and Model-Independent Constraint on the Curvature of the Universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, Jun-Qing; Yu, Hai; Wang, Guo-Jian; Tian, Shu-Xun; Li, Zheng-Xiang; Cao, Shuo; Zhu, Zong-Hong

2017-01-01

In this paper, we use a recently compiled data set, which comprises 118 galactic-scale strong gravitational lensing (SGL) systems to constrain the statistical property of the SGL system as well as the curvature of the universe without assuming any fiducial cosmological model. Based on the singular isothermal ellipsoid (SIE) model of the SGL system, we obtain that the constrained curvature parameter {{{Ω }}}{{k}} is close to zero from the SGL data, which is consistent with the latest result of Planck measurement. More interestingly, we find that the parameter f in the SIE model is strongly correlated with the curvature {{{Ω }}}{{k}}. Neglecting this correlation in the analysis will significantly overestimate the constraining power of SGL data on the curvature. Furthermore, the obtained constraint on f is different from previous results: f=1.105+/- 0.030 (68% confidence level [C.L.]), which means that the standard singular isothermal sphere (SIS) model (f = 1) is disfavored by the current SGL data at more than a 3σ C.L. We also divide all of the SGL data into two parts according to the centric stellar velocity dispersion {σ }{{c}} and find that the larger the value of {σ }{{c}} for the subsample, the more favored the standard SIS model is. Finally, we extend the SIE model by assuming the power-law density profiles for the total mass density, ρ ={ρ }0{(r/{r}0)}-α , and luminosity density, ν ={ν }0{(r/{r}0)}-δ , and obtain the constraints on the power-law indices: α =1.95+/- 0.04 and δ =2.40+/- 0.13 at a 68% C.L. When assuming the power-law index α =δ =γ , this scenario is totally disfavored by the current SGL data, {χ }\\min ,γ 2-{χ }\\min ,{SIE}2≃ 53.

Closed Financial Loops: When They Happen in Government, They're Called Corruption; in Medicine, They're Just a Footnote.

PubMed

De Jesus-Morales, Kevin; Prasad, Vinay

2017-05-01

Many physicians are involved in relationships that create tension between a physician's duty to work in her patients' best interest at all times and her financial arrangement with a third party, most often a pharmaceutical manufacturer, whose primary goal is maximizing sales or profit. Despite the prevalence of this threat, in the United States and globally, the most common reaction to conflicts of interest in medicine is timid acceptance. There are few calls for conflicts of interest to be banned, and, to our knowledge, no one calls for conflicted practitioners to be reprimanded. Contrast our attitudes in medicine with public attitudes toward financial conflicts among government employees. When enforcement of rules against conflict of interest slackens in the public sector, news organizations investigate and publish their criticism. Yet even when doctors are quoted in the media promoting specific drugs, their personal financial ties to the drug maker are rarely mentioned. Policies for governmental employees are strict, condemnation is strong, and criminal statutes exist (allowing for corruption charges). Yet the evidence that conflict is problematic is, if anything, stronger in medicine than in the public sector. Policies against conflicts of interest in medicine should be at least as strong as those already existing in the public sector. © 2017 The Hastings Center.

Comparative Magma Oceanography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, John H.

1999-01-01

The question of whether the Earth ever passed through a magma ocean stop is of considerable interest. Geochemical evidence strongly suggests that the Moon had a magma ocean and the evidence is mounting that the same was true for Mars. Analyses of mar (SNC) meteorites have yielded insights into the differentiation history of Mars, and consequently, it is interesting to compare that planet to the Earth. Three primary features of An contrast strongly to those of the Earth: (1) the extremely ancient ages of the martian core, mantle, and crust (approx. 4.55 b.y.); (2) the highly depleted nature of the martian mantle; and (3) the extreme ranges of Nd isotopic compositions that arise within the crust and depleted mantle.

An investigation into the magnitude of the current window and perception of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) sensation at various frequencies and body sites in healthy human participants.

PubMed

Hughes, Nicola; Bennett, Michael I; Johnson, Mark I

2013-02-01

Strong nonpainful transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is prerequisite to a successful analgesic outcome although the ease with which this sensation is achieved is likely to depend on the magnitude of current amplitude (mA) between sensory detection threshold (SDT) and pain threshold, that is, the current window. To measure the current window and participant's perception of the comfort of the TENS sensation at different body sites. A repeated measure cross-over study was conducted using 30 healthy adult volunteers. Current amplitudes (mA) of TENS [2 pulses per second (pps); 30 pps; 80 pps] at SDT, pain threshold, and strong nonpainful intensities were measured at the tibia (bone), knee joint (connective tissue), lower back [paraspinal (skeletal) muscle], volar surface of forearm (nerve) and waist (fat). The amplitude to achieve a strong nonpainful intensity was represented as a percentage of the current window. Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance. Effects were detected for body site and frequency for SDT (P<0.001, P=0.018, respectively), current window (P<0.001, P<0.001, respectively), and strong nonpainful TENS as a percentage of the current window (P=0.002, P<0.001, respectively). The current window was larger for the knee joint compared with tibia (difference [95% confidence interval]=12.76 mA [4.25, 21.28]; P=0.001) and forearm (10.33 mA [2.62, 18.40]; P=0.006), and for the lower back compared with tibia (12.10 mA [1.65, 22.52]; P=0.015) and forearm (9.65 mA [1.06, 18.24]; P=0.019). The current window was larger for 2 pps compared with 30 pps (P<0.001) and 80 pps (P<0.001). Participants rated strong nonpainful TENS as most comfortable at the lower back (P<0.001) and least comfortable at the tibia and forearm (P<0.001). TENS is most comfortable and easiest to titrate to a strong nonpainful intensity when applied over areas of muscle and soft tissue.

40 CFR 35.6340 - Disposal of CERCLA-funded property.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... ASSISTANCE STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Cooperative Agreements and Superfund State Contracts for Superfund... Substance Superfund for EPA's vested interest in the current fair market value of the equipment at the time... supplies and reimburse the Hazardous Substance Superfund for EPA's interest in the current fair market...

36 CFR 1250.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... requester seeking information for a use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade, or profit interests... professional education, or an institution of vocational education, that operates a program of scholarly... information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public. Examples of news...

Professional Development in the Vocational Education and Training Workforce. Occasional Paper

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guthrie, Hugh

2010-01-01

This paper is based on one prepared for South Australia's Training and Skills Commission. It comes at a time of strong interest in the quality and professionalism of the vocational education and training (VET) workforce. This interest is underpinned by research into what constitutes quality teaching, as well as initiatives such as the strategic…

A Phenomenological Study of Gay and Lesbian College Students' Spiritual Experiences at Religious Higher Education Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bryan, Vanessa Roberts

2017-01-01

Despite recent scholarly interest in college students' spirituality and spiritual development, as well as research indicating that students are interested in spirituality and have a strong desire to integrate spirituality into their lives, few researchers have addressed the spiritual experiences of gay and lesbian college students. Utilizing a…

A Concurrent Test of Accuracy-of-Classification for the Strong Vocational Interest and Kuder Occupational Interest Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zytowski, Donald G.

1972-01-01

Owing to the uncertainty concerning the concurrent validity of the SVIB and the KOIS, a test of accuracy of classification of men in the occupations common to both inventories was undertaken. The results suggest that neither show any less validity than had been shown in separate studies previously. (Author)

Career Assessment of Ultraorthodox Jewish Men: Reliability, Validity, and Results of the Strong Interest Inventory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pirutinsky, Steven

2013-01-01

Ultraorthodox men spend years studying religion and delay entry into the workforce until their early 30s. They then face barriers such as insufficient education and work experience, religious restrictions, and a lack of career information and self-knowledge. Although there is considerable interest in assessment, no measure has been validated…

Meaningfulness of Sex Differences in Selected Interest-Values Test Scores.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plant, Walter T.; Southern, Mara L.

This research paper examines the meaningfulness of sex differences in the Allport, Vernon and Lindzey (AVL) Study of Values Scale and in selected scales of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII), using somewhat diverse groups of men and women. By comparing men's and women's scores on the two measures, it was found that little accuracy in…

Exploration of maximum count rate capabilities for large-area photon counting arrays based on polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Albert K.; Koniczek, Martin; Antonuk, Larry E.; El-Mohri, Youcef; Zhao, Qihua

2016-03-01

Pixelated photon counting detectors with energy discrimination capabilities are of increasing clinical interest for x-ray imaging. Such detectors, presently in clinical use for mammography and under development for breast tomosynthesis and spectral CT, usually employ in-pixel circuits based on crystalline silicon - a semiconductor material that is generally not well-suited for economic manufacture of large-area devices. One interesting alternative semiconductor is polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si), a thin-film technology capable of creating very large-area, monolithic devices. Similar to crystalline silicon, poly-Si allows implementation of the type of fast, complex, in-pixel circuitry required for photon counting - operating at processing speeds that are not possible with amorphous silicon (the material currently used for large-area, active matrix, flat-panel imagers). The pixel circuits of two-dimensional photon counting arrays are generally comprised of four stages: amplifier, comparator, clock generator and counter. The analog front-end (in particular, the amplifier) strongly influences performance and is therefore of interest to study. In this paper, the relationship between incident and output count rate of the analog front-end is explored under diagnostic imaging conditions for a promising poly-Si based design. The input to the amplifier is modeled in the time domain assuming a realistic input x-ray spectrum. Simulations of circuits based on poly-Si thin-film transistors are used to determine the resulting output count rate as a function of input count rate, energy discrimination threshold and operating conditions.

Tracing the recombination and colonization history of hybrid species in space and time.

PubMed

Lexer, C; Stölting, K N

2011-09-01

Hybrid speciation has long fascinated evolutionary biologists and laymen alike, presumably because it challenges our classical view of evolution as a 'one-way street' leading to strictly tree-like patterns of ancestry and descent. Homoploid hybrid speciation (HHS) has been a particularly interesting puzzle, as it appears to occur extremely rapidly, perhaps within less than 50 generations (McCarthy et al. 1995; Buerkle et al. 2000). Nevertheless, HHS may sometimes involve extended or repeated periods of recombination and gene exchange between populations subject to strong divergent natural selection (Buerkle & Rieseberg 2008). Thus, HHS provides a highly interesting setting for understanding the drivers and tempo of adaptive divergence and speciation in the face of gene flow (Arnold 2006; Rieseberg & Willis 2007; Nolte & Tautz 2009). In the present issue of Molecular Ecology, Wang et al. (2011) explore a particularly challenging issue connected to HHS: they attempt to trace the colonization and recombination history of an ancient (several MYA) hybrid species, from admixture and recombination in the ancestral hybrid zone to subsequent range shifts triggered by tectonic events (uplift of the Tibetan plateau) and climatic shifts (Pleistocene ice ages). This work is important because it addresses key issues related to the origin of the standing genetic variation available for adaptive responses (e.g. to climate change) and speciation in temperate species, which are topics of great current interest (Rieseberg et al. 2003; Barrett & Schluter 2008; de Carvalho et al. 2010). © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The Strong Lensing Time Delay Challenge (2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Kai; Dobler, G.; Fassnacht, C. D.; Treu, T.; Marshall, P. J.; Rumbaugh, N.; Linder, E.; Hojjati, A.

2014-01-01

Time delays between multiple images in strong lensing systems are a powerful probe of cosmology. At the moment the application of this technique is limited by the number of lensed quasars with measured time delays. However, the number of such systems is expected to increase dramatically in the next few years. Hundred such systems are expected within this decade, while the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is expected to deliver of order 1000 time delays in the 2020 decade. In order to exploit this bounty of lenses we needed to make sure the time delay determination algorithms have sufficiently high precision and accuracy. As a first step to test current algorithms and identify potential areas for improvement we have started a "Time Delay Challenge" (TDC). An "evil" team has created realistic simulated light curves, to be analyzed blindly by "good" teams. The challenge is open to all interested parties. The initial challenge consists of two steps (TDC0 and TDC1). TDC0 consists of a small number of datasets to be used as a training template. The non-mandatory deadline is December 1 2013. The "good" teams that complete TDC0 will be given access to TDC1. TDC1 consists of thousands of lightcurves, a number sufficient to test precision and accuracy at the subpercent level, necessary for time-delay cosmography. The deadline for responding to TDC1 is July 1 2014. Submissions will be analyzed and compared in terms of predefined metrics to establish the goodness-of-fit, efficiency, precision and accuracy of current algorithms. This poster describes the challenge in detail and gives instructions for participation.

Social and Emotional Learning in the Kindergarten Classroom: Evaluation of the "Strong Start" Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kramer, Thomas J.; Caldarella, Paul; Christensen, Lynnette; Shatzer, Ryan H.

2010-01-01

There has been increasing interest in the promotion of social and emotional learning in schools, and research has shown positive outcomes. However, relatively few studies have been conducted in kindergarten classrooms or considered the feasibility of kindergarten implementation. This study examined the effects of "Strong Start" on the social and…

A new spin on electron liquids: Phenomena in systems with spin-orbit coupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernevig, B. Andrei

Conventional microelectronic devices are based on the ability to store and control the flow of electronic charge. Spin-based electronics promises a radical alternative, offering the possibility of logic operations with much lower power consumption than equivalent charge-based logic operations. Our research suggests that spin transport is fundamentally different from the transport of charge. The generalized Ohm's law that governs the flow of spins indicates that the generation of spin current by an electric field can be reversible and non-dissipative. Spin-orbit coupling and spin currents appear in many other seemingly unrelated areas of physics. Spin currents are as fundamental in theoretical physics as charge currents. In strongly correlated systems such as spin-chains, one can write down the Hamiltonian as a spin-current - spin-current interaction. The research presented here shows that the fractionalized excitations of one-dimensional spin chains are gapless and carry spin current. We present the most interesting example of such a chain, the Haldane-Shastry spin chain, which is exactly solvable in terms of real-space wavefunctions. Spin-orbit coupling can be found in high-energy physics, hidden under a different name: non-trivial fibrations. Particles moving in a space which is non-trivially related to an (iso)spin space acquire a gauge connection (the condensed-matter equivalent of a Berry phase) which can be either abelian or non-abelian. In most cases, the consequences of such gauge connection are far-reaching. We present a problem where particles move on an 8-dimensional manifold and posses an isospin space with is a 7-sphere S 7. The non-trivial isospin space gives the Hamiltonian SO (8) landau-level structure, and the system exhibits a higher-dimensional Quantum Hall Effect.

Emotion-Related Regulation: An Emerging Construct

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eisenberg, Nancy; Champion, Claire; Ma, Yue

2004-01-01

Emotion-related regulation is a topic of considerable current interest; however, this was not always true. We briefly discuss the history of interest in the topic and then the current state of the field, including definitions of the construct. In addition, we summarize some of the important issues for future attention, including definitional…

Novel scintillators and silicon photomultipliers for nuclear physics and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenkins, David

2015-06-01

Until comparatively recently, scintillator detectors were seen as an old-fashioned tool of nuclear physics with more attention being given to areas such as gamma-ray tracking using high-purity germanium detectors. Next-generation scintillator detectors, such as lanthanum bromide, which were developed for the demands of space science and gamma- ray telescopes, are found to have strong applicability to low energy nuclear physics. Their excellent timing resolution makes them very suitable for fast timing measurements and their much improved energy resolution compared to conventional scintillators promises to open up new avenues in nuclear physics research which were presently hard to access. Such "medium-resolution" spectroscopy has broad interest across several areas of contemporary interest such as the study of nuclear giant resonances. In addition to the connections to space science, it is striking that the demands of contemporary medical imaging have strong overlap with those of experimental nuclear physics. An example is the interest in PET-MRI combined imaging which requires putting scintillator detectors in a high magnetic field environment. This has led to strong advances in the area of silicon photomultipliers, a solid-state replacement for photomultiplier tubes, which are insensitive to magnetic fields. Broad application to nuclear physics of this technology may be foreseen.

Evidence for Field-parallel Electron Acceleration in Solar Flares

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

Haerendel, G.

It is proposed that the coincidence of higher brightness and upward electric current observed by Janvier et al. during a flare indicates electron acceleration by field-parallel potential drops sustained by extremely strong field-aligned currents of the order of 10{sup 4} A m{sup −2}. A consequence of this is the concentration of the currents in sheets with widths of the order of 1 m. The high current density suggests that the field-parallel potential drops are maintained by current-driven anomalous resistivity. The origin of these currents remains a strong challenge for theorists.

High-latitude dayside electric fields and currents during strong northward interplanetary magnetic field - Observations and model simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clauer, C. Robert; Friis-Christensen, Eigil

1988-01-01

On July 23, 1983 the IMF turned strongly northward, becoming about 22 nT for several hours. Using a combined data set of ionospheric convection measurements made by the Sondre Stromfjord incoherent scatter radar and convection inferred from Greenland magnetometer measurements, the onset of the reconfiguration of the high-latitude ionospheric currents is found to occur about 3 min after the northward IMF encounters the magnetopause. The large-scale reconfiguration of currents, however, appears to evolve over a period of about 22 min. These observations and the results of numerical simulations indicate that the dayside polar-cap electric field observed during strong northward IMF is produced by a direct electrical current coupling with the solar wind.

Electromagnetically driven radiative shocks and their measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kondo, K.; Nakajima, M.; Kawamura, T.; Horioka, K.

2006-06-01

Experimental results on a generation of strong shocks in a compact pulse power device are reported. To make a strong and plain shock wave, electrodes are tapered and an acrylic guiding tube is located on the top of the electrodes. It drives a quasi-one-dimensional strong shock in the guiding tube. When the front speed is more than the critical speed Drad, an interesting structure is confirmed at the shock front, which indicate a phenomenon proceeded by the radiative transport.

Gendered Occupational Interests: Prenatal Androgen Effects on Psychological Orientation to Things Versus People

PubMed Central

Beltz, Adriene M.; Swanson, Jane L.; Berenbaum, Sheri A.

2011-01-01

There is considerable interest in understanding women’s underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers. Career choices have been shown to be driven in part by interests, and gender differences in those interests have generally been considered to result from socialization. We explored the contribution of sex hormones to career-related interests, in particular studying whether prenatal androgens affect interests through psychological orientation to Things versus People. We examined this question in individuals with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), who have atypical exposure to androgens early in development, and their unaffected siblings (total N = 125 aged 9 to 26 years). Females with CAH had more interest in Things versus People than did unaffected females, and variations among females with CAH reflected variations in their degree of androgen exposure. Results provide strong support for hormonal influences on interest in occupations characterized by working with Things versus People. PMID:21689657

Gendered occupational interests: prenatal androgen effects on psychological orientation to Things versus People.

PubMed

Beltz, Adriene M; Swanson, Jane L; Berenbaum, Sheri A

2011-09-01

There is considerable interest in understanding women's underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers. Career choices have been shown to be driven in part by interests, and gender differences in those interests have generally been considered to result from socialization. We explored the contribution of sex hormones to career-related interests, in particular studying whether prenatal androgens affect interests through psychological orientation to Things versus People. We examined this question in individuals with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), who have atypical exposure to androgens early in development, and their unaffected siblings (total N=125 aged 9 to 26 years). Females with CAH had more interest in Things versus People than did unaffected females, and variations among females with CAH reflected variations in their degree of androgen exposure. Results provide strong support for hormonal influences on interest in occupations characterized by working with Things versus People. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Strong dynamics and lattice gauge theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaich, David

In this dissertation I use lattice gauge theory to study models of electroweak symmetry breaking that involve new strong dynamics. Electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) is the process by which elementary particles acquire mass. First proposed in the 1960s, this process has been clearly established by experiments, and can now be considered a law of nature. However, the physics underlying EWSB is still unknown, and understanding it remains a central challenge in particle physics today. A natural possibility is that EWSB is driven by the dynamics of some new, strongly-interacting force. Strong interactions invalidate the standard analytical approach of perturbation theory, making these models difficult to study. Lattice gauge theory is the premier method for obtaining quantitatively-reliable, nonperturbative predictions from strongly-interacting theories. In this approach, we replace spacetime by a regular, finite grid of discrete sites connected by links. The fields and interactions described by the theory are likewise discretized, and defined on the lattice so that we recover the original theory in continuous spacetime on an infinitely large lattice with sites infinitesimally close together. The finite number of degrees of freedom in the discretized system lets us simulate the lattice theory using high-performance computing. Lattice gauge theory has long been applied to quantum chromodynamics, the theory of strong nuclear interactions. Using lattice gauge theory to study dynamical EWSB, as I do in this dissertation, is a new and exciting application of these methods. Of particular interest is non-perturbative lattice calculation of the electroweak S parameter. Experimentally S ≈ -0.15(10), which tightly constrains dynamical EWSB. On the lattice, I extract S from the momentum-dependence of vector and axial-vector current correlators. I created and applied computer programs to calculate these correlators and analyze them to determine S. I also calculated the masses and other properties of the new particles predicted by these theories. I find S ≳ 0.1 in the specific theories I study. Although this result still disagrees with experiment, it is much closer to the experimental value than is the conventional wisdom S ≳ 0.3. These results encourage further lattice studies to search for experimentally viable strongly-interacting theories of EWSB.

TerraHertz Free Electron Laser Applications for Satellite Remote Sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heaps, William S.

2003-01-01

The development of a Free Electron Laser (EL) operating in the terahertz frequency regime by the group at the University of Hawaii (Elias et al.) represents a significant new opportunity in the area of atmospheric remote sensing. The FEL has 2 salient features that create a unique opportunity. First of all it represents the only source in this frequency range with sufficient power to enable lidar instrumentation. Secondly its very high electrical efficiency (several times more efficient than any currently employed spaceborne laser) renders it a strong candidate for use in satellite remote sensing. On the negative side the atmosphere is rather strongly absorbing throughout this frequency range due primarily to the water vapor continuum absorption. This means that the instruments using this laser will not be able to access the lower troposphere because of its very high water concentration.. However the instrument will be very capable of measurements in the upper troposphere and stratosphere. A passive instrument, the Microwave Limb Sounder on the UARS satellite operated by Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has already demonstrated that this wavelength region can be used for chemical species with strong emission lines. A lidar would complement the capabilities of this instrument by providing the capability to measure absorbing species in the upper atmosphere. I will discuss the design of such an instrument in greater detail and estimate its performance in measuring a number of chemical species of interest to the Earth Science community.

Unanticipated spin gap measured in the frustrated quasi-FCC d3 double perovskites La2 LiXO6 (X = Ru, Os)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maharaj, Dalini D.; Sala, Gabriele; Marjerrison, Casey A.; Greedan, John; Gaulin, Bruce; Stone, Matthew

There is much current interest in the influence of strong spin-orbit (SO) interactions on exotic ground state selection in new 4d and 5d magnets, particularly involving 4d5 Ir. Here we consider double perovskites of the form A2 BB'O6 which are based on heavy 4d or 5d magnetic ions, where the SO interaction is expected to be significant as it increases as ~Z4 . The double perovskite structure can accommodate a variety of magnetic ions on the B' site, providing a playground for systematic studies of the exotic ground states stabilized by strong SO coupling. Here, we report inelastic neutron scattering (INS) measurements conducted on the frustrated monoclinic magnets, La2LiXO6 (X = Ru, Os), wherein the magnetic moments decorate a quasi face-centered-cubic lattice. Our results show the development of a spin gap in the spin excitation spectrum of size ΔOs = 8 meV and ΔRu = 2.5meV concomitant with TN, which is unexpected for orbitally quenched d3 systems. We liken these results to INS results obtained for Ba2YXO6 and La2NaXO6, which were also shown to exhibit spin gaps that correlate with TN. We shall discuss trends observed in these three d3 double perovskite families which correlate strong SO coupling, spin gap and TN.

Believability of Messages about Cannabis, Cocaine and Heroin among Never-Triers, Trier-Rejecters and Current Users of Cannabis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Sandra C.; Rossiter, John R.

2004-01-01

This paper examines the believability of strong warnings about the negative consequences of drug use among young adults in Australia who have never tried, currently use, or have tried and rejected cannabis. It finds that the strong warnings about cannabis are generally believed by never-triers. The same warnings are perceived by current users as…

29 CFR 20.58 - Rate of interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Rate of interest. 20.58 Section 20.58 Labor Office of the Secretary of Labor FEDERAL CLAIMS COLLECTION Interest, Penalties and Administrative Costs § 20.58 Rate of interest. (a) The rate of interest assessed shall be the rate of the current value of funds to the United...

Oceanic response to Typhoon Nari (2007) in the East China Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Kyung-Hee; Lee, Seok; Kang, Sok-Kuh; Song, Kyu-Min

2017-06-01

The oceanic response to a typhoon in the East China Sea (ECS) was examined using thermal and current structures obtained from ocean surface drifters and a bottom-moored current profiler installed on the right side of the typhoon's track. Typhoon Nari (2007) had strong winds as it passed the central region of the ECS. The thermal structure in the ECS responded to Typhoon Nari (2007) very quickly: the seasonal thermocline abruptly collapsed and the sea surface temperature dropped immediately by about 4°C after the typhoon passed. The strong vertical mixing and surface cooling caused by the typhoon resulted in a change in the thermal structure. Strong near-inertial oscillation occurred immediately after the typhoon passed and lasted for at least 4-5 days, during which a strong vertical current existed in the lower layer. Characteristics of the near-inertial internal oscillation were observed in the middle layer. The clockwise component of the inertial frequency was enhanced in the surface layer and at 63 m depth after the typhoon passed, with these layers almost perfectly out of phase. The vertical shear current was intensified by the interaction of the wind-driven current in the upper layer and the background semi-diurnal tidal current during the arrival of the typhoon, and also by the near-inertial internal oscillation after the typhoon passage. The strong near-inertial internal oscillation persisted without significant interfacial structure after the mixing of the thermocline, which could enhance the vertical mixing over several days.

What do clinicians want? Interest in integrative health services at a North Carolina academic medical center

PubMed Central

Kemper, Kathi J; Dirkse, Deborah; Eadie, Dee; Pennington, Melissa

2007-01-01

Background Use of complementary medicine is common, consumer driven and usually outpatient focused. We wished to determine interest among the medical staff at a North Carolina academic medical center in integrating diverse therapies and services into comprehensive care. Methods We conducted a cross sectional on-line survey of physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants at a tertiary care medical center in 2006. The survey contained questions on referrals and recommendations in the past year and interest in therapies or services if they were to be provided at the medical center in the future. Results Responses were received from 173 clinicians in 26 different departments, programs and centers. There was strong interest in offering several specific therapies: therapeutic exercise (77%), expert consultation about herbs and dietary supplements (69%), and massage (66%); there was even stronger interest in offering comprehensive treatment programs such as multidisciplinary pain management (84%), comprehensive nutritional assessment and advice (84%), obesity/healthy lifestyle promotion (80%), fit for life (exercise and lifestyle program, 76%), diabetes healthy lifestyle promotion (73%); and comprehensive psychological services for stress management, including hypnosis and biofeedback (73%). Conclusion There is strong interest among medical staff at an academic health center in comprehensive, integrated services for pain, obesity, and diabetes and in specific services in fitness, nutrition and stress management. Future studies will need to assess the cost-effectiveness of such services, as well as their financial sustainability and impact on patient satisfaction, health and quality of life. PMID:17291340

A Balanced Approach to Building STEM College and Career Readiness in High School: Combining STEM Intervention and Enrichment Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rakich, Sladjana S.; Tran, Vinh

2016-01-01

Often STEM schools and STEM enrichment programs attract primarily high achieving students or those with strong motivation or interest. However, to ensure that more students pursue interest in STEM, steps must be taken to provide access for all students. For a balanced and integrated career development focus, schools must provide learning…

The Waxing and Waning of Nongradedness.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pavan, Barbara Nelson

Trends and research in nongraded schooling over the past three decades are described in this paper. The 1960s and early 70s were marked by a strong interest in the nongradedness movement and the British concept of open education, followed by a declining interest in the 1970s. A nongraded revival in the 1980s was facilitated by recognition of the…

The Fall 1973 New Student Week Leaders at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paciello, Antonio Joseph

This study describes a sample of college students who participated as New Student Week Leaders (NSWL). Vocational interests, as measured by the Strong Vocational Interest Blank for Men (SVIB-M), academic pursuits, campus involvement, and other factors were considered in an attempt to define a NSWL. Eighty-six items were chosen from the SVIB-M to…

China’s Emerging National Security Interests and Their Impact on the People’s Liberation Army

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

119 APPENDIX ONE Governance Challenges in Countries Hosting Chinese Laborers and Investment (End of 2006...59 Table 1 Governance Challenges in Countries Hosting Chinese Laborers and Investment (end of 2006...uprisings, and to protect its overseas interests. The Chinese government reacted quickly, expressing strong concern that the Egyp- tian and Libyan

77 FR 2267 - Notice of Intent To Extend a Currently Approved Information Collection

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-17

...: 05/31/2012. Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved information collection for three years... preparing a review they do not have a conflict-of-interest with a particular application and will maintain... applications and reviews but also panel discussions. On the Conflict-of-Interest and Confidentiality...

12 CFR 792.20 - What are the charges for each fee category?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... a use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade, or profit interests of the requester or the... higher education, an institution of professional education, and an institution of vocational education... news means information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public...

Graduate Students' Interest in Immunology as a Discipline

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kwarteng, Alexander; Frimpong, Michael; Sylverken, Augustina Angelina; Arthur, Yarhands D.; Ahuno, Samuel T.; Owusu-Dabo, Ellis

2017-01-01

Interest and motivation significantly influence achievement; however, interest in immunology remains to be determined. Using a structured questionnaire, the current study assessed for the first time interest in immunology among biomedical graduate students in Ghana after a one-week introduction to immunology course. Our results revealed that…

Vocational Interests and Prospective College Majors among Youth of Color in Poverty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diemer, Matthew A.; Wang, Qiu; Smith, Aaron V.

2010-01-01

A clear sense of vocational interests may facilitate high school students' capacity to connect current interests to congruent educational and occupational environments. This is particularly important for youth who experience external constraints on career development and college attendance. This study examined how well vocational interests,…

17 CFR 256.237 - Interest accrued.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Interest accrued. 256.237... COMPANY ACT OF 1935 7. Current and Accrued Liabilities § 256.237 Interest accrued. This account shall include the amount of interest accrued on all liabilities of the service company. Supporting records shall...

17 CFR 256.237 - Interest accrued.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Interest accrued. 256.237... COMPANY ACT OF 1935 7. Current and Accrued Liabilities § 256.237 Interest accrued. This account shall include the amount of interest accrued on all liabilities of the service company. Supporting records shall...

Electron Jet Detected by MMS at Dipolarization Front

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, C. M.; Fu, H. S.; Vaivads, A.; Khotyaintsev, Y. V.; Gershman, D. J.; Hwang, K.-J.; Chen, Z. Z.; Cao, D.; Xu, Y.; Yang, J.; Peng, F. Z.; Huang, S. Y.; Burch, J. L.; Giles, B. L.; Ergun, R. E.; Russell, C. T.; Lindqvist, P.-A.; Le Contel, O.

2018-01-01

Using MMS high-resolution measurements, we present the first observation of fast electron jet (Ve 2,000 km/s) at a dipolarization front (DF) in the magnetotail plasma sheet. This jet, with scale comparable to the DF thickness ( 0.9 di), is primarily in the tangential plane to the DF current sheet and mainly undergoes the E × B drift motion; it contributes significantly to the current system at the DF, including a localized ring-current that can modify the DF topology. Associated with this fast jet, we observed a persistent normal electric field, strong lower hybrid drift waves, and strong energy conversion at the DF. Such strong energy conversion is primarily attributed to the electron-jet-driven current (E ṡ je ≈ 2 E ṡ ji), rather than the ion current suggested in previous studies.

Personal Values as Mitigating Factors in the Link between Income and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from the European Social Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Georgellis, Yannis; Tsitsianis, Nicholas; Yin, Ya Ping

2009-01-01

Using data from the first two rounds of the European Social Survey, we examine the link between income, reference income and life satisfaction across Western Europe. We find that whilst there is a strong positive relationship between income and life satisfaction, reference or comparison income exerts a strong negative influence. Interestingly, our…

Dynamic heterogeneity in crossover spin facilitated model of supercooled liquid and fractional Stokes-Einstein relation

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

Choi, Seo-Woo; Kim, Soree; Jung, YounJoon, E-mail: yjjung@snu.ac.kr

Kinetically constrained models have gained much interest as models that assign the origins of interesting dynamic properties of supercooled liquids to dynamical facilitation mechanisms that have been revealed in many experiments and numerical simulations. In this work, we investigate the dynamic heterogeneity in the fragile-to-strong liquid via Monte Carlo method using the model that linearly interpolates between the strong liquid-like behavior and the fragile liquid-like behavior by an asymmetry parameter b. When the asymmetry parameter is sufficiently small, smooth fragile-to-strong transition is observed both in the relaxation time and the diffusion constant. Using these physical quantities, we investigate fractional Stokes-Einsteinmore » relations observed in this model. When b is fixed, the system shows constant power law exponent under the temperature change, and the exponent has the value between that of the Frederickson-Andersen model and the East model. Furthermore, we investigate the dynamic length scale of our systems and also find the crossover relation between the relaxation time. We ascribe the competition between energetically favored symmetric relaxation mechanism and entropically favored asymmetric relaxation mechanism to the fragile-to-strong crossover behavior.« less

Sexual function after heart transplantation.

PubMed

Mulligan, T; Sheehan, H; Hanrahan, J

1991-01-01

To define sexual interest, ability, and activity before and after heart transplantation, we surveyed all discharged, male heart transplant recipients from our institution. Of the 115 potential subjects, 71 (62%) responded. Respondents were predominantly (89%) white, had a mean age of 47.9 years (24 to 64 years), and most (74%) were living with their spouses. Pretransplant libido was strong and remained unchanged after heart transplantation. Transplant recipients reported their partner's libido to be strong, and even stronger after transplantation than before (p = 0.033). In contrast, erectile rigidity and orgasmic ability were impaired before, and declined further after, the transplant procedure. Respondents perceived this gap between libido and sexual ability to be a problem, and interest in evaluation and treatment was high.

Controllable nonlinearity in a dual-coupling optomechanical system under a weak-coupling regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Gui-Lei; Lü, Xin-You; Wan, Liang-Liang; Yin, Tai-Shuang; Bin, Qian; Wu, Ying

2018-03-01

Strong quantum nonlinearity gives rise to many interesting quantum effects and has wide applications in quantum physics. Here we investigate the quantum nonlinear effect of an optomechanical system (OMS) consisting of both linear and quadratic coupling. Interestingly, a controllable optomechanical nonlinearity is obtained by applying a driving laser into the cavity. This controllable optomechanical nonlinearity can be enhanced into a strong coupling regime, even if the system is initially in the weak-coupling regime. Moreover, the system dissipation can be suppressed effectively, which allows the appearance of phonon sideband and photon blockade effects in the weak-coupling regime. This work may inspire the exploration of a dual-coupling optomechanical system as well as its applications in modern quantum science.

Entanglement of two qubits coupled to an XY spin chain: Role of energy current

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ben-Qiong; Shao, Bin; Zou, Jian

2009-12-01

We investigate the entanglement dynamics of a two-qubit system which interacts with a Heisenberg XY spin chain constrained to carry an energy current. We show an explicit connection between the decoherence factor and entanglement, and numerically and analytically study the dynamical process of entanglement in both weak- and strong-coupling cases for two initial states, the general pure state and the mixed Werner state. We provide results that the entanglement evolution depends not only on the energy current, the anisotropy parameter and the system-environment couplings but also on the size of degrees of freedom of environment. In particular, our results imply that entanglement will be strongly suppressed by the introduction of energy current on the environmental spin chain in the weak-coupling region while it is not sensitive to the energy current in the strong-coupling region. We also observe the sudden death of entanglement in the system and show how the energy current affects the phenomenon.

Finite-Difference Algorithm for Simulating 3D Electromagnetic Wavefields in Conductive Media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aldridge, D. F.; Bartel, L. C.; Knox, H. A.

2013-12-01

Electromagnetic (EM) wavefields are routinely used in geophysical exploration for detection and characterization of subsurface geological formations of economic interest. Recorded EM signals depend strongly on the current conductivity of geologic media. Hence, they are particularly useful for inferring fluid content of saturated porous bodies. In order to enhance understanding of field-recorded data, we are developing a numerical algorithm for simulating three-dimensional (3D) EM wave propagation and diffusion in heterogeneous conductive materials. Maxwell's equations are combined with isotropic constitutive relations to obtain a set of six, coupled, first-order partial differential equations governing the electric and magnetic vectors. An advantage of this system is that it does not contain spatial derivatives of the three medium parameters electric permittivity, magnetic permeability, and current conductivity. Numerical solution methodology consists of explicit, time-domain finite-differencing on a 3D staggered rectangular grid. Temporal and spatial FD operators have order 2 and N, where N is user-selectable. We use an artificially-large electric permittivity to maximize the FD timestep, and thus reduce execution time. For the low frequencies typically used in geophysical exploration, accuracy is not unduly compromised. Grid boundary reflections are mitigated via convolutional perfectly matched layers (C-PMLs) imposed at the six grid flanks. A shared-memory-parallel code implementation via OpenMP directives enables rapid algorithm execution on a multi-thread computational platform. Good agreement is obtained in comparisons of numerically-generated data with reference solutions. EM wavefields are sourced via point current density and magnetic dipole vectors. Spatially-extended inductive sources (current carrying wire loops) are under development. We are particularly interested in accurate representation of high-conductivity sub-grid-scale features that are common in industrial environments (borehole casing, pipes, railroad tracks). Present efforts are oriented toward calculating the EM responses of these objects via a First Born Approximation approach. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

Autonomy, competence, and social relatedness in task interest within project-based education.

PubMed

Minnaert, Alexander; Boekaerts, Monique; de Brabander, Cornelis

2007-10-01

To prepare students for instructive collaboration, it is necessary to have insight into students' psychological needs and interest development. The framework of self-determination theory was used to conduct a field experiment involving 114 students in vocational education. These students followed a practical business course which required they work in small learning groups. During the course, students were asked to complete the Quality of Working in Groups Instrument, an online measure of how strong autonomy, competence, social relatedness, and task interest are fulfilled. SEM showed that students' psychological needs were jointly and uniquely related to task interest over time. The significance of this on-line test for the assessment of interest within project-based education is discussed.

Numerical modeling of a sub Plinian eruption at La Soufrière de Guadeloupe: implications for pyroclastic density currents hazard assessment.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esposti Ongaro, Tomaso; Neri, Augusto; Komorowski, Jean-Christophe

2013-04-01

We present three-dimensional numerical simulations of a sub-Plinian eruptive scenario at La Soufrière de Guadeloupe, aimed at assessing the capability of pyroclastic density currents to reach the inhabited regions on the volcano slopes, in case of the future resumption of the explosive activity. The selected eruptive scenario is similar to that hypothesized for the 1530 a.D. eruption, but several eruptive conditions have been analyzed to account for different behaviours of the eruptive column and percentages of collapse. Numerical results describe, in 3D and in time, the formation, instability and partial collapse of the eruptive column, and the simultaneous formation of a convective plume and several branched pyroclastic density currents. The proximal volcano morphology, characterized by the presence of ancient caldera rims and the remnants of the old edifice, controls the areal distribution of the collapsed material and the paths of channelized flows along the incised topography. The analysis of the 3D runs suggests that partial collapse scenarios produce steeply stratified pyroclastic density currents, which are strongly controlled by the topography and whose propagation is likely driven by the dynamics of the dense, basal layer. Although vertical grid size still does not allow the resolution of the dynamics of such concentrated flows, preliminary georeferenced maps of pyroclastic density currents' hazardous actions (temperature and dynamic pressure) provide interesting and useful information which can serve as a basis for elaborating a quantitative framework for the assessment of their impact on vulnerable infrastructures, networks, and population.

Coupled storm-time magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere simulations including microscopic ionospheric turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Merkin, V. G.; Wiltberger, M. J.; Zhang, B.; Liu, J.; Wang, W.; Dimant, Y. S.; Oppenheim, M. M.; Lyon, J.

2017-12-01

During geomagnetic storms the magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere system becomes activated in ways that are unique to disturbed conditions. This leads to emergence of physical feedback loops that provide tighter coupling between the system elements, often operating across disparate spatial and temporal scales. One such process that has recently received renewed interest is the generation of microscopic ionospheric turbulence in the electrojet regions (electrojet turbulence, ET) that results from strong convective electric fields imposed by the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction. ET leads to anomalous electron heating and generation of non-linear Pedersen current - both of which result in significant increases in effective ionospheric conductances. This, in turn, provides strong non-linear feedback on the magnetosphere. Recently, our group has published two studies aiming at a comprehensive analysis of the global effects of this microscopic process on the magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere system. In one study, ET physics was incorporated in the TIEGCM model of the ionosphere-thermosphere. In the other study, ad hoc corrections to the ionospheric conductances based on ET theory were incorporated in the conductance module of the Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry (LFM) global magnetosphere model. In this presentation, we make the final step toward the full coupling of the microscopic ET physics within our global coupled model including LFM, the Rice Convection Model (RCM) and TIEGCM. To this end, ET effects are incorporated in the TIEGCM model and propagate throughout the system via thus modified TIEGCM conductances. The March 17, 2013 geomagnetic storm is used as a testbed for these fully coupled simulations, and the results of the model are compared with various ionospheric and magnetospheric observatories, including DMSP, AMPERE, and Van Allen Probes. Via these comparisons, we investigate, in particular, the ET effects on the global magnetosphere indicators such as the strength of the ionospheric convection, field-aligned current densities and ring current pressure amplitude and distribution.

Childhood and Current Autistic Features in Adolescents with Schizotypal Personality Disorder

PubMed Central

Esterberg, Michelle L.; Trotman, Hanan D.; Brasfield, Joy L.; Compton, Michael T.; Walker, Elaine F.

2008-01-01

The diagnostic boundaries between autistic- and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders have varied over the years, and some overlap in diagnostic criteria persists. The present study examined childhood and current signs of autistic disorder (AD) in adolescents with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) or other personality disorders, as well as healthy controls. A structured interview was administered to rate participants’ current symptoms. Participants’ guardians were interviewed with the Autism Diagnostic Inventory-Revised (ADI-R), a clinical assessment of childhood and current autistic signs. Compared to both the other personality-disordered and healthy groups, adolescents with SPD were rated as having significantly more impairment on childhood and current social functioning, and having more unusual interests and behaviors. For the entire sample, impaired childhood social functioning and unusual interests and behaviors were associated with higher negative symptom scores. Current impairments in social functioning, unusual interests and behaviors, and communication were also linked with greater negative symptoms. However, neither childhood nor current autistic features significantly predicted later conversion to an Axis I psychotic disorder over the course of three years of follow-up. The findings indicate that past and current autistic signs are more common in adolescents with SPD, but neither current nor childhood autistic features are linked with conversion to psychosis. PMID:18554872

Exploring patterns enriched in a dataset with contrastive principal component analysis.

PubMed

Abid, Abubakar; Zhang, Martin J; Bagaria, Vivek K; Zou, James

2018-05-30

Visualization and exploration of high-dimensional data is a ubiquitous challenge across disciplines. Widely used techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA) aim to identify dominant trends in one dataset. However, in many settings we have datasets collected under different conditions, e.g., a treatment and a control experiment, and we are interested in visualizing and exploring patterns that are specific to one dataset. This paper proposes a method, contrastive principal component analysis (cPCA), which identifies low-dimensional structures that are enriched in a dataset relative to comparison data. In a wide variety of experiments, we demonstrate that cPCA with a background dataset enables us to visualize dataset-specific patterns missed by PCA and other standard methods. We further provide a geometric interpretation of cPCA and strong mathematical guarantees. An implementation of cPCA is publicly available, and can be used for exploratory data analysis in many applications where PCA is currently used.

A review of contrast pattern based data mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Shiwei; Ju, Meilong; Yu, Junfeng; Cai, Binlei; Wang, Aiping

2015-07-01

Contrast pattern based data mining is concerned with the mining of patterns and models that contrast two or more datasets. Contrast patterns can describe similarities or differences between the datasets. They represent strong contrast knowledge and have been shown to be very successful for constructing accurate and robust clusters and classifiers. The increasing use of contrast pattern data mining has initiated a great deal of research and development attempts in the field of data mining. A comprehensive revision on the existing contrast pattern based data mining research is given in this paper. They are generally categorized into background and representation, definitions and mining algorithms, contrast pattern based classification, clustering, and other applications, the research trends in future. The primary of this paper is to server as a glossary for interested researchers to have an overall picture on the current contrast based data mining development and identify their potential research direction to future investigation.

Quantum field theory of interacting dark matter and dark energy: Dark monodromies

DOE PAGES

D’Amico, Guido; Hamill, Teresa; Kaloper, Nemanja

2016-11-28

We discuss how to formulate a quantum field theory of dark energy interacting with dark matter. We show that the proposals based on the assumption that dark matter is made up of heavy particles with masses which are very sensitive to the value of dark energy are strongly constrained. Quintessence-generated long-range forces and radiative stability of the quintessence potential require that such dark matter and dark energy are completely decoupled. However, if dark energy and a fraction of dark matter are very light axions, they can have significant mixings which are radiatively stable and perfectly consistent with quantum field theory.more » Such models can naturally occur in multi-axion realizations of monodromies. The mixings yield interesting signatures which are observable and are within current cosmological limits but could be constrained further by future observations« less

On the significance of future trends in flood frequencies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernhardt, M.; Schulz, K.; Wieder, O.

2015-12-01

Floods are a significant threat for alpine headwater catchments and for the forelands. The formation of significant flood events is thereby often coupled on processes occurring in the alpine zone. Rain on snow events are just one example. The prediction of flood risks or trends of flood risks is of major interest to people under direct threat, policy and decision makers as well as for insurance companies. A lot of research was and is currently done in view of detecting future trends in flood extremes or return periods. From a pure physically based point of view, there is strong evidence that those trends exist. But, the central point question is if trends in flood events or other extreme events could be detected from a statistical point of view and on the basis of the available data. This study will investigate this question on the basis of different target parameters and by using long term measurements.

Practical aspects of protein co-evolution.

PubMed

Ochoa, David; Pazos, Florencio

2014-01-01

Co-evolution is a fundamental aspect of Evolutionary Theory. At the molecular level, co-evolutionary linkages between protein families have been used as indicators of protein interactions and functional relationships from long ago. Due to the complexity of the problem and the amount of genomic data required for these approaches to achieve good performances, it took a relatively long time from the appearance of the first ideas and concepts to the quotidian application of these approaches and their incorporation to the standard toolboxes of bioinformaticians and molecular biologists. Today, these methodologies are mature (both in terms of performance and usability/implementation), and the genomic information that feeds them large enough to allow their general application. This review tries to summarize the current landscape of co-evolution-based methodologies, with a strong emphasis on describing interesting cases where their application to important biological systems, alone or in combination with other computational and experimental approaches, allowed getting new insight into these.

Practical aspects of protein co-evolution

PubMed Central

Ochoa, David; Pazos, Florencio

2014-01-01

Co-evolution is a fundamental aspect of Evolutionary Theory. At the molecular level, co-evolutionary linkages between protein families have been used as indicators of protein interactions and functional relationships from long ago. Due to the complexity of the problem and the amount of genomic data required for these approaches to achieve good performances, it took a relatively long time from the appearance of the first ideas and concepts to the quotidian application of these approaches and their incorporation to the standard toolboxes of bioinformaticians and molecular biologists. Today, these methodologies are mature (both in terms of performance and usability/implementation), and the genomic information that feeds them large enough to allow their general application. This review tries to summarize the current landscape of co-evolution-based methodologies, with a strong emphasis on describing interesting cases where their application to important biological systems, alone or in combination with other computational and experimental approaches, allowed getting new insight into these. PMID:25364721

Asteroids as Calibration Standards in the Thermal Infrared -- Applications and Results from ISO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, T. G.; Lagerros, J. S. V.

Asteroids have been used extensively as calibration sources for ISO. We summarise the asteroid observational parameters in the thermal infrared and explain the important modelling aspects. Ten selected asteroids were extensively used for the absolute photometric calibration of ISOPHOT in the far-IR. Additionally, the point-like and bright asteroids turned out to be of great interest for many technical tests and calibration aspects. They have been used for testing the calibration for SWS and LWS, the validation of relative spectral response functions of different bands, for colour correction and filter leak tests. Currently, there is a strong emphasis on ISO cross-calibration, where the asteroids contribute in many fields. Well known asteroids have also been seen serendipitously in the CAM Parallel Mode and the PHT Serendipity Mode, allowing for validation and improvement of the photometric calibration of these special observing modes.

Discovery of cancer drug targets by CRISPR-Cas9 screening of protein domains.

PubMed

Shi, Junwei; Wang, Eric; Milazzo, Joseph P; Wang, Zihua; Kinney, Justin B; Vakoc, Christopher R

2015-06-01

CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology holds great promise for discovering therapeutic targets in cancer and other diseases. Current screening strategies target CRISPR-Cas9-induced mutations to the 5' exons of candidate genes, but this approach often produces in-frame variants that retain functionality, which can obscure even strong genetic dependencies. Here we overcome this limitation by targeting CRISPR-Cas9 mutagenesis to exons encoding functional protein domains. This generates a higher proportion of null mutations and substantially increases the potency of negative selection. We also show that the magnitude of negative selection can be used to infer the functional importance of individual protein domains of interest. A screen of 192 chromatin regulatory domains in murine acute myeloid leukemia cells identifies six known drug targets and 19 additional dependencies. A broader application of this approach may allow comprehensive identification of protein domains that sustain cancer cells and are suitable for drug targeting.

Fluorescent proteins for quantitative microscopy: important properties and practical evaluation.

PubMed

Shaner, Nathan Christopher

2014-01-01

More than 20 years after their discovery, fluorescent proteins (FPs) continue to be the subject of massive engineering efforts yielding continued improvements. Among these efforts are many aspects that should be of great interest to quantitative imaging users. With new variants frequently introduced into the research community, "tried and true" FPs that have been relied on for many years may now be due for upgrades to more modern variants. However, the dizzying array of FPs now available can make the initial act of narrowing down the potential choices an intimidating prospect. This chapter describes the FP properties that most strongly impact their performance in quantitative imaging experiments, along with their physical origins as they are currently understood. A workflow for evaluating a given FP in the researcher's chosen experimental system (e.g., a specific cell line) is described. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of Palagonite Dust Deposition on the Automated Detection of Carbonate Vis/NIR Spectra

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gilmore, Martha S.; Merrill, Matthew D.; Castano, Rebecca; Bornstein, Benjamin; Greenwood, James

2004-01-01

Currently Mars missions can collect more data than can be returned. Future rovers of increased mission lifetime will benefit from onboard autonomous data processing systems to guide the selection, measurement and return of scientifically important data. One approach is to train a neural net to recognize spectral reflectance characteristics of minerals of interest. We have developed a carbonate detector using a neural net algorithm trained on 10,000 synthetic Vis/NIR (350-2500 nm) spectra. The detector was able to correctly identify carbonates in the spectra of 30 carbonate and noncarbonate field samples with 100% success. However, Martian dust coatings strongly affect the spectral characteristics of surface rocks potentially masking the underlying substrate rock. In this experiment, we measure Vis/NIR spectra of calcite coated with different thicknesses of palagonite dust and evaluate the performance of the carbonate detector.

Longitudinal dynamics of twin electron bunches in the Linac Coherent Light Source

DOE PAGES

Zhang, Zhen; Ding, Yuantao; Marinelli, Agostino; ...

2015-03-02

The recent development of two-color x-ray free-electron lasers, as well as the successful demonstration of high-gradient witness bunch acceleration in a plasma, have generated strong interest in electron bunch trains, where two or more electron bunches are generated, accelerated and compressed in the same accelerating bucket. In this paper we give a detailed analysis of a twin-bunch technique in a high-energy linac. This method allows the generation of two electron bunches with high peak current and independent control of time delay and energy separation. We find that the wakefields in the accelerator structures play an important role in the twin-bunchmore » compression, and through analysis show that they can be used to extend the available time delay range. As a result, based on the theoretical model and simulations we propose several methods to achieve larger time delay.« less

How and when do students use flashcards?

PubMed

Wissman, Kathryn T; Rawson, Katherine A; Pyc, Mary A

2012-01-01

Previous survey research has documented students' use of self-regulated study strategies, with a particular interest in self-testing. These surveys indicate that students frequently use flashcards to self-test and that self-testing is primarily used as a way to monitor learning. Whereas previous surveys provide information about whether and why students self-test, they provide minimal information about how and when students choose to self-test. Accordingly, the primary purpose of the current survey was to explore how and when students engage in self-testing. We surveyed 374 undergraduates about the amount of practice and the timing of practice, two factors that strongly affect the efficacy of self-testing. Results indicate that students understand the benefits of practising to higher criterion levels (amount of practice) but do not typically implement or understand the benefits of practising with longer lags (timing of practice). We discuss practical implications for supporting more successful student learning.

Capitalizing on a current fad to promote poison help: (1-800-222-1222).

PubMed

Krenzelok, Edward P; Klick, Ross N; Burke, Thomas V; Mrvos, Rita

2007-01-01

The distinctive yellow Lance Armstrong 'Live Strong' silicon wristbands, which support cancer research, have reached iconic status and spawned substantial interest from other organizations seeking to capitalize on the same awareness opportunity. To promote the national toll-free Poison Help telephone number, a regional poison information center developed and introduced a Poison Help wristband. The RPIC worked with a marketing firm to design the Poison Help wristband, conduct a feasibility analysis to determine the financial viability of the project and develop a plan to market and sell the wristbands. The wristbands were a unique color, contained the words Poison Help and the national toll-free telephone number. Approximately 50,000 wristbands were distributed in the first four months. By developing a practical application for a popular item, the RPIC increased poison center awareness and, as a secondary benefit, generated revenue to support other poison prevention education endeavors.

A study on user authentication methodology using numeric password and fingerprint biometric information.

PubMed

Ju, Seung-hwan; Seo, Hee-suk; Han, Sung-hyu; Ryou, Jae-cheol; Kwak, Jin

2013-01-01

The prevalence of computers and the development of the Internet made us able to easily access information. As people are concerned about user information security, the interest of the user authentication method is growing. The most common computer authentication method is the use of alphanumerical usernames and passwords. The password authentication systems currently used are easy, but only if you know the password, as the user authentication is vulnerable. User authentication using fingerprints, only the user with the information that is specific to the authentication security is strong. But there are disadvantage such as the user cannot change the authentication key. In this study, we proposed authentication methodology that combines numeric-based password and biometric-based fingerprint authentication system. Use the information in the user's fingerprint, authentication keys to obtain security. Also, using numeric-based password can to easily change the password; the authentication keys were designed to provide flexibility.

Effect of water activity on rates of serpentinization of olivine.

PubMed

Lamadrid, Hector M; Rimstidt, J Donald; Schwarzenbach, Esther M; Klein, Frieder; Ulrich, Sarah; Dolocan, Andrei; Bodnar, Robert J

2017-07-14

The hydrothermal alteration of mantle rocks (referred to as serpentinization) occurs in submarine environments extending from mid-ocean ridges to subduction zones. Serpentinization affects the physical and chemical properties of oceanic lithosphere, represents one of the major mechanisms driving mass exchange between the mantle and the Earth's surface, and is central to current origin of life hypotheses as well as the search for microbial life on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. In spite of increasing interest in the serpentinization process by researchers in diverse fields, the rates of serpentinization and the controlling factors are poorly understood. Here we use a novel in situ experimental method involving olivine micro-reactors and show that the rate of serpentinization is strongly controlled by the salinity (water activity) of the reacting fluid and demonstrate that the rate of serpentinization of olivine slows down as salinity increases and H 2 O activity decreases.

Effect of water activity on rates of serpentinization of olivine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamadrid, Hector M.; Rimstidt, J. Donald; Schwarzenbach, Esther M.; Klein, Frieder; Ulrich, Sarah; Dolocan, Andrei; Bodnar, Robert J.

2017-07-01

The hydrothermal alteration of mantle rocks (referred to as serpentinization) occurs in submarine environments extending from mid-ocean ridges to subduction zones. Serpentinization affects the physical and chemical properties of oceanic lithosphere, represents one of the major mechanisms driving mass exchange between the mantle and the Earth's surface, and is central to current origin of life hypotheses as well as the search for microbial life on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. In spite of increasing interest in the serpentinization process by researchers in diverse fields, the rates of serpentinization and the controlling factors are poorly understood. Here we use a novel in situ experimental method involving olivine micro-reactors and show that the rate of serpentinization is strongly controlled by the salinity (water activity) of the reacting fluid and demonstrate that the rate of serpentinization of olivine slows down as salinity increases and H2O activity decreases.

Space Weather Storm Responses at Mars: Lessons from A Weakly Magnetized Terrestrial Planet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luhmann, J. G.; Dong, C. F.; Ma, Y. J.; Curry, S. M.; Li, Yan; Lee, C. O.; Hara, T.; Lillis, R.; Halekas, J.; Connerney, J. E.; Espley, J.; Brain, D. A.; Dong, Y.; Jakosky, B. M.; Thiemann, E.; Eparvier, F.; Leblanc, F.; Withers, P.; Russell, C. T.

2017-10-01

Much can be learned from terrestrial planets that appear to have had the potential to be habitable, but failed to realize that potential. Mars shows evidence of a once hospitable surface environment. The reasons for its current state, and in particular its thin atmosphere and dry surface, are of great interest for what they can tell us about habitable zone planet outcomes. A main goal of the MAVEN mission is to observe Mars' atmosphere responses to solar and space weather influences, and in particular atmosphere escape related to space weather `storms' caused by interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). Numerical experiments with a data-validated MHD model suggest how the effects of an observed moderately strong ICME compare to what happens during a more extreme event. The results suggest the kinds of solar and space weather conditions that can have evolutionary importance at a planet like Mars.

Integrated Amorphous Silicon p-i-n Temperature Sensor for CMOS Photonics.

PubMed

Rao, Sandro; Pangallo, Giovanni; Della Corte, Francesco Giuseppe

2016-01-06

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) shows interesting optoelectronic and technological properties that make it suitable for the fabrication of passive and active micro-photonic devices, compatible moreover with standard microelectronic devices on a microchip. A temperature sensor based on a hydrogenated amorphous silicon p-i-n diode integrated in an optical waveguide for silicon photonics applications is presented here. The linear dependence of the voltage drop across the forward-biased diode on temperature, in a range from 30 °C up to 170 °C, has been used for thermal sensing. A high sensitivity of 11.9 mV/°C in the bias current range of 34-40 nA has been measured. The proposed device is particularly suitable for the continuous temperature monitoring of CMOS-compatible photonic integrated circuits, where the behavior of the on-chip active and passive devices are strongly dependent on their operating temperature.

Equilibrium radiative heating tables for aerobraking in the Martian atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartung, Lin C.; Sutton, Kenneth; Brauns, Frank

1990-05-01

Studies currently underway for Mars missions often envision the use of aerobraking for orbital capture at Mars. These missions generally involve blunt-nosed vehicles to dissipate the excess energy of the interplanetary transfer. Radiative heating may be of importance in these blunt-body flows because of the highly energetic shock layer around the blunt nose. In addition, the Martian atmosphere contains CO2, whose dissociation products are known to include strong radiators. An inviscid, equilibrium, stagnation point, radiation-coupled flow-field code has been developed for investigating blunt-body atmospheric entry. The method has been compared with ground-based and flight data for air, and reasonable agreement has been found. In the present work, the method was applied to a matrix of conditions in the Martian atmosphere. These conditions encompass most trajectories of interest for Mars exploration spacecraft. The predicted equilibrium radiative heating to the stagnation point of the vehicle is presented.

Nonequilibrium critical behavior of model statistical systems and methods for the description of its features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prudnikov, V. V.; Prudnikov, P. V.; Mamonova, M. V.

2017-11-01

This paper reviews features in critical behavior of far-from-equilibrium macroscopic systems and presents current methods of describing them by referring to some model statistical systems such as the three-dimensional Ising model and the two-dimensional XY model. The paper examines the critical relaxation of homogeneous and structurally disordered systems subjected to abnormally strong fluctuation effects involved in ordering processes in solids at second-order phase transitions. Interest in such systems is due to the aging properties and fluctuation-dissipation theorem violations predicted for and observed in systems slowly evolving from a nonequilibrium initial state. It is shown that these features of nonequilibrium behavior show up in the magnetic properties of magnetic superstructures consisting of alternating nanoscale-thick magnetic and nonmagnetic layers and can be observed not only near the film’s critical ferromagnetic ordering temperature Tc, but also over the wide temperature range T ⩽ Tc.

Automating the expert consensus paradigm for robust lung tissue classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajagopalan, Srinivasan; Karwoski, Ronald A.; Raghunath, Sushravya; Bartholmai, Brian J.; Robb, Richard A.

2012-03-01

Clinicians confirm the efficacy of dynamic multidisciplinary interactions in diagnosing Lung disease/wellness from CT scans. However, routine clinical practice cannot readily accomodate such interactions. Current schemes for automating lung tissue classification are based on a single elusive disease differentiating metric; this undermines their reliability in routine diagnosis. We propose a computational workflow that uses a collection (#: 15) of probability density functions (pdf)-based similarity metrics to automatically cluster pattern-specific (#patterns: 5) volumes of interest (#VOI: 976) extracted from the lung CT scans of 14 patients. The resultant clusters are refined for intra-partition compactness and subsequently aggregated into a super cluster using a cluster ensemble technique. The super clusters were validated against the consensus agreement of four clinical experts. The aggregations correlated strongly with expert consensus. By effectively mimicking the expertise of physicians, the proposed workflow could make automation of lung tissue classification a clinical reality.

Characterization of suicidal behaviour with self-organizing maps.

PubMed

Leiva-Murillo, José M; López-Castromán, Jorge; Baca-García, Enrique

2013-01-01

The study of the variables involved in suicidal behavior is important from a social, medical, and economical point of view. Given the high number of potential variables of interest, a large population of subjects must be analysed in order to get conclusive results. In this paper, we describe a method based on self-organizing maps (SOMs) for finding the most relevant variables even when their relation to suicidal behavior is strongly nonlinear. We have applied the method to a cohort with more than 8,000 subjects and 600 variables and discovered four groups of variables involved in suicidal behavior. According to the results, there are four main groups of risk factors that characterize the population of suicide attempters: mental disorders, alcoholism, impulsivity, and childhood abuse. The identification of specific subpopulations of suicide attempters is consistent with current medical knowledge and may provide a new avenue of research to improve the management of suicidal cases.

Elaboration of copper-oxygen mediated C-H activation chemistry in consideration of future fuel and feedstock generation.

PubMed

Lee, Jung Yoon; Karlin, Kenneth D

2015-04-01

To contribute solutions to current energy concerns, improvements in the efficiency of dioxygen mediated C-H bond cleavage chemistry, for example, selective oxidation of methane to methanol, could minimize losses in natural gas usage or produce feedstocks for fuels. Oxidative C-H activation is also a component of polysaccharide degradation, potentially affording alternative biofuels from abundant biomass. Thus, an understanding of active-site chemistry in copper monooxygenases, those activating strong C-H bonds is briefly reviewed. Then, recent advances in the synthesis-generation and study of various copper-oxygen intermediates are highlighted. Of special interest are cupric-superoxide, Cu-hydroperoxo and Cu-oxy complexes. Such investigations can contribute to an enhanced future application of C-H oxidation or oxygenation processes using air, as concerning societal energy goals. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advances in Autism

PubMed Central

Geschwind, Daniel H.

2013-01-01

Autism is a common childhood neurodevelopmental disorder with strong genetic liability. It is not a unitary entity but a clinical syndrome, with variable deficits in social behavior and language, restrictive interests, and repetitive behaviors. Recent advances in the genetics of autism emphasize its etiological heterogeneity, with each genetic susceptibility locus accounting for only a small fraction of cases or having a small effect. Therefore, it is not surprising that no unifying structural or neuropathological features have been conclusively identified. Given the heterogeneity of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), approaches based on studying heritable components of the disorder, or endophenotypes, such as language or social cognition, provide promising avenues for genetic and neurobiological investigations. Early intensive behavioral and cognitive interventions are efficacious in many cases, but autism does not remit in the majority of children. Therefore, development of targeted therapies based on pathophysiologically and etiologically defined subtypes of ASD remains an important and achievable goal of current research. PMID:19630577

Equilibrium radiative heating tables for aerobraking in the Martian atmosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hartung, Lin C.; Sutton, Kenneth; Brauns, Frank

1990-01-01

Studies currently underway for Mars missions often envision the use of aerobraking for orbital capture at Mars. These missions generally involve blunt-nosed vehicles to dissipate the excess energy of the interplanetary transfer. Radiative heating may be of importance in these blunt-body flows because of the highly energetic shock layer around the blunt nose. In addition, the Martian atmosphere contains CO2, whose dissociation products are known to include strong radiators. An inviscid, equilibrium, stagnation point, radiation-coupled flow-field code has been developed for investigating blunt-body atmospheric entry. The method has been compared with ground-based and flight data for air, and reasonable agreement has been found. In the present work, the method was applied to a matrix of conditions in the Martian atmosphere. These conditions encompass most trajectories of interest for Mars exploration spacecraft. The predicted equilibrium radiative heating to the stagnation point of the vehicle is presented.

X-ray phase-contrast imaging at 100 keV on a conventional source

PubMed Central

Thüring, T.; Abis, M.; Wang, Z.; David, C.; Stampanoni, M.

2014-01-01

X-ray grating interferometry is a promising imaging technique sensitive to attenuation, refraction and scattering of the radiation. Applications of this technique in the energy range between 80 and 150 keV pose severe technical challenges, and are still mostly unexplored. Phase-contrast X-ray imaging at such high energies is of relevant scientific and industrial interest, in particular for the investigation of strongly absorbing or thick materials as well as for medical imaging. Here we show the successful implementation of a Talbot-Lau interferometer operated at 100 keV using a conventional X-ray tube and a compact geometry, with a total length of 54 cm. We present the edge-on illumination of the gratings in order to overcome the current fabrication limits. Finally, the curved structures match the beam divergence and allow a large field of view on a short and efficient setup. PMID:24903579

A Study on User Authentication Methodology Using Numeric Password and Fingerprint Biometric Information

PubMed Central

Ju, Seung-hwan; Seo, Hee-suk; Han, Sung-hyu; Ryou, Jae-cheol

2013-01-01

The prevalence of computers and the development of the Internet made us able to easily access information. As people are concerned about user information security, the interest of the user authentication method is growing. The most common computer authentication method is the use of alphanumerical usernames and passwords. The password authentication systems currently used are easy, but only if you know the password, as the user authentication is vulnerable. User authentication using fingerprints, only the user with the information that is specific to the authentication security is strong. But there are disadvantage such as the user cannot change the authentication key. In this study, we proposed authentication methodology that combines numeric-based password and biometric-based fingerprint authentication system. Use the information in the user's fingerprint, authentication keys to obtain security. Also, using numeric-based password can to easily change the password; the authentication keys were designed to provide flexibility. PMID:24151601

Preparing the MAX IV storage rings for timing-based experiments

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

Stråhlman, C., E-mail: Christian.Strahlman@maxlab.lu.se; Olsson, T., E-mail: Teresia.Olsson@maxlab.lu.se; Leemann, S. C.

2016-07-27

Time-resolved experimental techniques are increasingly abundant at storage ring facilities. Recent developments in accelerator technology and beamline instrumentation allow for simultaneous operation of high-intensity and timing-based experiments. The MAX IV facility is a state-of-the-art synchrotron light source in Lund, Sweden, that will come into operation in 2016. As many storage ring facilities are pursuing upgrade programs employing strong-focusing multibend achromats and passive harmonic cavities (HCs) in high-current operation, it is of broad interest to study the accelerator and instrumentation developments required to enable timing-based experiments at such machines. In particular, the use of hybrid filling modes combined with pulse pickingmore » by resonant excitation or pseudo single bunch has shown promising results. These methods can be combined with novel beamline instrumentation, such as choppers and instrument gating. In this paper we discuss how these techniques can be implemented and employed at MAX IV.« less

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy: the case of subdiffusion.

PubMed

Lubelski, Ariel; Klafter, Joseph

2009-03-18

The theory of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy is revisited here for the case of subdiffusing molecules. Subdiffusion is assumed to stem from a continuous-time random walk process with a fat-tailed distribution of waiting times and can therefore be formulated in terms of a fractional diffusion equation (FDE). The FDE plays the central role in developing the fluorescence correlation spectroscopy expressions, analogous to the role played by the simple diffusion equation for regular systems. Due to the nonstationary nature of the continuous-time random walk/FDE, some interesting properties emerge that are amenable to experimental verification and may help in discriminating among subdiffusion mechanisms. In particular, the current approach predicts 1), a strong dependence of correlation functions on the initial time (aging); 2), sensitivity of correlation functions to the averaging procedure, ensemble versus time averaging (ergodicity breaking); and 3), that the basic mean-squared displacement observable depends on how the mean is taken.

Composite structural materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ansell, G. S.; Loewy, R. G.; Wiberley, S. E.

1982-01-01

The promise of filamentary composite materials, whose development may be considered as entering its second generation, continues to generate intense interest and applications activity. Fiber reinforced composite materials offer substantially improved performance and potentially lower costs for aerospace hardware. Much progress has been achieved since the initial developments in the mid 1960's. Rather limited applications to primary aircraft structure have been made, however, mainly in a material-substitution mode on military aircraft, except for a few experiments currently underway on large passenger airplanes in commercial operation. To fulfill the promise of composite materials completely requires a strong technology base. NASA and AFOSR recognize the present state of the art to be such that to fully exploit composites in sophisticated aerospace structures, the technology base must be improved. This, in turn, calls for expanding fundamental knowledge and the means by which it can be successfully applied in design and manufacture.

Gestural acquisition in great apes: the Social Negotiation Hypothesis.

PubMed

Pika, Simone; Fröhlich, Marlen

2018-01-24

Scientific interest in the acquisition of gestural signalling dates back to the heroic figure of Charles Darwin. More than a hundred years later, we still know relatively little about the underlying evolutionary and developmental pathways involved. Here, we shed new light on this topic by providing the first systematic, quantitative comparison of gestural development in two different chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus and Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) subspecies and communities living in their natural environments. We conclude that the three most predominant perspectives on gestural acquisition-Phylogenetic Ritualization, Social Transmission via Imitation, and Ontogenetic Ritualization-do not satisfactorily explain our current findings on gestural interactions in chimpanzees in the wild. In contrast, we argue that the role of interactional experience and social exposure on gestural acquisition and communicative development has been strongly underestimated. We introduce the revised Social Negotiation Hypothesis and conclude with a brief set of empirical desiderata for instigating more research into this intriguing research domain.

Engineering lactic acid bacteria for increased industrial functionality.

PubMed

Bron, Peter A; Kleerebezem, Michiel

2011-01-01

Based on their spoilage-preventing and flavor-contributing characteristics, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are employed as starter cultures for the fermentation of foods and feeds. In addition, several specific LAB strains are marketed on basis of their beneficial effects on the consumer's health, representing an explosively growing market for the products containing these so-called probiotics. Due to this extensive industrial use there is a strong interest in unraveling the molecular mechanisms involved in industrial robustness, cognate stress resistance, and health-promoting phenotypes of these LAB that may vary drastically between different starter and probiotic strains currently marketed. This review describes some of the post-genomic tools developed, as well as their employment for the identification of bacterial effector molecules involved in the aforementioned industrially relevant phenotypes. Furthermore, it addresses possible strategies to exploit such knowledge into the rational design of LAB strains with increased industrial functionality.

Chemotactic Activity of Cyclophilin A in the Skin Mucus of Yellow Catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco) and Its Active Site for Chemotaxis

PubMed Central

Dawar, Farman Ullah; Tu, Jiagang; Xiong, Yang; Lan, Jiangfeng; Dong, Xing Xing; Liu, Xiaoling; Khattak, Muhammad Nasir Khan; Mei, Jie; Lin, Li

2016-01-01

Fish skin mucus is a dynamic barrier for invading pathogens with a variety of anti-microbial enzymes, including cyclophilin A (CypA), a multi-functional protein with peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase (PPIase) activity. Beside various other immunological functions, CypA induces leucocytes migration in vitro in teleost. In the current study, we have discovered several novel immune-relevant proteins in yellow catfish skin mucus by mass spectrometry (MS). The CypA present among them was further detected by Western blot. Moreover, the CypA present in the skin mucus displayed strong chemotactic activity for yellow catfish leucocytes. Interestingly, asparagine (like arginine in mammals) at position 69 was the critical site in yellow catfish CypA involved in leucocyte attraction. These novel efforts do not only highlight the enzymatic texture of skin mucus, but signify CypA to be targeted for anti-inflammatory therapeutics. PMID:27589721

Non-equilibrium electron energy distributions in HII regions: Implications for abundance determinations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dopita, Michael; Nicholls, David

2012-07-01

Although the analysis of HII region emission lines provides the main way of probing the chemical evolution of the universe throughout cosmic time, currently significant (factor of 2) discrepancies exist between the different methods (principally the strong line, electron temperature and recombination line methods) used to calibrate the cosmic chemical abundance scale. Although effects such as temperature fluctuations and geometrical effects have been invoked, these fail to explain the observations, particularly in the UV. Here we will show that there exists good grounds for supposing that the electrons in HII regions, as in other space plasmas, are not distributed according to a Boltzmann law. Rather, they follow a κ- distribution with κ ˜ 10. With this novel formulation, we can resolve the abundance discrepancies which have plagued this field for over three decades. Interestingly enough, the size of the correction in emission line strengths increases as we go into the UV.

Alpha Radiation Effects on Silicon Oxynitride Waveguides

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

Morichetti, Francesco; Grillanda, Stefano; Manandhar, Sandeep

2016-09-21

Photonic technologies are today of great interest for use in harsh environments, such as outer space, where they can potentially replace current communication systems based on radiofrequency components. However, very much alike to electronic devices, the behavior of optical materials and circuits can be strongly altered by high-energy and high-dose ionizing radiations. Here, we investigate the effects of alpha () radiation with MeV-range energy on silicon oxynitride (SiON) optical waveguides. Irradiation with a dose of 5×1015 cm-2 increases the refractive index of the SiON core by nearly 10-2, twice as much that of the surrounding silica cladding, leading to amore » significant increase of the refractive index contrast of the waveguide. The higher mode confinement induced by -radiation reduces the loss of tightly bent waveguides. We show that this increases the quality factor of microring resonators by 20%, with values larger than 105 after irradiation.« less

Quantum field theory of interacting dark matter and dark energy: Dark monodromies

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

D’Amico, Guido; Hamill, Teresa; Kaloper, Nemanja

We discuss how to formulate a quantum field theory of dark energy interacting with dark matter. We show that the proposals based on the assumption that dark matter is made up of heavy particles with masses which are very sensitive to the value of dark energy are strongly constrained. Quintessence-generated long-range forces and radiative stability of the quintessence potential require that such dark matter and dark energy are completely decoupled. However, if dark energy and a fraction of dark matter are very light axions, they can have significant mixings which are radiatively stable and perfectly consistent with quantum field theory.more » Such models can naturally occur in multi-axion realizations of monodromies. The mixings yield interesting signatures which are observable and are within current cosmological limits but could be constrained further by future observations« less

Poly(vinylbenzylchloride) Based Anion-Exchange Blend Membranes (AEBMs): Influence of PEG Additive on Conductivity and Stability

PubMed Central

Kerres, Jochen A.; Krieg, Henning M.

2017-01-01

In view of the many possible applications such as fuel cells and electrolysers, recent interest in novel anion exchange membranes (AEMs) has increased significantly. However, their low conductivity and chemical stability limits their current suitability. In this study, the synthesis and characterization of several three- and four-component anion exchange blend membranes (AEBMs) is described, where the compositions have been systematically varied to study the influence of the AEBM’s composition on the anion conductivities as well as chemical and thermal stabilities under strongly alkaline conditions. It was shown that the epoxide-functionalized poly(ethylene glycol)s that were introduced into the four-component AEBMs resulted in increased conductivity as well as a marked improvement in the stability of the AEBMs in an alkaline environment. In addition, the thermal stability of the novel AEBMs was excellent showing the suitability of these membranes for several electrochemical applications. PMID:28621717

Why precision medicine is not the best route to a healthier world.

PubMed

Rey-López, Juan Pablo; Sá, Thiago Herick de; Rezende, Leandro Fórnias Machado de

2018-02-05

Precision medicine has been announced as a new health revolution. The term precision implies more accuracy in healthcare and prevention of diseases, which could yield substantial cost savings. However, scientific debate about precision medicine is needed to avoid wasting economic resources and hype. In this commentary, we express the reasons why precision medicine cannot be a health revolution for population health. Advocates of precision medicine neglect the limitations of individual-centred, high-risk strategies (reduced population health impact) and the current crisis of evidence-based medicine. Overrated "precision medicine" promises may be serving vested interests, by dictating priorities in the research agenda and justifying the exorbitant healthcare expenditure in our finance-based medicine. If societies aspire to address strong risk factors for non-communicable diseases (such as air pollution, smoking, poor diets, or physical inactivity), they need less medicine and more investment in population prevention strategies.

DNA Methylation and Cancer Diagnosis

PubMed Central

Delpu, Yannick; Cordelier, Pierre; Cho, William C.; Torrisani, Jérôme

2013-01-01

DNA methylation is a major epigenetic modification that is strongly involved in the physiological control of genome expression. DNA methylation patterns are largely modified in cancer cells and can therefore be used to distinguish cancer cells from normal tissues. This review describes the main technologies available for the detection and the discovery of aberrantly methylated DNA patterns. It also presents the different sources of biological samples suitable for DNA methylation studies. We discuss the interest and perspectives on the use of DNA methylation measurements for cancer diagnosis through examples of methylated genes commonly documented in the literature. The discussion leads to our consideration for why DNA methylation is not commonly used in clinical practice through an examination of the main requirements that constitute a reliable biomarker. Finally, we describe the main DNA methylation inhibitors currently used in clinical trials and those that exhibit promising results. PMID:23873296

[All-ceramic peripheral restorations: crowns and bridges].

PubMed

Legros, Caroline; Vanheusden, Alain

2006-01-01

Over the last years, current technologies in dental ceramics are strongly improved, constantly producing new materials for the restoration of the single or plural teeth. Feldspathic porcelains fused to a cast metal substructure, the so-called "metal-ceramic crown," has been long time the gold standard; this is primarily due to their predictable long-term strength characteristics. All-ceramic systems are a focus of interest, because they offer aesthetic results that may be difficult to achieve with metal-ceramic systems. Nowadays, the new ceramics associate aesthetic and good mechanical qualities, biocompatibility, accurate marginal fit and low invasive preparations. Thanks to the diversification of all-ceram processes, materials properties and clinical situations are now the prime criteria which determine the practitioner's choice. In this article, we try to summarize different clinical concepts for peripheric all-ceram restoration, such as crowns and bridges used in a daily dental practice.

Effect of water activity on rates of serpentinization of olivine

PubMed Central

Lamadrid, Hector M.; Rimstidt, J. Donald; Schwarzenbach, Esther M.; Klein, Frieder; Ulrich, Sarah; Dolocan, Andrei; Bodnar, Robert J.

2017-01-01

The hydrothermal alteration of mantle rocks (referred to as serpentinization) occurs in submarine environments extending from mid-ocean ridges to subduction zones. Serpentinization affects the physical and chemical properties of oceanic lithosphere, represents one of the major mechanisms driving mass exchange between the mantle and the Earth’s surface, and is central to current origin of life hypotheses as well as the search for microbial life on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. In spite of increasing interest in the serpentinization process by researchers in diverse fields, the rates of serpentinization and the controlling factors are poorly understood. Here we use a novel in situ experimental method involving olivine micro-reactors and show that the rate of serpentinization is strongly controlled by the salinity (water activity) of the reacting fluid and demonstrate that the rate of serpentinization of olivine slows down as salinity increases and H2O activity decreases. PMID:28706268

Polymorphisms in genes encoding dopamine signalling pathway and risk of alcohol dependence: a systematic review.

PubMed

Bhaskar, Lakkakula V K S; Kumar, Shanmugasundaram Arun

2014-04-01

Alcohol dependence (AD) is one of the major elements that significantly influence drinking pattern that provoke the alcohol-induced organ damage. The structural and neurophysiologic abnormalities in the frontal lobes of chronic alcoholics were revealed by magnetic resonance imaging scans. It is well known that candidate genes involved in dopaminergic pathway are of immense interest to the researchers engaged in a wide range of addictive disorders. Dopaminergic pathway gene polymorphisms are being extensively studied with respect to addictive and behavioral disorders. From the broad literature available, the current review summarizes the specific polymorphisms of dopaminergic genes that play a role in alcohol dependence. No evidence indicating any strong association between AD and polymorphisms of dopamine pathway genes has emerged from the literature. Further studies are warranted, considering a range of alcohol-related traits to determine the genes that influence alcohol dependence.

Behavioral measures of implicit theory of mind in adults with high functioning autism.

PubMed

Deschrijver, Eliane; Bardi, Lara; Wiersema, Jan R; Brass, Marcel

2016-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) research has shown that adults with high functioning autism (HFA) demonstrate typical performance on tasks that require explicit belief reasoning, despite clear social difficulties in everyday life situations. In the current study, we used implicit belief manipulations that are task-irrelevant and therefore less susceptible to strategies. In a ball-detection task, it was shown that neurotypical individuals detect a ball faster if an agent believed the ball was present. We predicted that adults with high functioning autism (HFA) would not show this effect. While we found a numerical difference in the hypothesized direction, we did not find a reliable group effect. Interestingly, the implicit ToM-index showed a strong negative correlation with both self-reported and observational measures of social difficulties in the HFA group. This suggests that the relationship between implicit ToM reasoning and the symptomatology of HFA might be subtler than assumed.

Reversible Nerve Conduction Block Using Kilohertz Frequency Alternating Current

PubMed Central

Kilgore, Kevin L.; Bhadra, Niloy

2013-01-01

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

Mitigating Structural Defects in Droop-Minimizing InGaN/GaN Quantum Well Heterostructures

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

Zhao, Zhibo; Chesin, Jordan; Singh, Akshay

2016-12-01

Modern commercial InGaN/GaN blue LEDs continue to suffer from efficiency droop, a reduction in efficiency with increasing drive current. External quantum efficiency (EQE) typically peaks at low drive currents (< 10 A cm 2) and drops monotonically at higher current densities, falling to <85% of the peak EQE at a drive current of 100 A cm 2. Mitigating droop-related losses will yield tremendous gains in both luminous efficacy (lumens/W) and cost (lumens/$). Such improvements are critical for continued large-scale market penetration of LED technologies, particularly in high-power and high flux per unit area applications. However, device structures that reduce droopmore » typically require higher indium content and are accompanied by a corresponding degradation in material quality which negates the droop improvement via enhanced Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) recombination. In this work, we use advanced characterization techniques to identify and classify structural defects in InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW) heterostructures that share features with low-droop designs. Using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (C s-STEM), we find the presence of severe well width fluctuations (WWFs) in a number of low droop device architectures. However, the presence of WWFs does not correlate strongly with external quantum efficiency nor defect densities measured via deep level optical spectroscopy (DLOS). Hence, performance losses in the heterostructures of interest are likely dominated by nanoscale point or interfacial defects rather than large-scale extended defects.« less

Direction selectivity in the larval zebrafish tectum is mediated by asymmetric inhibition.

PubMed

Grama, Abhinav; Engert, Florian

2012-01-01

The extraction of the direction of motion is an important computation performed by many sensory systems and in particular, the mechanism by which direction-selective retinal ganglion cells (DS-RGCs) in the retina acquire their selective properties, has been studied extensively. However, whether DS-RGCs simply relay this information to downstream areas or whether additional and potentially de novo processing occurs in these recipient structures is a matter of great interest. Neurons in the larval zebrafish tectum, the largest retino-recipent area in this animal, show direction-selective (DS) responses to moving visual stimuli but how these properties are acquired is still unknown. In order to study this, we first used two-photon calcium imaging to classify the population responses of tectal cells to bars moving at different speeds and in different directions. Subsequently, we performed in vivo whole cell electrophysiology on these DS tectal neurons and we found that their inhibitory inputs were strongly biased toward the null direction of motion, whereas the excitatory inputs showed little selectivity. In addition, we found that excitatory currents evoked by a stimulus moving in the preferred direction occurred before the inhibitory currents whereas a stimulus moving in the null direction evoked currents in the reverse temporal order. The membrane potential modulations resulting from these currents were enhanced by the spike generation mechanism to generate amplified direction selectivity in the spike output. Thus, our results implicate a local inhibitory circuit in generating direction selectivity in tectal neurons.

Direction selectivity in the larval zebrafish tectum is mediated by asymmetric inhibition

PubMed Central

Grama, Abhinav; Engert, Florian

2012-01-01

The extraction of the direction of motion is an important computation performed by many sensory systems and in particular, the mechanism by which direction-selective retinal ganglion cells (DS-RGCs) in the retina acquire their selective properties, has been studied extensively. However, whether DS-RGCs simply relay this information to downstream areas or whether additional and potentially de novo processing occurs in these recipient structures is a matter of great interest. Neurons in the larval zebrafish tectum, the largest retino-recipent area in this animal, show direction-selective (DS) responses to moving visual stimuli but how these properties are acquired is still unknown. In order to study this, we first used two-photon calcium imaging to classify the population responses of tectal cells to bars moving at different speeds and in different directions. Subsequently, we performed in vivo whole cell electrophysiology on these DS tectal neurons and we found that their inhibitory inputs were strongly biased toward the null direction of motion, whereas the excitatory inputs showed little selectivity. In addition, we found that excitatory currents evoked by a stimulus moving in the preferred direction occurred before the inhibitory currents whereas a stimulus moving in the null direction evoked currents in the reverse temporal order. The membrane potential modulations resulting from these currents were enhanced by the spike generation mechanism to generate amplified direction selectivity in the spike output. Thus, our results implicate a local inhibitory circuit in generating direction selectivity in tectal neurons. PMID:22969706

Ionization Study of Isomeric Molecules in Strong-field Laser Pulses

DOE PAGES

Zigo, Stefan; Le, Anh-Thu; Timilsina, Pratap; ...

2017-02-10

Through the use of the technique of time-of-flight mass spectroscopy, we obtain strong-field ionization yields for randomly oriented 1,2-dichloroethylene (1,2-DCE) (C 2H 2Cl 2) and 2-butene (C 4H 8). Here, we are interested in studying the effect of conformal structure in strong-field ionization and, in particular, the role of molecular polarity. That is, we can perform strong-field ionization studies in polar vs non-polar molecules that have the same chemical composition. Here, we report our findings through the ionization yields and the ratio (trans/cis) of each stereoisomer pair as a function of intensity.

Dynamic modeling for flow-activated chloride-selective membrane current in vascular endothelial cells.

PubMed

Qin, Kai-Rong; Xiang, Cheng; Cao, Ling-Ling

2011-10-01

In this paper, a dynamic model is proposed to quantify the relationship between fluid flow and Cl(-)-selective membrane current in vascular endothelial cells (VECs). It is assumed that the external shear stress would first induce channel deformation in VECs. This deformation could activate the Cl(-) channels on the membrane, thus allowing Cl(-) transport across the membrane. A modified Hodgkin-Huxley model is embedded into our dynamic system to describe the electrophysiological properties of the membrane, such as the Cl(-)-selective membrane current (I), voltage (V) and conductance. Three flow patterns, i. e., steady flow, oscillatory flow, and pulsatile flow, are applied in our simulation studies. When the extracellular Cl(-) concentration is constant, the I-V characteristics predicted by our dynamic model shows strong consistency with the experimental observations. It is also interesting to note that the Cl(-) currents under different flow patterns show some differences, indicating that VECs distinguish among and respond differently to different types of flows. When the extracellular Cl(-) concentration keeps constant or varies slowly with time (i.e. oscillates at 0.02 Hz), the convection and diffusion of Cl(-) in extracellular space can be ignored and the Cl(-) current is well captured by the modified Hodgkin-Huxley model alone. However, when the extracellular Cl(-) varies fast (i.e., oscillates at 0.2 Hz), the convection and diffusion effect should be considered because the Cl(-) current dynamics is different from the case where the convection-diffusion effect is simply ignored. The proposed dynamic model along with the simulation results could not only provide more insights into the flow-regulated electrophysiological behavior of the cell membrane but also help to reveal new findings in the electrophysiological experimental investigations of VECs in response to dynamic flow and biochemical stimuli.

Surface Currents and Winds at the Delaware Bay Mouth

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

Muscarella, P A; Barton, N P; Lipphardt, B L

2011-04-06

Knowledge of the circulation of estuaries and adjacent shelf waters has relied on hydrographic measurements, moorings, and local wind observations usually removed from the region of interest. Although these observations are certainly sufficient to identify major characteristics, they lack both spatial resolution and temporal coverage. High resolution synoptic observations are required to identify important coastal processes at smaller scales. Long observation periods are needed to properly sample low-frequency processes that may also be important. The introduction of high-frequency (HF) radar measurements and regional wind models for coastal studies is changing this situation. Here we analyze synoptic, high-resolution surface winds andmore » currents in the Delaware Bay mouth over an eight-month period (October 2007 through May 2008). The surface currents were measured by two high-frequency radars while the surface winds were extracted from a data-assimilating regional wind model. To illustrate the utility of these monitoring tools we focus on two 45-day periods which previously were shown to present contrasting pictures of the circulation. One, the low-outflow period is from 1 October through 14 November 2007; the other is the high-outflow period from 3 March through 16 April 2008. The large-scale characteristics noted by previous workers are clearly corroborated. Specifically the M2 tide dominates the surface currents, and the Delaware Bay outflow plume is clearly evident in the low frequency currents. Several new aspects of the surface circulation were also identified. These include a map of the spatial variability of the M2 tide (validating an earlier model study), persistent low-frequency cross-mouth flow, and a rapid response of the surface currents to a changing wind field. However, strong wind episodes did not persist long enough to set up a sustained Ekman response.« less

Access, interest, and attitudes toward electronic communication for health care among patients in the medical safety net.

PubMed

Schickedanz, Adam; Huang, David; Lopez, Andrea; Cheung, Edna; Lyles, C R; Bodenheimer, Tom; Sarkar, Urmimala

2013-07-01

Electronic and internet-based tools for patient-provider communication are becoming the standard of care, but disparities exist in their adoption among patients. The reasons for these disparities are unclear, and few studies have looked at the potential communication technologies have to benefit vulnerable patient populations. To characterize access to, interest in, and attitudes toward internet-based communication in an ethnically, economically, and linguistically diverse group of patients from a large urban safety net clinic network. Observational, cross-sectional study Adult patients (≥ 18 years) in six resource-limited community clinics in the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) MAIN MEASURES: Current email use, interest in communicating electronically with health care professionals, barriers to and facilitators of electronic health-related communication, and demographic data-all self-reported via survey. Sixty percent of patients used email, 71 % were interested in using electronic communication with health care providers, and 19 % reported currently using email informally with these providers for health care. Those already using any email were more likely to express interest in using it for health matters. Most patients agreed electronic communication would improve clinic efficiency and overall communication with clinicians. A significant majority of safety net patients currently use email, text messaging, and the internet, and they expressed an interest in using these tools for electronic communication with their medical providers. This interest is currently unmet within safety net clinics that do not offer a patient portal or secure messaging. Tools such as email encounters and electronic patient portals should be implemented and supported to a greater extent in resource-poor settings, but this will require tailoring these tools to patients' language, literacy level, and experience with communication technology.

Factors influencing the choice of a career in food-animal practice among recent graduates and current students of Texas A&M University, College of Veterinary Medicine.

PubMed

Lenarduzzi, Roland; Sheppard, Guy A; Slater, Margaret R

2009-01-01

Concerns about a shortage of large and mixed-animal veterinarians have been discussed in the profession. To better understand veterinary career choices among currently enrolled veterinary students (classes of 2007-2010) and recent graduate veterinarians in Texas (classes of 2002-2006), an online survey was developed. The objectives were to examine: (1) the respondents' backgrounds, demographic data, and experiences; (2) the respondents' working conditions and rural lifestyle considerations; (3) the respondents' perceptions of large/mixed-animal practice; and (4) the factors that have influenced respondents' career choices. The response rate was 37% (390/1,042). Overall, 72% of students and 55% of recent graduates were interested in large/mixed-animal practice. More than 70% of respondents indicated that veterinary practitioners had the strongest personal influence on career choices. Respondents who were no longer interested in large/mixed-animal practice, or who had never been interested, reported no experience with large animals (42% and 64%, respectively) as the most common reason for their lack of interest. Previous and current interest in large/mixed-animal practice were associated with working in a large/mixed-animal practice, any agricultural experience, and working for at least 6 months on a farm or ranch. Any 4-H experience increased the likelihood of previous interest, while being married decreased the likelihood of current interest. Student contact with practitioners (82%) and financial considerations (77%) were most commonly cited as factors that would make a career in large/mixed-animal practice more attractive. Rural lifestyle drawbacks influenced respondents' career choices. Many forms of agricultural experience may expose and encourage students to consider large/mixed-animal practice.

Smart Distributed Sensor Fields: Algorithms for Tactical Sensors

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-23

ranging from detecting, identifying, localizing/tracking interesting events, discarding irrelevant data, to providing actionable intelligence currently...tracking interesting events, discarding irrelevant data, to providing actionable intelligence currently requires significant human super- vision. Human...view of the overall system. The main idea is to reduce the problem to the relevant data, and then reason intelligently over that data. This process

Mind Wandering and Reading Comprehension: Examining the Roles of Working Memory Capacity, Interest, Motivation, and Topic Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Unsworth, Nash; McMillan, Brittany D.

2013-01-01

Individual differences in mind wandering and reading comprehension were examined in the current study. In particular, individual differences in mind wandering, working memory capacity, interest in the current topic, motivation to do well on the task, and topic experience and their relations with reading comprehension were examined in the current…

43 CFR 5.12 - How are terms defined in this subpart?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

.... Representative of the news media means any person or entity that gathers information of potential interest to a... as vehicles, boats, articles of clothing, and food and beverage products, placed on agency lands so... information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public, gathered by news...

43 CFR 5.12 - How are terms defined in this subpart?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

.... Representative of the news media means any person or entity that gathers information of potential interest to a... as vehicles, boats, articles of clothing, and food and beverage products, placed on agency lands so... information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public, gathered by news...

Gender, Prior Knowledge, Interest, and Experience in Electricity and Conceptual Change Text Manipulations in Learning about Direct Current.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chambers, Sharon K.; Andre, Thomas

1997-01-01

Presents a study that investigated relationships between gender, interest, and experience in electricity. Also explored the effect of conceptual change text manipulations on learning fundamental concepts of direct current. Suggests that conceptual change text manipulations are likely to be effective for both men and women. Contains 57 references.…

[Medical opinion leaders conflict of interests: effects of disclosures on the trust of the public and general practitioners].

PubMed

Chakroun, R; Milhabet, I

2011-08-01

Key medical opinion leaders influence the behaviors of physicians and patients. By law, they have to disclose their interests with pharmaceutical companies when they communicate in the media. Up to now, it appears that no study has explored the effect of opinion leaders' disclosures despite their potential impact on public health and economy. The study objective was to assess the effects of opinion leaders' disclosures of interest on the public and general practitioners' trust in opinion leader by comparison with the overall medical community. In an experimental setting, three opinion leader profiles were built that differed only by the disclosure of their interests (hidden vs. weak vs. strong interests). One of the three profiles was randomly assigned to the subjects of two groups: 67 students and 60 general practitioners. According to an Anova analysis, the main effects and interactions of the disclosure of interests, of the message recipients, and of the assessed targets on the level of trust were measured. The results show that the average level of trust expressed by general practitioners was lower than that expressed by the general public. The level of trust in the opinion leader was lower than that of the overall medical community. The level of trust of exposed subjects fell much lower with stronger disclosed interests. While the general public did not distinguish trust between opinion leaders and the overall medical community, practitioners showed a significantly lower level of trust in opinion leaders with increasingly strong levels of disclosed interests. These study results refute the assertion that public trust would be reduced by the disclosure of interests. They reinforce the importance of the "who judges who" and "which kind of disclosure impacts who ?" effects and draw attention to further research on the role of social interactions in both mass and group communications. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Why was Relativity Accepted?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brush, S. G.

Historians of science have published many studies of the reception of Einstein's special and general theories of relativity. Based on a review of these studies, and my own research on the role of the light-bending prediction in the reception of general relativity, I discuss the role of three kinds of reasons for accepting relativity (1) empirical predictions and explanations; (2) social-psychological factors; and (3) aesthetic-mathematical factors. According to the historical studies, acceptance was a three-stage process. First, a few leading scientists adopted the special theory for aesthetic-mathematical reasons. In the second stage, their enthusiastic advocacy persuaded other scientists to work on the theory and apply it to problems currently of interest in atomic physics. The special theory was accepted by many German physicists by 1910 and had begun to attract some interest in other countries. In the third stage, the confirmation of Einstein's light-bending prediction attracted much public attention and forced all physicists to take the general theory of relativity seriously. In addition to light-bending, the explanation of the advance of Mercury's perihelion was considered strong evidence by theoretical physicists. The American astronomers who conducted successful tests of general relativity became defenders of the theory. There is little evidence that relativity was `socially constructed' but its initial acceptance was facilitated by the prestige and resources of its advocates.

On Profit-Maximizing Pricing for the Highway and Tollbooth Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elbassioni, Khaled; Raman, Rajiv; Ray, Saurabh; Sitters, René

In the tollbooth problem on trees, we are given a tree T= (V,E) with n edges, and a set of m customers, each of whom is interested in purchasing a path on the graph. Each customer has a fixed budget, and the objective is to price the edges of T such that the total revenue made by selling the paths to the customers that can afford them is maximized. An important special case of this problem, known as the highway problem, is when T is restricted to be a line. For the tollbooth problem, we present an O(logn)-approximation, improving on the current best O(logm)-approximation. We also study a special case of the tollbooth problem, when all the paths that customers are interested in purchasing go towards a fixed root of T. In this case, we present an algorithm that returns a (1 - ɛ)-approximation, for any ɛ> 0, and runs in quasi-polynomial time. On the other hand, we rule out the existence of an FPTAS by showing that even for the line case, the problem is strongly NP-hard. Finally, we show that in the discount model, when we allow some items to be priced below zero to improve the overall profit, the problem becomes even APX-hard.

3D acquisition and modeling for flint artefacts analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loriot, B.; Fougerolle, Y.; Sestier, C.; Seulin, R.

2007-07-01

In this paper, we are interested in accurate acquisition and modeling of flint artefacts. Archaeologists needs accurate geometry measurements to refine their understanding of the flint artefacts manufacturing process. Current techniques require several operations. First, a copy of a flint artefact is reproduced. The copy is then sliced. A picture is taken for each slice. Eventually, geometric information is manually determined from the pictures. Such a technique is very time consuming, and the processing applied to the original, as well as the reproduced object, induces several measurement errors (prototyping approximations, slicing, image acquisition, and measurement). By using 3D scanners, we significantly reduce the number of operations related to data acquisition and completely suppress the prototyping step to obtain an accurate 3D model. The 3D models are segmented into sliced parts that are then analyzed. Each slice is then automatically fitted by mathematical representation. Such a representation offers several interesting properties: geometric features can be characterized (e.g. shapes, curvature, sharp edges, etc), and a shape of the original piece of stone can be extrapolated. The contributions of this paper are an acquisition technique using 3D scanners that strongly reduces human intervention, acquisition time and measurement errors, and the representation of flint artefacts as mathematical 2D sections that enable accurate analysis.

Benchmarking of HPCC: A novel 3D molecular representation combining shape and pharmacophoric descriptors for efficient molecular similarity assessments.

PubMed

Karaboga, Arnaud S; Petronin, Florent; Marchetti, Gino; Souchet, Michel; Maigret, Bernard

2013-04-01

Since 3D molecular shape is an important determinant of biological activity, designing accurate 3D molecular representations is still of high interest. Several chemoinformatic approaches have been developed to try to describe accurate molecular shapes. Here, we present a novel 3D molecular description, namely harmonic pharma chemistry coefficient (HPCC), combining a ligand-centric pharmacophoric description projected onto a spherical harmonic based shape of a ligand. The performance of HPCC was evaluated by comparison to the standard ROCS software in a ligand-based virtual screening (VS) approach using the publicly available directory of useful decoys (DUD) data set comprising over 100,000 compounds distributed across 40 protein targets. Our results were analyzed using commonly reported statistics such as the area under the curve (AUC) and normalized sum of logarithms of ranks (NSLR) metrics. Overall, our HPCC 3D method is globally as efficient as the state-of-the-art ROCS software in terms of enrichment and slightly better for more than half of the DUD targets. Since it is largely admitted that VS results depend strongly on the nature of the protein families, we believe that the present HPCC solution is of interest over the current ligand-based VS methods. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A developmental neuroscience perspective on affect-biased attention.

PubMed

Morales, Santiago; Fu, Xiaoxue; Pérez-Edgar, Koraly E

2016-10-01

There is growing interest regarding the impact of affect-biased attention on psychopathology. However, most of the research to date lacks a developmental approach. In the present review, we examine the role affect-biased attention plays in shaping socioemotional trajectories within a developmental neuroscience framework. We propose that affect-biased attention, particularly if stable and entrenched, acts as a developmental tether that helps sustain early socioemotional and behavioral profiles over time, placing some individuals on maladaptive developmental trajectories. Although most of the evidence is found in the anxiety literature, we suggest that these relations may operate across multiple domains of interest, including positive affect, externalizing behaviors, drug use, and eating behaviors. We also review the general mechanisms and neural correlates of affect-biased attention, as well as the current evidence for the co-development of attention and affect. Based on the reviewed literature, we propose a model that may help us better understand the nuances of affect-biased attention across development. The model may serve as a strong foundation for ongoing attempts to identify neurocognitive mechanisms and intervene with individuals at risk. Finally, we discuss open issues for future research that may help bridge existing gaps in the literature. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

49 CFR 1017.14 - Interest, penalties, and administrative costs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... OFFSET FROM INDEBTED GOVERNMENT AND FORMER GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES § 1017.14 Interest, penalties, and administrative costs. (a) The rate of interest assessed shall be the rate of the current value of funds to the U... of interest can be assessed if the Board can reasonably determine that a higher rate is necessary to...

7 CFR 792.10 - Late payment interest, penalty and administrative charges.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... State and local governments. Interest on debts owed by such entities shall be charged to the extent... debts. The late payment interest rate shall be equal to the higher of the Treasury Department's current... Prompt Payment Act was chosen as an alternative rate to ensure that the Government would recoup interest...

Social Cognitive Factors, Support, and Engagement: Early Adolescents' Math Interests as Precursors to Choice of Career

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowan-Kenyon, Heather T.; Swan, Amy K.; Creager, Marie F.

2012-01-01

The authors examined the central hypothesis that students' early perceptions of support and sense of engagement in math classes and math activities strongly influence the broadening or narrowing of their math interest. The focus was on the first wave of qualitative data collected from 5th-, 7th-, and 9th-grade students during the 2007-2008…

Some Interesting Data About Women Physicists in Cuba (abstract)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Fuentes, Olimpia Arias

2009-04-01

Although the number of women physicists in Cuba, as in the entire world, is less than men physicists, their presence in the academic leadership is strong, unlike the limited women's role in many other countries. Some interesting numeral data are presented to demonstrate this affirmation. This fact emphasizes the advantages reached by women and the increasing prestige obtained by women physicists in our country.

A Science Faculty's Transformation of Nature of Science Understanding into His Teaching Graduate Level Chemistry Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Sevgi

2015-01-01

This is an interpretive case study to examine the teaching of an experienced science faculty who had a strong interest in teaching undergraduate and graduate science courses and nature of science specifically. It was interested in how he transformed knowledge from his experience as a scientist and his ideas about nature of science into forms…

Thiothixene

MedlinePlus

... disturbed or unusual thinking, loss of interest in life, and strong or inappropriate emotions). Thiothixene is in a group of medications called conventional antipsychotics. It works by decreasing abnormal excitement in the brain.

Loxapine

MedlinePlus

... disturbed or unusual thinking, loss of interest in life, and strong or inappropriate emotions). Loxapine is in a group of medications called conventional antipsychotics. It works by decreasing abnormal excitement in the brain.

Information Retrieval and Text Mining Technologies for Chemistry.

PubMed

Krallinger, Martin; Rabal, Obdulia; Lourenço, Anália; Oyarzabal, Julen; Valencia, Alfonso

2017-06-28

Efficient access to chemical information contained in scientific literature, patents, technical reports, or the web is a pressing need shared by researchers and patent attorneys from different chemical disciplines. Retrieval of important chemical information in most cases starts with finding relevant documents for a particular chemical compound or family. Targeted retrieval of chemical documents is closely connected to the automatic recognition of chemical entities in the text, which commonly involves the extraction of the entire list of chemicals mentioned in a document, including any associated information. In this Review, we provide a comprehensive and in-depth description of fundamental concepts, technical implementations, and current technologies for meeting these information demands. A strong focus is placed on community challenges addressing systems performance, more particularly CHEMDNER and CHEMDNER patents tasks of BioCreative IV and V, respectively. Considering the growing interest in the construction of automatically annotated chemical knowledge bases that integrate chemical information and biological data, cheminformatics approaches for mapping the extracted chemical names into chemical structures and their subsequent annotation together with text mining applications for linking chemistry with biological information are also presented. Finally, future trends and current challenges are highlighted as a roadmap proposal for research in this emerging field.

Influence of perceived motivational climate on achievement goals in physical education: a structural equation mixture modeling analysis.

PubMed

Wang, J C; Liu, W C; Chatzisarantis, N L; Lim, C B

2010-06-01

The purpose of the current study was to examine the influence of perceived motivational climate on achievement goals in physical education using a structural equation mixture modeling (SEMM) analysis. Within one analysis, we identified groups of students with homogenous profiles in perceptions of motivational climate and examined the relationships between motivational climate, 2 x 2 achievement goals, and affect, concurrently. The findings of the current study showed that there were at least two distinct groups of students with differing perceptions of motivational climate: one group of students had much higher perceptions in both climates compared with the other group. Regardless of their grouping, the relationships between motivational climate, achievement goals, and enjoyment seemed to be invariant. Mastery climate predicted the adoption of mastery-approach and mastery-avoidance goals; performance climate was related to performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals. Mastery-approach goal had a strong positive effect while performance-avoidance had a small negative effect on enjoyment. Overall, it was concluded that only perception of a mastery motivational climate in physical education may foster intrinsic interest in physical education through adoption of mastery-approach goals.

Electrical switching of an antiferromagnet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jungwirth, Tomas

Louis Néel pointed out in his Nobel lecture that while abundant and interesting from theoretical viewpoint, antiferromagnets did not seem to have any applications. Indeed, the alternating directions of magnetic moments on individual atoms and the resulting zero net magnetization make antiferromagnets hard to control by tools common in ferromagnets. Strong coupling would be achieved if the externally generated field had a sign alternating on the scale of a lattice constant at which moments alternate in AFMs. However, generating such a field has been regarded unfeasible, hindering the research and applications of these abundant magnetic materials. We have recently predicted that relativistic quantum mechanics may offer staggered current induced fields with the sign alternating within the magnetic unit cell which can facilitate a reversible switching of an antiferromagnet by applying electrical currents with comparable efficiency to ferromagnets. Among suitable materials is a high Néel temperature antiferromagnet, tetragonal-phase CuMnAs, which we have recently synthesized in the form of single-crystal epilayers structurally compatible with common semiconductors. We demonstrate electrical writing and read-out, combined with the insensitivity to magnetic field perturbations, in a proof-of-concept antiferromagnetic memory device. We acknowledge support from European Research Council Advanced Grant No. 268066.

Atmospheric Balloon Swarms for Persistent In-Situ Measurements in Hurricanes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meneghello, G.; Bewley, T.

2015-12-01

Real-time measurements within hurricanes are essential to improve forecasts, protect property and save lives. Current methods for obtaining in-situ data, including radar and satellite imagery as well as drop-sondes deployed from repeated aircraft flights above or even within the hurricane itself, are costly, dangerous and limited in duration or resolution. We demonstrate how a swarm of inexpensive, buoyancy-controlled, sensor-laden balloons can be deployed from altitude or from sea-level within a hurricane flow field, and coordinated autonomously in an energetically-efficient fashion to persistently and continuously monitor relevant properties (pressure, humidity, temperature, windspeed) of a hurricane for days at a time. Rather than fighting the gale-force winds in the storm, the strong, predictable stratification of these winds is leveraged to disperse the balloons into a favorable, time-evolving distribution and to follow the hurricane track as it moves. Certain target orbits of interest in the hurricane can be continuously sampled by some balloons, while other balloons make continuous sweeps between the eye and the spiral rain bands. We expect the acquired data to complement current measurement methods and to be instrumental in improving the numerical models' forecast skills.

Spin-neurons: A possible path to energy-efficient neuromorphic computers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharad, Mrigank; Fan, Deliang; Roy, Kaushik

2013-12-01

Recent years have witnessed growing interest in the field of brain-inspired computing based on neural-network architectures. In order to translate the related algorithmic models into powerful, yet energy-efficient cognitive-computing hardware, computing-devices beyond CMOS may need to be explored. The suitability of such devices to this field of computing would strongly depend upon how closely their physical characteristics match with the essential computing primitives employed in such models. In this work, we discuss the rationale of applying emerging spin-torque devices for bio-inspired computing. Recent spin-torque experiments have shown the path to low-current, low-voltage, and high-speed magnetization switching in nano-scale magnetic devices. Such magneto-metallic, current-mode spin-torque switches can mimic the analog summing and "thresholding" operation of an artificial neuron with high energy-efficiency. Comparison with CMOS-based analog circuit-model of a neuron shows that "spin-neurons" (spin based circuit model of neurons) can achieve more than two orders of magnitude lower energy and beyond three orders of magnitude reduction in energy-delay product. The application of spin-neurons can therefore be an attractive option for neuromorphic computers of future.

Case studies approach for an undergraduate astrobiology course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burko, Lior M.; Enger, Sandra

2013-04-01

Case studies is a well known and widely used method in law schools, medical schools, and business schools, but relatively little used in physics or astronomy courses. We developed an astrobiology course based strongly on the case studies approach, and after teaching it first at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, we have adapted it and are now teaching it at Alabama A&M University, a HBCU. The case studies approach uses several well tested and successful teaching methods - including group work, peer instruction, current interest topics, just-in-time teaching, &c. We have found that certain styles of cases are more popular among students than other styles, and will revise our cases to reflect such student preferences. We chose astrobiology -- an inherently multidisciplinary field -- because of the popularity of the subject matter, its frequent appearance in the popular media (news stories about searches for life in the universe, the discovery of Earth-like exoplanets, etc, in addition to SciFi movies and novels), and the rapid current progress in the field. In this talk we review briefly the case studies method, the styles of cases used in our astrobiology course, and student response to the course as found in our assessment analysis.

`Just Be Quiet and Listen to Exactly What He's Saying': Conceptualising power relations in inquiry-oriented classrooms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donnelly, Dermot Francis; McGarr, Oliver; O'Reilly, John

2014-08-01

Interest in inquiry-based science education (IBSE) often pays little heed to the complex power relations that exist within classrooms. A common obstacle to inquiry is that it strongly diverges from current classroom culture and hence, is outside the sphere of teachers' and students' experiences. Teachers and students bring expectations to the classroom that are entrenched in traditional practices and influenced by dynamics of power that exist within all teacher-student relationships. This study, which emerged during a wider study of the use of a Virtual Chemistry Lab in supporting IBSE, explores how classroom discourse constructs and maintains power relations that either stifle or facilitate inquiry-based approaches in two science lessons. Research methods included teacher interviews, student focus groups, video-recorded lessons, and student self-assessments. Findings indicate distinctive features of power inside the classroom that impact on inquiry-based instruction, such as predominant teacher monitoring on task completion over task understanding, lack of student engagement in ownership of scientific ideas, and prevailing norms of what effective teacher questioning is. We discuss implications for IBSE change efforts, highlighting that well-established power relations currently represent an important limiting factor in the capacity of teachers' IBSE implementation.

Measuring the effect of food stamps on food insecurity and hunger: research and policy considerations.

PubMed

Wilde, Parke E

2007-02-01

The federal government has estimated the prevalence of household "food insecurity" and "food insecurity with hunger" since 1995. Early observers believed that the new measure could be used to assess and improve the Food Stamp Program (FSP). Ten years of research have tempered the initial optimism. The prevalence of food insecurity with hunger (12.3% of all low-income households in 2004) is much higher among food stamp participant households (18.6% in 2004) than among low-income nonparticipant households (10.1% in 2004), due to strong self-selection effects. Households facing greater hardship are more likely to join the program. This article reviews 6 types of nonexperimental research designs that have been used to address the self-selection problem. The results have been inconclusive and the authors have warned against drawing causal inferences from their research. Ethical random-assignment research designs may be required to satisfy the intense policy interest in measuring the antihunger impact of the FSP. The most promising ethical research designs would test the effects of offering eligibility to households that are currently ineligible or offering increased benefits to households that are currently eligible for small benefit amounts.

Spin-neurons: A possible path to energy-efficient neuromorphic computers

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

Sharad, Mrigank; Fan, Deliang; Roy, Kaushik

Recent years have witnessed growing interest in the field of brain-inspired computing based on neural-network architectures. In order to translate the related algorithmic models into powerful, yet energy-efficient cognitive-computing hardware, computing-devices beyond CMOS may need to be explored. The suitability of such devices to this field of computing would strongly depend upon how closely their physical characteristics match with the essential computing primitives employed in such models. In this work, we discuss the rationale of applying emerging spin-torque devices for bio-inspired computing. Recent spin-torque experiments have shown the path to low-current, low-voltage, and high-speed magnetization switching in nano-scale magnetic devices.more » Such magneto-metallic, current-mode spin-torque switches can mimic the analog summing and “thresholding” operation of an artificial neuron with high energy-efficiency. Comparison with CMOS-based analog circuit-model of a neuron shows that “spin-neurons” (spin based circuit model of neurons) can achieve more than two orders of magnitude lower energy and beyond three orders of magnitude reduction in energy-delay product. The application of spin-neurons can therefore be an attractive option for neuromorphic computers of future.« less

The Debate around the Need for an International Convention on the Rights of Older Persons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doron, Israel; Apter, Itai

2010-01-01

In recent years, there has been a growing interest and debate around the question, whether there is a need for an international convention on the rights of older persons. The debate around this question is far from simple or consensual. Although there are strong voices in favor, there are also strong arguments against. Moreover, the mere fact that…

Japan Report, Science and Technology.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-05-06

Figure 17. Microcapsule Type Enzyme Immobilized Membrane Such metabolites as creatinine, uric acid , and vitamin B12 are relatively easily adsorbed by...WEST EUROPE ivory AFRICA (SUB-SAHARA) tan SCIENCE $ TECHNOLOGY gray WORLDWIDES pewter The changes that are of interest to readers of this report...condition and that they are unstable in strong acids , strong bases, organic solvents, and heat. Ordinarily, an enzyme docks with a substrate in an

The difficulties in establishing an occupational exposure limit for carbon nanotubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ellenbecker, M.; Tsai, S.-J.; Jacobs, M.; Riediker, M.; Peters, T.; Liou, S.; Avila, A.; FossHansen, S.

2018-05-01

Concern over the health effects from the inhalation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been building for some time, and adverse health effects found in animal studies include acute and chronic respiratory damage, cardiac inflammation, and cancer including mesothelioma, heretofore only associated with asbestos exposure. The strong animal evidence of toxicity requires that the occupational hygiene community develops strategies for reducing or eliminating worker exposures to CNTs; part of this strategy involves the setting of occupational exposure limits (OELs) for CNTs. A number of government agencies and private entities have established OELs for CNTs; some are mass-based, while others rely on number concentration. We review these various proposed standards and discuss the pros and cons of each approach. We recommend that specific action be taken, including intensified outreach to employers and employees concerning the potential adverse health effects from CNT inhalation, the development of more nuanced OELs that reflect the complex nature of CNT exposure, a broader discussion of these issues among all interested parties, and further research into important unanswered questions including optimum methods to evaluate CNT exposures. We conclude that current animal toxicity evidence suggests that strong action needs to be taken to minimize exposures to CNTs, and that any CNT OEL should be consistent with the need to minimize exposures.

Policy Development for Environmental Licensing and Biodiversity Offsets in Latin America

PubMed Central

Villarroya, Ana; Barros, Ana Cristina; Kiesecker, Joseph

2014-01-01

Attempts to meet biodiversity goals through application of the mitigation hierarchy have gained wide traction globally with increased development of public policy, lending standards, and corporate practices. With interest in biodiversity offsets increasing in Latin America, we seek to strengthen the basis for policy development through a review of major environmental licensing policy frameworks in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. Here we focused our review on an examination of national level policies to evaluate to which degree current provisions promote positive environmental outcomes. All the surveyed countries have national-level Environmental Impact Assessment laws or regulations that cover the habitats present in their territories. Although most countries enable the use of offsets only Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru explicitly require their implementation. Our review has shown that while advancing quite detailed offset policies, most countries do not seem to have strong requirements regarding impact avoidance. Despite this deficiency most countries have a strong foundation from which to develop policy for biodiversity offsets, but several issues require further guidance, including how best to: (1) ensure conformance with the mitigation hierarchy; (2) identify the most environmentally preferable offsets within a landscape context; (3) determine appropriate mitigation replacement ratios; and (4) ensure appropriate time and effort is given to monitor offset performance. PMID:25191758

Universal happiness? Cross-cultural measurement invariance of scales assessing positive mental health.

PubMed

Bieda, Angela; Hirschfeld, Gerrit; Schönfeld, Pia; Brailovskaia, Julia; Zhang, Xiao Chi; Margraf, Jürgen

2017-04-01

Research into positive aspects of the psyche is growing as psychologists learn more about the protective role of positive processes in the development and course of mental disorders, and about their substantial role in promoting mental health. With increasing globalization, there is strong interest in studies examining positive constructs across cultures. To obtain valid cross-cultural comparisons, measurement invariance for the scales assessing positive constructs has to be established. The current study aims to assess the cross-cultural measurement invariance of questionnaires for 6 positive constructs: Social Support (Fydrich, Sommer, Tydecks, & Brähler, 2009), Happiness (Subjective Happiness Scale; Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999), Life Satisfaction (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985), Positive Mental Health Scale (Lukat, Margraf, Lutz, van der Veld, & Becker, 2016), Optimism (revised Life Orientation Test [LOT-R]; Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994) and Resilience (Schumacher, Leppert, Gunzelmann, Strauss, & Brähler, 2004). Participants included German (n = 4,453), Russian (n = 3,806), and Chinese (n = 12,524) university students. Confirmatory factor analyses and measurement invariance testing demonstrated at least partial strong measurement invariance for all scales except the LOT-R and Subjective Happiness Scale. The latent mean comparisons of the constructs indicated differences between national groups. Potential methodological and cultural explanations for the intergroup differences are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Dark matter direct detection of a fermionic singlet at one loop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herrero-García, Juan; Molinaro, Emiliano; Schmidt, Michael A.

2018-06-01

The strong direct detection limits could be pointing to dark matter - nucleus scattering at loop level. We study in detail the prototype example of an electroweak singlet (Dirac or Majorana) dark matter fermion coupled to an extended dark sector, which is composed of a new fermion and a new scalar. Given the strong limits on colored particles from direct and indirect searches we assume that the fields of the new dark sector are color singlets. We outline the possible simplified models, including the well-motivated cases in which the extra scalar or fermion is a Standard Model particle, as well as the possible connection to neutrino masses. We compute the contributions to direct detection from the photon, the Z and the Higgs penguins for arbitrary quantum numbers of the dark sector. Furthermore, we derive compact expressions in certain limits, i.e., when all new particles are heavier than the dark matter mass and when the fermion running in the loop is light, like a Standard Model lepton. We study in detail the predicted direct detection rate and how current and future direct detection limits constrain the model parameters. In case dark matter couples directly to Standard Model leptons we find an interesting interplay between lepton flavor violation, direct detection and the observed relic abundance.

Probing 1D superlattices at the LaAlO3 / SrTiO3 interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Briggeman, M.; Huang, M.; Tylan-Tyler, A.; Irvin, P.; Levy, J.; Lee, J.-W.; Lee, H.; Eom, C.-B.

Complex oxides and other quantum systems exhibit behavior that is currently too complex to be understood using analytic or computational methods. One approach is to use a configurable quantum system whose Hamiltonian can be mapped onto the system of interest. This approach, known as quantum simulation, requires a rich physical system whose quanta and interactions can be controlled precisely, at the level of single electrons and other degrees of freedom. Here we describe steps toward developing a quantum simulation platform, using the complex oxide heterostructure LaAlO3 / SrTiO3 , by creating quantum systems with features comparable to the mean spacing between electrons. This interface has strong, sign changing, gate-tunable electron-electron interactions that can strongly influence the quantum ground state. We explore the magnetotransport properties of 1D superlattices, where periodic modulation produces reproducible dispersive features not seen in control structures. The results of these experiments can be compared with effective 1D model Hamiltonians to bridge experiment and theory and enable quantum simulation of more complex systems. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from AFOSR (FA9550-12-1- 0057 (JL) and FA9550-12-1-0342 (CBE)), ONR N00014-15-1-2847 (JL), and NSF DMR-1234096 (CBE).

Emission line galaxies at high redshift and analogs of the sources of cosmic reionization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaerer, D.

2017-11-01

We present recent work on emission line galaxies at high redshift and searches for analogs of the sources of cosmic reionization at low redshift. The VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS) carried out at the VLT has assembled more than 7000 spectra of galaxies from z 1.5 to 6 allowing us to address a wide diversity of questions with statistically meaningful samples. From VUDS we have recently identified a sample of CIII] and CIV] emitters at z 2-4 whose properties we present and discuss here (cf. Nakajima et al. 2017; Le Fevre et al. 2017). These objects provide interesting insight into the C/O ratio at high-z, the nature and hardness of their ionizing source, the ionizing photon production, and others. Targeting compact strong emission line galaxies with high [OIII]/[OII] ratios with the COS spectrograph on-board HST, we have recently been able to find several relatively strong Lyman continuum emitters at z 0.3 (Izotov et al. 2016ab). We describe the physical properties of these unique, rare low-z sources, which are found to be comparable to those of typical z>6 galaxies and thus currently the best analogs for the sources of cosmic reionization (cf. Schaerer et al. 2016). We also briefly discuss open questions and future steps.

Single Pulse Searches for Pulsars in the Galactic Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cushey, Daniel Joseph; Majid, Walid A.; Prince, Thomas Allen

2017-01-01

The discovery of the magnetar J1745-2900 within 3'' of Sgr A* by Mori et al. (2013) has renewed strong interest in Galactic Center (GC) pulsars and motivated expanded searches for their pulses due to their extensive applications to gravitational and plasma physics. There are currently 5 known pulsars within 15' of the Sgr A*; however, gamma ray excesses from the GC suggest a source population of 102-103 millisecond pulsars within the same region. Although this discrepancy is readily explained by the hyper-strong scattering environment of the GC which obscures pulses, the discovery of J1745-2900 challenges this attribution and further observations and analysis are needed to reconcile the observed GC pulsar population with theory. We present a pipeline developed to search for these "missing" GC pulsars using a single pulse search algorithm. Observations of the GC using the Deep Space Network 70m antenna were taken in the high frequency regime in order to minimize scattering, and search parameters were calibrated using pulses from RRAT J1819-1458. Any detected pulses that are distinct from those of J1745-2900 warrant extensive follow-up observations and analysis, and confirmed new members of the elusive GC pulsar population would be incredibly valuable as probes of the GC's magnetic and potential fields.

Health effects of acid aerosols on North American children: Respiratory symptoms

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

Dockery, D.W.; Cunningham, J.; Damokosh, A.I.

We examined the respiratory health effects of exposure to acidic air pollution among 13,369 white children 8 to 12 years old from 24 communities in the United States and Canada between 1988 and 1991. Each child`s parent or guardian completed a questionnaire. Air quality and meteorology were measured in each community for a 1-year period. We used a two-stage logistic regression model to analyze the data, adjusting for the period confounding effects of sex, history of allergies, parental asthma, parental education, and current smoking in the home. Children living in the community with the highest levels of particle strong aciditymore » were significantly more likely [odds ratio (OR) = 1.66; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11-2.48] to report at least one episode of bronchitis in the past year compared to children living in the least-polluted community. Fine particulate sulfate was also associated with higher reporting of bronchitis (OR = 1.65; 95% CI 1.12-2.42). No other respiratory symptoms were significantly higher in association with any of the air pollutants of interest. No sensitive subgroups were identified. Reported bronchitis, but neither asthma, wheeze, cough, nor phlegm, were associated with levels of particle strong acidity for these children living in a nonurban environment. 26 refs., 3 figs., 4 tabs.« less

Policy development for environmental licensing and biodiversity offsets in Latin America.

PubMed

Villarroya, Ana; Barros, Ana Cristina; Kiesecker, Joseph

2014-01-01

Attempts to meet biodiversity goals through application of the mitigation hierarchy have gained wide traction globally with increased development of public policy, lending standards, and corporate practices. With interest in biodiversity offsets increasing in Latin America, we seek to strengthen the basis for policy development through a review of major environmental licensing policy frameworks in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. Here we focused our review on an examination of national level policies to evaluate to which degree current provisions promote positive environmental outcomes. All the surveyed countries have national-level Environmental Impact Assessment laws or regulations that cover the habitats present in their territories. Although most countries enable the use of offsets only Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru explicitly require their implementation. Our review has shown that while advancing quite detailed offset policies, most countries do not seem to have strong requirements regarding impact avoidance. Despite this deficiency most countries have a strong foundation from which to develop policy for biodiversity offsets, but several issues require further guidance, including how best to: (1) ensure conformance with the mitigation hierarchy; (2) identify the most environmentally preferable offsets within a landscape context; (3) determine appropriate mitigation replacement ratios; and (4) ensure appropriate time and effort is given to monitor offset performance.

Aripiprazole

MedlinePlus

... a mental illness that causes disturbed or unusual thinking, loss of interest in life, and strong or ... people who took medications such as aripiprazole developed gambling problems or other intense urges or behaviors that ...